SWS SOUTH CENTRAL CHAPTER
Spring Business Meeting Minutes
March 30, 2005 - Pensacola, FL

Scott Jecker, President, called the Business Meeting of the Society of Wetland Scientists (SWS) South Central Chapter to order at 5:00 PM. Scott welcomed all attendees.

President Jecker thanked and introduced all past and present board members for recognition by the Chapter membership. He also recognized the extreme contributions made by member Darren Dantin for organizing what was to be the 2004 Fall Meeting in Pensacola, Florida. Thanks to the destruction visited on Pensacola by Hurricane Ivan last year, the meeting had to be postponed to March/April 2005. President Jecker recognized guests and visitors to this year’s meeting, including those from the Gulf Estuarine Research Society and from the SWS South Atlantic Chapter, our joint meeting sponsor, and then proceeded with the meeting business.

President Jecker noted that an Executive Board Meeting had not been held at the Pensacola Meeting due to the absence or late arrival of several board members.

Quorum: President Jecker asked for a determination of a quorum, which was declared by Secretary/Treasurer Matt Stahman. A total of 21 members was present; meeting business commenced.

Guests and Visitors: President Jecker requested recognition of new members at this year’s meeting. Approximately four new members attended the meeting. President Jecker also recognized Gary Ervin and his five students from Mississippi State University.

Minutes: Secretary/Treasurer Matt Stahman distributed copies of the minutes from the July 2004 Chapter Business Meeting at Seattle, Washington to meeting attendees for review. Rebecca Howard pointed out that the draft minutes had not been posted to the website for review prior to this business meeting. Matt noted that this should be done for the next business meeting minutes. A motion was made to accept the July 2004 draft minutes and the motion passed.

Treasurer Report: Secretary/Treasurer Matt Stahman distributed a 2004 chapter financial report to attendees (Attachment A). The report summarized deposits and withdrawals to the Chapter account that have occurred from October 1, 2003 through December 31, 2004. The chapter started this period with $8,146.65 in the bank. Total chapter assets as of December 31, 2004 were $15,133.56.

Standing Committees:

1. Membership – Chair Secretary/Treasurer Matt Stahman showed that Burk and Associates currently reported 2004 membership at 462, up from 361 reported at the Spring 2004 Chapter Business Meeting in Seattle, a 22% increase. Overall, the Society decreased in size from 3,803 in 2003 to 3,722 in 2004, a 2% decrease. The Society was 4,278 in 2002, thus there has been a total membership decrease of 13%. Matt encouraged all members present to work toward getting more professors, students and colleagues involved in the Society.

2. Program – President Jecker discussed the upcoming SWS International Spring Meeting in Charleston, South Carolina in June. He encouraged everyone to attend and to sign up early. Chair President Elect Jeff Raasch talked about the next upcoming South Central Chapter fall meeting in San Marcos, Texas this October 5 through 8 at Texas State Campus. Plans for the fall meeting include focusing on water related issues such as planning, aquifers, riparian areas, etc. and checking out various springs, seeps and other unique wetland types located in the Texas Hill Country.

3. Nominations – Committee Chair and Past President Dr. Paul DuBowy was not in attendance. President Jecker announced that the chapter election will be held immediately following the Pensacola meeting and will have open slots for President-elect and two Board members. Secretary-Treasurer (serves a two-year term) will be up for election in 2006. President Jecker stated that Dr. DuBowy had been working on nominations for these offices and that the election would be held entirely on-line at the Chapter website. Elections would be finished and the results tallied by the Spring Business Meeting in Charleston this June.

4. Affiliations/Special Issues – No chairs exist for these committees. No items were discussed.

5. Archives – Chair Ron Boustany reminded members that the archives are maintained in a file box at the National Wetlands Research Center in Lafayette, LA. The archives document past meetings, national board meetings, registration forms, etc. The archives were started around 1999.

6. Bylaws & Standing Rules – Chair Ron Boustany was present. Matt Stahman informed the chapter that no new revisions had been proposed to the Bylaws & Standing Rules since the Executive Board met at last fall’s Board Meeting and approved a proposed revision of Standing Rules Section 8, ‘Dues and Fees’ to reflect current Society protocol for collection of Chapter dues. Matt passed out current copies of the Bylaws & Standing Rules to the chapter membership. Matt informed the membership that the current Bylaws & Standing Rules were available for viewing on the Chapter website.

7. Issues Committee – No chair exists for this committee.

8. Special Committees –
a. 2005 Pensacola Joint-Society Meeting - Darrin Dantin, Coordinator for the Pensacola Joint-Society Meeting (SWS SCC, SWS SAC, and GERS) noted that financially it appears the meeting will come out in the black. The societies probably won’t make a lot of money, but everyone agreed the meeting had been a huge success so far. Darrin will submit a financial report for the meeting to Secretary/Treasurer Matt Stahman as soon as possible.

b. Chapter Website Committee - Darrin Dantin, Chair of the Chapter Website, has been unable to service the website due to his commitments with the Pensacola meeting. President Jecker informed the membership that the website had been professionally revamped and was currently being maintained.

c. Workshop Committee – Mike Souliere, Chair of the Workshop Committee special committee, informed the membership of the committees’ goals of 1) sharing our expertise with a wider audience of professionals throughout our Chapter and 2) increasing our membership. President Jecker initiated the workshop initiative following the 2004 Spring Meeting in Seattle. Mike Souliere discussed the three workshops held so far: Wetland Plant ID in Houston, Hydric Soils in Houston, and Wetland Plant ID in San Marcos. The workshops had a total attendance of 44, with 19 new members recruited. They aren’t making money, but appear to be breaking even. Mike plans to offer workshops in other Chapter states such as Arkansas and Alabama in particular. Mike told the membership to contact him regarding ideas or contacts for future workshops.

d. Communications Committee – Gary Pritts was appointed Communications Liaison for the Chapter at the 2004 Spring Meeting in Seattle. Gary has been collecting information and articles from members on special wetland habitats, regional wetland differences, recent legal/regulatory issues, etc. for the new electronic chapter bulletin. The committee’s goal is to increase communications and cohesiveness throughout the Chapter. Gary is especially interested in increasing interest from members in Alabama. Gary plans to issue quarterly newletters.

So far, Gary has issued two bulletins of The Wetland Messenger so far, one for Fall 2004 and one for Fall/Winter 2004-2005. Everyone appreciated Gary’s efforts putting together these wonderful bulletins. However, President Jecker noted that some of the membership had not received the bulletins via email as they were supposed to. President Jecker plans on looking into the matter before the next Business Meeting in Charleston.

Ron Boustany suggested checking with Andy Cole who does the International Society Newsletter about liability for published information towards SWS as a whole.

Old Business
Fall 2005 Meeting – Jeff Raasch, newly elected President-Elect announced that the 2005 Fall Meeting will be held in San Marcos, Texas. Look to the website for more details.

Future Meetings – Dr. DuBowy noted that the SWS International Spring Meeting will be held in Australia in 2006 and in Sacramento, California in 2007.

New Business
Chapter Funds: President Jecker noted that the Chapter currently has a surplus of funds. Dr. DuBowy suggested Scott form a committee to investigate good and appropriate uses of the money. Secretary/Treasurer Matt Stahman is still looking into how much money the Chapter should reserve and how much should be considered surplus for these purposes since we’re currently spending more money on website administration, workshops, travel, etc. Matt is also still evaluating setting up CD’s to invest surplus funds and plans to turn out a recommendation to the board by the 2005 Fall Meeting in San Marcos, Texas.

Chapter President’s Travel to Australia: President Jecker raised the question of whether or not the Chapter should help President Elect Jeff Raasch travel to Australia for the SWS International 2006 Spring Meeting. This meeting will cost significantly more to travel to than any previous Spring Meeting. President Jecker suggested funding the travel with proceeds from one of the Chapter’s future workshops, perhaps one on Wetland Delineation that could handle charging higher prices than previous workshops. Jeff can’t get financial support for travel from his employer, Texas Parks and Wildlife Department. President Jecker suggested Jeff get an estimate for travel costs (hotel, airfare, etc.) and the chapter could offer a limit up to $3500 or so to help him out. Jeff will submit the estimate to the board and the board will vote on the appropriate amount.

Student Travel Award for Australia: President Jecker also pointed out that the current Student Travel Award is $600. More will be needed to send a student to Australia. Gary Pritts suggested we pay for, or ask SWS-Australia to comp a registration fee (our Chapter did this for international scientists at the SWS International 2003 Spring Meeting in New Orleans). Another suggestion was to offer the price of a plane ticket to Australia and get the student to cover the other expenses (food, hotel, etc.). Yet another member suggested funding all expenses to Australia. Rebecca Howard was opposed to that idea. A motion was made to table the discussion and vote in Charleston in June on how to best fund student travel to Australia. The membership voted and the motion passed.

President’s Term in Office: President Jecker suggested changing term for President to 2 years and Secretary/Treasurer to 3 years. Ron Boustany stated that President Jecker should make a proposal to change the by-laws and that the membership would have to vote on the issue. The issue was tabled for further discussion in Charleston.

Membership Dues Increase: President Jecker informed the membership that the SWS International Board had voted to raise annual dues from $60 to $100. A vote will be given to the membership in Charleston. President Elect Jeff Raasch suggested giving members an option to pay a lower annual dues if they didn’t take the journal. Member Timothy Love suggested going fully electronic with the journal. Rebecca Howard noted that there were several reasons not to do this. One, international members have trouble getting publications in electronic format. Two, current volunteer staff that work on the journal have strong opinions about keeping paper copies. The issue was tabled for further discussion.

President Scott Jecker adjourned the meeting at 5:35 PM.

Prepared By:
Matt Stahman, Secretary/Treasurer