Message from Chris Cornforth, the new Chair

Chris Cornforth wrote to all VSSN members:-

Dear VSSN member,

My name is Chris Cornforth and I wanted to introduce myself as the new Chair of the VSSN Steering Group and tell you about some recent changes and developments at VSSN.

Changes to the Steering Group
Following last year’s elections there have been a number changes on the VSSN Steering Group (SG). The names and responsibilities of the SG are as follows:

• Chris Cornforth (Open University) – Chair
• Colin Rochester ( University of Roehampton) - Vice Chair and NVCO/VSSN Annual Conference Liaison
• Cathy Pharoah (Cass Business School) – Treasurer
• Andri Soteri-Proctor (University of Birmingham) – Secretary
• Mike Aiken (Institute for Voluntary Action Research) -Young Researchers Development and e-Services Team
• Pete Alcock (Univesity of Birmingham) – External Relations and SG Representative on the Editorial Management Board of Voluntary Sector Review
• Mary Corcoran (University of Keele) – Research and Course Directories, and e-Services Team
• Robert Dalziel (Univeristy of Birmingham) – Membership and Marketing
• Veronique Jochum (NCVO) – e-Services

I would like to pass on warm thanks to retiring members of the SG: Angela Ellis Paine (Secretary) and Rob Macmillan (Marketing and Membership), who both gave great service, and Peter Halfpenny who retired as Chair after six years. Peter has done a fantastic job leading VSSN over the years, and I’m all too well aware he will be a very hard act to follow.
Many thanks also to a number of volunteers who continue to support the SG: Joanna Stuart (Young Researchers Development), Jill Mordaunt (Listserve Moderator), Nick Plant (e-Services) and Gareth Morgan (Constitutional and Financial Matters).

New journal - Voluntary Sector Review
VSSN is launching a new academic journal Voluntary Sector Review this Spring in partnership with The Policy Press. It will be included as a benefit of your membership subscription. An innovative feature of the journal is that it will include short peer reviewed contributions on both policy and practice in each issue as well as academic articles. I’ve had a sneak preview of the first issue and it looks really good. I do encourage you submit articles and get your libraries to take out a subscription. More details can be found at here.

Day Conferences
Two day conferences are planned for 2010 as follows:-

• 19 May 2010: Sheffield, to be organised by Gareth Morgan and colleagues
• 1 December 2010: London, to be organised by Mike Aiken from IVAR

More details on these events will be available at a later date here and through VSSN listserve.

Fees for Day Conferences
VSSN policy has always been to keep fees for day conferences as low as possible to encourage participation, and fees have not been increased for many years. In the past, institutions hosting the conference have not normally charged for room hire, however, it is becoming increasingly difficult to obtain rooms free of charge. Catering costs too are rising. As a result, some recent day conferences have run at a loss. To avoid this, the SG has decided that it is necessary to increase fees for 2010 to:

• Members: £30
• Member concessionary rate (for members without institutional support): £20
• Non-members: £60

Fees will now be reviewed regularly and may have to be increased further for some events, particularly if we are charged for room hire.

Regards,
Chris Cornforth