[Reading-hall-of-fame] greetings and thank you

[Jay Samuels]

I think a column would be useful but I propose that the column represent a
broad spectrum of viewpoints rather than the opinions of the one individual
who happens to be the President of the Hall of Fame. Jay Samuels. 

-----Original Message-----
From: reading-hall-of-fame-bounces at lists.nottingham.ac.uk
[mailto:reading-hall-of-fame-bounces at lists.nottingham.ac.uk] On Behalf Of
jim hoffman
Sent: Wednesday, May 09, 2007 1:16 PM
To: reading-hall-of-fame at lists.nottingham.ac.uk
Subject: [Reading-hall-of-fame] greetings and thank you

Thank you for your support in electing me to serve as President of the
Reading Hall of Fame.  Due to a conflict with a project in South Africa I
will not be attending the IRA conference this year in Toronto.  I have been
in contact with Rob regarding agenda for our meeting, but I thought I would
write directly concnerning a couple of issues that are ahead for our group.

Let me begin by offfering congratulations to our recently elected
colleagues. We look forward to your active participation in the
organization.

There seems to be a general consensus within the RHF to become even more
active in trying to shape policy (both within the profession and on the
political front). The recent symposia sponsored by the ROH refect this
strong interest.

I have made a proposal to IRA for a regular column in Reading Today that
would be used by the RHF to communicate our position on important issues
facing the profession. Alan is in consultation and considering the proposal
.  I have proposed a trial year to begin in the Spring or Fall of 08. IRA
would evaluate the effectiveness and contribution of the column at the end
of the first year to make a long term determination.

Reading Today reaches a broad audience and offers a fairly "rapid response"
forum for important ideas. It seems to offer the perfect match for our
'expertise'/perspective (within the ROH) and the needs within the
profession.

If IRA responds positively to this proposal I would convine a small group to
prepare a proposal for a process to prepare these columns. 
We would come back to the full HOF membership for approval on the process.

I don't want this to sound too large-scale or ambitious (we would be on a
much much smaller scale) but I would envision a process something along the
lines of what the national academy does with topical issues.  We use a
census process to identify and prioritize topics to write about; we put
writing teams together, we circulate for approval and we publish.

As soon as I hear more from Alan I will update you . .  . but in the
meantime, you are welcome to post comments.

I hope that someone will volunteer to take the lead on a session for next
year.

And finally,  we need someone to take on the role of "historian" for the
group . . volunteers?  It's not an elected position so I will just invite
the first person to respon to this message.

Hope all is well and enjoy Toronto.

jim
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