Caution! This message was sent from outside the University of Manitoba.

Hi Everyone, 

Happy reading week!

In alignment with all the perspectives. I do not feel like we need to (re)do any of the peer review process.

This discussion has come up over the years. Should a CALS board member sit on the organizing committee … or likewise should an organizing committee member sit on the board. To enhance communication and support of the conference. In the past, we have almost always had someone from the host institution on the board. This might be one of the first instances where we have not.

Food for thought.

Warm wishes,
Dawn

Dawn E. Trussell, Ph.D. 

Professor, Chancellor’s Chair for Research Excellence

Brock University | Department of Sport Management

1812 Sir Isaac Brock Way | St. Catharines, ON, Canada L2S 3A1
brocku.ca | T 905 688 5550  x 4580 | F 905 688 4505
Email: dtrussell@brocku.ca

From: Simon Barrick <Simon_Barrick@cbu.ca>
Date: Friday, February 13, 2026 at 11:05 AM
To: Rebecca Genoe <Rebecca.Genoe@uregina.ca>
Cc: Fenton Litwiller <Fenton.Litwiller@umanitoba.ca>, Audrey Giles <agiles@uottawa.ca>, Kyle Rich <krich@brocku.ca>, Dawn Trussell <dtrussell@brocku.ca>, Shintaro Kono <skono@ualberta.ca>, Shahzeidi, Monir <monir.shahzeidi@ubc.ca>, Kimberly Lopez <kimberly.lopez@uwaterloo.ca>, CALS Board <cals-board-2023-2026@lists.umanitoba.ca>
Subject: [Cals-board-2023-2026] Re: [EXT]:CCLR Discussion

Caution! This message was sent from outside the University of Manitoba.

Hi everyone,

I’m in full support of what’s been shared already. I don’t see any need to further delay the review process.

I think the VIU organisers should be made aware that delegates are upset by the abstract delays and spotty communications, and this may negatively impact the conference (i.e., lower registration numbers). The COMMs sub-committee has offered to provide communications support on several instances. We remain ready to support, as needed.

There are larger questions to be addressed about what our role should be in relation to current and future CCLR organising committees. Perhaps we can add this discussion to either the March or May board meetings?

All the very best,

Simon


Simon Barrick, Ph.D. (he/him)
Assistant Professor
Vice-Chair: Faculty & Teaching
Department of Experiential Studies in Community & Sport
simon_barrick@cbu.ca

image001.png

I respectfully acknowledge that I live, work, and play in Cape Breton, which is located in Mi’kma’ki, the ancestral and unceded territory of the Mi’kmaq People. This territory is covered by the “Treaties of Peace and Friendship” which Mi’kmaq and Wolastoqiyik (Maliseet) People first signed with the British Crown in 1725. The treaties did not deal with surrender of lands and resources but in fact recognized Mi’kmaq and Wolastoqiyik (Maliseet) title and established the rules for what was to be an ongoing relationship between nations.

On Feb 13, 2026, at 11:19 AM, Rebecca Genoe <Rebecca.Genoe@uregina.ca> wrote:

Caution! This message was sent from outside the University of Manitoba.

Hi All,
 
I don’t have any concerns with the review process as described. 
 
Perhaps future conference committees can be encouraged to put a call out for reviewers, as the Congress organizers did last year.  That way the workload can be shared so that providing feedback is more feasible.  It’s also nice for CALS members to be included in the review of abstracts for their conference. 
 
Rebecca 
 
 
 
From: Fenton Litwiller <Fenton.Litwiller@umanitoba.ca>
Sent: February 13, 2026 8:25 AM
To: Audrey Giles <agiles@uottawa.ca>; Kyle Rich <krich@brocku.ca>; Dawn Trussell <dtrussell@brocku.ca>; Shintaro Kono <skono@ualberta.ca>; Shahzeidi, Monir <monir.shahzeidi@ubc.ca>
Cc: Kimberly Lopez <kimberly.lopez@uwaterloo.ca>; CALS Board <cals-board-2023-2026@lists.umanitoba.ca>
Subject: [Cals-board-2023-2026] Re: CCLR Discussion
 
 
Hi all,
 
Just one point of correction: there were five reviewers in total, but each abstract was reviewed by two reviewers.
 
Thanks to Audrey and Kyle for weighing in already - do others have insights?
 
Fenton
-- 
Dr. Fenton Litwiller (they/them/theirs)
President, Canadian Association for Leisure Studies (CALS)
Associate Professor
Recreation Management and Community Development | University of Manitoba
112 Frank Kennedy Centre | Winnipeg MB | R3T 2N2
204.474.8412
 <image002.png>
 
The University of Manitoba campuses are located on original lands of Anishinaabeg, Ininewuk, Anisininewuk, Dakota Oyate and Denesuline, and on the National Homeland of the Red River Métis. UM respects the Treaties that were made on these territories, acknowledges the harms and mistakes of the past and present, and dedicates itself to move forward in partnership with Indigenous communities in a spirit of Reconciliation and collaboration.
 

From: Audrey Giles <agiles@uottawa.ca>
Date: Thursday, February 12, 2026 at 6:14 PM
To: Kyle Rich <krich@brocku.ca>, Fenton Litwiller <Fenton.Litwiller@umanitoba.ca>, Dawn Trussell <dtrussell@brocku.ca>, Shintaro Kono <skono@ualberta.ca>, Shahzeidi, Monir <monir.shahzeidi@ubc.ca>
Cc: Kimberly Lopez <kimberly.lopez@uwaterloo.ca>, CALS Board <cals-board-2023-2026@lists.umanitoba.ca>
Subject: Re: CCLR Discussion

Caution! This message was sent from outside the University of Manitoba.
 
Hi,
 
I agree with Kyle. Five people is thorough enough. We all end up reviewing outside of our area of expertise to some extent.
 
At the last CCLR, we only rejected one abstract. 
 
I think the main issue is communication. It has been really frustrating. It is hard to decide to commit a lot of money to a conference when the outward appearance is one of disorganization. 
 
Audrey
 
 
Audrey R. Giles, Ph.D.
Professor
School of Human Kinetics
341 Montpetit
University of Ottawa
Ottawa, ON
K1N 6N5
 
Audrey R. Giles, Ph.D.
Professeure titulaire
École des sciences de l’activité physique
334 Montpetit
Université d’Ottawa
Ottawa, ON
 
"We're here to do constructive damage to the status quo."
~Zebedee Nungak 
 
Kindly do not forward this email to others without my clearly stated permission to do so.
 
 
 

From: Kyle Rich <krich@brocku.ca>
Date: Thursday, February 12, 2026 at 6:56 PM
To: Fenton Litwiller <Fenton.Litwiller@umanitoba.ca>, Audrey Giles <agiles@uottawa.ca>, Dawn Trussell <dtrussell@brocku.ca>, Shintaro Kono <skono@ualberta.ca>, Shahzeidi, Monir <monir.shahzeidi@ubc.ca>
Cc: Kimberly Lopez <kimberly.lopez@uwaterloo.ca>, CALS Board <cals-board-2023-2026@lists.umanitoba.ca>
Subject: Re: CCLR Discussion

Attention : courriel externe | external email
Hi all,
 
As long as they are reviewed, I don’t feel the need to intervene or hold things up. That should ensure that nothing egregious or inappropriate ends up on the program. As it is a relatively smaller number of abstracts, a pretty narrow field of study, and if they were indeed read by all five people, that is a pretty thorough screening. And frankly, not many conferences provide revision processes anyhow. So, having some moved around and others asked to revise is probably a reflection of a thoughtful process. So in sum, all good from my perspective.
 
I would just suggest moving forward that we set some clear expectations on communications. If/when details need to be confirmed, shared, etc. I still have not received an acceptance for my abstract, and when I inquired, Jenn indicated that she had sent it and would re-send, but then still nothing. I’m not too concerned, but if there are others who are getting spotty or no communication, I worry it will reflect poorly on us, and/or result in people just cancelling their plans to attend.
 
As indicated before, I’m happy to help out in any way that I can if there is anything needed.
 
Cheers,  
 
Kyle Rich, PhD
Associate Professor, Department of Sport Management
Associate Director, Niagara Community Observatory | Brock University
1812 Sir Isaac Brock Way  |  St. Catharines, Ontario  L2S 3A1
 

From: Fenton Litwiller <Fenton.Litwiller@umanitoba.ca>
Date: Thursday, February 12, 2026 at 6:27 PM
To: Audrey Giles <agiles@uottawa.ca>, Dawn Trussell <dtrussell@brocku.ca>, Shintaro Kono <skono@ualberta.ca>, Shahzeidi, Monir <monir.shahzeidi@ubc.ca>
Cc: Kimberly Lopez <kimberly.lopez@uwaterloo.ca>, Kyle Rich <krich@brocku.ca>, CALS Board <cals-board-2023-2026@lists.umanitoba.ca>
Subject: Re: CCLR Discussion

Hi Everyone,
 
I spoke with Amanda Johnson today and got more information about the abstract review process.
 
A small team of five people (all but one have PhD’s) reviewed all the abstracts but they were not given a template to do so, nor any instructions, and they reviewed outside their areas of expertise. No feedback was given on any of the accepted abstracts.
 
Five abstracts received a 'revise and resubmit’ but were given very little feedback. 
 
There were about 131 total abstracts submitted (with some moved to posters and ‘half-baked ideas’ sessions, to a total of about 105 15-minute presentations). About 20 of these are graduate students. 
 
Feedback will be emailed to the R and R abstracts tomorrow; graduate students will get feedback later in February. 
 
My question to the board is this:
 
Given the review process that I outlined above,:
 
  1. Do you have any concerns? In particular, do you have concerns about the reputation of CALS and/or CCLR as a scholarly conference?
  2. If you do have concerns, what should be done about these concerns?  
 
 
I would appreciate it if as many people as possible weigh in on this. 
 
Thank you,
Fenton
 
-- 
Dr. Fenton Litwiller (they/them/theirs)
President, Canadian Association for Leisure Studies (CALS)
Associate Professor
Recreation Management and Community Development | University of Manitoba
112 Frank Kennedy Centre | Winnipeg MB | R3T 2N2
204.474.8412
 <image003.png>
 
The University of Manitoba campuses are located on original lands of Anishinaabeg, Ininewuk, Anisininewuk, Dakota Oyate and Denesuline, and on the National Homeland of the Red River Métis. UM respects the Treaties that were made on these territories, acknowledges the harms and mistakes of the past and present, and dedicates itself to move forward in partnership with Indigenous communities in a spirit of Reconciliation and collaboration.
 

From: Fenton Litwiller <Fenton.Litwiller@umanitoba.ca>
Date: Friday, February 6, 2026 at 11:03 AM
To: Audrey Giles <agiles@uottawa.ca>, Dawn Trussell <dtrussell@brocku.ca>, Shintaro Kono <skono@ualberta.ca>, Shahzeidi, Monir <monir.shahzeidi@ubc.ca>
Cc: Kimberly Lopez <kimberly.lopez@uwaterloo.ca>, Kyle Rich <krich@brocku.ca>, CALS Board <cals-board-2023-2026@lists.umanitoba.ca>
Subject: [Cals-board-2023-2026] Re: CCLR Discussion

Hi Audrey (and all),
 
Thank you - I appreciate you adding this important context and I did not mean my email to come across as placing any blame. I will reiterate your comments that Aggie is an incredible colleague. VIU is experiencing tremendous financial shifts and faculty turnover, and Jenn has really stepped in to help out. It is due to the context (and not the people) that there may be a few things that are falling through the cracks. 
 
I will be in touch once I hear more.
 
Thank you for everyone weighing in on the abstract review process.
 
Sincerely,
Fenton
-- 
Dr. Fenton Litwiller (they/them/theirs)
President, Canadian Association for Leisure Studies (CALS)
Associate Professor
Recreation Management and Community Development | University of Manitoba
112 Frank Kennedy Centre | Winnipeg MB | R3T 2N2
204.474.8412
 <image003.png>
 
The University of Manitoba campuses are located on original lands of Anishinaabeg, Ininewuk, Anisininewuk, Dakota Oyate and Denesuline, and on the National Homeland of the Red River Métis. UM respects the Treaties that were made on these territories, acknowledges the harms and mistakes of the past and present, and dedicates itself to move forward in partnership with Indigenous communities in a spirit of Reconciliation and collaboration.
 

From: Audrey Giles <agiles@uottawa.ca>
Date: Friday, February 6, 2026 at 10:50 AM
To: Fenton Litwiller <Fenton.Litwiller@umanitoba.ca>, Dawn Trussell <dtrussell@brocku.ca>, Shintaro Kono <skono@ualberta.ca>, Shahzeidi, Monir <monir.shahzeidi@ubc.ca>
Cc: Kimberly Lopez <kimberly.lopez@uwaterloo.ca>, Kyle Rich <krich@brocku.ca>, CALS Board <cals-board-2023-2026@lists.umanitoba.ca>
Subject: Re: CCLR Discussion

Caution! This message was sent from outside the University of Manitoba.
 
Hi,
 
I want to provide some context and clarification.
 
Aggie was asked to step back from organizing CCLR be/c VIU felt that it was confusing for people to get info from her (as she had left to take a Vice Dean position at Okanagan College). She told Joanne that she would help, but that she needed to be asked specifically so as not to overstep what VIU had told her.
 
I just want to make sure Aggie isn’t getting thrown under the proverbial bus here. She is a long-time and active member of CALS who has made considerable contributions over the years. I have known her for over 25 years and know her to be a consummate professional.
 
Audrey
 
Audrey R. Giles, Ph.D.
Professor
School of Human Kinetics
341 Montpetit
University of Ottawa
Ottawa, ON
K1N 6N5
 
Audrey R. Giles, Ph.D.
Professeure titulaire
École des sciences de l’activité physique
334 Montpetit
Université d’Ottawa
Ottawa, ON
 
"We're here to do constructive damage to the status quo."
~Zebedee Nungak 
 
Kindly do not forward this email to others without my clearly stated permission to do so.
 
 
 

From: Fenton Litwiller <Fenton.Litwiller@umanitoba.ca>
Date: Tuesday, February 3, 2026 at 2:37 PM
To: Audrey Giles <agiles@uottawa.ca>, Dawn Trussell <dtrussell@brocku.ca>, Shintaro Kono <skono@ualberta.ca>, Shahzeidi, Monir <monir.shahzeidi@ubc.ca>
Cc: Kimberly Lopez <kimberly.lopez@uwaterloo.ca>, Kyle Rich <krich@brocku.ca>, CALS Board <cals-board-2023-2026@lists.umanitoba.ca>
Subject: Re: CCLR Discussion

Attention : courriel externe | external email
Hi everyone,
 
I have some CCLR updates for you all.
 
I was contacted by Amanda Johnson from VIU, who has been on leave on and off for the past year and just catching up on CCLR planning.
She updated me on a few things:
 
While I was under the impression that Aggie was actively involved in the planning of CCLR and the abstract review process, this is not the case. Jenn did not alert me to the fact that Aggie has been almost completely absent ( likely consumed by her new decanal role at Okanogan College).
 
Jen is not an academic and will not ask for help. 
 
Amanda suspects that because the abstract review process was lagging too long,  it may be that Jenn/others made the decision to accept all abstracts without peer review/feedback (this needs to be confirmed).
 
Amanda is reaching out to her Chair (Joanne) to have a discussion about CCLR concerns, and then Amanda, Joanne, Jenn and I will meet. I would like a member of the board to join me in this discussion (perhaps Dawn if possible?)
 
One of the main concerns is reputational harms related to the alleged lack of abstract review. Amanda is willing to step in and organize a peer review process so that authors (especially students) can get feedback.
 
What I need from you all are some specific comments that I can bring to the meeting - it seems like abstracts were sent out at very different times, and most without feedback. Can you let me know when you and your graduate students received your abstract and if there was feedback given? Also, please let me know about any other concerns you have.
 
Sorry all - I would have followed through on this if I had left my meeting with Jenn knowing or suspecting any of this. 
 
Sincerely,
Fenton
 
-- 
Dr. Fenton Litwiller (they/them/theirs)
President, Canadian Association for Leisure Studies (CALS)
Associate Professor
Recreation Management and Community Development | University of Manitoba
112 Frank Kennedy Centre | Winnipeg MB | R3T 2N2
204.474.8412
 <image003.png>
 
The University of Manitoba campuses are located on original lands of Anishinaabeg, Ininewuk, Anisininewuk, Dakota Oyate and Denesuline, and on the National Homeland of the Red River Métis. UM respects the Treaties that were made on these territories, acknowledges the harms and mistakes of the past and present, and dedicates itself to move forward in partnership with Indigenous communities in a spirit of Reconciliation and collaboration.
 

From: Audrey Giles <agiles@uottawa.ca>
Date: Friday, January 30, 2026 at 12:55 PM
To: Fenton Litwiller <Fenton.Litwiller@umanitoba.ca>, Dawn Trussell <dtrussell@brocku.ca>, Shintaro Kono <skono@ualberta.ca>, Shahzeidi, Monir <monir.shahzeidi@ubc.ca>
Cc: Kimberly Lopez <kimberly.lopez@uwaterloo.ca>, Kyle Rich <krich@brocku.ca>, CALS Board <cals-board-2023-2026@lists.umanitoba.ca>
Subject: Re: CCLR Discussion

Caution! This message was sent from outside the University of Manitoba.
 
Hi,
 
I contacted Jenn. She said that acceptances/revisions/rejections would be sent today and on Monday, too.
 
Audrey
 
Audrey R. Giles, Ph.D.
Professor
School of Human Kinetics
341 Montpetit
University of Ottawa
Ottawa, ON
K1N 6N5
 
Audrey R. Giles, Ph.D.
Professeure titulaire
École des sciences de l’activité physique
334 Montpetit
Université d’Ottawa
Ottawa, ON
 
"We're here to do constructive damage to the status quo."
~Zebedee Nungak 
 
Kindly do not forward this email to others without my clearly stated permission to do so.
 
 
 

From: Fenton Litwiller <Fenton.Litwiller@umanitoba.ca>
Date: Friday, January 30, 2026 at 1:48 PM
To: Dawn Trussell <dtrussell@brocku.ca>, Audrey Giles <agiles@uottawa.ca>, Shintaro Kono <skono@ualberta.ca>, Shahzeidi, Monir <monir.shahzeidi@ubc.ca>
Cc: Kimberly Lopez <kimberly.lopez@uwaterloo.ca>, Kyle Rich <krich@brocku.ca>, CALS Board <cals-board-2023-2026@lists.umanitoba.ca>
Subject: [Cals-board-2023-2026] Re: CCLR Discussion

Attention : courriel externe | external email
Hi all,
 
I was in touch with the conference organizer, Jenn Houtby-Ferguson, a couple of weeks ago to brainstorm registration payment options that would work for CALS and their finance team at VIU (along with Paul Heintzman).
 
During that meeting she did not express any concerns about the organizing and noted that acceptance letters would be out by the end of the week. I received my letter yesterday, so they are behind.
 
I asked for monthly updates to be sent via the listserv and have invited Jenn to attend the board meeting in March. I see that a link for registration came out a few moments ago on the listserv.
 
I don’t think there is huge cause for concern, although the process has been quite delayed.  However, if you have specifics that you would like me to bring to Jenn, please let me know.
 
Cheers,
Fenton
-- 
Dr. Fenton Litwiller (they/them/theirs)
President, Canadian Association for Leisure Studies (CALS)
Associate Professor
Recreation Management and Community Development | University of Manitoba
112 Frank Kennedy Centre | Winnipeg MB | R3T 2N2
204.474.8412
 <image003.png>
 
The University of Manitoba campuses are located on original lands of Anishinaabeg, Ininewuk, Anisininewuk, Dakota Oyate and Denesuline, and on the National Homeland of the Red River Métis. UM respects the Treaties that were made on these territories, acknowledges the harms and mistakes of the past and present, and dedicates itself to move forward in partnership with Indigenous communities in a spirit of Reconciliation and collaboration.
 

From: Dawn Trussell <dtrussell@brocku.ca>
Date: Thursday, January 29, 2026 at 8:47 AM
To: Audrey Giles <agiles@uottawa.ca>, Shintaro Kono <skono@ualberta.ca>, Shahzeidi, Monir <monir.shahzeidi@ubc.ca>
Cc: Kimberly Lopez <kimberly.lopez@uwaterloo.ca>, Kyle Rich <krich@brocku.ca>, CALS Board <cals-board-2023-2026@lists.umanitoba.ca>
Subject: [Cals-board-2023-2026] CCLR Discussion

Caution! This message was sent from outside the University of Manitoba.
 
Hi Folks,
 
Sending this through as a new thread. I do think it’s worthy of discussion and how we can support these folks now that the lead on the submission (Aggie) is gone.
 
I received some behind the scenes correspondence related to one of our submitted abstracts - and I too am nervous.
 
Warm wishes,
Dawn
 
Dawn E. Trussell, Ph.D. 
Professor, Chancellor’s Chair for Research Excellence
Brock University | Department of Sport Management
1812 Sir Isaac Brock Way | St. Catharines, ON, Canada L2S 3A1
brocku.ca | T 905 688 5550  x 4580 | F 905 688 4505
Email: dtrussell@brocku.ca
 

From: Audrey Giles <agiles@uottawa.ca>
Date: Thursday, January 29, 2026 at 8:38 AM
To: Shintaro Kono <skono@ualberta.ca>, Shahzeidi, Monir <monir.shahzeidi@ubc.ca>
Cc: Kimberly Lopez <kimberly.lopez@uwaterloo.ca>, Kyle Rich <krich@brocku.ca>, Dawn Trussell <dtrussell@brocku.ca>, CALS Board <cals-board-2023-2026@lists.umanitoba.ca>
Subject: Re: [Cals-board-2023-2026] Re: Vote Required Friday By 10am: Updated Awards Documents for Review and Vote

Hi,
 
Abstract acceptances, revisions, etc, seem to be rolling out. My grad students have heard back, but I haven’t.
 
I’m very concerned about the state of planning for the conference.
Audrey
 
Audrey R. Giles, Ph.D.
Professor
School of Human Kinetics
341 Montpetit
University of Ottawa
Ottawa, ON
K1N 6N5
 
Audrey R. Giles, Ph.D.
Professeure titulaire
École des sciences de l’activité physique
334 Montpetit
Université d’Ottawa
Ottawa, ON
 
"We're here to do constructive damage to the status quo."
~Zebedee Nungak 
 
Kindly do not forward this email to others without my clearly stated permission to do so.
 
 
 

From: Shintaro Kono <skono@ualberta.ca>
Date: Wednesday, January 28, 2026 at 11:12 PM
To: Shahzeidi, Monir <monir.shahzeidi@ubc.ca>
Cc: Kimberly Lopez <kimberly.lopez@uwaterloo.ca>, Kyle Rich <krich@brocku.ca>, Dawn Trussell <dtrussell@brocku.ca>, CALS Board <cals-board-2023-2026@lists.umanitoba.ca>
Subject: [Cals-board-2023-2026] Re: Vote Required Friday By 10am: Updated Awards Documents for Review and Vote

Attention : courriel externe | external email
Caution! This message was sent from outside the University of Manitoba.
 
Hi all,
 
I contacted Jenn from VIU as one of my grad students needed conference info to apply for a grant. She provided a fair amount of details with a caveat that things could change. She did mention that they encountered some challenges.
 
When the outreach subcommittee reached out to Jenn on a separate matter, she asked us whether she could bring conference related questions to us, the subcommittee. So, I redirected her to Fenton and executives. That was like a month ago, I think?
 
Best,
Shin
 
----------------------------------------------------------
Shintaro Kono, Ph.D.
河野慎太朗 （博士）
he/him
Associate Professor, Faculty of Kinesiology, Sport, and Recreation, University of Alberta, Canada
 
2-130T, University Hall, van Vliet Complex, 8840-114 St., Edmonton, Alberta, Canada T6G 2H9
Phone: +1-780-492-0581
 
The University of Alberta is located in ᐊᒥᐢᑿᒌᐚᐢᑲᐦᐃᑲᐣ (Amiskwacîwâskahikan) on Treaty 6 territory, the territory of the Papaschase, and the homeland of the Métis Nation.
 
On Thu, Jan 29, 2026, 1:04 PM Shahzeidi, Monir <monir.shahzeidi@ubc.ca> wrote:
Caution! This message was sent from outside the University of Manitoba.
 
Dear all,
 
As I live in Nanaimo, I can connect with VIU (Jenn) and inquire about this. Please let me know.
 
Best,
Monir
 
Monir Shahzeidi (She, Her, Hers)
P.hD. Candidate
School of Kinesiology
The University of British Columbia | Vancouver Campus
Ancestral, Traditional, and Unceded xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam) Territory
 
From: Kimberly Lopez <kimberly.lopez@uwaterloo.ca>
Sent: January 28, 2026 7:18 PM
To: Kyle Rich <krich@brocku.ca>; Dawn Trussell <dtrussell@brocku.ca>; cals-board-2023-2026@lists.umanitoba.ca
Subject: [Cals-board-2023-2026] Re: Vote Required Friday By 10am: Updated Awards Documents for Review and Vote
 
[CAUTION: Non-UBC Email]

Caution! This message was sent from outside the University of Manitoba.
 
Hi Kyle and friends,
 
It is concerning that decisions are not yet out. I can reach out to Janet tomorrow and see if I can informally offer support with communication/updates to membership/potential delegates. 
 
If anyone else has contacts at VIU, it might be time to reach out and relay that people are beginning to ask questions.
 
More soon,
Kim
 
From: Kyle Rich <krich@brocku.ca>
Date: Wednesday, January 28, 2026 at 7:03 PM
To: Dawn Trussell <dtrussell@brocku.ca>, cals-board-2023-2026@lists.umanitoba.ca <cals-board-2023-2026@lists.umanitoba.ca>
Subject: [Cals-board-2023-2026] Re: Vote Required Friday By 10am: Updated Awards Documents for Review and Vote
Caution! This message was sent from outside the University of Manitoba.
 
Hi all,
 
Not sure if we need a motion for this, but if we do, I make the motion “to accept the updated awards documents as submitted.”
 
If we don’t need a motion, I vote yes/in favour.
 
Also, completely off topic, but just want to flag to the group that the CCLR organizing is currently in a bit of a state of flux. Abstract decisions are not out (or at least not all of them are), and after requesting information, I basically was just told that they are in a tough position and are ‘working on it.’ I’m not sure exactly the role of the board in this, but should we be offering to intervene/support or at least inquire? In some ways, I think poorly organized conferences reflect on us.
 
Cheers,
 
Kyle Rich, PhD
Associate Professor, Department of Sport Management
Associate Director, Niagara Community Observatory | Brock University
1812 Sir Isaac Brock Way  |  St. Catharines, Ontario  L2S 3A1
 
From: Dawn Trussell <dtrussell@brocku.ca>
Date: Monday, January 26, 2026 at 9:49 PM
To: cals-board-2023-2026@lists.umanitoba.ca <cals-board-2023-2026@lists.umanitoba.ca>
Subject: [Cals-board-2023-2026] Vote Required Friday By 10am: Updated Awards Documents for Review and Vote
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Dear CALS Board Members,

I hope this message finds you well! Please find the updated awards documents attached for your review. As these revisions require Board approval, we will need to proceed with a vote; please see the policy below regarding online voting. (Thanks Fenton!)

The updates reflect the generative discussion at our last online Board meeting, as well as a follow-up meeting with a small group who have served on the Awards committee to review my initial drafts. (Thanks Audrey, Kyle, and Fenton!)

The most substantive changes are to the Leisure Scholar Award and the Emerging Scholar Award and reflect revisions to eligibility, evaluation criteria, and the nomination process. For the CALS Connection Grant, an explicit statement that it may be used for CCLR. For the Marion Miller Award, the key revisions clarify that submitted papers must be sole authored by the student (where advisor co-authorship had previously been included) and that paper lengths are 6,000-8,000 words which aligns closer to journal submission standards. 

Across all awards, I also aimed to improve consistency in language, formatting, and overall presentation.

I kindly ask that you review the materials and submit your vote by Friday at 10:00 a.m. Please feel free to reach out with any questions or comments in advance of voting.

Thank you very much for your time, input, and thoughtful consideration. As far as I know, this is the first thorough review of all the awards since they were created around 10 years ago. (With the exception of the Marion Miller Award.)

Warm wishes,

Dawn

 
Dawn E. Trussell, Ph.D. 
Professor, Chancellor’s Chair for Research Excellence
Brock University | Department of Sport Management
 
CALS EMAIL VOTING PROCEDURES
October 21, 2025
 
Email votes are only used to make decisions that need to be made before the next board meeting, when it is not possible to call a special meeting, or when discussion has occurred at a previous board meeting (e.g., feedback on documents and voting on the final document). 
 
1. An email vote is not a meeting, but rather approval obtained separately from all board
members.
2. The topic to be addressed should be kept as simple as possible; preferably one item.
3. Since an email vote is not a meeting there can be no discussion on the resolution.
Therefore, any resolution by email vote must be passed by unanimous consent of all eligible
voting members, or it must be rolled over to a proper meeting where deliberation can occur prior to a vote.
4. The resolution can only pass by unanimous consent if everyone who is eligible voted, and the approved resolution must later be ratified at a regular meeting.
5. The vote must be posted for 72 hours.
6. Each board members is asked to add discussion or approval notes.
7. The vote is not anonymous.
 
A note on abstentions. 
 
A member(s) can abstain from an email vote and still have that vote be permissible under this framework so long as all members manifest receipt of the notice of an email vote, and no objection thereto, abstentions do not affect this process. This is because, “To “abstain” means not to vote at all….” [RONR 12th, 4:35] So long as no one objects or affirmatively casts a “no” vote, the e-voting process remains valid, so long as it is later ratified.
So long as there are no objections or “no” votes, abstentions do not affect the e-vote
 
A note on Robert’s Rules.
 
Reference to Robert's Rules reveals an interesting fact about email votes, which is that email votes are not meetings. A call for a simple vote by email does not satisfy the requirement of simultaneous aural communication among all participants equivalent to the one room or area rule [8:2(1) and 9:31]. This rule goes to the heart of preserving the deliberative nature of a democratic assembly [1:1]. Also, under general parliamentary law a board can transact business only in a regular or properly called meeting of which every board member has been sent any required notice (9:2-5, 9:13-16) and at which a quorum (40:5) is present. The personal approval of a proposed action obtained separately by telephone, by individual interviews, or in writing, even from every member of the board, is not the approval of the board, since the members lacked the opportunity to mutually debate and decide the matter as a deliberative body [49:16]. This means that an email vote is not a meeting, so technically it is not a valid means to transact business except that it can be made valid through the process of ratification at the next regular meeting. The motion to ratify is used to confirm or make valid an action already taken that cannot become valid until approved by the assembly. 
 
However, unanimous consent is permissible under Robert's Rules even though it deviates from the normal deliberation requirement because if everyone votes and everyone votes "yes" there is no minority, and if there is no minority to protect there is no need for deliberation. However, if anyone votes "no" or objects the question must be rolled over to an actual deliberative meeting that does comply with 8:2 or 9:31, so that the rights of the minority can be protected through the deliberation process
 
 
 
 
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