Minutes of the board of Directors
6th October 2007, Aarhus, Denmark
The EUNIS Board met at the University of Aarhus, Denmark on 6 October 2007.
Present: Jean-Francois Desnos (Chair), Yves Epelboin, Lars Kayser, Markku Kuula, Jan Madey, Viljan Mahnic, Martin Price, Andrew Rothery, Kristel Sarlin, Robert Sultana and Hans Dieter Weckmann.
Apologies: Ligia Ribeiro and Andres Salu.
For the first two items of the agenda the Board met Tom Latrup-Pedersen and the EUNIS2008 Organising Committee (Mikkel Godsk, Orla Hoppe, Dorte Sidelmann Jørgensen and Maria Hvid Stenalt) of the University of Aarhus.
1. Planning for EUNIS2008
Jean-Francois Desnos thanked the University of Aarhus for agreeing to host EUNIS2008, especially after the sad death of Jens Dørup. He also thanked our colleagues from Aarhus for their excellent hospitality and making arrangements for the Board’s visit.
A budget for EUNIS2008 was presented, discussed and agreed. Figures had been estimated based on 270 participants. It was agreed that registration fees should be raised a little from the EUNIS2007 level. As usual there would be different fees for members and non-members, and discounts for booking early before 1 May 2008. The Organising Committee was optimistic about obtaining local sponsorship for EUNIS2008.
The Board agreed there should be the customary Tutorial day immediately preceding the conference. A small fee would be charged for those attending tutorials.
There would be three Awards announced at EUNIS2008. The EUNIS Elite Award for Excellence will be announced at the end of the Conference. Arrangements for this Award, and the prize money, are the responsibility of the Board. There will also be a Best Paper Award for EUNIS2008, with a prize of €1000 funded by the Conference budget. Arrangements for this Award are the responsibility of the Organising Committee. The new EUNIS Dørup E-Learning Award is discussed below in item 2.
It was suggested that most presentations should be 30 minutes not 20, if possible. Obviously this will depend on the number of papers accepted for presentation. The organisers should aim for four streams to run concurrently in parallel sessions, ideally with a specific theme for each day.
The Board was asked to suggest candidates for keynote speeches. Mario Campolargo (EC), Dorte Olesen (TERENA) and Diana Oblinger (EDUCAUSE) were recommended. The Board was asked to propose others to the Organising Committee.
The Board was impressed with the proposed venue for EUNIS2008, and congratulated the University of Aarhus on its preparations for the Conference.
The Call for Papers for EUNIS2008 would be issued shortly.
2. Jens Dørup Award
Arrangements for the first EUNIS Dørup E-Learning Award were discussed and agreed. The Award, to commemorate the former EUNIS Board member Jens Dørup who died in 2007, will be given for the outstanding and innovative application of information technology (IT) in an educational setting in higher education. Colleagues will be invited to submit projects for consideration for the Award through the same channels as papers are submitted for presentation at the EUNIS annual conference. After the closing date in early 2008, entries will be judged by a panel who will shortlist four or five projects for presentation in a parallel session at EUNIS2008. The winning entry will be announced at the end of the parallel session and at the final plenary session of the Conference. There will be no monetary prize, There will be an appropriate certificate for the winner, and EUNIS will pay the winner’s conference registration fee.
The judging panel for the EUNIS Dørup E-Learning Award 2008 will be:-
Andrew Rothery (University of Worcester, UK) (Chair)
James Cilia (University of Malta, Malta)
Yves Epelboin (Université P & M Curie, Paris, France)
Gill Ferrell (JISCinfoNet, UK)
Dorte Sidelmann Jørgensen (University of Aarhus, Denmark)
3. Review of actions from previous meetings
Leadership of Bologna Task Force: See item 5b below.
Web site content : Board members were encouraged to suggest ideas for the EUNIS web site and to provide copy, if possible, to Yves Epelboin.
Liaison with HUMANE : There had been little progress with the HUMANE relationship. Jean-Francois said he would discuss the proposed EUNIS Task Force on MIS with them. See item 5c below.
4. New members joined since 26 June 2007.
The following were formally admitted to EUNIS membership by the Board:
Full members :
ESSEC Business School (France)
Bauhaus University, Weimar (Germany)
SS Cyril & Methodius University, Skopje (Macedonia)
Corresponding member
Kazakh National Pedagogical University (Kazakhstan)
Total Membership:
Full – 114; Corresponding – 4; Corporate – 7
5. Task Forces.
E-Learning Task Force
Andrew Rothery had circulated a paper to the Board by email, making a case for funding a proposed ELTF workshop in Malta. The Board agreed that the E-Learning Task Force was making a significant contribution to EUNIS activities. ELTF was encouraged to continue with its work, especially the planned meeting in Malta. But there was disagreement about funding the event wholly from EUNIS funds because it would set a precedent which the association might not be able to sustain in future. A budget of €5000 was agreed. This would cover the basic costs of the meeting and allow Andrew Rothery to subsidise the accommodation costs of some colleagues attending the event, depending on need.
The ELTF meeting in Malta will probably take place in early 2008. It is intended to be a working meeting for those actively involved in Task Force projects, not a seminar or conference. Attendance will be restricted to colleagues from EUNIS member institutions.
Bologna Task Force
The President reported that Ligia Ribeiro had agreed to lead the Bologna Task Force.
MIS Task Force
The Board agreed to form a new Task Force focussed on Management Information Systems (MIS) under the leadership of Jean-Francois Desnos. He was planning a seminar on this subject for EUNIS members.
Other possible Task Forces
The Board discussed two other possible new Task Forces. Robert Sultana suggested a Task Force to liaise with suppliers, which would also collect information on products used and prices paid in different European countries. It was also agreed that Javier Franco should be asked whether he wished to explore the possibility of a Task Force to look at ways in which statistical data in different countries can be compared.
6. Proposed changes to EUNIS Statutes
The Board discussed how the EUNIS structure might be simplified, bearing in mind the points made at General Assembly and Council in June 2007. The proposal to abolish Council completely was thought to be too drastic, but it should be possible in future to combine annual meetings for Council to meet immediately after GA. The Council would continue to be elected by the General Assembly, and the EUNIS Board of Directors would continue to be elected by Council.
Board members agreed it was important to maintain as broad a geographical spread as possible both Council and the Board. It was agreed that the revised Statutes should limit membership of Council and Board to no more than two elected members per country.
7. EUNIS Elite Award for Excellence
The Board noted that the number of entries for the EUNIS Elite Award had declined in recent years, with only 2 applications received in 2007, though both were excellent submissions. It was agreed that the Elite Award should continue, for at least one more year. The position would be reviewed again in 2008.
8. Partner organisations
Links with partner organizations are discussed: TERENA, HUMANE, South Africa, EDUCAUSE and ECAR, Gartner.
9. EUNIS Top Concerns survey
The Board agreed to postpone discussion of a new Top Concerns survey until its next meeting in Aarhus in June 2008. Colleagues had been asked to complete a number of time-consuming questionnaires recently, including the ECAR survey, and it was thought there would be a better response if the Top Concerns survey were delayed.
10. Possible bid for funding under EC’s 2008 FP7 Call for Proposals
The Board agreed not to bid for European Commission funding in 2008.
Martin Price , EUNIS Executive Secretary 1.6..2008