Dear all,

First of all, I'm happily sending off my membership dues to Brock today--so Roger, do add me to the list.

Second, I just want to support Jane's point about legalities and ask a question.  I've spent a lot of time this fall helping a struggling academic organization revise it's by-laws, run an online election, update its website and membership directory, and apply for official tax-free non-profit status in the US (it's official home is in the States, for tax purposes, even though it has members from all over the world).

One of the requirements in applying for non-profit status as a scholarly organization was that the by-laws had to specify what other non-profit organization would receive our funds if our organization died.  I'm assuming from Jane's email that the by-laws of Inkshed don't contain such a specification (the equivalent of a will)?

So my suggestion at the AGM is that we think about including that detail in any revised by-laws, if we do plan to continue as an organization.  Otherwise, we'll need to make a decision about which other scholarly organizations or projects we can legally donate our funds to (depending on the legal status of Inkshed's treasury, there may be restrictions on how those funds can be distributed).

Thanks for the work on sorting all this out and organizing a meeting at Congress.
Betsy

At 12:16 PM 3/7/2011, Roger Graves wrote:

Brock MacDonald has informed me that we do, indeed, now have a paid up

list of members. We will convene in Fredericton, hold a conference and

AGM, and decide how to go forward from there.

I have set up a separate email list for those planning to attend the

conference; if anyone else is planning to attend that day, let me know

and I'll add you to the list.

Roger

Roger Graves

Director, Writing Across the Curriculum

[log in to unmask]

http://www.ualberta.ca/~graves1/

780.492.2169

On Mar 6, 2011, at 8:21 AM, Jane Milton wrote:

Hi Graham, Doug, Roger, and all,

Inkshed may be dead, but it died with an estate -- to the tune of

several thousand dollars -- and no will. Whether it's this year or

some other year,  a group of members (as defined in the

Constitution) at an AGM has to decide what to do with that money  -

even if they decide to dissolve Inkshed forever. It may seem like

"protocol" but really it's the law.

Jane.

________________________________________

From: casll-l: Canadian Association for the Study of Language

and        Learning (Inkshed) [[log in to unmask]] On

Behalf Of Graham Smart [[log in to unmask]]

Sent: Sunday, March 06, 2011 12:29 AM

To: [log in to unmask]

Subject: Re: Inkshed conference this year

Doug makes some very good points, I think. However, it seems to me

that at present the old Inkshed has pretty much expired, as in 'dead

in the water'.  So why would we need to worry about whether it's a

'society' or not or whether it has to or doesn't have to hold an

AGM.  It seems to me that we're dancing around a grave, worrying

about protocol.  Seems kind of bizarre to me.

Why not simply let go of the old Inkshed and let whatever group of

people who identify themselves as 'friends of Inkshed' by meeting

for a day after CASDW to support each other's work do just that for

a year or two?  Then if the interest and commitment is there, we

could create a new organization called New Inkshed or something like

that.

Inkshed was a great institution that served vital purposes in the

early days of Writing Studies in Canada, and it had a pretty good

run. In my view, though, at this point it's become pretty much an

historical artifact and not a living reality.

My dismay over Purdue's loss today has been compounded this evening

by Carleton's loss--they got thumped by Lakehead--in the

championship game of the Ontario men's basketball league.  But I

can't hide behind this: what I've written today reflects my views on

Inkshed quite squarely.

Graham

Graham

----- Original Message -----

From: Doug Brent <[log in to unmask]>

Date: Saturday, March 5, 2011 7:06 pm

Subject: Re: Inkshed conference this year

To: [log in to unmask]

Hi all,

I initially thought it was odd to be taking membership money for

what is currently a phantom organization, and wondered whether we

needed any dues at all. But Brock explained that the current rules,

including fee structure, can only be changed by a vote of the

membership (this is part of the regulations governing a society, I

gather). Therefore we have to have some members in order to change

anything, and until we change anything, the only way to become a

member is to pay $40. We can immediately vote to change the dues to

anything we want, including zero, and I guess even vote ourselves a

rebate, but the $40 has to come first in order to do business.

Of course, given the traditionally consensual nature of the group,

I suppose we need only a handful of paying members to vote that

consensus into being, but the more members we have at the time, the

more authoritative any decisions become.

On the other hand, I am in pretty close agreement with Graham on

the agenda. Maybe we should have an AGM first, to get the business

of dues and such dealt with, and then go on to the more interesting

business of supporting each other's research. The lofty existential

questions that Graham mentions are sort of interesting to me, but

if we only have one day to work and part of it is taken up with

some tedious but  essential administrative housekeeping, I think

that we need to get down to real business pretty fast.

Cheers

Doug

On 05/03/2011 4:45 PM, Graham Smart wrote:

Hi everyone,

I've arranged for my flight to Fredericton, allowing for an extra

day, May 31, to take part in the null working conference.  I hope

it's a day when the participants can provide one another with

feedback on work-in-progress, work-in-progress of whatever kind.

We did that last year and I found it extremely useful.

To be honest, spending the day asking ourselves questions such as

'what constitutes research in Writing Studies?' and 'what kind of

relationship should Writing Studies have with the field of null/ null' would be, for me, a total waste of time.  I have no interest

in these questions, personally, and I certainly don't see people in

the larger field of Writing Studies posing them either.

While I intend to participate on May 31, I won't be paying $40 to

become a member of null at this point.  I want to know what kind of

organization a resurrected null organization/conference will be

before I consider joining. To me, the idea of having people buy a

membership before there's at least some shared notion of what a new

null would look like is way premature.  I realize I won't be able

to attend the null during the conference, but as you might guess

what what I've said, that's something I can live with.

When I read what I've just written above, I can see that it's

pretty salty in conveying my personal views with little regard for

listserv decorum. I think I would have to attribute this to

watching my beloved Purdue Boilermakers lose to Iowa this afternoon

and blow a chance for a shared Big Ten championship.

Graham

----- Original Message -----

From: Doug Brent

<[log in to unmask]><javascript:main.compose('new',[log in to unmask] ')>

Date: Monday, February 14, 2011 5:39 pm

Subject: Re: Inkshed conference this year

To: [log in to unmask]<javascript:main.compose('new',[log in to unmask] ')>

Hi Roger,

I intend to be there. It`s too early for me to have formulated

definite thoughts on what should be on the agenda, but certainly

an AGM to settle some of the thorny issues should be on it --

perhaps as the first order of business.. If we put it last, we may

lose any remote semblance of quorum.

Doug

On 09/02/2011 1:22 PM, Roger Graves wrote:

We're in the beginning stages of planning this year's Inkshed

meeting in Fredericton, NB on May 31, the day after the CASDW

(Canadian Association for the Study of Discourse and Writing) ends,

and we'd like to invite Inkshed members, former members, and others

interested in issues related to research and teaching writing in

Canadian contexts to attend.

Registration

To register, email me at [log in to unmask]<[log in to unmask])  ">https://webmail.carleton.ca/uwc/webmail/java_script:main.compose('new',[log in to unmask])  >. I'll create an email list of those who are interested in

attending and we'll go from there. Registration is free to

members; non-members are welcome and whatever fee we ultimately

charge will only be to cover food costs for lunch and coffee.

Program

The initial plan will be to follow the format of last year's one- day conference. Sixteen people attended, and the program emerged

from email discussions held amongst those who planned to attend.

This was a "working conference": the focus was on discussion and

exchange, with presentations used sparingly and as a way to prompt

discussion. This year we also have ideas that were proposed at

last year's meeting:

*   > > What counts as research/Scholarship: Session at next

conference people presenting the theoretical perspective for looking

at this—statement from CASLL, CASDW, and CWCA on “Teaching and

Scholarship in Writing Studies”—audiences: inside Writing Studies

plus administrators, committees in other disciplines that Writing

Studies work in: Intellectually rigorous, theoretically-based, inter- disciplinary, Canadian context;

EAL/ESL relationship to Writing Studies: a discussion

Another topic exchange/development discussion for research projects

that participants are working on. Last year at least three of the

projects discussed at this meeting were submitted for SSHRC

Standard Research Grants and the PIs found the session useful to

them as they developed their proposals

These are, of course, only ideas and those who indicate an

interest in attending this year's conference will ultimately

decide what we spend our time working on.

The CASLL AGM

Action items identified at the end of last year's meeting included

the following:

*   > > Future of the Inkshed (online discussion began and will

culminate in CASLL AGM meeting at this conference)

*   Do it again next year in this format (this message starts that

process)

*   Keep the google group private; put a link on the Inkshed website

(did keep it private; no link put up)

*   Contact Russ to move it or take it over (we have established a

site called inkshed.ca that is independent of a university and

copied the files to that site)

*   Contact Patricia G-P re. budget (budget account has been

transferred to Brock MacDonald; new memberships have been solicited;

the Board will be elected at the AGM).

We'll schedule the AGM during the day sometime--it will be up to

the conference participants to decide exactly when. Only members

will be allowed to attend that session, however.

Membership

To become a member, please send $40 membership dues f($20 for grad

students) to Brock MacDonald at the address below.  Make your

check out to CASLL, or in full, the Canadian Association for the

Study of Language and Learning.

W. Brock MacDonald

Director, Academic Writing Centre

Woodsworth College, University of Toronto

119 St. George Street

Toronto, ON   M5S-1A9

I look forward to hearing from you and seeing you in New Brunswick.

Roger

Roger Graves

Director, Writing Across the Curriculum

[log in to unmask]<[log in to unmask])  ">https://webmail.carleton.ca/uwc/webmail/java_script:main.compose('new',[log in to unmask])  >

MailScanner has detected definite fraud in the website at "www.ualberta.ca ". Do not trust this website: http://www.ualberta.ca/~graves1/<http://www.ualberta.ca/~graves1/ >

780.492.2169

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command to [log in to unmask]<[log in to unmask])  ">https://webmail.carleton.ca/uwc/webmail/java_script:main.compose('new',[log in to unmask])  > or, if you experience difficulties, write to Russ Hunt at [log in to unmask] <[log in to unmask])  ">https://webmail.carleton.ca/uwc/webmail/java_script:main.compose('new',[log in to unmask])  >

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--

Dr. Doug Brent

Social Sciences 312

University of Calgary

Department of Communication and Culture

2500 University Drive N.W.

Calgary, Alberta, Canada T2N 1N4

Voice: (403) 220-5458 Fax: (403) 210-8138

http://www.ucalgary.ca/~dabrent<http://www.ucalgary.ca/~dabrent>

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command to [log in to unmask]<javascript:main.compose('new',[log in to unmask] ')> or, if you experience difficulties, write to Russ Hunt at [log in to unmask] <javascript:main.compose('new',[log in to unmask]')>

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-------------------------------

Graham Smart

Associate Professor

Carleton University

School of Linguistics &

 Language Studies

215 Paterson Hall

1125 Colonel By Drive

Ottawa, Ontario

Canada K1S 5B6

------------------------------

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command to [log in to unmask]<javascript:main.compose('new',[log in to unmask] ')> or, if you experience difficulties, write to Russ Hunt at [log in to unmask] <javascript:main.compose('new',[log in to unmask]')>

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--

Dr. Doug Brent

Social Sciences 312

University of Calgary

Department of Communication and Culture

2500 University Drive N.W.

Calgary, Alberta, Canada T2N 1N4

Voice: (403) 220-5458 Fax: (403) 210-8138

http://www.ucalgary.ca/~dabrent<http://www.ucalgary.ca/~dabrent>

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command to [log in to unmask] or, if you experience difficulties,

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To view or search the list archives, go to https://listserv.utoronto.ca/cgi-bin/wa?A0=CASLL-L  -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

-------------------------------

Graham Smart

Associate Professor

Carleton University

School of Linguistics &

 Language Studies

215 Paterson Hall

1125 Colonel By Drive

Ottawa, Ontario

Canada K1S 5B6

------------------------------

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command to [log in to unmask] or, if you experience difficulties,

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M. Elizabeth (Betsy) Sargent
Director of Writing Initiatives and
Interim Director, Writing Studies (OIS)
Professor, Department of English and Film Studies
University of Alberta
Edmonton, AB  T6G 2E5

(780) 492-0457 (office)
Humanities Centre 3-79
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"You've got to jump off cliffs all the time and build your wings on the way down."
--Ray Bradbury

 
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