Annual Reports
AGM April 2013
The SLAS President's Report is attached here [PDF]. Highlights include:
- Consideration of the issue of Open Access:
- All RCUK grant holders must make their work open access.
- The need to scrutinized Wiley/Blackwell's new conventions and copyright agreements.
- The threat to BLAR that open access poses in restricting the pool of prospective authors: e.g. the $3000 publication fee under the 'Gold' standard of publication effectively shutting the door on Latin American colleagues being able to contribute.
- The threat to SLAS itself: 88% of SLAS's current income is derived from sales of BLAR via libraries.
- The difficulty of predicting the impact of any of the Open Access scenarios on SLAS's financial wellbeing.
- The possible loss of SLAS's grant schemes and other activities in light of the changes Open Access is likely to impose on us.
- SLAS's current responses to Open Access and maintaining SLAS as a financially viable society:
- We have worked with colleagues, joining the chorus of discussion and criticism being generated by larger Learned Societies, the British Academy and UKCASA.
- We have developed a co-ordinated approach between the SLAS and BLAR teams.
- We have set up a rolling working group that is tasked with both monitoring progress and movement with Open Access, and with considering alternative ways of generating income and developing a different business model.
- The need to maintain the essence of what has made SLAS a sucess: its collegiality.
- The 2013 Manchester Annual Conference
- The 2014 Annual Conference, which will mark the 50th anniversary of SLAS!
- BLAR is moving from stregth to stregth.
- Co-ordinating Editor, David Howard who is leaving the BLAR team after 5 years of sterling service.
- Lucy Taylor's final year as President of SLAS.
The Treasurers’ report is available here [PDF].
SLAS Elections: results to be announced.
AGM April 2012
The SLAS President’s Report is attached here [PDF]. Highlights include:
- SLAS Annual Lecture will be given in the autumn at the University of Oxford (further information to come).
- The 2011 Annual Lecture was very sucessful. Given by John Hollway at the University of Glasgow, he spoke about the global contribution of Zapatista politics. A recording of the lecure is available on Vimeo, here [new window].
- BLAR celebrated it's 30th issue in 2011. This was commemorated by creating a 'virtual' issue that featured six ground-breaking articles drawn from all its previous editions, and a special lecture given by James Dunkerley at the University of Oxford, entitled “Where is Carlos Montevar?”.
- SLAS's furthered its links to the wider academic community this year, with the SLAS President participating in a series of REF-related meetings linked to UKCASA, (the coordinating committee of area studies associations). Through these meetings the membership’s concerns about comparability and equality of treatment between panels, and the difficult issue of impact were raised. The President also participated in the Standing Conference, (which draws together Heads of Latin American Studies Centres), where ways in which to raise the profile of Latin American Studies in the UK academic arena were discussed.
- PILAS [new window], the postgraduate branch of SLAS, ran a series of well attended and intellectually important events, starting with the PILAS conference which took place in Cambridge in June 2011. The PILAS conference gathered over 150 postgraduates working on Latin American issues in the UK to a packed programme of panels and keynote speeches from Peter Wade and Geoffrey Kantaris.
- Adrian Pearce is standing down as SLAS Secretary after eight years. The President and the committee extended their thanks and gratitude for his work and commitment to SLAS during his tenure.
The Treasurers’ report is attached here [PDF]. Highlights include:
- SLAS remains in good financial health. Expenditure has increased, but so has income. The financial surplus remains the same as of two years ago.
- Committee expenses increased over that in 2010, reflecting both high levels of attendance and the high costs for some of travel to the various locations.
- With the end of the JISLAC scheme for the award of post-doctoral travel awards, SLAS budgeted £2,000 of additional awards of up to £1,000 in 2011. Only four applications were received, and a total of £2,600 was allocated to three of them. In view of the relatively low demand, should SLAS income remain flat in 2012, the provision of these awards will be revisited.
- Nine postgraduate members of the Society received awards to assist with the costs of presenting papers at overseas conferences, and 23 received awards towards the costs of fieldwork in Latin America. Together, the awards made to postgraduates, plus the grant to PILAS (see below) totalled £23,330.
- PILAS (Postgraduates in Latin American Studies) held a very successful Conference in Cambridge, supported by a grant of £3,000 for its activities.
- Bank interest remained low, down a bit from the previous year. It will increase substantially, however, in 2012, in the light of the Committee’s decision to increase its deposit with Triodos Bank.
- The proportion of income for SLAS comming from Wiley-Blackwell, increased from 88% to 91%. This is a more modest pace than in previous years.
SLAS Elections
The following members stood for posts available on the SLAS Committee, to serve the terms 2011-2013:
- President: Lucy Taylor (Aberystwyth)
- Vice-President: Manuel Barcia (Leeds), Jens Hentschke (Newcastle), Caroline Williams (Bristol)
- Secretary: None
- Ordinary Members: Sarah Bowskill (Swansea), Victoria Carpenter (Derby)
As a result, Lucy Taylor is elected as President, and Sarah Bowskill and Victoria Carpenter as Ordinary Members of the Committee (with one vacancy).
Contested elections were held for the post of Vice-President, and Caroline Williams was elected to this post.
No members stood for the post of Secretary, but the current Secretary, Adrian Pearce (King's College London), has agreed to be co-opted back as Secretary for one year, until new elections in 2012.
The Committee thanks all those who for posts or took part in the Society’s elections this year.
The Committee also extends special thanks to two members leaving the Committee this year. Peter Lambert leaves after no fewer than twelve years’ service, as an Ordinary Member, President, and Vice-President, and having made a really outstanding contribution to SLAS over this long period. Polly Wilding also leaves after a two-year stint as an Ordinary Member, and having co-organised the 2009 Leeds conference.