MINUTES
Meeting of the Board of Directors
Mountain Plains Management Association (MPMA)
October 10, 2012
As Amended by the Board December 13, 2012
The 2012 meeting of the Mountain Plains Management Association’s Board of Directors was
call to order at the Alley Rose restaurant in Kearney Nebraska by Board President David
Summers at 6:00 p.m. at the board retreat hosted by the University of Nebraska at Kearney.
Board members in attendance:
Larry Carstenson (University of Nebraska at Kearney), James Frost (Idaho State University), Suzanne
Lay (Colorado Mesa University), Casimir (Casey) Barczyk (Purdue University Calumet) and David
Summers (University of Houston-Victoria). Absent: Ed Harris (Weber State University)
Conference Officers in attendance:
Geoff Gurka (Colorado Mesa University) – Past Conference Chair
Kay Hodge (University of Nebraska at Kearney) – Conference Chair
Alan Hamlin (Southern Utah University) – Future Conference Chair
Item:
1) David Summers welcomed all to the MPMA Board of Directors Meeting and thanked the
University of Nebraska at Kearney for their hospitality in providing the board retreat and
hosting the 2012 conference.
2) The minutes of the October 6, 2011 Board of Directors meeting were approved without
amendment or correction.
3) The board of directors accepted the nominating committee report from committee chair
Casey Barczyk nominating Casey Barczyk (Purdue University Calumet) and Srivatsa Seshadri
(University of Nebraska at Kearney) to replace the two directors with expiring board terms,
Casey Barczyk and James Frost (Idaho State University). If elected by the membership,
Casey would serve another three-year term. The board voted to present the committee’s
slate of suggested board members to the MPMA membership for their consideration.
Thanks was given to the nominating committee consisting of Suzanne Lay, Larry Carstenson,
and Casey Barczyk for their work
4) A report prepared by David Tufte (Southern Utah University), editor of the Mountain
Plains Journal of Business and Economics, was presented to the board of directors. The
journal had a slow year with 5 submissions and 3 papers published. The multi-year
rolling average acceptance rate is about 44% and is within the 30% to 50% target range.
Dr. Tufte reported that progress had been made for shorter review times. This was in
response to a 2011 board of directors concern about the length of time for paper
review. The board appreciates all the work that Dr. Tufte does as journal editor.
5) Kay Hodge presented an update for the 2012 conference. She reported that there were
sixty registered for the conference and the conference would make a little money for
the conference.
6) Alan Hamlin made a report about the upcoming 2013 conference at Southern Utah
University. He reported that plans were well underway and the conference was
scheduled for October 16, 17, and 18. This is a week later than normal, but was
necessary because of conference center scheduling conflicts and fall break. He also had
a call for papers to present to the membership at the annual membership meeting.
7) The board elected Larry Carstenson (University of Nebraska at Kearney) as President of
the Board of Directors for 2013.
8) Old business: At the 2011 board meeting, Dr. Alan Hamlin expressed concern about the
future of the Mountain Plains Management Association and the annual conference.
There was a vote to table any extensive discussion until the 2012 board meeting. In
response, the University of Nebraska at Kearny proposed and hosted a board retreat
(during the 2012 annual board meeting) where an open and frank discussion took place
concerning Dr. Hamlin’s concerns.
Three major concerns were on the retreat agenda:
1) How to increase the attendance and number of schools participating in the
conference.
2) How to encourage other schools to host and become involved in the annual
conference.
3) How to make sure the association and annual conferences remain financially viable.
Discussions were broad and helpful. Finally, it was decided that there is much to be
done and it needed to be done in increments. Therefore, another retreat was proposed
for next year.
Actions to take now: Two committees were formed. One was to address clarifying the
vision for the association and conference. The other was to consider name changes to
the association, conference, or both. A general charge was made to the name change
committee to select a name that would reflect the national scope of the association and
conference and reflect the multi-discipline approach to the conference. Each group was
given a few weeks to formulate suggestions and report back to the board.
9) New business: The board discussed the need to raise the conference fee. The current
conference fee is $200 for normal registration and $225 for late registration. After
discussion of the financial outlook for future conferences, a motion was made to
increase the conference fee to $250 for normal registration and $275 late registration
and to hold that level for at least three years. The motion passed.
10) David Summers adjourned the meeting about 9:00 p.m.
Submitted by,
David Summers, President of MPMA Board of Directors