SOCIETY FOR FRENCH HISTORICAL STUDIES
REPORT OF THE FINANCIAL OFFICER
MAY 2004
UNRESTRICTED ACCOUNTS
(Beginning with the 2003 annual report, the Society has been operating on a January 1-December 31 fiscal year.)
As of December 31, 2003, our non-interest-bearing checking account (Chevy Chase Bank), which is the Society's operating account for small transactions, had a balance of $2,022.22 (compared with $2,049.12 as of December 31, 2002). The Savings Account (Vanguard Prime Money Market Fund), which is the Society's principal operating account, had a balance of $59,885.72 (compared with $57,640.04). In late December 2002, $50,000 was withdrawn from the Savings Account and placed in a two-year Certificate of Deposit (Countrywide Bank) in order to earn slightly more interest than we have been receiving in the money-market fund account. As of December 31, 2003, that account has a balance of $51,522.66. The total amount in unrestricted funds as of the end of December 2003 was $113,430.60 ($109,689.16).
RESTRICTED ACCOUNTS
As of December 31, 2003, the account for the Research Travel Award-jointly sponsored by the SFHS and the
Western Society for French History-had a balance of $42,301.77 ($43,919.95 as of December 31, 2003);
the account
for the John B. and Theta H. Wolf Travel Fellowship had a balance of $23,011.54 ($24,799.85);
and the account
for the Marjorie Milbank Farrar Memorial Award, to which a contribution of $5,000 was made this past year, had
a balance of $63,678.01 ($60,642.09). (These are all Vanguard Prime Money Market Fund accounts.)
INCOME
Each year, under the agreement by which Duke University Press (Duke) has responsibility for publishing French
Historical Studies, the Society receives one-half of the total membership dues collected from individual SFHS members, while Duke retains the payments for institutional subscriptions. This past year's payment from Duke, issued in September 2003, amounted to $11,124.25 (see the attached report, which includes membership and subscription figures dating back to 1996). The amount is substantially below last year's payment ($13,859.50), owing to an agreement with Duke for the Society to defray much of the extra page costs ($2,868.75) for the journal's having exceeded its page allotment.
Interest earned for calendar year 2003, listed by account, was as follows: Savings Account ($481.82); Certificate of Deposit ($1,522.66); Research Travel Award ($381.82); Wolf Travel Fellowship ($211.69); Farrar Memorial Award ($553.92).
DISBURSEMENTS (January 1, 2003 to December 31, 2003)
Unrestricted Accounts
| Salary for editorial assistant (Eteica Spencer) | $6,396.89 |
| Pinkney Prize | 1,500.00 |
| Koren Prize | 1,000.00 |
| Chinard Prize | 500.00 |
| H-France letterhead | 251.50 |
| Miscellaneous expenses of Executive Director | 26.90 |
Total Disbursements for the past fiscal year from Unrestricted Accounts was $9,675.29.
Restricted Accounts
| Farrar Memorial Award | $2,500.00 |
| Wolf Travel Fellowship | 2,000.00 |
| Research Travel Award | 2,500.00 |
Journal Finances
It's been a challenging year. This past fiscal year we've seen an average of 10% decline in library subscription revenues. We try to offset the falling subscription numbers by judicious price increases, but we always must be mindful that library budgets are in dire straits. In addition, the RoweCom/divine debacle left us with having to absorb significant revenue loss-half of this loss will hit this fiscal year and half next. Project Muse revenues increased across the board; electronic usage continues to increase. SFHS members have access to French Historical Studies on Muse via password, whether or not their library subscribes to Muse. All the back volumes of the journal prior to 2000 (when Muse coverage begins) are now available on JSTOR, and we are working on granting password access to the journal there as well, so that current SFHS members can have access to the entire collection. An electronic version of French Historical Studies is also available to print subscribers for no extra charge on Ingenta Select.
Debra Kaufman, Editorial/Administrative Manager, Journals
Membership Dues
During the Press's 2002-03 fiscal year, which ran from 1 July 2002 through 30 June 2003, the Press collected membership dues for the Society for French Historical Studies as follows:
- Between 7/1/02 and 12/31/02, the Press collected dues from 26 individuals at $35 each ($910) and from 9 students/retirees at $18 each ($162), for a total of $1072. (These additional members in the second half of the year brought the number of Society members to 714 individuals and 172 students by the end of the subscription year.)
- As of 6/30/03 the Press had collected 2003 dues from 698 individuals at $35 each ($24,430), and from 138 students at $18 each ($2,484), for a total of $26,914.
This makes a total collected of $27,986 in membership dues. As per the 1993 Agreement between the Press and the Society for French Historical Studies, half of the membership dues collected by the Press during each fiscal year are to be paid to the Society in the September following. For 2002-03, half of the dues comes to $13,993.
Volume 26 was 85 pages over its page allotment, per our contract of 700 pages per volume. The Society agreed to pay 75% of the extra page costs (for editorial, composition, printing, and mailing). At $45/page (direct costs only, not overhead), the cost is $3,825; 75% of that is $2,868.75. We will deduct that from your dues payment, making the total payment $11,124.25.
Debra Kaufman, Editorial/Administrative Manager, Journals
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