For contact information for any of the officers, directors or committee chairs, please contact MSS Executive Director by email.
Interested in committee membership?
About midsummer, MSS will send a mass email to all current MSS members, including a call for new committee members. If you are interested in serving MSS through leadership via committee work, please respond to the call or reach out to us at [email protected].
Committee Information
*To read recent committee annual reports, members must log in. You can access those reports here.
Annual Meeting
Committee Chair: Patrick McGinty, Western Illinois University
Description: The Annual Meeting Committee is charged with facilities planning, local arrangements, and the smooth operation of the annual meetings of the Midwest Sociological Society.
Looking for info about previous or upcoming annual meetings?
- For dates, days and locations of upcoming annual meetings, see the Future Annual Meetings page.
- To browse program books from several previous annual meetings, see the Past Annual Meetings page.
Finance
Committee Chair: Allison Vetter, Lawrence University
Description: The Finance Committee monitors financial policies and procedures concerning investments, budgets, Society expenditures, Treasurer compliance with Society financial policies and maintenance of both unrestricted and restricted funds.
Governance
Committee Chair: Peter Kivisto, Augustana College
Description: The Governance Committee shall continually consider the long-range goals and needs of the Midwest Sociological Society and shall assess and oversee the Society’s programs and committees to ensure that those goals and needs are being appropriately addressed.
Membership
Committee Chair: Megan Nielsen, Midland University
Description: The Membership Committee is responsible for recruiting new members, encouraging the renewal of memberships, conducting membership drives, and disseminating information about the Society.
Minority Scholars
Committee Chair: Regina Dixon-Reeves, University of Chicago
Description: The Minority Scholars Committee shall monitor the profession in relation to minority issues, gather information on such issues, and when it deems appropriate, recommend to the board and to the membership, and carry out action aimed at increasing equality of minorities in the profession and in society.
Nominations & Elections
Committee Chair: Meredith Redlin, South Dakota State University
Description: The Nominations and Elections Committee shall nominate slates of candidates for the elective offices of the society, supervise the polling of the membership by written or electronic ballot, count the returned ballots, and notify the Secretary of the names of those elected.
Publications
Committee Chair: Chris Conner, University of Missouri
Description: The Publications Committee shall oversee, monitor and recommend policy to the board concerning publication of The Sociological Quarterly, and The Midwest Sociologist, and administration of the Student Paper Competition.
Seeking New Members
The MSS publications committee seeks new members to serve three-year terms. Interested MSS members may apply directly or nominate others.
The committee is charged with overseeing, monitoring and recommending policy to the board concerning publication of The Sociological Quarterly and administration of the annual student paper competition. The committee also judges the biennial TSQ Distinguished Contribution to Scholarship Award, solicits applications for new editors for the society’s publications, makes recommendations to the board with respect to the appointment of editors, advises the editors on policy, solicits proposals from publishers, and makes recommendation to the board with respect to the selection of a publisher.
Please send applications for appointment to the Publications Committee Chair Joan Hermsen, following the directions below.
Applicants who have experience with referred publications are encouraged to apply. Nominations are accepted until Aug. 1st, or until two qualified candidates have been determined. To apply, please indicate in the subject line of your cover email that you are applying for the committee membership. Send your vita and brief application letter, as attachments, to Chair Joan Hermsen via the MSS Exec Office at [email protected].
Scholarship Development
Committee Chair: Roslyn Schoen, Texas A&M University
Description: The Scholarship Development Committee reviews proposals for research grants and makes recommendations to the board for funding such proposals.
Social Action
Committee Chair: Maria De La Torre, Northeastern Illinois University
Description: The Social Action Committee shall take under consideration proposals for social action by the society submitted either by individual members or other committees of the society. It is also responsible for soliciting nominations and selecting recipients for the two annual
Social Action Awards.
Grants for Grass-Roots Organizations in Support of Social Action:
MSS awards two $1000 grants each year to nonprofit organizations doing grassroots work in pursuit of social justice and social change in the MSS geographical area. The Social Action Committee is charged with selecting the award recipients. Past award winners and links to the organizations are listed below.
Sociological Practice
Committee Chair: Raeda Anderson, Georgia State University
Description: The Sociological Practice Committee will explore ways that clinical and applied sociology may be highlighted within the Midwest Sociological Society.
Student Issues
Committee Chair: Sana Illahe, University of Wisconsin-LaCrosse and Elyse Neumann, Winston Salem State College
Description: The Student Issues Committee shall develop and recommend policy to the board and monitor activities related to representation of the interests of student members of the Midwest Sociological Society.
Teaching & Learning
Committee Chair: Patricia Ahmed, South Dakota State University
Description: The Teaching and Learning Committee shall concern itself with issues related to sociology education at all levels. It shall continually evaluate the development and implementation of teaching pedagogy and student learning in the discipline, and shall make the results of such evaluations available to the membership of the MSS.
Women in the Profession
Committee Chair: Kristi Brownfield, Northern State University
Description: The Women in the Profession Committee toward the end of producing equality of opportunity for women, shall keep under constant review the position of women in the profession, gather information on such issues, and, when it deems appropriate, recommend action to the MSS board and the membership.
In addition to their bylaws-mandated tasks, the MSS Women in the Profession Committee also administers the Jane Addams Award. See the Awards & Grants page for the current call for nominations.