News of the Organization

Report on Strategic Planning
As reported in the last issue of the OAH Newsletter (May 2008), the Organization of American Historians is currently developing a new strategic plan, designed to chart a broad framework for policies and programs of the organization. The new plan will be presented to the executive board in the fall of 2009 and, pending board approval, will replace the current plan, established in 2003.

The Strategic Planning Committee, chaired by OAH President Pete Daniel and cochaired by executive board member Linda Shopes, is actively seeking input from the membership as it develops the plan. During the 2008 annual meeting, OAH committees were asked to address several questions related to planning; their responses are included in the body of materials under review by the committee. In addition, the Strategic Planning Committee is creating a comprehensive membership survey, to be sent to all OAH members in the fall 2008, asking them to assess the value of current OAH programs and services, respond to questions about new directions for the organization, and identify broad areas of concern. Finally, a draft of the plan will be circulated prior to the 2009 annual meeting and discussed at an open forum during the meeting. Daniel and Shopes also welcome individual comments from any OAH member; they can be sent to <strategic at oah dot org>.

Currently the committee is considering several broad areas:

• Membership, including discussion of ways to enhance services to current members and develop membership among groups of historians currently underrepresented in the organization;
• Finances, including attention to ways of retaining a firm financial base for the organization while also identifying new sources of income;
• New media, including identification of ways the OAH can better use the Internet and emerging digital media to both serve the membership and widely disseminate high quality historical work;
• Reaching the public, including a consideration of ways the OAH can enhance the public’s understanding of history; and
• Internal organization, including discussion of the efficient management of core programs of the organization, staff organization in light of changing needs, and support for the work of OAH committees.

These categories are neither firm nor exclusive; during meetings at the OAH office in Bloomington on July 17 and 18, the committee also considered issues of advocacy on issues affecting the working lives of historians and the possibility of surveying selected groups of potential (but not current) OAH members. Overall, the committee is taking as broad a view as possible of the organization and its programs within the context of both opportunities and challenges facing the field and the profession. It seeks to develop a plan that is at once creative in advancing the organization, responsive to the needs of members, and practical in its intended outcomes.

Additional members of the 2009 OAH Strategic Planning Committee, who were appointed by Past President Nell Irvin Painter, include President-Elect Elaine Tyler May; Executive Board member David Trask; incoming Vice President Alice Kessler-Harris; Journal of American History Associate Editor Stephen Andrews, and OAH Leadership Advisory Council Cochair Jay Goodgold. 
—Linda Shopes

Slate of Candidates: 2009 OAH Election
The OAH Nominating Board is pleased to announce the following candidates standing for office in the 2009 OAH Election.  OAH Vice President: David Hollinger, University of California, Berkeley (term of office begins immediately); Alice Kessler-Harris, Columbia University (term of office begins in 2009). OAH Executive Board (one candidate will emerge from each of the following three pairs) pair one: Gary Okihiro, Columbia University; Ramon Gutierrez, University of Chicago; pair two: Doris Dwyer, Western Nevada Community College; Thomas Gaskin, Everett Community College; pair three: Mia Bay, Rutgers University; Mary Kelly, University of Michigan. OAH Nominating Board (one candidate will emerge from each of the following three pairs) pair one: George Chauncey, Yale University; Richard Godbeer, University of Miami; pair two: Benjamin Trask, Warwick Middle School; Rosemary Ennis, Sycamore High School (Cincinnati, OH); pair three: Pablo Mitchell, Oberlin College; Kathleen Kutolowski, SUNY Brockport. 

Candidate biographical sketches, as well as personal statements, will be included with the ballot in the November, 2008 OAH Newsletter.