Minutes of the Annual Business Meeting

October 23, 2003

            The 63^rd annual meeting of the Northeastern Division of APS was held October 22-24 in Bedford, New Hampshire.  Division President Suha Jabaji-Hare called the meeting to order at 5:30 p.m. October 23, 2003 and welcomed the group to the annual meeting.  Councilor-Elect Margaret McGrath called for a moment of silence to remember those members of the Division who have died since the 2002 meeting.

APS President Report

            APS President Gary Bergstrom discussed several items of interest to the membership.  APS is conducting continuous strategic planning to include budgetary information as well as other issues.  He noted that less than 10% of the Society’s budget is derived from dues.  Electronic journal availability is resulting in the direct loss of revenue.  Bergstrom described several new committees to address issues including the 100^th anniversary celebration, priorities of plant pathology as a profession (how does it remain a viable discipline?), plant pathologist certification through APS (the current certification agency wishes to drop plant pathology), and improving electronic communication.  In addition, APS is participating in a Marketing Alliance with other societies to find new customers (other than ourselves) for our publications and services.  This alliance is working collectively to approach libraries.  The Entomological Society of America has joined the Plant Management Network. The network is still, however, operating with a deficit.

Council Report

            Barbara Christ (former Councilor) distributed the Council report with the financial strategic plan.  She noted that the 2009 meeting site has yet to be chosen.  Items of concern to the division:

· Richard Belanger is heading an ad hoc committee to investigate why people are allowing their membership to lapse.

· APS would like to continue the 2-for-1 deal in which a student can pay for one year of membership but be a member for 2 years.  Headquarters plans to ask Divisions to defray the cost of the second year.

· Each Division is encouraged to have a strategic plan.  Barb Christ would be happy to take leadership of a small committee to develop a plan to be considered for approval by the Division membership.

· Meg McGrath will be soliciting membership on future DeBary Bowl teams for participation at the annual national meeting.

· This is Barb’s last year as council, and she “passed the gavel” to Councilor-Elect, Meg McGrath.

Approval of Minutes

            Vice President Gary Moorman presented the 2002 minutes.  These were accepted and approved. 

Secretary-Treasurer Report

            Ann Gould noted that the e-mail list maintained by APS headquarters is definitely not up to date.  In particular, e-mail addresses of industry members are incorrect.  Other items:

· Congratulations to Wade Elmer, who was elected Secretary-Treasurer for 2003-2004.

· The balance in the budget was $14,663.

Committee Reports

Local arrangements.  The Banquet is all set with flowers donated by Pleasantview Gardens.  Programs are on the tables and the hotel has been responsive to helping behind the scenes.

Nominations:  Sharon Douglas (chair) encouraged people to nominate members for awards.  Margery Daughtrey will announce the recipients of two awards at the banquet.

Graduate student awards:  Ten students competed this year, and the names of the award recipients will be announced during the banquet.  Wakar Uddin will assume responsibilities as the new chair, and Danny Rioux and Bill Turechek will serve on the committee. 

Site Selection:  A motion was made to consider holding the 2006 meeting in Burlington, VT in November, back-to-back with the Canadian/New England Fruit meeting.  The motion was seconded and passed.

Symposium:  Frank Caruso thanked the division for allowing him to bring out-of-division speakers.

Extension:  The Extension committee was attended by 30 people this year representing 7 states.  Sharon Douglas (chair) reported that it was a perfect year for job security in terms of fungal pathogens:  diseases discussed ranged from begonia to wheat, and unknowns to old favorites.  Sharon stressed that the Extension committee meeting is open to everyone, and encouraged participation by our Canadian members as well as students. 

Industry:  Phil Brune (chair) reported that 6 members from 5 companies were represented this year, which is up from last year’s participation of 3 members from 2 companies.  Phil stressed that the Extension and Industry committee meetings are very valuable for the industry representatives.

Molecular Biology:  Suha Jabaji-Hare (chair) stressed that the committee needs more members who are active in this area to support the increase in students who work in molecular biology.

Executive Committee:  Suha thanks the members of the executive committee for their hard work this past year.

New Business

            The initiation of a travel fund in honor of Stephen Johnston was discussed.  $4,000 is needed to establish a bi-annual travel award administered by the APS Foundation; $8,000 is needed for a yearly award.  Once the award is established, the Foundation will choose a meritorious student (usually from the northeastern division, but not necessarily so) based on an application that includes references, a description of the student’s research program, and recommendations to promote APS.  A motion was made to establish such a travel fund; it was seconded and passed.  In further discussion, it was decided to solicit funds for the award from the membership.  If further dollars are needed after one year, the members can vote whether to make up the difference from society coffers or from future proceedings from the outreach seminar.

            Gould mentioned that Bob Seem (Cornell) proposed to the Executive committee that the NED-APS hold a future joint meeting in conjunction with a workshop held every four years by the Northeastern Integrated Pest Management Center.  Perhaps the Eastern Branch of ESA could be included in such a meeting as well.  It was decided to dialogue with the group to get more information, but no timeframe was discussed.

Officers for 2003-2004

            Gary Moorman, President

            Ann Gould, Vice-President

            Wade Elmer, Secretary-Treasurer

            Meg McGrath, Councilor

Respectfully submitted,

Ann Brooks Gould