The returning Board and I ask you all to help us welcome the 5 winners and to thank all of those who volunteered. We are so pleased and honored that 17 solid people were interested. We are already recruiting those who didn't win to join SDS committees. Their willingness to serve will not go unnoticed.
The new Board members’ term starts at the close of our Annual Membership Meeting on Tuesday, August 23, 4:30pm EST, and continues for three years.
Help me say "Welcome Aboard!"
The SDS Board of Directors would like to let you all know that we have been successful in our settlement negotiations with the two Hyatt hotels to whom we owed significant amounts of money--the Atlanta Hyatt (for the 2015 conference) and the Phoenix Hyatt (for the cancelled 2016 conference and contracted pre-conference charges). Both hotels have now accepted and received our settlement offers and payments.
This is excellent news, beyond a doubt. And while this also means that negotiating a conference contract with any major hotel (or university as well) would likely be difficult for the next couple of years, we are ready to REBUILD now as an organization. And we need YOU--all of you, each and every one of you-- to help us do that.
We write with important UPDATES about our organization, the Society for Disability Studies!
On May 25, 2016, the Board hosted a Town Hall Meeting that had 121 participants signed up. The meeting platform was hosted by The Ohio State University’s ADA Coordinator (Scott Lissner) and his annual Multiple Perspectives on Access, Inclusion and Disability conference. The NOTES from that meeting are open to all. Click here to view and/or download the notes.
The call for applications/nominations for new SDS Board members will be coming out very soon; four (4) positions are open. Please consider your skills and commitment to the organization and the field overall --and that of others who might join in leadership--when you read this call.
This is very good news! As reported by SDS Board Treasurer, Phil Smith, at the Town Hall Meeting (please see the meeting notes for more details): We learned during the week of May 16 that the Atlanta Hyatt (or 2015 conference hotel) has accepted our settlement offer of $8,500 now and another $1,500 within one year. We will be paying this first ($8,500) portion immediately and work to pay the rest as soon as we can. We have not yet heard from the Phoenix Hyatt (our cancelled conference hotel for 2016) in terms of the settlement also offered to them. We assume they are waiting to see what Atlanta does first; this is a process. Please consult the Town Hall Meeting notes for more information regarding SDS’s financial status.
Again, more good news! At its May 16th Board meeting, the Board appointed Devva Kasnitz as our Interim Executive Director for an initial six-month period, June 30-December 30, 2016. Devva has already begun to work with Maki Tanigaki--who has held together the SDS Executive Office, as Executive Assistant, at University at Buffalo--on transition out of the UB offices. Many of you already know Devva as past President of the organization (and Chair of the Board)--two times now--and as an initial founding member of the organization. We believe she will anchor us well as we also begin the process of appointing a more long-term Executive Officer.
Following on the success of the virtual meeting platform used for the Town Hall Meeting, plans are underway to host an annual membership meeting for SDS in late August. An extended Board meeting would also take place at that time; new Board of Directors members would begin their terms then. Stay tuned for summer announcements about this meeting.
It is with great regret, and an earnest sense of responsibility, that we, the Board of Directors of SDS, write to inform you that on Friday, February 19th, we took the difficult step of voting overwhelmingly (ten positive votes and one abstention) to cancel the 2016 SDS conference in Phoenix due to an ongoing and now extreme budgetary crisis.
We took this step based on the council of experts in the nonprofit world, and we will be working with these partners to try to ensure a viable future for the organization. Like you, we consider SDS to be a vital resource for disability studies in the U.S. and around the world.
We have no intention of dissolving the organization. We will keep you apprised of restructuring efforts and, in fact, are counting on your input and support. Regular updates will be forthcoming.