Religious Studies News

The Board of Directors took several important actions during its meeting during the 2010 Annual Meeting in Atlanta.

The Board approved two motions regarding the new bylaws to be presented at the Annual Business Meeting: 1) Candidates for the transitional 2011 Board of Directors and Committees of the Board were approved; and 2) The procedures for staffing the Graduate Student, Regions, and Program Committees were finalized.

In recent years, scholarships for the Annual Meeting have been provided to support racial and ethnic minority graduate student members who presented at the meetings. At the request of the Status of Racial and Ethnic Minorities in the Profession Committee, the Board elected to continue this program into the future. 

The Board took several actions regarding the AAR’s financial investments. The Board directed the Finance Committee to draft a policy on socially responsible investments. The Board discussed our investment bank’s “Statement of Investment Policy, Objectives, and Guidelines,” adopted a “General Endowment Spending Policy” and a “General Unrestricted Investment Spending Policy,” and approved the audit. The Board also changed some funds from designated to undesignated status and set aside funds for the AAR’s technology initiatives.

The Religion and the Schools Task Force recently completed its work. The Board decided to locate continuing discussions of religion and the schools in the Public Understanding of Religion Committee.

The Board revised the criteria and prize amounts for AAR’s Best In-Depth Reporting on Religion Journalism Awards, and approved the recommendation of the Teaching and Learning Committee that Professor Katie Cannon be awarded the 2011 Excellence in Teaching Award.