Category Archives: From The Board

Statement on State-Sanctioned Violence Against Black Communities in the United States

June 2, 2020 2:36 PM ,

We, the community of the National Association for Chicana and Chicano Studies (NACCS), ever attentive to our historical lineage, are compelled to respond to currently transpiring events in the United States and across the world.

As Chicanx/as/os and Latinx/as/os, we stand today arm in arm with Black peoples and communities against police violence and against state, federal and local governments that condone and legitimize the brutal police treatment of people of color. We refuse to stand by and see our Black and Brown familia treated like criminals and victimized by state violence year after year, month after month, day after day. The true criminal element here is the unrestrained power of police forces that consistently get away with murder over and over again, as prosecutors look the other way and politicians make excuses.

We are outraged by the most recent attacks on Black people in the United States: the murder of George Floyd, the murder of Breonna Taylor, the murder of Ahmaud Arbery, all of whom tragically join a much longer list of the hundreds of Black people assassinated by agents of the state. Similarly, the shocking police violence against peaceful protesters and journalists this week in cities across the United States weighs on us heavily.

To live in this brutal, violent nation is to confront on a daily basis an awful truth: its constant and historical debasement of human life, especially Black life. This has been long known to many of us, especially those whose expertise directs us to critically analyze these issues in the course of our research and teaching. Our hope is that from the trauma on the streets of Minneapolis and in cities around the country, a different perspective will emerge, and that the United States will enter into deep conversations of racial citizenship, institutional responsibilities, social and cultural relationships, continuing discrimination, and demand equity.

Tied as NACCS is to the Chicano Movement of the 1960s, and linked as that movement has been to the activism of Black Power, we inform the Black community and its allies of our solidarity with your grievances and your historic and contemporary resistance to the forces of white supremacy. Our solidarity is rooted in the general calls for support by members of the Black community, as it is by the pain of “Gringo Justice,” about which we are only too intimately aware. We will continue to struggle to pursue tangible justice-oriented solutions with you, and roundly condemn the state-sponsored violence against Black peoples in the United States, and social and economic violence that breeds it.

Black Lives Matter.

The Board and Membership of the National Association for Chicana and Chicano Studies

(with writing from José Prado, Rosaura Sanchez, Aureliano DeSoto, and Karleen Pendleton Jiménez)

Posted in: From the Board

NACCS – Statement on the Climate Crisis

October 29, 2019 8:45 AM ,

The NACCS board believes it is important to have our voice as part of the global movement against climate chaos, and we have asked NACCS environmental scholars Dr. Devon Peña and Dr. Gabriel Valle to compose the following statement:

The climate change crisis is affecting all living organisms and ecosystems on the planet but the enduring effects of decades of environmental racism are resulting in disparate impacts. Black, Indigenous, and other People of Color (BIPOC), including Chicanx/Latinx populations, are already suffering major deleterious effects from this global process of environmental violence. It is important to understand first of all that climate chaos is not simply driven by anthropogenic (human-caused) forces but by the type of ravenous destruction of the planet’s life support systems of the global capitalist economy. The combination of extreme heat and cold weather events illustrates for us how so-called “global warming” and even “climate change” are inadequate terms to describe what is occurring and that the concept of climate chaos illustrates how the entire climate system is characterized by unpredictable disruptions with cumulative effects that scientists are only now recognizing and understanding. It is also important to understand how the effects of climate chaos are destroying ecological systems that we depend on to produce our food, medicine, clothing, and shelter. Climate chaos destroys the natural conditions of material cultures.

We are facing a crisis in which Native communities from the Arctic to the Andes and the Pacific Rim island nations are already being devastated by the chaos of climate change. We are facing a crisis in which BIPOC and low income persons are already being killed or displaced by the effects of climate change.

The evidence of disparate impacts must be weighed when we consider what our policy and political needs are in light of these devastating processes:

1. Urban heat islands. Research confirms that African Americans are 52% more likely than whites to live in “urban heat islands” (UHIs) defined as microclimates that can get an extra 5 to 10 degrees hotter during heat waves. Asian Americans are 32% more likely and Latinxs are 21% more likely to live in UHIs. In the Phoenix area, the mostly Native American neighborhood of Guadalupe suffered more than a dozen deaths during the summer heat wave of 2017 which led to 155 people dying. That set a record for the state of Arizona, passing the 2016 total of 150. Most of these deaths involve BIPOC communities. These differences are results of the longstanding shameful practice of residential segregation and a lack of open green spaces and tree cover in these segregated neighborhoods.

2. Extreme Cold Weather Mortality and Illness. Beyond the effects of heat waves, BIPOC populations are also suffering higher rates of mortality and illness as a result of extreme cold weather events affecting urban low-income barrios and rural communities including reservations.

3. Farm and other natural resource workers. There are 2.5-3 million farmworkers in the United States. Of these 80% are Latinx and more than half of these are Mexican-origin workers an increasing number of whom are Native Mesoamericans. Between 2000 and 2010, 359 occupational heat-related deaths were identified in the U.S., for a yearly average fatality rate of 0.22 per 1 million workers. Highest rates were found among Latinx males in the agriculture and construction industries. Farm and construction workers accounted for nearly 58 percent of occupational heat deaths from 2000 to 2010, and Latinxs had three times the risk of heat-related death on the job than did non-Latinxs.[1]

4. Climate refugees (Central America, Mexico). The so-called “Dirty Wars” and decades of neoliberal “Shock Doctrine” (including NAFTA) initiated a set of violent forces that – combined with severe drought and climate change impacts – have led to a mass forced migration of mostly Indigenous populations. These are the same populations that are being dehumanized and terrorized by US border and immigration control forces that are separating families and placing their children in cages.

5. Displacement of ‘cultures of habitat’. Indigenous peoples are recognized for their deep traditions of resilient inhabitation of ancestral territories and are renowned for providing ecosystem services to the Earth. This is why ethnoecologists the world over have long defended “ecosystem peoples” or “cultures of habitat” and their resilient and regenerative livelihood traditions and practices.[2] The same corporate and settler colonial nation state agencies that are underlying forces of climate chaos are actively engaged in the forced relocation of Indigenous communities. In the Southwest, Native American/Chicanx acequias communities are facing the prospect of extinction and displacement due to declining mountain snowpack that serves as the water source for these celebrated community irrigation systems.[3] The cultural landscape and ecological services of the acequia systems are being damaged by the effects of drought, past and ongoing deforestation, and extreme fluctuations in weather patterns. In Alaska, the Iñupiat village of Kivalina is being relocated due to rising sea levels and it is only one of many dozens of such Arctic communities directly affected by climate chaos.

6. Food system and food sovereignty impacts. BIPOC communities are already disproportionately affected by hunger and malnutrition. A USDA study of so-called “food insecurity” demonstrates that Mexican immigrant children suffer the highest rates of hunger and malnutrition in the U.S. BIPOC communities have long faced death by “nutricide” and are already increasing experiencing the loss of traditional foods, foodways, and heritage cuisines and of the agroecosystems and land and waterscapes that support our direct livelihood traditions and food cultures. Climate chaos is intensifying these deleterious losses of heritage cuisine, and traditional foodways and undermining our agroecosystems and our access to traditional hunting, foraging, and fishing areas.

7. Air Quality. In 1987, the Commission for Racial Justice at the United Church of Christ released the groundbreaking report, Toxic Waste and Race in the United States.[4] The report was one of the first documents to use the term “environmental racism” to explain how communities of color are more likely to be exposed to unhealthy air, which can lead to conditions of asthma, among other things. The report shows that three-fifths of BIPOC communities live in or near areas of toxic waste. These conditions are not simply because many of these communities live in urban areas, but because of the historical process of urban planning and policy making that dictates where industrial business reside, where freeways are built and expanded, and even the flight patterns of air traffic. The commission released a second report, Toxic Waste and Race at Twenty 1987-2007, and their findings show that in spite of laws and policies created to promote justice, the conditions in many BIPOC communities remain much the same.[5] In the coming years, the climate crisis will exacerbate these conditions. In urban communities, the heat island effect (see item 1) will worsen air quality and increase the prevalence of asthma. In rural communities, the climate crisis will compound drought conditions. Air quality in Fresno, CA, recently received an F by the American Lung Association’s State of the Air 2019 report.[6]  Today, approximately 43.3 percent of Americans live in counties that have unhealthy ozone and/or particle pollution – that is more than 141 million people exposed to unhealthy air.

8. Water and Water Quality. The availability and the quality of water are both exacerbated by the climate crisis. A recent report notes that half the world’s population will live in water-stressed areas by 2025. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), “Even in non-water stressed areas, the quality of surface water could deteriorate as more rain and storms drive erosion and the release of toxins. These dynamics could affect everything from the availability of drinking water for people to a shortage of water for livestock and crops (with negative effects for the food supply) to decreases in hydroelectric power generation.”[7] These water quality impacts are already affecting the health of U.S. urban BIPOC communities. We have learned that Flint, MI, is not an isolated incident, but just the tip of the iceberg. Municipalities access the country are being to realize this. In predominantly Latino, agricultural communities that rely on groundwater, community members experience elevated and long-term exposure to nitrates in their drinking water. Epidemiological evidence suggests an elevated risk of cancer and congenital disabilities in communities that experience nitrate exposure at levels below U.S. EPA’s drinking water standard (10 mg/L NO3-N).[8] Recent findings have shown high levels of lead in public schools. In California, the Community Water Center conducted as state-wade report that concludes from 2003-2014 over one million students attended schools that did not meet primary safe drinking water standards. The report also finds the schools impacted by unsafe drinking water had higher percentages of BIPOC students.[9] The struggle over water, while frequently framed as an environmental problem (i.e., drought), is, in fact, a highly political matter that influences the livelihood and wellbeing of urban and rural BIPOC communities. Climate chaos is only worsening these problems aided and abetted by the perverse logic of neoliberal policies that eliminate the investments in environmental quality and the protection of the Earth’s life-support systems like air, land, and water.

Therefore, the National Association for Chicana and Chicano Studies declares the climate crisis the most paramount issue of our time. The systems and institutions that destroy the environmental conditions needed for clean air and water are the same systems and institutions that have historically denied Chicana/o and Latinx peoples a means to self-determination. The climate crisis is not amendable through “technological fixes” or “green consumerism,” because the climate crisis is deeply rooted in a particular type of settler colonialism and capitalism that prevents, and even erases, the sustainable livelihoods of Chicana/o and Latinx people and communities. The National Association for Chicana and Chicano Studies recognizes that while the climate crisis becomes more perilous by the day, Chicanas/os and Latinx peoples have always been engaged in struggles to improve our environments. From the acequia farmers improving soil health and agrobiodiversity through traditional agricultural practices,[10] to the mujeres organizing against polluting industry,[11] we have been there. From the campesinxs resisting pesticides,[12] to the ciudadanxs reusing coffee tins,[13] we have been there. The National Association for Chicana and Chicano Studies declares that in order to truly address the climate crisis, we must remake our social, political, and economic systems to promote diversity, autonomy, resilience, and a just sustainability.

The NACCS Board of Directors specifically calls for the following actions in support of the vital climate justice movement:

  • NACCS endorses the climate strike actions that youth across the U.S. and the rest of the planet have launched and call for continued widespread activism by BIPOC youth and their allies in these campaigns for climate justice.
  • We call on U.S. universities and colleges to divest themselves of stocks in fossil fuel and other extractive industries that are the principal drivers of this environmental violence.
  • We further call on higher education institutions to end their participation in the global “land grabs” that are displacing Indigenous and other land- and water-based communities because this robs the first peoples of their ancestral lands while the world as a whole suffers the consequences of the loss of these sustainable, resilient, and equitable cultures of habitat that protect the planet.
  • We resolve that the Green New Deal is an essential tool for education and civic engagement and especially call on the shapers of this initiative to include community-based and grassroots-led projects for ecological restoration of our wounded watersheds and ecosystems.
  • We call for legal recognition of access to safe water and culturally appropriate food as basic universal human rights.
  • We support reparations associated with climate chaos and the harm this has caused to Indigenous and other land and water-based communities in the U.S. and the world. The primary reparations must involve investments to return Native lands to rightful Indigenous care-giver heirs and to heal the colonial wounds suffered by the land, water, air, and people.

[1] Gubernot, Diane M et al. 2015. Characterizing occupational heat-related mortality in the United States, 2000-2010: An analysis using the Census of Fatal Occupational Injuries database. American Journal of Industrial Medicine 58:2: 203-11.

[2] Nabhan, Gary P. 1997. Cultures of Habitat: On Nature, Culture, and Story. Washington DC: Counterpoint. Nazarera, Virgina, Ed. Ethnoecology: Situates Knowledge, Located Lives. Tucson: U. Arizona Press.

[3] Elias, E. H., et al., 2015. Assessing climate change impacts on water availability of snowmelt-dominated basins of the Upper Rio Grande basin. Journal of Hydrology: Regional Studies 3: 525-46. URL:http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.ejrh.2015.04.004. Peña, Devon G. 2019. “Climate Chaos, Acequias, and Land Grants Sin agua no hay vida, sin tierra no hay paz.” Paper presented at the 46th Annual Conference of the National Association for Chicana and Chicano Studies, Thematic panel: “Land and Water Wisdom: Exercising Cultural Resistance and Sustainability Practices.” Albuquerque, NM, April 4-6, 2019.

[4] United Church of Christ. 1987. Toxic Waste and Race in the United States. Commission for Racial Justice. New York.

[5] United Church of Christ. 2007. Toxic Waste and Race at Twenty. Commission for Racial Justice. New York.

[6] American Lung Association. 2019. State of the Air Report https://www.lung.org/our-initiatives/healthy-air/sota/

[7] Goldman Sachs. 2019. Sustainable Growth: Taking a Deep Dive into Water. URL: https://www.goldmansachs.com/insights/clean-technology-and-renewables/cohen/report.pdf. Accessed October 10, 2019.

[8] Schaider, Laurel, Lucien Swetschinski, Christopher Campbell, Ruthann Rudel. 2019. “Environmental justice and drinking water quality: are there socioeconomic disparities in nitrate levels in U.S. drinking water?” Environmental Health 18(3) URL: https://ehjournal.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12940-018-0442-6#Abs1

[9] Community Water Center. 2016. “Are We Providing Our School Kids Safe Drinking Water? An Analysis of California Schools Impacted by Unsafe Drinking Water.” Full Report available at URL: https://d3n8a8pro7vhmx.cloudfront.net/communitywatercenter/pages/824/attachments/original/1462656752/CWC_MCL_05.07.16a.pdf?1462656752

[10] Gallegos, Joseph. 2017. “Chicos del horno: A Local, Slow, and Deep Food.” In Mexican-Origin Foods, Foodways, and Social Movements: Decolonial Perspectives. Eds. Devon G. Peña, et al. Fayetteville: University of Arkansas Press.

[11] Pardo, Mary. 1998. Mexican American Women Grassroots Community Activists. Philadelphia: Temple University Press.

[12] Pulido, L. 1996. Environmentalism and economic justice: Two Chicano struggles in the Southwest. University of Arizona Press.

[13] Diaz, David. 2005. Barrio Urbanism: Chicanos, Planning and American Cities. New York: Routledge.

Fall 2019 Vol. 44 No. 1

Posted in: From the Board

NACCS – Statement on the Continued Targeting of Chicana/o/x Communities

October 29, 2019 8:40 AM ,

Statement on the Continued Targeting of Chicana/o/x Communities by White Supremacy

At the request of the NACCS Board this statement was prepared by Dr. Carlos Reyes Guerrero (Past-Chair) and Dr. Armando Ibarra (Past At-Large Representative)

¡Basta… Ya Basta!

We oppose white supremacy, in ALL of its manifestations and forms. The National Association for Chicana and Chicano Studies is a collective of scholars and activists from diverse communities and with unique histories. Our Association’s consciousness is rooted in collectivity, community building, and participation in social movements that resist ideologies that normalize exploitation and degradation, and we work to replace institutions and practices that thrive on predatory and unjust practices with new, resilient practices based on solidarity and democracy. Our aim is the creation of institutions, critical standpoints, and beneficial practices based in a tapestry of struggle cemented by respect of all humanity.

The events of the last three years under the escalating violence of white supremacy have added urgency to our struggle. Violence against our communities has long been standard State practice.  Now, the State effectively demands that everyone in the United States accept and endorse this violence. Atrocities multiply, from the massacres in El Paso and Gilroy, to the ICE raids in Mississippi, the shocking and inhumane detention of thousands of migrants throughout the country in for-profit prisons, the separation of children from parents at the border, the rising death toll of migrants crossing the border (nearly 10,000 since 1994), attacks on LGBTQ+ lives and civil rights, the ‘Remain in Mexico’ policy, the dismantling of asylum opportunities, the outsourcing of border control to the Mexican government, continuing and exacerbated environmental racism, and the attempts to erase our history by institutions, and, even, by some allies who question our authenticity, fields of study and actions.   In all this, the powerful present their whims to us as necessities for progress and security. These attacks hearken back to eras of systemic attacks on Chicana and Chicano communities who faced lynchings, murder, displacement, miseducation, and deprivation of basic human needs and dignity. Today as then—WE RESIST!  

WE, the National Association for Chicana and Chicano Studies, stand in solidarity with all communities assaulted by White supremacist ideologies and practices. We commit to continue to engage in research, education, and actions that counter White supremacy and offer an alternative rooted in respeto for humanity.

Fall 2019 Vol. 44 No. 1

Posted in: From the Board

Resolution Procedure

October 29, 2019 8:30 AM ,

Resolutions must be submitted fourteen (14) days before the national conference begins so that Board may review them in advance of the conference.

For the 2020 conference resolutions must be submitted by April 1st.

Resolutions must be voted and approved by the body of the foco or caucus prior to submitting. No individual member can submit a resolution. Access to the form is available to members only.

The person listed on this submission must be a member who will be at the conference so that the Board can address any questions prior to the business meeting. The member must also be present at the business meeting to answer any questions from the floor.

Resolution must be written and formatted in the proper format to be accepted.  See an example.

The form is available at http://www.naccs.org/Forms.asp?MODE=NEW&Forms_FormTypeID=-229

Resolutions submitted must conform to the following rules:

  1. Resolutions must identify the Foco/Caucus that is putting the resolution forth;
  2. Resolutions must provide names of contact person(s) with phone numbers and email address in case further clarification is necessary;
  3. If the resolution has budget implications, the resolution must include amount and purpose;
  4. The resolution must be worded in such a way that the implementation of such resolution be realistic in terms of funding requirements and logistics involved.
  5. Resolutions not properly formatted will not be considered. (Writing a NACCS Resolution Link)

The Foco/Caucus must take responsibility for wording its resolution in such a manner that it is actually a resolution and not a call for support on an issue relevant to only one region. Resolutions must be edited so that they are easily understandable to the general membership. Resolutions must provide names of persons who are expected to act on behalf of NACCS and their professional or community affiliation. Resolutions that do not meet the criteria will not be considered. Once the Board approves the resolutions, the NACCS Secretary will compile, duplicate, and distribute the Foco/Caucus at the NACCS general business meeting. A consent agenda format (all resolutions are approved automatically unless a member requests that a specific resolution be removed for discussion and vote) will be followed during the business meeting. Resolutions that are pulled from the consent agenda or do not make the consent agenda will be voted on by the membership within two months of the conference online.

Members will have an opportunity to discuss the resolutions online. Details of this discussion will be forthcoming. Any questions should be directed to the Chair of NACCS or Secretary.

updated Fall 2019 – Vol. 44 No. 1
Posted in: From the Board

2018 NACCS Resolutions and New Procedure

July 13, 2018 6:52 PM ,

From the Board:

NACCS 2018 Resolutions:

  1. Defending Academic Freedom on all College and University Campuses, Northern CA Foco
  2. Establishing Ethnic Studies as a Graduation Requirement in California High Schools, Northern CA Foco (endorsed by SoCal Foco)
  3. University/College Sanctuary policies Resisting Anti-Immigrant Discourse and Federal Immigration Policy,Northern CA Foco
  4. Resolution in defense of academic freedom and freedom of speech for Professor Abdulhadi, Palestinian scholar-activists, student-activists, and their allies, Indigenous Caucus

Approved the following resolution at the business meeting:

  1. Treasurer-Elect Resolution

Link to Full Text NACCS Resolutions 2018

New Resolution Procedure Introduced (Update July 2018)

After many years of discussion, a change to the procedure for submitting resolutions was used for the 2018 conference. The Board asked Foco and Caucus leadership to work with their members to deliberate and begin the procedure prior to the conference. The new calendar for submission asked for resolutions be sent in fourteen (14) days before the beginning of the conference to allow the Board to review, comment, and begin communications with the Leadership giving everyone sufficient time to prepare the documents to be presented the membership for voting and/or deliberation.

Five resolutions were submitted and voted on at the annual meetings. In general, Foco Reps and Caucus Chairs were favorable to the new process as it also gave them greater time to do work ahead of the conference which freed them for greater engagement during the conference. No negative comments were received regarding this process. Therefore, we will have a pro-forma resolution from the board to integrate this process into the existing by-laws.

Here is the link to the New Resolution Procedure.

Summer 2018 – Vol. 43 No. 1

 

Posted in: From the Board

Mid-Year Minutes 2017

March 14, 2018 8:58 PM ,

Midyear Minutes. (Not approved) Abridged for publication.
Friday, October 27, 2017- Saturday, Oct 28, 2017
Location: Doubletree Hotel, Minneapolis, MN

Present: Kathy Blackmer-Reyes, Julia Curry-Rodriguez, Linda Heidenreich, Maria Gonzalez, Chalane Lechuga, Jennie Luna, V. June Pedraza, Aureliano De Soto. Absent: Cecilia Aragon and Brenda Valle

I. Welcome

III. Reports

Chair
Discussion: Reporting to the membership in regards to recent board changes:
There have been many changes to our board; how do we address this to our membership?
June will draft this notice for the next Noticias.

Chair Elect
Conference Program: In process
Call for papers went out; submissions are starting to come in; Aureliano went over a to-do list with Kathy which was very helpful; there were 25 people asked to be readers, 14 have responded positively.

Nov. 8th is the deadline (Wednesday). There was one critique about the use of the X (Chicanx). But feedback has been positive about the theme, aside from a few minor critiques. Overall, theme is encouraging more people to want to come to the conference.

Questions On Conference Structure to the board:
Leadership Listening session: Board is not present at the conference and are usually locked in a conference room, which leads to our invisibility and critiques from members.

Proposed the idea of having a board listening session during the conference
He also proposed having the chair address the membership, having a time built into the program moving forward. This will not only be a “Chairs Address” but also “a state of the field; where are we going as an interdisciplinary field, etc.

The board reviewed, gave suggestions and helped revise the conference schedule.

We agreed on changes to the schedule. AD will edit and send us the final draft of the revised schedule.

Reform Resolution Process: Aureliano proposed that we establish a new way of submitting resolutions. Currently, it is a poor use of time at the conference; because our bylaws have been suspended, we need to communicate with membership the changes moving forward. We will establish that focos and caucuses need to write and submit their resoultions before the conference. Board Consensus that Aureliano, Julia, and Kathy will work on a new resolution process that will be completed and sent the membership before the end of the year.

Also, we should think about how we can vote for board positions more effectively; perhaps we can schedule the election during the conference electronically. By moving the election/voting during the dates of the conference, we might get more participation/engagement.

Executive Director
Report on ongoing projects: Incorporation, Communications with xCatalyst and Paypal
We are now incorporated with official standing!
xCatalyst and Paypal: Julia was able to recover $1,584 from fraud issues.

Site visits: we ended up at good place. Julia negotiated well for the price of the rooms. Reductions were made on food & beverage, AV etc. We spend $35,000 but get additional 10% for the same price.

Written report of completed work since end of conference: Julia has already submitted some written reports and regularly communicates in writing via email to the board, but will submit an official report.

Invoice for work: Submited invoice to the board for the work completed.
Chalane will review what expenses need to be covered.

Minneapolis Site Visit: St. Paul visitors bureau covered ED airline ticket; hotel stays were comped.

At Denver conference, former board member made a resolution that executive director would get the expenses covered for travel, lodging and per diem for both site inspection and midyear. Since that resolution was approved by the board, none of the site inspection expenses, nor midyear should be out of pocket; they need to be covered/reimbursed.

Travel and work for midyear and site inspection are separate from the overall labor.

For several years, ED and AD were paying for their own midyear, while none of the board had to, this is why former board member made the resolution to pay for travel, lodging and per diem for site inspection and midyear. Consulting work continues, but has to be re-negotiated at some point.

Associate Director
2017 proceedings: none were received.

For 2017, Josh will be editor to continue with the proceedings. There will be a notice sent to remind people if they are interested to submit. For future, we need to be proactive for the proceedings and set a precedent that the chair-elect follow up to encourage submissions. Chair-elect should do outreach prior to conference to remind people to consider submitting. Motivate presenters to have their papers prepared.

Book award: Both 2016 and 2017 were submitted, therefore we had a huge submission. But since there are so many books, this year we will only deal with 2016, and next year only 2017.

Exhibitor registration is up for signing up. Since internet security is tight, it has been difficult for them to register, so this makes it more work for us because they are now going to have to submit invoices; but at the same time, we don’t want a repeat of fraud.
There were lots of job ads this year; which are $750 for 45 days, on both web page and facebook and integrated into the newsletter. We have made negotiations with people regarding ads. In total, we made $4,500 off web ads..

Hotel registration is ready for booking hotel. Conference registration should be up soon. People want to know registration for budgets. We will discuss recommendation for this year.

Listserve/Domain issues: Dream Host is our domain host. Discussion groups cost ~$2/month, but we have had a lot of issues such as hacking (within the Dream Host server) and moving of discussion groups to another server. We have had communication issues for the last several months.

Newsletter and Facebook: Carlos Guerrero provided a report/analytics which included number of hits, demographics, etc., so we can consider how we can build our newsletter. We had low results. Newsletter is only thing we produce outside of the conference.

Managing listserves: AD is hands- off of caucus listserves, they have ability to manage their own lists; AD can help them, she can subscribe them; Focos on the other hand, are overseen completely by AD because it is based on membership dues paid. AD manages this; you can only be on foco listserve if you have paid your membership. Caucus listserves are different. They do not want to remove people from listserves, so there are people that are not members, for example. Kathy needs to communicate the system to update listserves for caucuses; this information can be distributed by the At-large reps. They should let their focos/caucuses know how listserves are managed. But if needed, the caucus chairs can give AD a roster of emails from the attendance at their meetings and she will take care of updating, otherwise, each caucus can totally manage it themselves. We need to add this to the guidelines for new leadership: let them kow how to updates listserve, passwords, etc.

In terms of facebook pages or other social media, guidelines have never been created; there has been no time to deal with policies in social media; but there is the question about how caucuses develop facebook and their record, and how to archive info.

We are doing well with our open access site. Grad papers are popular; we get good hits, for example, Los Tigres del Norte paper and Dolores Delgado Bernal, Education paper submitted. Even though our proceedings are not recognized through google, (we have minimal meta data and the only way people are locating articles is through very limited terms) we still have good stats. Kathy will work on increasing our findings even more through our open access. The Board would like to also create a page/tab on our website for leadership training online, as well as post the updated officer’s handbook, once completed.

Secretary:
Officers handbook needs to be revised and re-developed; spoke to fomer NACCS Chair; will have a working draft for the board by next conference call.
She submitted report to noticias; a condensed version of our minutes/highlights.

At Large Reps:

Linda Heidenreich – Midwest Foco: she has communicated with them
Pacific Northwest Foco: had a conference.
Tejas Foco: Tx had a foco conference of 300 people in attendance; 2018 foco conference will be at TX Lutheran;
LBTM Caucus, Joto Caucus, and Chicana Caucus, working on a three pronged approach: dialogue amongst all of them; last year Indigenous & Joto caucuses were organizing/requesting more visibility on plenary; trying to negotiate some type of rotating plenary with Chicana caucus. Linda has been taking lead of this organizing. Caucuses came up with a three tiered approach & other ideas.

Caucuses agree to:
Draft resolution bylaw to change opening plenary
Develop/institutionalize different tracks; this has been done with the submission process. Caucuses still have to put it together; responsibility of caucus chairs to get the information out there.  Chicana caucus ensures to having queer presence & have Indigenous representation on plenary

Discussion: Caucuses are requesting by-law changes for plenary and voices of more inclusivity. Requesting the possibility of NACCS 101 to have a section of how to put forward a resolution. Every foco is supposed to have a representative from a caucus; they should be learning this at home with focos; perhaps foco reps need training. Need to re-think the foco; representation is not happening in the foco; focos are supposed to be the grassroots body of organization, now caucuses are doing the organizing. Impulse to change should be within the organizing of the grassroots body. How do we get more people engaged/discussions? “How do we transform so we are still whole when we transform” and still give respect to the founders/board etc. Linda will send to us a workshop to share: “How to put together a kick-ass panel”

Maria Gonzalez – communicated with folks late Sept/Oct. She let Linda take over Indigenous caucus. She sent an email introducing self, no response. Sent an email about midyear meeting needing reports. Southern California Foco: reports that they have nothing to report; Alex Reyes not sure if will be on the call; Northern California Foco: Frank Ortega said he would send report, has not done so yet, but hopes to be on call tomorrow; Tejas Foco: Leo Trevino no longer Rep. and Felipe Hinojosa is now the rep. Indigenous Caucus, COMPAS Caucus: no reports from them and Student Caucus: no rep; Colorado Foco Debora Ortega, no feedback.

Poster board presentations: Maria sent sample new guidelines to Kathy to consider. Perhaps presenter charged for the supplies, but we are still held responsible for supplies. Big challenge is the labor intensive of poster presentations.

Brenda Valles – Rocky Mountain Foco, East Coast Foco, Mexico Foco, K-12 Caucus, Graduate Student Caucus, and Community Caucus: not present and did not send in report.

VI. Review of Nominations for NACCS Scholar
Two nominations were received: Both distinguished scholars. Through secret ballot voting process:

Board votes yes to approve the nomination of Rosaura Sanchez as 2018 lifetime achievement award for NACCS;

NACCS Chair made call to Rosaura Sanchez.

VII. Discussion of 2018 Conference

Conference Swag: Aureliano

Chair Address discussion:
Kathy prepared schedules to review, plenaries shortened; student plenary shorted to 50 min.
Chair Address goes first before the break; Thurs. 3:30-4:15; short talk/questions and socializing; with light refreshments; At this address it was suggested that we set up questions; small group discussions etc. post-its for public comments to address concerns; need of consultant.

Friday schedule: leadership orientation at 7:30 am; let’s find a different place for it and suggest that we have caucus meetings happen in the morning rather than afternoon. So we can have reception/dinner and cultural night; move 2nd session of leadership orientation to Thurs.

Leadership meeting on Thurs. 11:50-12:50pm

X. Conference Call with Focos and Caucus reps
Agenda Conference Call:
-Introductions:Chicana caucus co-chairs present: Isabel Millan, Yvette Saavedra; Felipe Hinojosa (TJ foco); and Theresa Torres (Midwest foco rep)

1. Give them an update on spending their rebates. Deadlines, by Dec. 31—spend or submit a memo of their plan to spend money; need to take a vote… documentation of that vote in the way that the caucus decides.

2. Review numbers of membership and express need to increasing numbers in some caucuses/remind foco and caucus reps to communicate with their members about registering and paying foco/caucus dues. Reach out to at large rep if your caucus is not maintaining that 30 member number requirement.

3. Leadership meeting: give them date and remind them that they have to be present THURS 11:50 April 5th; keep an eye out for an email reminder from treasurer and a google rsvp link.

4. Explain the new submission process for proposals: in addition to regular submission process we have new forms for foco or caucus sponsored panels. Created new forms where drop down menu available in the form. Take a look at regular submission for the new forms.

XI. Treasurer (see Treasurer report for updated information)

Treasurer sent additional detailed documents to board regarding report.

Assets and Liabilities Report for FY 2016-17


Report sent, as of Oct 26th, we have $57,206.36 in checking account. We don’t have a final version of fiscal year 16-17 yet. Difficulty to complete the report because of the various accounts/systems we are working with. Membership dues 99% come through credit card; some come through checks and some bounce. Make a decision that we don’t take personal checks…only credit or cash. Bounced checks create a nightmare. Contacting people and getting people to pay fee difficult.

Moved by Chalane and seconded by Maria that we no longer accept personal checks; Motion passes.

Income we are tracking: credit card job/web ads donations….we have verified the income to be $97,1927 from the Irvine conference. In 2016 we made $92,812, in line with what we typically bring in income. Divided expenses are in 2 categories: operating and conference. $86,669 cost of conference; generated $11,000 income. Mostly generated from exhibits. We generate rooms by the number of rooms we sell. Those rooms are used for childcare and student Beca nominees. AV is the second most expensive costs for the conference. And now we usually have to have AV in all presentation rooms. Chalane suggested that we should wait to raise registration fees until the following year.

Registration income pays for the conference; if it doesn’t meet $86,000, we need to figure out if conference fees did not pay all conference expenses in CA…need to break down cost per person and see if it’s proportional; people who pay more subsidize people who pay less. We don’t want across the board increase…just proportional increase in registration. We made more in registration for last year because onsite registration was very high. Also we had $5 rebates from room block (earning ~$2,500); we don’t have that this year. Need to analyze how many pay on site, non-members, etc.

We have same amount for food and beverage $43,000, AV $27,000. Denver paid for itself.

Irvine was going to be expense, but made it very expensive to register onsite. Need to look at our numbers.

If everyone paid registration, we would see a huge difference, 30% don’t pay! Membership dues don’t cover operating costs: We bring in $37,000 in membership dues and operation is $67,000. We can’t maintain this…only able to pay down debt because of carry-over. We are not making a profit, org is only barely sustaining itself. Increase $5 more on the registration. We raised the dues last year. Conference registration will be a nest egg. They have increased the exhibitors, $900 per table…we have increased it dramatically and we might be at our peak. Need to massage the relations we have. Jamie is paid $1000 for her work at the registration; takes vacation time to do this. Only started paying child care providers and they must be certified. Students paying $125 are getting subsidized with $61. Their actual cost is $189. Motion was made to raise student registration by $5 and people who are below $186 bring them up by $10.

Motion passed and Board voted to make these increases (AD and Treasurer will working on the exact increases to be posted)

Antonia Castaneda Report for FY 2016-17
Fund is now $26,254.10 current; ideally could produce a report quarterly. Which means it has recovered and the $500 prize can come out of the endowment. It is only 2 years old and rate of return is not as high because we are part of a socially responsible investor; 4%. Account would be invested into the fund to get it back to 25,000; give $500 in 2017 from the funds. Donations can go directly into the Castaneda fund, not into NACCS account to help generate interest. If people are interested in donating, contact Julia for now…but if want to be a donor, it can be in the form/donor web page.

Update on Debt Resolution from NACCS 2017 Board Meeting
NACCS is committed to paying the labor and going forward we need to reevaluate our ED and AD expenses. Our debt will increase if we don’t resolve the amount NACCS pays… how people are compensated. Linda will research look at specific academic organization to get an idea of how other similar orgs pay their ED/AD
We have guaranteed to pay back over 5 years what (previous board) agreed, but we need to figure out the amount going forward. AD: invoiced $20,000 in projects; ED invoiced $16,000 in projects. We need to seriously work on fundraising.

Ideas: -Can we have a silent auction at NACCS? Institutional memberships and what are the incentives? ($250). Chairs contacting the NACCS scholars and lifetime members. Monthly expenses are not bad…but when we have annual fees ie, xcatalyst ($6000~ etc). Our proposed operating budget includes expenses we know and what we anticipate and given that, we need to think realistically about what we can pay ED/AD. We try to keep $30,000 in the bank, but it would be okay if we carry $15000, less…to pay off our debt. We need our foco reps and caucus chairs to pay their memberships!!! We can encourage Institutions to buy memberships. It was suggested we have an adhoc committee that can build NACCS and make it economically sustainable, and not solely on our ED/AD shoulders. We can only afford 50% of what we owe. NACCS does not have money to pay them.

Membership Report (1/1/2017-10/20/2017)
Caucuses & numbers: all supposed to be at 30 in order to exist.At large reps lead the efforts to communicate to their constituents about their numbers and the total of their members and remind chairs to remind their constituents to pay their fees. Joto now at 13; Student 18. Some numbers are low and we need to find ways to support them. Issues discovered with number of Indigenous caucus members which were inaccurate. Need to re-evaluate the process of the budget deadlines for focos/caucuses. Labor caucus will complete their formation period at conference 2018; we need their rosters, demonstrate they have 30 individuals registered for 2 years. And we can add them to the list to pay their dues now and we need to add to the at-large representative…makes logical sense to give it to a rep that works on compas. Maria will take them on and will get contact info from AD.

Our membership: Last year 548. This year 2017, 537 members, 51% female. Student membership is the core of the membership/undergrads/grads. Need to track budgets of each caucus/foco and provide a report. Foco rebates: a fund/not separate account. Don’t eliminate foco rebates, but instead create a fund focos can apply to…many Focos don’t spend funds. We could create a fund for rolling application. This will allow Focos who don’t generate funds to apply for more…allow small Focos or special projects to be funded. Foco development fund…they can apply for up to $200 to develop their foco to help support a foco meeting. The only Foco that utilized this funding was the east coast under Michael Hames Garcia; Foco went up from 2 to 17 members. There would have to be deliverables, like a grant.

Last fiscal year only Indigenous and Joto caucuses spent funds; the Chicana, Grad and LBMT funds went to their receptions, but as of now, no one has spent. Rethink foco rebates because most go unspent and the labor involved in processing those payments is intensive. June, Aureliano & Chalane will continue the adhoc NACCS financial health committee.

XI. Vetting Discussion
Discuss process and develop plan of action for identifying potential candidates for vacant positions to be filled in 2018
Look at grid of regional and caucus representing on board and see out missing areas
Everyone should come back with a list of potential nominations.

Open positions:
At Large Rep (Brenda); At Large Rep (Maria) she will run again; Secretary; Chair Elect; treasurer elect(?)

We need to consider regional representation:
Pacific NW represented (Linda); TX rep (June- is she going to continue?); Midwest (Aureliano); Colorado (Chalane). Don’t have: norCA; soCA; East Coast; Rocky Mountain

Spring 2018 – Vol. 42 No. 2
Posted in: From the Board, News

NACCS Elections for 2016-17, Candidate Statements

March 15, 2016 7:51 AM ,

Voting for new Board members ends  Monday, March 21, 2016 at 900 AM PST

Here are the Candidate Statements:

Chair-Elect

Tereza M. Szeghi, Ph.D.
Associate Professor, Comparative Literature and Social Justice
Director of Graduate Studies, Department of English
University of Dayton
Dayton, OhioBecause my scholarship and activism are deeply interconnected, I was attracted as a young scholar of Chicano literature to NACCS—an interdisciplinary organization that makes clear in so many ways that the value of the work we do is measured by its impact on the Chicana/o community.Since attending my first NACCS conference in 2009, I have sought ways of contributing to the important work of the organization and serving the NACCS membership and the communities NACCS represents. I have been fortunate enough to have been given multiple opportunities to do so. I was the Midwest Foco Representative from 2009-2012, during which time I worked closely with our members to plan our local contributions to the 2012 conference in Chicago—which led not just to some incredible programming, such as the performance of Teatro Luna at the Noche de Cultura, but also energized our Foco and spurred future collaborations. Then as an At-Large Representative from 2012 to 2014, I was able to learn much more about the structure of the organization, develop relationships with NACCS members throughout the country, and learn about some of the best emerging scholarship and activism offered by the candidates for the Frederick A. Cervantes Premio and the Antonia I. Castañeda Prize. I continue to serve on the Castañeda Prize Committee.I would bring to the position of chair-elect not just passionate commitment to the mission of the organization but also a proven ability to work effectively and efficiently in collaboration with the NAACS board and membership, along with the ability to lead and offer new ideas while also being responsive to the concerns and recommendations of those I work with and for. I am excited about crafting new ways of thinking about how the social sciences, arts, humanities, and STEM fields can collectively advance Chicana/o activism against racism, xenophobia, institutional violence, and the continued colonization of the indigenous people of Mexico and the United States.
José Angel Hernández, Ph.D.
Associate Professor, History
University of HoustonJosé Angel Hernández has been a member of NACCS for almost 20 years, or since 1997, when he first attended a conference in Mexico City. At the annual meeting in Chicago in March of 2002, he was awarded the Cervantes Graduate Premio for a paper that eventually grew into a dissertation abstract, and then onto an award-winning monograph titled Mexican American Colonization during the Nineteenth Century: A History of the US-Mexico Borderlands (Cambridge University Press, 2012).  From 2012-2014, Professor Hernández served on the National Board of NACCS as National Secretary and hopes to continue his support of NACCS by outlining a simple yet dynamic vision if given the honor of serving as its National President.According to the official history of NACCS, “In 1972, at the annual meeting of the Southwestern Social Science Association held in San Antonio, Texas, Chicano faculty and students active in the American Sociological Association, American Anthropological Association and the American Political-Science Association came together to discuss the need for a national association of Chicana/o scholar activists. Discussions culminated in a proposal to establish the National Caucus of Chicano Social Scientists (NCCSS).”Since that time, NACCS has been renamed, reshaped, and ultimately revitalized in its own respective socio-historical context; however, in order to continue that dynamism that has so animated previous generations, my vision for the future of NACCS is to return to BOTH the “Social” and the “Science” back into our methodologies, approaches, and interrogations of the many facets of Mexican American life. If elected, my vision for the future of NACCS will be to encourage those earlier approaches back into our conference themes; but also equally important, to begin building the foundations to reach out to a new generation of scholars, intellectuals, and leaders that are properly informed about the issues that impact each and everyone of us.  To do so, I propose that these foundations include STEM.According to almost any popular definition, “STEM is an acronym for Science, Technology, Engineering and Math education…STEM is an interdisciplinary and applied approach that is coupled with hands-on, problem-based learning.”  This exact same definition of interdisciplinary and applied approach is understood, applied, and practiced in EVERY Mexican American Studies Department across the nation.  In other words, our goals are the same, and my efforts will therefore be to facilitate these exchanges in cooperative and meaningful ways with like-minded organizations that are already involved in our communities.But what does it mean to promote STEM education when we are experiencing the largest mass expulsion of Mexicans and Central Americans in US history?  Any discussion of STEM should include another acronym: Stop The Expulsion of Migrants.  The Administration of Barack Obama has now deported close to 3 million migrants and another round of deportation raids were announced for the New Year. The deportation of millions of migrants under the administrations of G.W. Bush and Bill Clinton were even higher, and everyday talk of deporting another 10 million has now become common, especially during the Republican primaries. What role do Science, Technology, Engineering and Math have in ameliorating the current situation, or is STEM not concerned with the political, the social, or the human? Can STEM, therefore, stem the tide of mass deportations to include its other, multiple meanings?Thank you very much for your kind attention and I hope to have your support.

Sinceramente,

José Angel Hernández Carrillo

Secretary

Jennie Luna, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor Chicana/o Studies
California State University, Channel IslandsAs a candidate for Secretary my vision for NACCS is that it will continue to document its growth as a national organization that carries the tradition of scholar activism. My goal is to help train and mentor the next generation of Chicana/o Studies scholars and NACCSistas, as well as to continue to produce my own scholarship to share and receive feedback/mentorship with my colleagues.  I am an advocate for the incorporation of Indigenous perspectives and representation within NACCS and in our discipline as a whole.I have been a member of NACCS since 1996. I served as the NACCS National Student Representative as an undergraduate when the leadership team was differently structured. I have benefitted from  NACCS by receiving student fellowships as a graduate student.  I have been an active member and participant yearly at the conference.  I am currently an Assistant Professor in Chicana/o Studies at CSU Channel Islands and have recently become a life-time member of NACCS. I have served as the Indigenous Caucus representative for 3 years. I was the recipient the Antonia Castañeda Prize in 2014. I have been actively involved in ensuring that Indigenous perspectives are incorporated into the conference and am committed to bringing undergraduate students to the conference to carry on the legacy of NACCS.  Since having a permanent position I have organized students to go to NACCS because I believe in the benefit of NACCS to inspire students to continue their education.I seek your vote for Secretary.  In this capacity I have the opportunity to work with the executive committee of NACCS to ensure communication though minutes and reports.  I value the role of the secretary in keeping records and also in ensuring member participation in all areas of NACCS.
Aureliano Maria DeSoto, Ph.D.
Associate Professor of Ethnic Studies
Metropolitan State UniversityI currently serve as At-large representative to the NACCS Board (2014-2016). I have a long and varied history of involvement with NACCS, including participation in the Northern California Foco (1993-1995), presentations at the national conference (1996, 2010) and one regional conference (1994), as well as serving as site coordinator for the Northern California regional conference (1994). I was a plenary speaker at the 2015 conference, and as At-large representative, chaired the Cervantes Premio Award Committee (2015, 2016). I am a current member of the organization and of the Midwest Foco.I seek to continue my service to the organization in the role of Secretary. As At-large representative, I have been able to participate in and assist in the maintenance and governance of NACCS, bringing the concerns of our membership to the board as well as helping mentor undergraduate and graduate students through the Cervantes Premio, and helping the Board in its decision-making processes. As Secretary, I would continue to serve the membership and organization through assiduous attention to detail that is required of the Secretary position, and seek, through this service, to reflect the will of the membership in maintaining and disseminating resolutions at the annual conference, and maintaining an accurate record of rosters, minutes of Board meetings, and Board correspondence. My work as department chair of Ethnic and Religious Studies at Metropolitan State University, as well as my past service as co-coordinator of the Gender Studies Program at Metropolitan State, has given me the critical skills to fulfill the role of Secretary.

 

At-Large Representatives
José Flores
Ph.D. Candidate, Spanish
School of International Letters and Cultures
Arizona State UniversityI have been a member of NACCS and have consistently presented at the NACCS National Conferences since 2012. I also served as Rocky Mountain Foco Representative from 2013 to 2015.My introduction to NACCS came as a Masters student when I presented at the 2012 NACCS Tejas Foco Regional Conference in San Marcos. There, I was immediately captivated by all of the presentations in various disciplines that emphasized Chicana and Chicano topics. I felt an unexplainable familiarity and sense of community with everyone in attendance and more so, when Chicana and Chicano scholars engaged students like myself and encouraged us to continue our scholarship and become actively involved in the organization. As a result, at the concluding Business Meeting, I volunteered as a committee member of the Premio Estrella de Aztlán Lifetime Achievement Award to be presented at the following Tejas Foco Conference.This early experience allowed me to witness firsthand the power and importance of community and collaboration of our NACCS membership. I am convinced that community and collaboration are the driving factors of this organization. As RM Foco Representative, I sought to further develop these strengths in the region. I hope to continue to promote and work towards sustaining these collaborative relationships with NACCS Members, Caucus Chairs, Foco Reps, NACCS Committees, and National Board with my candidacy for At-Large Representative.
Brenda Valles, Ph.D.
Director for Research & Assessment, Office of Equity & Diversity
University of UtahI grew up in a small farming community at the southern point of the Salinas Valley in California and attended California State University of Monterey Bay, about four years after it was opened.  I learned about the importance of reciprocity and nurturing the community of which you are a product.  I realized then how important it was for me to use my skills to support my community.  Therefore all the work and projects I have participated in have focused on achieving this goal –  to serve my community  and to strengthen it.  I completed an MA in Education, Culture and Society and a Ph.D. in Educational Leadership & Policy, both at the University of Utah.  My scholarly interests are Chicana/o academic access and success in relation to existing policies. Specifically, I  looked at the school-to-prison pipeline and the long-term educational implications for Chicana/o students.  Currently I work as the Director for Research & Assessment for the Office for Equity & Diversity at the University of Utah.  I am very excited and enthusiastic about being a candidate for At-Large Rep for NACCS. I want to reciprocate and offer support to an organization that has benefited me so much.Involvement in NACCS
I first learned about NACCS while I was an undergrad at California State University Monterey Bay from my Chicana/o mentors who primarily came from the  Chicana/o Latina/o Staff and Faculty Association (CLSFA). I attended the regional foco meetings with my  mentors in the early 2000’s.  Since then, I have participated in conferences as a member of NACCS and presented in the conferences throughout graduate school.  I have attended the NACCS conferences of 2006 in Guadalajara, 2011 in Pasadena, 2013 in San Antonio, and brought a group of students to present in the 2014 Salt Lake City conference.  This year I will be presenting at the Denver conference.  NACCS has been an intellectual home that I connected with in ways the academy can never fulfill.  It is for this reason that I wish to be an At-Large Rep so that I may communicate with future and current Chicana and Chicano students and scholars.Candidate Statement
I am running for At-Large Rep in an effort to support NACCS Focos and Caucuses.  As an organization NACCS has provided me much needed reinforcement and guidance as a student and emerging scholar.  I believe At-Large Reps have the important role of supporting our membership through the Focos and caucuses. The importance of these positions lies in the power of communication, transparency, and engagement.  I commit to support Foco regions and Caucuses as a strong liaison between the board and the broader NACCS community.  My vision for NACCS is that it continues to be the intellectual space it has been since 1972.  I recognize that NACCS is a space that transcends the academic and scholarly work it successfully organizes around, and that this space also serves many members with the ability to be their whole selves “entre comunidad” where we find spaces of confidence, solidarity and visibility.  In other words, I envision NACCS as an organization that we can collectively acknowledge and embrace for its importance as an academic organization that serves members in various unique ways and, as such, fosters this structure.  Understanding the value of NACCS means participating in the support of the organization.  I commit to being present for, available to, and active to ensure communication is open and our organization is supported.  I appreciate your support and vote.

At-large Representative

Alexandro Gradilla, Ph.D.
Associate Professor, Department of Chicana and Chicano Studies
California State University, Fullerton
Candidate StatementIf elected for the At-Large Representative for the NACCS I would provide leadership and vision on key institutional levels that would serve and benefit our members and departments they belong to.  I would like to create databases and encourage the development at workshops/roundtables at the NACCS specifically to address the “battle ground” within higher education namely preparing departments and faculty to develop outcome based education and models of “student success” that align with and adhere to Chicana/o Studies. The database would consist of student learning outcomes, syllabi, assignments, exams, new program/degree proposals, examples of high impact practices, mission/vision statements, etc. as submitted by NACCS members with expertise or experience in this area.Though the NACCS would not have the role of an accreditor—the organization needs to step in as an advocate for new programs, departments, majors, or graduate degree programs.  Furthermore, I want to develop institutional support and recognition for teacher-scholars in the teaching intensive universities and community college.  Most of our students and faculty are located in these types of institutions—I propose the development of support around pedagogy and tactical types of support to help our colleagues who are attempting to make a difference at their institutions.And finally I want to develop a national strategy regarding the Ethnic Studies in the K-12 movement.  It is critical we get involved and shape the curriculum being proposed and not leave it to non-expert teachers or administrators to develop curriculum that has the potential to impact our discipline.QualificationsI have been a member of the NACCS since 1990 while I was an undergraduate.  My BA degrees were in Chicana/o Studies and Anthropology from UC Berkeley; my MA in Anthropology (medical anthropology) from the University of Michigan; and my PhD in Ethnic Studies (Chicana/o Studies and Medical Anthropology) from UC Berkeley.  My research and publication areas are rooted in many intellectual traditions of Chicana/o Studies.  I led the effort to rebuild my department at CSU Fullerton for the last 7 years and the last 5 ½ as chair of the department.  I know the amazing work this discipline can have on our students who find our classes through social networks on campus or by mere luck finding our class in the schedule of classes.  In addition to being a teacher scholar and advocate, I am most proud of my work with students.  The power of Chicana/o Studies is what Laura Rendon calls “validation theory”—where our students have a profound intellectual experience because of the pedagogy and the ways in which the faculty midwives the process of combining the student’s personal experience with their university training.

Alfredo Carlos, Ph.D.
Department of Political Science and Chicano Latino Studies
California State University, Long BeachI seek the position of At-Large Rep to build on the work of previous colleagues in communicating with the membership of NACCS activities, scholarship, and the politics that impact Chican@ Studies and Chican@ community in general. NACCS offers Chican@ scholars and activists the professional space to engage in the academic debates on issues confronting Chican@ communities.  As stated by NACCS preamble, “ideas must be translated into political action in order to foster change.” It is this philosophy rooted in action research, or research with a purpose, that I seek to continue as an At-Large Rep of NACCS. My vision for NACCS is to work with the Focos and the Caucuses to help them grow so that they can carry out the day-to-day mission of NACCS in their regional locations. In this time of growing inequality, we as Chican@ scholars must be at the forefront of engaging in scholarshipwith communities so that together we can tackle these issues in a way that helps people improve their quality of life and allows them to live with dignity.Candidate Biography
I am a faculty member in the departments of Political Science and Chicano Latino Studies at California State University, Long Beach. My interests revolve around understanding inequality in the U.S. and through praxis, organizing alternative economies that empower working communities. In particular I have a specialization in political economy with a focus in economic democracy, which consists in part of worker ownership, workplace and community democracy.  I have published in the Ethnicities Journal (2015), Latin American Perspectives (2013) and  the Publicación Oficial. Eventos Sociedad Cubana de Investigaciones Filosóficas (SCIF).  Havana, Cuba (2012).  I am a co-author with Rodolfo D. Torres and Armando Ibarra for a forthcoming book entitled The Latino Question in Neoliberal Capitalism (Pluto Press, 2017).My Ph.D.  is in Political Science from the University of California, Irvine where I specialized in American Politics (Racial and Urban Politics) and Political Theory (Political Economy). I earned an M.A. in Political Science from California State University, Long Beach with a focus in Comparative Politics and International Relations and my B.A. is in History and Chicano Studies from the University of California, Santa Barbara.   A key experience for me in Chicana and Chicano Studies was being a conference organizer in 1999 of “El Plan and Chicano Studies: Power, Resistance and Social Change, 30 years of Chicano/a Studies” held at UCSB.I am the founder and executive director for the Long Beach based Foundation for Economic Democracy that seeks to work towards an expansion of an economy that is rooted in people over profits, especially in Latino communities and communities of color. The Foundation’s mission is to create democratically governed community projects and worker owned businesses where workers, their families and their communities can all thrive and live with dignity. My research and community work are largely driven by my personal experience. I immigrated to Los Angeles as a young child with my parents and older sister. My father worked as clerk at Sav-On and my mother worked at a Garment factory until they retired. Having grown up in a barrio influenced me to understand the politics of power and inequality.  These experiences have driven my research and community organizing interests.NACCS Experience
I have been involved off and on with NACCS since 2003 as a conference participant while finishing up my BA at UCSB. Since then I have been a member of the association, and presenter at the national conferences 2011, 2014 and 2015.  I serve as the Southern California Foco representative (2014-2016).  I appreciate your vote.

 

 

 

Posted in: From the Board, News

2015 Mid-Year Meeting Minutes

March 15, 2016 7:48 AM ,

NACCS Midyear Minutes (unapproved minutes and edited for space)
Doubletree by Hilton, Denver, CO
Friday, October 23, 2014

Present: Ed Muñoz, Armando Ibarra, Carlos R. Guerrero, Nelia Olivencia, Chalane Lechuga, V. June Pedraza, Maria Gonzalez, Julia Curry Rodriguez, Kathryn Blackmer Reyes, Aureliano DeSoto

Reports:
Treasurer (Chalane): Fiscal/Financial- 2014-2015 (fiscal) Financial Report/Operating Budget, tabled as Chalane and Julia need to meet.
Executive Director (Julia): Logistics for 2016 conference in Denver, CO; $89 for room; free wifi for conference participants; fundraising for 2016 conference; updating security certificates for credit card payments; signature transitions for treasurer reporting; advising board members on policy and procedures
Associate Director(Kathy): Membership renewals are ongoing 416 currently registered; website updates are occurring; Site visit with Executive Director; Advising on programming; updating all documents for paper submissions; awards nominations; updating information on website; work on list for Caucus chairs and Foco reps
Conference Call-In Caucus Chairs and Foco Reps: Present: Vanessa Fonseca, RockyM; Mary Jane Castillo, K12; Christina Sigala; Audrey Silvestre, LBMT; Samantha Rodriguez & Theresa Torres, Chicana; Frank Ortega, Grad. Board reached out to Chairs and Reps for a discussion and or questions.

New Business:
Communication With Membership—Proposed Communications Director to renew newsletter and keep membership abreast of NACCS business/deadlines/conference discussed; Board decided to send out a newsletter and continue discussion about appointing a Communications Director
Board Manual Leadership Manuals (for Foco Reps and Caucus Chairs), by-laws etc.
Nominations Committee (Past Chair, Ed, Armando, Julia): Use directory and past lists to determine nominations for positions that will become vacant in 2016. Make a grid of regional and caucus representation on board- missing areas should be targeted with candidates for board positions.
Prepare list to discuss with board.
Becas: (Chalane and Armando) Five applications were received. Armando moves to allocate $3,000 to be awarded. Motion passed.
Book Award Committee: (Carlos) Selected recipient: Carlos Kevin Blanton—George I. Sanchez: The Long Fight for Mexican American Integration; Yale University Press.
NACCS Antonia Castañeda Prize Committee: No report.
NACCS Scholar Award: (Board) Two applications received; one did not meet agreed deadline or submission process. Discussion follows. Luis Torres selected.

Saturday, October 24, 2014
2015 Conference: Various items discussed: Pre-Conference newsletter, Registration, exhibits, trouble shooting, and other logistics. Estimated Conference Budget–Tabled. Conference Schedule—tentatively approved. Conference fees. Conference activities—Local site report. Resolutions Process and deadline—Follow last year’s procedure; At-Large reps will inform constituency’s about process/deadline; article in newsletter and pre-conference newsletter; leadership manual will be distributed before conference to Caucus Chairs and Foco Reps.

Unfinished business
Financial Report – Chalane. Discussion of financial status of NACCS.
Meeting adjourns.

Posted in: From the Board

NACCS and Communication with Membership

December 19, 2015 11:00 AM ,

Noticias de NACCS has been on hiatus for several years. Noticias represented the communication of choice for the membership. The Board has expressed interest in bringing back Noticias in a limited fashion. They propose to use both print and electronic formats to communicate. For the moment, we are using a digital format as our first communication. We will have a print pre-conference newsletter in PDF format in the near future.

In the past, the production of Noticias has been the responsibility of the Board Secretary. This year the Board discussed how to update its communication with the membership and enlisted the Chair-Elect and Past-Chair to develop a communications plan.

The Board has determined that both Noticias de NACCS and other social media communications are an essential part of the organization. The Board is discussing ways to address our communications needs.

With this inaugural newsletter format, we are rolling out a new process that we hope will lead to continuous  communications.

Posted in: From the Board