FUNDS AND AWARDS OF THE SOCIETY
Funds of the Society
NOTE: A restricted fund can be used only
for specifically defined expenditures of the Society.
An unrestricted fund can be used for any expenditures of the Society.
The Society currently maintains the following funds:
General Fund
Life Membership Fund
Discretionary Fund
Student Travel Endowment Fund
RILM
Irving Lowens Memorial Fund
Sight and Sound Fund
H. Earle Johnson Bequest
Conference Fund
Wiley Housewright Dissertation Fund
1. FO1
General Fund (Unrestricted)
Sources: membership dues;
Unrestricted gifts to the Society and interest from Society accounts.
Applied to: all expenses not covered by other funds
2. F02 Life
Membership Fund (Restricted)
Source: Life membership endowment
Applied to: The principal is not expended. Interest is used for the subvention
of the costs of memberships of Life Members in the Society - it should
be transferred to the General Fund as needed to support the expenses of
the Society.
3.
F03 Discretionary Fund (Restricted)
Sources: 5% of the projected annual income is set aside for this fund.
Applied to: Funds remaining in the Discretionary Fund after the budgeting
process will be controlled by the Finance Committee to be used for the
payment of incidental expenses that arise after the budgeting process.
4. F04 Student Travel Endowment Fund (Unrestricted)
a. Date and circumstance of inception: This fund was established by the Board in 1988.
b. Source of monies: Gifts are solicited during membership renewal. The proceeds of the Silent Auction are also put into this fund. They are acknowledged by the Executive Director, the Development Committee, and the Student Forum.
c. Purpose of fund: The goal of this fund is to increase the participation of students in the full experience of the annual conferences by reducing the cost to them.
d. How expended: The Student Forum Liaison, a member of the Board, is empowered to expend the money in this fund to support student travel to the annual conference. The names of awardees are not publicized. Requests for other funds for Student activities are submitted to the Finance Committee.
a. Date and circumstance of inception: This fund was established by the Board in 1988.
b. Source of monies: Gifts are solicited in the annual fund raising mailing. They are acknowledged by the Executive Director and the Development Committee.
c. Purpose of fund: This fund is maintained to bring the needs of US-RILM to the attention of the membership and to serve as a collection point for contributions from members of the Society.
d. How expended: The full amount collected each year is added to the amount allotted by the Board from general operating revenues, and the total is sent to the US-RILM office.??
6. F06 Irving Lowens Memorial Fund (Restricted)
a. Date and circumstance of inception: The award was established by The Sonneck Society, now the Society for American Music, in 1983 in recognition of Irving Lowens's devoted service to the Society and the cause of American music. It was first given in 1985, for works published in 1983.
b. Source of monies: Fund includes a memorial endowment plus interest, as well as gifts received from members and others who wish to honor Irving Lowens's memory. Gifts are acknowledged by the Executive Director and a list of contributors is sent annually to Lowen's widow, Margery Morgan Lowens.
c. Purpose: The fund is restricted to an annual cash award and relevant costs.
d. How expended: A committee appointed by president reviews all relevant works issued during the year assigned; recommends one or no recipient to the Board; and prepares the text of the citation to be printed on a certificate. The citation will be presented at a public ceremony and published in the Bulletin.
e. Budget: The amount of the award is determined by the Board, with advice of the treasurer and the committee. The current amount is $200.
7. F07 Sight
and Sound Fund (Unrestricted)
[Originally Non-Print Publications Fund. Re-named 2004]
a. Date and circumstance of inception: This fund was established in 1976 by the Board.
b. Source of monies: Funds are received as contributions from members and others and as royalties from Society publications.
c. Purpose of fund: This fund is restricted to the subvention of non-print publications relevant to the mission of the Society.
d. How expended: Requests for subvention are made to the Sight and Sound committee. The Board acts on recommendations from that committee. Publications receiving subventions will carry the following notice: "Published with the support of the Society for American Music."??
e. Budget: 4.5% of the total amount in the Fund at the previous year's annual statement is available for use in any given year. The total amount of all grants, including committee expenses must not exceed this amount, and any unspent funds are returned to the fund as principal
8. F08 H. Earle Johnson Fund (Restricted)
a. Date and circumstance of inception: This fund was established in 1989 by a bequest to The Sonneck Society, now the Society for American Music, from the estate of H. Earle Johnson.
b. Source of monies: The bequest is held as principal in a dedicated fund, invested to assure the highest yield.
c. Purpose of fund: Interest earned on the principal is to be used for the subvention of publications in American music studies.
d. How expended: Requests for subvention are made to the Book Publication Subvention Committee. The Board acts on recommendations of specific grants and individual amounts from that committee. Publications receiving subventions will carry the following notice: "Published with the support of the H. Earle Johnson Fund of the Society for American Music."
e. Budget: 4.5% of the total amount in the Johnson Fund of the previous year's annual statement is available for use in any given year. The total amount of all grants, including committee expenses, must not exceed this amount, and any unspent funds are returned to the fund as principal.
9. F09 Conference Fund (Restricted)
a. Source of monies: This fund includes all conference registration fees; conference exhibitor fees, and all other conference income less annual conference expenses.
b. How expended: All expenses relative to the annual conference are paid from this fund, including travel expenses for the Program Committee.
10. F10 Wiley Housewright Dissertation Award (Restricted)
a. Date and circumstance of inception: This fund was established by the Board in October, 1995. It was renamed for Wiley Housewright in 2000.
b. Source of monies: Gifts are solicited in an annual fund raising mailing.
c. Purpose of fund: The goal of this fund is to encourage quality research in American music.
d. How expended: This prize is given to the single most significant dissertation in terms of depth, clarity, significance, and overall contribution to the field. The dissertation should be on a subject within the Society's definition of American music. One prize is given annually at the Business meeting during the Annual Conference.
Awards of the Society
1. Irving Lowens Award
a. Type and purpose
(a) The Irving Lowens Memorial Fund Award for Best Book
An annual award given for the best book in American music published in
a given year.
(b) The Irving Lowens Memorial Fund Award for Best Article
An annual award given for the best article in American music published
in a journal, anthology, festschrift or periodical in a given year.
2. Wiley Housewright Dissertation Award
An annual prize given for the single most significant dissertation in
terms of depth, clarity, significance, and overall contribution to the
field of American music. While there is only one funded award, the subcommittee
may recommend up to three finalists.
3. Mark Tucker Award
An annual prize given to a student for an outstanding paper presented
at a conference. Students will submit their papers to the committee one
month prior to the conference.
2) Procedures
In consultation with the president, the chair of the committee designates
three subcommittee chairs, one for each award. The subcommittee chair,
with the approval of the president, then appoints four other members.
These subcommittees should be formed in January and serve for a specific
award year. The chairs should ensure that their subcommittees consist
of individuals with experience appropriate to the award. To avoid any
suggestion of conflict of interest, no person whose own work is eligible
for an award, or has served as the advisor for an eligible dissertation,
should be appointed to serve. Should a member unexpectedly find a conflict
of interest due to early or late publication of his/her work, s/he should
resign from the subcommittee. Ideally, these subcommittees should be appointed
at the beginning of the year in which their candidates are being published
so the members can stay abreast of new releases and write for complimentary
copies of potential awardees.
The Honors Committee will issue an annual call for nominations for each
award in the Bulletin. Self-nominations are acceptable. Candidates
for the dissertation award are asked to submit an abstract, the table
of contents, a significant chapter, and a cover letter outlining the major
contribution of the work. Finalists will be asked to send one copy of
the complete dissertation, as deposited, to be read in turn by subcommittee
members.
The deadline for application for these awards shall be 15 February.
Once the year is ended, each subcommittee has nine months to review all candidates and select its awardee. The chair shall submit the subcommittee's recommendation to the chair of the Honors Committee by August 1, so that the latter may make a report to the Board at its fall meeting. Each recommendation should include a paragraph supporting the selection, a rationale for the committee's decision, the actual citation to be read at the award ceremony, and the addresses of the author(s) and publishers. The award is given the following spring (i.e., a work published in 1997 would be recommended to the Board in the fall of 1998 and receive the award in the spring of 1999).
3) Guidelines for selection
These awards are made for works that make outstanding contributions to
American music studies. "American" is understood to embrace
North America, Central America, and the Carribean, and aspects of its
culture elsewhere in the world. Works written in a language other than
English are eligible for consideration, but must include an English translation
of the complete article or a significant chapter of a book or dissertation.
Factors to be considered include contributions to under-represented areas
of interest, stimulating dialogue on controversial issues, long lasting
scholarly value, or setting new standards for the field. Bibliographical
works, thematic catalogues, and other works of reference are normally
excluded. Nominees need not be members of the Society.
Articles should have sufficient scope to supplement substantially or revise
previous knowledge about American music. The thesis should be well documented
and supported by strong arguments, and should be written in an appropriate
style. No explicit size or coverage is required, but the article should
convey the impression of important research and thinking. Articles may
appear in refereed journals, festschrifts, as essays in book-length anthologies,
or as essays accompanying scholarly editions.
4) Notifications, certificates, and public citations
The president notifies the recipients and publishers (or dissertation
advisor) of the awardees after the fall Board meeting. The author is encouraged
to attend the annual meeting (at his/her expense) to receive the award
in person. The publisher is invited to send a representative to attend
the award ceremony (at his/her expense) to receive a copy of the award
certificate and encouraged to exhibit at the conference at which the award
will be given. The chair of the Book Award committee thanks all publishers
whose books were submitted for consideration.
The winner of the Housewright Dissertation Award will be given free registration
for the conference at which the award is announced.