Texas Student Publications

Board of Operating Trustees

August 23, 2002

Minutes

Voting members present: Dr. Urton Anderson, Diane Beckham, Laura Cruzada, Brian Ferguson, Michael Hoffman, Jonathan Lee, Coleman Lewis, Dr. Jef Richards, Dr. Rusty Todd, Doug Toney.

Voting members absent: Shawn Rosenzweig.

Non-voting members present: Meredith Best, Teresa Brett, Ryan Hengst, Jason Hunter, Kathy Lawrence, Ryan Pittman.

Non-voting members absent: Alex Hammond, Trevor Rosen, Chris Tolle, Rachel Zoch.

Professional staff present: Brad Corbett, Mary Felps, Richard Finnell, John Foxworth, Jean Hogue, Dan Knight, Jack Simons, Jerry Thompson.

Visitors present: Leland Freeman, Jesse Harris.

In the absence of a president, the meeting was called to order at 1:05 p.m. by Kathy Lawrence, director of Texas Student Publications.

I. Welcome, Introductions.

Lawrence welcomed all in attendance and requested each to introduce himself or herself.

II. Election of Officers.

a. President. Lawrence opened nominations for president of the TSP Board.

Lee nominated Hoffman. Hoffman accepted the nomination.

Ferguson nominated Lewis. Lewis accepted the nomination.

There were no further nominations. Each nominee addressed the members of the Board concerning his nomination. The members of the Board were polled by secret ballot and Hoffman was elected. Lawrence passed the gavel to Hoffman who conducted the remainder of the meeting.

b. Vice President. Hoffman opened nominations for vice president of the TSP Board.

Ferguson nominated Lewis. Lewis accepted the nomination.

MOTION NO. 1: As there were further nominations, Toney moved to close nominations. The

motion passed.

MOTION NO. 2: Ferguson moved to appoint Lewis vice president of the TSP Board by

acclamation. The motion passed.

c. Secretary. Hoffman opened nominations for secretary of the TSP Board.

Lewis nominated Lee. Lee accepted the nomination.

MOTION NO. 3: As there were no further nominations, Toney moved to appoint Lee secretary

of the TSP Board by acclamation. The motion passed.

III. Recognition of Student Staff Awards.

Finnell reviewed recent awards won by The Daily Texan with the members of the Board.

MOTION NO. 4: Ferguson moved to accept the following resolution submitted by Hoffman:

Resolved, That the Board of Operating Trustees commends and congratulates ––

a) The Daily Texan staff members for winning the following National Newspaper Association

2002 awards:

1) The Daily Texan staff for second place, Best Collegiate Daily,

2) The Daily Texan staff for second place, Best Local News coverage, circulation of

more than 10,000, and

3) Kristin Finan for third place, feature writing, circulation of more than 10,000; and

Resolved, That the Director be authorized to place house ads in The Daily Texan and other

student media, subject to available space, expressing the sense of the Board of Operating

Trustees in this resolution.

The motion passed.

IV. Monthly Financial Report.

As many of the Board members were new, Hogue began discussion of the monthly financial report by giving them a general introduction to the format of the TSP budget. Then, Hogue briefly discussed the July figures. Lawrence distributed sheets illustrating a pie-chart explanation of the TSP budget and explained how the yearly budget is built and maintained.

V. Approval of April 26, 2002, TSP Board Meeting Minutes.

MOTION NO. 5: Ferguson moved to approve the Minutes of the April 26, 2002, TSP Board

meeting. The motion passed.

VI. Appointment of TSP Committees.

a. Executive Committee. Hoffman explained the TSP executive committee is composed of voting members of the Board including the three faculty members and two student members. He then opened nominations for the two student positions.

Lewis nominated Ferguson. Ferguson accepted the nomination.

Lee nominated Hoffman. Hoffman accepted the nomination.

Ferguson nominated Cruzada. Cruzada accepted the nomination.

Hoffman instructed the noting members of the Board to vote for two of the nominees; a secret ballot poll was conducted. Following a run-off secret ballot poll including nominees Hoffman and Cruzada, Hoffman announced the membership of the executive committee will include Cruzada, Ferguson, Anderson, Todd, and Richards.

VII. Mission, Five-Year Plan.

Lawrence reviewed her written report distributed prior to the TSP Board meeting. Ferguson asked Lawrence if TSP had ever investigated a peer review of the organization. Lawrence said there had been no such exercise done at TSP recently. Ferguson said he participated in a similar study for the Texas Union and offered his services if a peer review were to be conducted for TSP. Further, he said he would gather materials and report back to the Board at the next meeting.

VIII. Summer Activity Report.

Lawrence, editors, and station managers reviewed their summer activity reports distributed prior to the meeting. To her report Lawrence explained Doug Plummer had retired and Frank Serpas now covers the operations management of TSP and that the 2002 Cactus Yearbook has been delivered to campus and will be ready for distribution soon. Corbett discussed the advertising media kit which will be used by members of the advertising sales staff for the 2002-03 academic year.

IX. Old Business.

Progress of the TSP Handbook Revision. Hoffman referred to his written report and said the review process by the UT administration on the revised TSP Handbook seems to be progressing. Meantime, the Texas Student Publications continues to operate according to the older version of the Handbook.

X. New Business.

Proposed Student Staff Payrolls. Hogue said all payrolls submitted for the review of the members of the Board, including The Daily Texan, KVRX Radio, and KVR Television, fall within the budgetary guidelines of the approved 2002-03 TSP budget.

MOTION NO. 6: Ferguson moved to approve the student staff payroll plans for The Daily Texan,

KVRX Radio, and KVR Television for the fall semester as submitted. The motion passed.

Lawrence reviewed her memorandum entitled “Pay for Two Staff Members.” The memorandum requested approval of an expenditure of $6,700.00, to come from the TSP Reserve account, in order to increase the hours of employment for the KVR Television and the KVRX Radio advisers. Discussion followed as the item was not part of the August 23, 2002, TSP Meeting Agenda. Some members of the Board felt the item could be considered a portion of the monthly financial report.

MOTION NO. 7: Ferguson moved to approve the expenditure of $6,700.00, to be taken from the

TSP Reserve account, in order to increase the hours of employment for the KVR Television and

KVRX Radio advisers. The motion passed.

Further, Lawrence reported she had received yearbook printing proposals for the Cactus Yearbook. this item was not included on the original meeting Agenda. as the proposal deadline fell after the Agenda was written and distributed. Further, Lawrence said Walsworth Publishing Company submitted the most favorable proposal and that she feels comfortable with the results of the results.

MOTION NO. 8: Lee moved to approve acceptance of the yearbook printing proposal submitted

by Walsworth Publishing Company for the Cactus Yearbook.

During discussion, Toney expressed his discomfort with taking actions which were not part of the original meeting Agenda.

MOTION NO. 9: Lee moved to reconsider motions number 7 and number 8 in order to discuss

them at a later time. The motion passed.

MOTION NO. 10: Lee moved to adjourn the meeting. The motion passed.