| SWS SOUTH CENTRAL CHAPTER
Meeting Minutes
July 11, 2006 (Tuesday) – Cairns, QLD, Australia
Officers
Jeff Raasch (TPWD) – Current President - Present
Andy Nyman (LSU) – President Elect - Not Present
Scott Jecker (Whitenton Group) – Past President- Not
Present
Matt Stahman (SWCA) – Secretary/Treasurer- Not Present
Board
Ken Krauss (USGS) – Board Member - Present
Lisa Gandy (Whitenton Group) – Board Member - Not Present
Gary Ervin (Miss. State Univ.) – Board Member - Not
Present
Ed Buckner (Univ. of Arkansas) – Board Member - Not Present
Since the meeting was so far away, there was limited attendance
by the elected officers and board; however, SWS-SCC had an
amazing overall attendance. We had a total of 11 members
present, which was the largest attendance of any group including
the Australian Chapter and the International Chapter.
Jeff called the meeting to order at approximately 6:35 PM.
He welcomed all members, and we had a brief round table discussion
about our experiences to date in Australia as we awaited
additional members. Several members had to stroll in late
after field trip briefings, which were scheduled at the same
time.
The first order of business was to introduce Thad Scott
to everyone. Thad was the winner of the student awards competition
held at our Chapter meeting in San Marcos, Texas, in October
of 2005. Thad represented SWS-SCC in his talk entitled “Coupled
photosynthesis and bacterial biomass production in a nutrient-limited
wetland periphyton mat” (scheduled for Thursday).
Second, we discussed the budget. Jeff provided everyone
with a handout that included the agenda for the current meeting,
chapter minutes from the Fall business meeting in San Marcos,
2005 annual SWS-SCC treasurer’s report, 2006 SWS-SCC
budget, 2005 SWS-SCC membership breakdown (i.e., we maintain
approximately 10% of the total national Society membership),
and a 2006 mid-year treasurer’s report. We discussed
current year expenses including travel for Jeff and Thad
to Cairns. We are sitting well even with these expenses.
Jeff then announced the new officers. Jeff received the
list literally minutes before leaving for Australia and
was happy to announce the winners at this first opportunity.
In addition, Jeff announced that the voting turn-out for
these positions was large. Winners were President-elect
Gary Pritts (Ensafe, Inc, Memphis) and two new Executive
Board Members: Julia A. Cherry (Univ. of Alabama) and Kevin
Stevens (Univ. of North Texas). Julia and Kevin will replace
Gary Ervin and Ed Buckner who have served their two-year
term. Congratulations to all three successful candidates!
New Business
1) Discussion of “Bylaws and Standing Rules” change
for splitting the Secretary/Treasurer into 2 new Officers – the
Chapter Secretary and the Chapter Treasurer.
Jeff stressed the need for introducing new blood into the
chapter and felt that splitting the positions might assist
this process. A combined position seems overwhelming. In
order to change the by-laws, we need to have this item presented
at one meeting and voted on at another. Hence, we will vote
on it as a Chapter at our Vicksburg meeting in October 5-7,
2006.
Jeff provided a detailed handout the included the specific
changes in the by-laws to reflect a split. Changes were minor.
With the change, however, was the addition of the following
statement to the duties of the Secretary: “The secretary
will work to maintain up to date contact information for
active members and shall prepare and disburse literature
pertinent to increasing membership and/or coordinate that
function with the Newsletter Editor.” – Jeff
stressed that this was a really important function that came
to a head recently when many of our membership did not renew.
We need a good way to find them.
With this, the split was opened for discussion:
a. Rebecca Howard questioned how we were going to get enough
applicants for both positions when we had difficulties in
the past with candidates for fewer positions. She also suggested
that we check with other chapters to see how they handle
the two positions.
b. Ken Krauss asked if we were doing this to keep Matt as
Treasurer or were we thinking long-term about difficulties
associated with filling these positions?
c. The conversations then transitioned into a discussion
of how we need leadership at the secretary/treasurer level
to become more involved with our international chapters and
to respond to the SWS Strategic Plan. Chapters have a role
in 12 tasks outlined by this strategic plan. Perhaps this
is another good reason for the position spilt as SWS-SCC
electoral duties are accreted?
d. Carol Thompson pointed out that responding to the Strategic
Plan would be very difficult for SWS-SCC.
e. Ken Krauss then explained to all members present that
we discussed the spilt as a SWS-SCC Executive Board via e-mail,
and that we all decided that the idea had relevance and should
be put to the general membership for a vote. We will vote
on this split in Vicksburg in October of 2006.
2) Chapter Meeting – October 5-7, 2006, Vicksburg,
Mississippi. The meeting will be hosted by ERDC (U.S. Army
COE, Engineer Research and Development Center). This facility
has historically been known as the “Waterways Experiment
Station (WES)”. We have no specific agenda as of yet,
except that planning is moving along on ERDC’s end.
We will have a social Friday night and will use ERDC’s
cafeteria for catering breaks and lunches. Foreign national
will need security clearance. Information will be provided
at a later date on how this will proceed.
With this, the venue and plans were opened for discussion:
a. Rebecca Howard asked if ERDC was offering financial support
for this meeting? Jeff was unsure.
b. During the discussions, it was noted that the SWS-SCC
Board will meet the day prior to the Chapter meeting.
3) Budget – FY05 will close out in the black. It is
looking good on a national level as well. It was suggested
that the national society will close-out $18-20K in the black.
4) Membership renewal – We had problems with renewals
this year on a chapter and national level. The majority of
non-renewals did not cite fee increases as a reason. It was
suggested that this type of information should go to the
SWS Archives. The availability of that service was discussed.
5) Meetings – 2007 in Sacramento, California and 2008
in Washington, D.C.
a. Mark Hester asked whether the 2008 meeting will be joint
with INTECOL. The answer was “no”. INTECOL did
not select SWS as a partner for this meeting. INTECOL will
be in Brazil.
b. Rebecca Howard mentioned that the field trips associated
with the SWS 2008 Washington meeting will be either before
or after the meeting, not mid-week. Hotel and venue expenses
in the DC area were suggested as the reason for this shift
in tradition.
Meeting was called to a close and members adjourned. |
