2003 CAE Annual Report

CAE Section Report
December 24, 2003

Catherine Emihovich
CAE President

I. Accomplishments during January 1, 2003, to December 31, 2003

* Membership. Membership numbers show a steady decline over this period. In January, 2003, we had 804 total members; in October, 2003 (the latest figures I have), we have 737 members. While associate memberships remain fairly constant (they are also not a significant pool for us), the decreases are largely in the student and regular member categories. The primary factors affecting these numbers are the split allegiances members have between anthropology and education (many people also belong to numerous educational organizations like the American Educational Research Association, which is also raising its dues), the high cost of AAA dues, and concerns that have surfaced over the diversity problems CAE has experienced in the last few years. Regarding the latter factor, we are actively working on building a more diverse base for CAE, and we hope this will produce an increase in new memberships in the near future.

* Budget. Based on the most recent financial statement (Oct. 31, 2003), we have a positive fund balance of $36,868. This amount will be reduced by our meeting expenses, travel and award expenses, and 4th quarter AEQ expenses. A major concern is the impact that the move to AnthroSource will have on our financial bottom line, since preliminary projections indicate that we will be approximately $23,000 in the red based on our projected fund balance for 2004. A related concern is that AEQ expenses are heavily subsidized by the University of Arizona, where the current editor resides. We cannot assume that this level of support will be available to the next editor. While we acknowledge the need to make the shift to AnthroSource for long term gains, it is not yet clear to us how we will make up this difference. Given the current membership problems we are facing, raising dues does not appear to be a viable option. We also realize that the 2004 projection is speculative, and that we may incur fewer expenses in relation to the potential for greater revenue in the future. We would like to have it noted for the record that our 'share' for subsidizing the move to AnthroSource is greater than any other section.

* Activities. For the 2003 annual meeting, we submitted 4 invited sessions (including one poster session), 22 volunteered sessions, and 6 sessions based on volunteered papers (including two poster sessions). All sessions were accepted and only one volunteered session was withdrawn by the organizer. One invited session was co-sponsored with SANA. One of the invited public policy sessions also focused on educational reform efforts in Chicago. Two students received the outstanding dissertation award, and the late John Ogbu received the Spindler Award. We also organized a new informal session, Works in Progress, where senior scholars reacted to students' and new assistant professors' research papers. That proved to be extremely well attended, and we hope it will attract more members in the future.

* Communications. Topics in the AN columns focused on members' reactions to the CAE Diversity Report, which was made available on the listserv and the CAE webpage, calls for sessions to be presented at the annual meeting, and members' activities. Leslie Edwards was appointed as the new CAE webmaster, and the website was completely redesigned. This new website has only been up for the last three months, and we hope it will attract new members to CAE.

* Outreach. This past year, CAE held an outreach event at AERA to provide more information about CAE and to attract new members. The roundtable discussions were attended by about 35 people, many of them first-time visitors. Based on this initial success, we expect to continue this event at the 2004 AERA meeting in San Diego. We also funded a record number of new minority scholars (11 for $2200, $500 of which was offset by anonymous donations). Rosemary Henze, a former CAE Member-At-Large, and previous member of the Anthropology Education Committee, continued her work with K-12 practitioners, and she presented with several school administrators at the 2003 annual meeting.

* Bylaw revisions. We are in the process of revising our by-laws and will submit these changes for a formal vote by all members in the spring elections. *

II. Future Plans or Activities

* The major concern we have is how to increase our membership base. Considerable anxiety was expressed at our last board meeting about the impact AnthroSource would have our membership as well as our financial status. If AAA members will be able to access all journals through AnthroSource, what will be the value-added reason for people to continue their section membership in CAE? Many people join a section because they want to receive that section's journal, but this reason will be moot. While we recognize that other sections are facing a similar dilemma, our concern is heightened by the fact that many of our members are not anthropologists, and have competing demands on their organizational loyalties. AAA should also be concerned since many of members are not in anthropology departments, and if AEQ becomes available through their institution's access to AnthroSource, they are less likely to join AAA to become members of CAE. This is an issue that we will address in listserv discussions this year to examine ways we can make CAE more attractive to people who are interested in the intersections between culture and education. *

III. Other Items

* Recommendations. One of the perennial problems we face is how to bring in practitioners for invited sessions without making them pay a registration fee. While we understand that we can petition to have the fee waived, it is a cumbersome process. If this process could be streamlined, that would be very helpful for us. A second concern is the cost of registration. It would be useful for the Long Range Planning Committee to consider implementing a one day, reduced registration rate for people who will only attend one session, and are not likely to attend the entire meeting.

* Questions for Executive Board. One of the major questions that surfaced at our last board meeting was the projected relationship between the new Anthropology Education Committee and our organization. While it was clear that the AEC has a different mission and purpose than does CAE, it seems there is considerable overlap between the two groups, especially in our mutual interest in working with the K-12 community. Many CAE members have considerable expertise in doing this kind of outreach work, and we could play a valuable role in assisting this new committee with their work. We would appreciate being kept informed of any new developments within AEC, and it may even be useful to consider having a CAE member hold a permanently designated seat on AEC. *

Section Officers

CAE President
Catherine Emihovich
University of Florida
College of Education
cemihovich@coe.ufl.edu

President-elect (Program Chair)
Kathryn Anderson-Levitt
University of Michigan-Dearborn
College of Arts and Sciences
katieal@umd.umich.edu

CAE Treasurer
Edmund Hamann
Brown University
Edmund_Hamann@brown.edu

AEQ Editor
Teresa McCarty
University of Arizona
tmccarty@arizona.edu

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