Alex Tarquinio presided over her last Society of Professional Journalists board meeting Thursday morning.
The meeting lasted over three hours with the board voting to change various policies including when the board can go into executive session and whether it can accept non-media sponsorships.
Victor Hernandez, Task Force Chair and SPJ at-large board member, gave the presentation which covered much of what they’ve done during phase one to develop a new strategic plan.
This phase included a survey, which found what members thought SPJ is lacking, along with what they wanted to see from the organization.
Hernandez read one of the responses: ‘“I’m not sure what the role is supposed to be, how I’m supposed to connect, and I’m not aware of whatever free speech/journalism/4th estate advocacy is going on.’ — from a female professional radio journalist, 41-50 years of age.”
The timeline outlined by Hernandez said they will present a finalized plan at the April 2020 board meeting.
The policy changes discussed were minor, many revolving around tightening language Mike Hall said.
The SPJ board of directors at the 2019 EIJ conference at J. Alex Tarquinio’s last meeting as president.
They repealed and, in some instances, replaced the policies in question.
The board voted to repeal a 2008 policy on non-media sponsorship.
After Excellence in Journalism 2018, it passed a new policy allowing both media and non-media entities to sponsor sessions and events.
Other policy changes proposed and addressed by the board were minor and involved adding words to clarify meaning Hall said.
All the policy changes were passed.
“Hi everyone, I’m Micheal Drudge and I’m president of the San Antonio Pro chapter. If this is the right forum could you give us an update on the executive director search and where that stands and when that might be completed?” Micheal Drudge said.
The executive director search is being led by Talbott Talent, the presentation was given by Heather Rolinski, director of organizational effectiveness.
Rolinski said the search firm has been working recently on conducting an organizational assessment of SPJ and find out what the organization is looking for in an executive director.
Rolinski said the firm plans to find a new executive director by the end of November and then starting the next director in December.
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