Network Meeting 2015, Budapest

The NW24 Business meeting was conducted in September 10th 2015. Javier Díez-Palomar was the chair of the session.

The agenda for the meeting included:

(1) report on the NW24,

(2) Procedures and mandates for Convenors and Link Convenors,

(3) Nominates for new convenors,

(4) Special Call, and

(5) Season School.

[1] We organized 14 sessions within NW24 for ECER 2015 (for statistics, see previous section). The highest number of rejections refers to posters (24%), whereas the lowest number of rejections refers to symposia (3,6%). NW24 had 7 reviewers, all from Europe. for this reason, Javier Díez-Palomar encouraged the participants in the audience from other regions in the World to offer themselves as reviewers.

[2] Javier Díez-Palomar explains that there is no formal membership for networks. Networks themselves don't have a formal status. Elections are therefore questionable since there is no way to determine who is entitled to vote. However, Dr. Díez-Palomar explains that networks agreed that clarification is needed and could be beneficial in order to reinforce LCs legitimacy and to ease the replacement of LCs when needed. He explains also that networks agreed on principles for the process: transparency, legitimacy, openness, trust and continuity. In this sense, although some NW have their own history, traditions and procedures, there is a common request to a recommended procedure. All NW will make the election / appointment of LC and convenors explicit in each network meeting during ECER. Dr. Díez-Palomar, as LC for NW24, presented the responsibilities of the LC. After that, he read what is the procedure for election and mandate of convenors and LC. The election of convenors is based on a minimum of 2 nominations (from participants in the NW). The group of convenors should reflect EERA's diversity in terms of geographical representation and gender balance. The election is part of the network meeting agenda and is made known to minimally all NW presenters before the conference. LC are appointed by network convenors, either by consensus or by election, during ECER. The LC mandate last four years with one possible re-election. Impeachment is possible by the Convenors.

[3] This year the nominees for new convenors were: Nadia Ferreira, Catherine Pearn, and Esther Chan. Dr. Pearn rejected finally to offer herselve as a convenor. Nadia Ferreira and Esther Chan were elected as convenors.

[4] We agree to not present a special call for this coming conference.

[5] We discussed also the possibility to organize a summer school. We discussed possibilities, and it seems that the more feasible would be 2017, because this coming year there is going to be another summer school connected to CERME. There is also important to have in mind that EARLI is at the end of August (this coming year would be in Tampere, Finland). For this reason, the 3rd week of August would be a possibility. The summer school will include main lectures and workshops.