BY-LAWS OF THE DOCUMENTARY DIVISION
OF THE BROADCAST EDUCATION ASSOCIATION
Approved April 22, 2005
Documentary Interest Division Meeting
BEA 50, Las Vegas, NV
*Revised April 28, 2006 by Division Vote
**Revised April 19, 2007 by Division Vote
ARTICLE I – Name:
The name of this division shall be the Documentary Division.
ARTICLE II – Purpose:
The Documentary division focuses on scholarship, teaching, and creation of documentaries, and radio-TV-Internet delivery of documentary audio/video/film. We seek to expand international literature and illuminate genres, methods, creators, and interpretative/analytical approaches to documentary. Our members share an appreciation for methods of teaching and producing documentaries, including exhibition. Our goal is to be an international nexus for media scholars and critics, faculty, and professionals in documentary fields, as well as other associations, festivals, and broadcast organizations that research, produce, and archive documentaries at international, national, regional, and local levels. To this end, the Documentary Division shall provide the following:
1) A forum for:
a. The presentation of peer-reviewed scholarly research
b. The evaluation and exchange of teaching techniques and materials
c. The presentation of juried creative scholarship in the documentary form
2) A means of evaluation of scholarly research and creative scholarship through juried competition.
ARTICLE III – Officers:
The governing body of the Division shall be called the Executive Committee and shall consist of: a chair, a vice-chair for the paper competition, newsletter editor, division website manager, Media Arts Festival coordinator. The chair shall be the senior coordinating officer on the Executive Committee. The normal term for officers is two years.
Section 1 – Chair
The chair shall serve a two-year term. The vice-chair shall succeed the chair after a two-year term. The duties of the chair shall include:
1) Representing the Documentary Division in all BEA convention meetings,
2) Chairing the Business Meeting at the annual BEA convention,
3) Handling Documentary Division business in the interim between BEA conventions,
4) Coordinating with the Media Arts Festival on matters related to Documentary entries and exhibitions,
5) Serving as panel/workshop coordinator, overseeing the Executive Committee’s evaluation and ranking of panel/workshop proposals,
6) Requesting convention panel sessions for the Division interest (business) meeting, the paper competition, the Media Arts Festival competition, as well as other panel/workshop entries as agreed on by the Executive Committee, and
7) Authorizing expenditure of Documentary Division funds.
Section 2 – Vice-Chair
The vice-chair shall be elected to a two-year term. Duties of the vice chair shall include:
1) In absence of or as designated by the chair, representing the Documentary Division in all BEA convention meetings,
2) Assisting the chair during the division interest meeting at the annual BEA convention,
3) Assisting the chair in handling Division business in the interim between BEA conventions,
4) Assisting the chair and the Media Arts Festival coordinator with matters related to documentary entries and exhibitions,
5) Assisting the chair in reviewing and ranking panel/workshop proposals,
6) Handling the annual paper competition. This includes:
(Prior to the annual convention)
- Disseminating information about the paper competition,
b. Recruiting and selecting judges for the competition,
c. Coordinating the judging procedures including preparing judging forms, distributing papers to the judges, and tallying judging forms,
d. Notifying winners and losers of the competition results and providing feedback, as well as notifying the newsletter editor and website manager.
e. * (Rev. 2006)Enforcing professional decorum with regard to the review comments of paper submissions, based on the following standard:The review process is meant to focus on the quality of the scholarship, not the personal opinions of the reviewer or the author.Volunteers reviewing submissions to the BEA Documentary Division paper competition will kindly focus their remarks on a critical review of the evidence, writing, and methodology.Responses that do not rise to this standard will be discarded and when possible an alternate reviewer assigned.
(During the annual convention)
- Chairing the paper competition session in which the winners are acknowledged and present their papers.
7) Reviewing and evaluating panel proposals for the Documentary Division,
8) Assuming the chair’s position at the end of the two-year term.
Section 3 – Newsletter Editor
The newsletter editor shall be elected to a two-year term. The duties of the office shall include:
1) Soliciting, reporting, and writing or editing all copy to go in the newsletter,
2) Preparing, publishing, and distributing the newsletter to Documentary Division members, and
3)The review and evaluation of Division panel/workshop proposals.
Section 4 –Website Manager
The website manager shall be elected to a two-year term. The duties of the office shall include:
1) Writing or editing all materials for the website,
2) Posting Division documents on the website, including mission statement, by-laws, officers, Media Arts Festival rules for the Documentary competition,
3) Hosting the site on the website manager’s university website or other appropriate forum, and
4) Publishing, maintaining, and updating the site in a timely fashion (no fewer than three times per year).
Section 6 – Media Arts Festival Coordinator (of the Documentary Competition)
The Media Arts Festival coordinator shall be elected to a two-year term. The duties of the office shall include:
1) Coordinating the Media Arts Festival—Documentary competition.This includes:
(Prior to the annual convention)
- Preparing rules and guidelines for the documentary competition and submitting them to the chair for review,
b. Coordinating with the Division chair, the BEA Media Arts Festival Chair, and other divisions to ensure consistency with BEA policies regarding the festival,
c. Preparing announcements to solicit entries to the documentary competition,
d. Providing information to the newsletter editor and website manager pertaining to the documentary competition,
e. Disseminating information about the festival competition,
f. Recruiting and selecting judges for the competition, in cooperation with the chair,
g. Establishing judging procedures and criteria, in cooperation with the chair,
h. Coordinating the entry and judging procedures including preparing judging forms, distributing entries to the judges, and tallying judging forms,
i. Notifying winners of the competition results and providing feedback,
j. Notifying the newsletter editor and website manager of winners.
(During the annual convention)
- Chairing the panel session in which the winners are acknowledged and present their entries,
l. Coordinating with the BEA Media Arts Festival Coordinator for the documentary aspects of the festival.
2) Reviewing and evaluating panel/workshop proposals for the Documentary Division.
Section 7 – Procedures for Election of Officers
Only members of the Division are eligible to cast a vote for officers. Nominations will be taken from the Division membership for each vacant position submitted by the time of the Division interest (business) meeting at the annual BEA convention. The current chair will run the election process at the annual meeting. After nominations are closed, the candidate getting the most votes of the Division members who are present and voting will be elected to the office for each vacant position. At the conclusion of the chair’s two-year term, the vice chair moves into the chair’s position.
**(rev. 2007)
1) If an officer cannot complete his or her elected term or assume the designated progression assignment, the following rules will apply:
Chair: If the chair cannot complete the two-year term, the vice-chair will become chair and serve the remainder of the departing chair’s two-year term. At the next annual business meeting, nominations will be accepted for an interim vice-chair and the elected nominee will become vice-chair for the remainder of the original elected term. The interim vice-chair will become the chair at the end of the interim period.
Vice-chair: If the vice-chair cannot assume the duties as chair, the current chair may be nominated or self-nominated to serve one additional year as interim chair and oversee an election for a replacement vice-chair. If the current chair declines the opportunity to serve as interim chair, new elections will be held for both vice-chair and chair, according to terms for officers described previously.
Media Arts Festival Manager, Website Manager, Newsletter Editor: If any of these officers cannot complete their terms, nominations will be accepted at the next BEA convention business meeting for replacements to serve full two-year terms.
ARTICLE IV – Newsletter
The newsletter shall be published at least two times per year. Writing, editing, publishing, and distributing the newsletter shall be the responsibility of the newsletter editor. Publishing and mailing costs of the newsletter shall come from Documentary Division funds. If such funds are insufficient to cover the costs, responsibility for the costs shall be borne equally by the executive committee members.
ARTICLE V – Paper Competitions
The purpose of the paper competition shall be to provide peer review of academic work. The competition shall be open to both members and nonmembers of the BEA. However, all competition winners shall be required to attend the convention as BEA members or forfeit their award. The paper competition shall follow the BEA guidelines, and shall consist of both open and debut categories. The debut competition shall have a $200 award for first place and a $100 award for second place. The open competition shall be available to anyone who would like to submit a paper. There shall be first and second place winners, but no monetary awards. The responsibility for operating the competition shall fall to the vice-chair of the division, but funding for the awards shall come from the BEA. There shall be at least three judges for the competition with the vice-chair making every effort to balance the judges by geographic area. The deadline for entry shall be dictated by the BEA Executive Board. Winners shall be notified by the date specified by the BEA Executive Board.
ARTICLE VI – Division Panels
Panel proposals shall be submitted to the chair during the summer (by the due date determined at the Annual meeting). Both members and nonmembers of the BEA are eligible to submit panel proposals with the understanding that all panel members are planning to attend the BEA annual convention. The chair shall then forward copies of the proposals to the other members of the Executive Committee, and shall coordinate the rank ordering of the proposals. The chair shall then submit the final panels in rank order to the convention coordinator by the date specified by the BEA Executive Board. Upon receipt of the final recommendation of the convention coordinator, the chair shall notify the panel conveners of the decision regarding their proposals.
ARTICLE VII – Media Arts Festival—Documentary
The purpose of the Media Arts Festival—Documentary competition shall be to provide juried review of documentary productions. The competition shall be open to both members and nonmembers of the BEA, including faculty and students. However, all competition winners shall be required to attend the convention as BEA members or forfeit their award. The festival competition shall follow the BEA/Media Arts Festival rules and guidelines. Awards will be given in both faculty and student categories. The responsibility for operating the competition shall fall to the Media Arts Festival Coordinator for the division, but funding for the awards shall come from the BEA. There shall be at least three judges for the competition with the Media Arts Festival coordinator making every effort to balance the judges by geographic area. As part of the entry application, the Media Arts Festival Coordinator for the Division will solicit data to help inform decisions about future changes to festival rules for the documentary competition, such as teaching status (regular/adjunct), budget for documentary (above X$/below X$), size of institution/department, equipment used, and outside support for the production. These data will not be transferred to judges. The deadline for entry shall be dictated by the BEA Executive Board. Winners shall be notified by the date specified by the BEA Executive Board.
The Division chair and Media Arts Festival coordinator will collaborate with the BEA Media Arts Festival Chair to assist in the judging and juried review of documentary submissions related to the mission of BEA. The Division chair and Media Arts Festival coordinator shall meet with the BEA Media Arts Festival Chair at the annual BEA convention to discuss roles and management of the festival in the area of documentary.
ARTICLE VIII
Division Bylaws shall at all times comply with BEA Interest Division Policies and Guidelines, which shall supersede these Bylaws in the event of a conflict.
