L. Campbell called the meeting to order at 8:02 a.m. Present were L. Campbell, G. Bergstrom, T. Burr, G. Chastagner, S. Coakley, M. Daub, H. Dillard, S. Douglas, J. Fletcher, R. Gergerich, J. Leach, P. Lipps, J. Loper, L. Madden, J. MacDonald, S. Nelson, J. Polston, G. Shaner, J. Sherwood, E. Stromberg, D. Sumner, N. Van Alfen, M. Wimer, and C. Windels.

E. Review of the Action List from the 1997 Annual Meeting of Council (Attachment #6). Various items on the Action List were discussed.

1. Conflict of Interest Policy. S. Nelson distributed a draft of the Conflict of Interest Policy for APS (Attachment #7) and asked council members to review the policy so that we can decide on Sunday if this is what we want.

2. Vision Statement and Strategic Plan - Purpose, Issues, Committee and Time Line. L. Campbell led a discussion on the development of a new Strategic Plan for APS for the next 3-5 years. He described some of the initiatives from the last Strategic Plan and suggested that the new strategic plan will perhaps not be so much about new offices such as OPAE and OEC, but more about what we will do in the future. For example, APS is approaching 30% international membership and yet we have no international representative on APS Council. He suggested that the governance of APS should be reviewed. C. Windels discussed comments on the Vision Statement for the APS that was distributed at the Business Meeting in Rochester, and she presented the revised Vision Statement (Attachment #8). MOTION to adopt the Vision Statement as revised. SECOND. MOTION CARRIED. The Vision Statement as approved will be publicized.

Individuals were nominated to serve on the committee to develop the next Strategic Plan for APS. L. Campbell discussed the upcoming survey of the membership to be conducted in May/June of this year. Readex, the company conducting the survey for APS, will use questions from the Strategic Planning Committee, and the information from the survey will be available in July. The Strategic Planning Committee will bring a draft of the new Strategic Plan to Council in November. J. MacDonald suggested that there might be elements of the Strategic Planning process that could be open to discussion on APSnet, and L. Madden added that something could also be done through Phytopathology News or the APS News Capsule.

3. Manual of Operations - Latest Revision. Several changes to the current draft of the revised APS Manual of Operations (Attachment #9) were discussed. ACTION (Secretary and J. Fletcher) In the next revision of the Manual of Operations under the section on committees, designate when chairs and members of the committees rotate off the committee. ACTION (Secretary) In the next revision of the Manual of Operations under Division Councilors, indicate that the Division Councilors will serve as the selection committee for the Melhus Student Speaker Award and the chair of the committee will rotate alphabetically by Division name. ACTION (Secretary) have the current approved version of the Manual of Operations put on APSnet.

4. Alliances. The potential benefits of alliances with different groups was discussed such as CROPS 99 in which several scientific societies and commodity groups joined together to enhance their influence and promotion of initiatives. G. Bergstrom noted that joint online events with ESA are being planned for the upcoming annual meeting which will be held jointly with ESA. ACTION (Council members) Send ideas for joint online events with ESA for the upcoming annual meeting to C. Windels.

5. CAST - Conversations on Change (deferred until C. Curtis arrives). LINK TO CONTINUATION OF THIS TOPIC

6. Ad hoc Committee to Develop List of New, Emerging and Re-emerging Diseases (USDA/APHIS). An ad hoc committee will be formed to develop a mechanism and the terminology to determine how new and emerging diseases will be identified, and then a standing committee will be appointed to put together a list of new and emerging diseases based on input from the scientific community.

7. Plant Pathology Century Project. N. Van Alfen who will be APS President at the turn of the century will chair a committee that will develop a plan/project to celebrate the turn of the century and possibly the millennium. ACTION (Council members) Send ideas for turn of the century and/or millennium celebration to N. Van Alfen.

8. Selection of APS Secretary and Phytopathology News Editor. Individuals were nominated for APS Secretary.

B. Nyvall has agreed to serve an additional 3-year term as Editor-in-Chief of Phytopathology News and the Executive Committee recommends him for another term. There was unanimous approval of the recommendation.

9. Representatives to Other Societies/Groups - Terms. The Executive Committee proposes that appointment of representatives will be renewable with the advice and consent of Council. The terms for representatives are 3 years except for ISPP which is 10 years.

10. Headquarters Operation Committee (HOC). L. Campbell will serve as the next chair of the HOC. He described the responsibilities and the makeup of the Headquarters Operations Committee.

11. Other Items.

Ad hoc Brainstorming Committee. L. Campbell will appoint an ad hoc brainstorming committee (1-year term) that will meet at the annual meeting to develop new ideas for APS. Another objective of this idea is to give young scientists a chance to become involved in APS.

Council Meeting Schedule at 1998 Annual Meeting. The schedule for various meetings at the annual meeting is: Saturday, November 7 at various times (FAC, Councilors’ Forum, Publications Board, Executive Committee, full Council); Sunday, November 8 (Council, all day); Thursday, November 12 (Council, all day).

G. Headquarters Report.

Staff Report S. Nelson reviewed the 1998 Staff Report (Attachment #10). He noted that there are several things that are driving changes at APS Headquarters including the globalization of APS, the new era of electronic communication, and the fact that APS is a member-driven organization that depends on staff positions at Headquarters to facilitate the work of APS member volunteers.

Staff Changes S. Nelson reported that there are 9 new staff members at APS since August of 1997, and that Headquarters has redefined some positions as staff changes have occurred. A chart showing the AACC/APS Staff Organization (Attachment #11) was distributed. S. Nelson introduced new staff members F. Labatt, M. Bjerkness, N. Kolb, and S. Kohn.

Membership Database M. Wimer reported on the new database and related software that was purchased in December of 1997. The new database will function as a tool for the society, council, editorial boards, and other volunteer groups and committees. This includes maintaining more sophisticated member demographics, committee participation, publication activity, contact information, and any other type of profiles within the database that may be deemed useful. The new relational database includes modules for membership management, committee management, dues and subscription management, meetings management, order processing and inventory control for book and other sales, accounts payable, accounts receivable, and general ledger.

IS-MPMI L. Campbell asked J. Leach to convey to IS-MPMI that we are interested in maintaining the relationship between the two societies. J. Sherwood asked about reimbursement of costs, and J. Leach said that IS-MPMI realizes they have to pay and that they need information on building expenses, etc.

Short Courses C. Ash described the first APS Short Course on Pest Management for Evergreen Trees which was presented to 62 registrants on March 26-27. Discussion about APS Short Courses included questions of whether they could be offered internationally, and if the same course could be offered in future years. C. Ash noted that they worked very closely with University personnel on this Short Course to overcome the feeling that they were competing with local experts. ACTION (C. Ash) Write an article in Phytopathology News on the first APS Short Course. Possible future Short Course topics include foliage plant diseases, post-harvest diseases, and a statistics refresher course. L. Campbell said that Council will be informed about new Short Courses as they evolve, and that Council will continue to approve Short Courses on a case-by-case basis.

Staff Goals S. Nelson reviewed the Staff Goals that were developed at a Staff Retreat held on March 10, 1998 (Attachment #12). He noted that APS is in a time of rapid change and that this requires planning and re-ranking in every quarter to determine how resources will be used. He described Intranet, a system that has been installed at Headquarters for in-house communication.

Break 10:19 a.m.
Reconvened at 10:42 a.m.

1. Committee on Committees MOTION (Councilors’ Forum) to approve all committee appointments in advance. SECOND. MOTION CARRIED. H. Dillard noted the difficulty in keeping accurate records on APS committee membership. The new database at Headquarters will help Councilors’ Forum determine who has served on committees in the past.

Committee Evaluations Three APS committees will be contacted about their status, and will be asked what can be done to help them. The Archives and History Awareness Committee will be modified to reflect the fact that this committee does not function in the same way as other APS committees. MOTION to disband the Archives and History Awareness Committee and appoint an Historian for a five-year term. The Historian would not be a member of Council or attend Council meetings. The Historian could select advisors to serve under him/her. SECOND. MOTION CARRIED. ACTION (L. Campbell) Consult with Archives and History Awareness Committee for nominations for APS Historian. Consult with Council on recommendation and appoint an Historian (for a term of five years) and a group of advisors. Disband Archives and History Awareness Committee.

2. Nominations and Elections The nominations for Vice President and Councilor-at-Large were discussed and individuals will be contacted to determine if they are willing to stand for election.

3. Division Issues LINK TO   Section H.8. FOR THIS DISCUSSION

4. Member Services Not discussed.

5. Member Database Councilors’ Forum has been asked for input on the proposed information that would be requested for entry into the member database.

6. Status of Student Memberships Student membership decreased by 92 student members in 1997. The possibility of phasing in students gradually from student member rates to full member rates is being considered.

7. Councilors’ Forum Symposium At the annual meeting there are normally four symposia funded plus another one sponsored by Councilors’ Forum. The purpose of the Councilors’ Forum Symposium is to balance the symposia topics for the membership. Because there are already 10 symposia planned for the joint APS/ESA meeting, the Councilors’ Forum Symposium will not be held this year.

8. Other Items

deBary Bowl The winners and the second-place team of the deBary Bowl will receive t-shirts and all deBary Bowl participants will receive ribbons. ACTION (S. Nelson/Headquarters) Have ribbons and t-shirts made for the deBary Bowl competitors and winners (first and second-place teams), respectively. It was decided to keep the deBary Bowl competition separate from the Linnean Games (a competition held by ESA) at the upcoming joint meeting with ESA. ACTION Headquarters will update the list of department heads, including departments that do not have plant pathologists as heads. The Division Councilors will be the contact person for assembling teams for the deBary Bowl. It was decided that the abstracts submitted for Division meetings would be collected (hard copy and diskette) by the Division and sent on to S. Kronmiller for publication.

Melhus Student Speaker There were three applicants for the Melhus Student Speaker Award and Clive Lo who works in plant defense responses will receive the award and present his work in an appropriate section at the annual meeting. ACTION C. Windels will place the presentation of this year’s Melhus student speaker in the appropriate session at the annual meeting. ACTION P. Lipps will revise the Phytopathology News write-up on the Melhus Student Speaker Award to indicate that the award is not restricted to research on disease resistance. ACTION The outgoing chair of the selection committee for the Melhus Student Speaker Award will place an article in Phytopathology News about the Melhus Student Speaker after the annual meeting, and ACTION the APS Secretary will revise the Manual of Operations to indicate this responsibility of the committee chair. ACTION Revise the Manual of Operations to indicate that the President-Elect will notify the winner of the Melhus Student Speaker Award.

Representatives to the Financial Advisory Committee ACTION C. Windels will appoint J. Loper and E. Stromberg as Councilors’ Forum representatives on the Financial Advisory Committee at the annual meeting of Council in 1998 in Las Vegas.

Site Selection for the 2001 Meeting MOTION To have the APS annual meeting in 2001 at ‘Little America’ in Salt Lake City, Utah, August 25-29. Concern was expressed about the late dates for the meeting, and that the ISMPMI meetings would be held in late July in Madison, WI in 2001. It was suggested that we might get more international participants if the APS meeting was held back-to-back with the ISMPMI meetings. ACTION J. Leach will send the exact dates for the 2001 IS-MPMI meetings to F. Labatt, and an attempt will be made to move the meetings to earlier in the summer.

(CONTINUED)
F. 5. CAST - Conversations on Change Chuck Curtis presented the history and goals of CAST (Attachment #13) and explained the goals of the incentive grants program of CAST. He conveyed a request from CAST for a contribution from APS to help fund the incentive grants program. Individuals and professional societies can apply for the incentive grants, and the applications for grants should be sent through a working group to the CAST office.

Adjourned at 12:05 p.m. for lunch.
Reconvened at 1 p.m.

(CONTINUED)
H. Councilors’ Forum

8. Other Items (continued)

Councilors’ Comments (Division Reports, Attachments # 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, and 19). The Caribbean Division is still considering a possible name change for their division. The North Central Division will offer travel awards to students to encourage participation in their regional meeting. The Northeast Division of APS with meet with the Potomac Division in 1999 in Annapolis, MD. D. Beadle is the new Councilor from the Southern Division.

1. Journal Survey - Capsule Report  LINK TO THIS DISCUSSION

2. Print and On-Line Subscriptions to Journals - Update

Electronic Publications The need to establish an electronic publications board for APSnet was discussed. It was decided in the transition period before an electronic publications board is formed that S. Douglas and J. MacDonald will use current members of APS Press and OEC to perform this function, and that eventually a regular editorial board would be formed for electronic publications on APSnet. The comment was made that it is within the purview of the Publications Board to approve these editors now.

on-line Publications The need to have a tracking system for online APS publications was discussed, and it was suggested that a statement regarding on-line publication could be sent to Department Heads to explain this for purposes of promotion and tenure considerations.

Encouraging Online Publication A discussion was held on how to bring more value to online journals to encourage members to use online publication options. Three suggestions were made: (a) to link authors e-mail address to the publication, (b) to provide authors the option of online color figures at lower cost (printed copy and reprints would be in black and white), (c) provide links to other official sites, such as for gene sequence information so that the sequences could be easily pulled up, and to APSnet where some sort of interactive model could be accessed. ACTION Revise the Manual of Operations to indicate that a member of OEC will sit on the Publications Board.

Posting of Information on a Personal Webpage MOTION (Publications Board) Information posted on an individual web page prior to submission to APS journals is not recognized as an official publication and will not prejudice review or acceptance by a journal editorial board. MOTION CARRIED. MOTION (Publications Board) Manuscripts or portions of manuscripts which are published in APS journals may only be posted to a web page as an official pdf file provided to the authors for a reprint fee by APS. The posted copy must contain a link back to APS and/or ISMPMI. Concern was expressed that what appears on the webpage might not be the same as the original publication. A fee would be charged because this is viewed as a new form of reprints. MOTION CARRIED (one opposed).

Electronic Property Rights This was not seen as a legal issue, but the question of how to give the membership the broadest possible use, for example for teaching purposes, and yet not harm our publication effort was raised. ACTION L. Campbell will form a committee to study the issue of electronic property rights with advice from S. Douglas and M. Daub and the Executive Committee. The committee will present something to Publications Board and Council at the Las Vegas meeting.

"Pay/View Option" Many journals have the advantage of being abstracted in several places, and the Publications Board requested that Headquarters and the Office of Electronic Communications look into this for APS journals. ACTION Headquarters and OEC will look into "Pay/View Option" for APS journal articles.

Non-Electronic Publication Issues General summaries of journal articles will be put online to explain the content of articles for a more general audience. G. Shaner, Editor-in-Chief of Plant Disease, said that Plant Disease will be the guinea pig for this. ACTION G. Shaner will work with the Plant Disease Editorial Board to explore this option. 

Page Charge Cheats If a manuscript is accepted for publication which is authored by an individual with an outstanding page charge debt on a previous paper, a letter will be sent from headquarters indicating that the present manuscript will not be processed further until the previous debt is paid.  

Help in Writing for Non-English Speaking Authors ACTION L. Campbell will contact R. Bennett of OIP to act as a contact point for volunteers to help authors with English usage in manuscripts and to consider the issue of competing with private businesses that do this.

Editor-in-Chief of Phytopathology News ACTION The description for the appointment of the Editor-in-Chief in the Manual of Operations will be revised to delete the phrase "...based on the recommendation of the Publications Board". The statement currently reads: "The Editor-in-Chief is appointed by Council, based on the recommendation of the Publications Board, for a three-year term. Individuals shall not serve more than two terms consecutively".

Overruns on Reprints The Publications Board recommended that overruns of reprints of APS journal articles be discontinued because of the low demand for them.

Service to Capture Past Journal Article Titles and Abstracts Headquarters staff requested that the Publications Board consider a service that would capture the past titles and abstracts of journal articles at a cost of $18,000 for 10 years or $34,000 for 30 years. Publications Board recommended that this should not be done.

Abstract Resubmission Authors will not be allowed to resubmit an abstract for presentation at the annual meeting if they submitted the abstract for the last meeting but were unable to present the paper.

Sending Journals to Developing Countries ACTION L. Campbell will write a letter to the TEEAL Project to let them know that we do not want to work with the Mann  Library to send our journals to developing countries. ACTION L. Campbell will contact R. Bennett of the Office of International Programs to develop a list of developing countries/institutions who should receive our journals, and request that this activity is publicized when it occurs.

NPPAL Archival Program This is a proposed project to archive Phytopathology from the first issue through 1955. Publications Board recommends that we agree to this proposal.

Chair of the Publications Board M Daub will continue next year as chair of the Publications Board.

(CONTINUED)
1. Journal Survey - Capsule Report (Attachment #20) S. Slack chaired an ad hoc committee to address the concerns of members, and the Readex company was hired to conduct a member survey. M. Daub summarized the results of the survey. M. Daub noted that APS member authors were more unhappy with Phytopathology than other journals, and it was suggested that members should be informed that the acceptance rates are the same for the different journals. ACTION M. Daub will write an article for Phytopathology News on the results of the recent survey of APS members and acknowledge the work of the committee members who developed the survey. It was suggested that some of the personal comments given by members in the survey could be included in this article. ACTION J. Leach will share the results of the members survey with IS-MPMI in their newsletter. ACTION Members of Council were asked to send comments and suggestions on the results of the member survey that should be highlighted in the Phytopathology News article. ACTION M. Daub was asked to consider giving a presentation at the APS Business Meeting in Las Vegas about the results of the member survey. A summary of the page charges of journals that cover topics similar to APS journals (last page of Attachment #19) was discussed, and it was noted that only one journal had higher page charges. According to the member survey, it is the subject matter that determines where authors publish their work, but it was pointed out that the biggest item that we can do something about is page charges. Other issues such as time to publish, acceptance rates have been addressed. MOTION (Publications Board) to establish a new page charge category of $40 per page for publication in Phytopathology and Plant Disease. This category would be available to authors who are subscribers to the journal. The predicted loss in income for Phytopathology and Plant Disease would be $45,000 and $54,000, respectively, if members took advantage of this. A discussion was held on how to recapture costs if the page charges for these journals were decreased, including an increase in the library subscription rate and the member subscription rate. A discussion on why Phytopathology is slipping ensued. Suggested reasons included competition from other journals (including other APS journals), the fact that scientists may be considered more sophisticated if they publish in many different journals, and lack of review articles in Phytopathology. MOTION TO TABLE. SECOND. MOTION TABLED.

Break 3:52 p.m.

Reconvened at 4:10 p.m.

I. 8. Electronic Technology Advisory Committee and the Office of Electronic Communications J. MacDonald distributed a handout outlining the activities of the new Office of Electronic Communication since it was approved in concept by APS Council at the annual meeting in Rochester in 1997 (Attachment #21) and presented statistical information on the use of APSnet for the period 1-1-98 to 3-25-98 (Attachment #22). He suggested possible additional online projects such as producing the Compendium for Minor Crops entirely as an online compendium. He commented on the new front page features of APSnet and said that the recent online symposium on late blight demonstrated the breadth and depth that could be achieved on a given topic online. If we are to attract serious contributors for online publication, then we must have a credible peer review process (an electronic editorial board) to allow authors to get credit and the publications must be cited in some sort of repository. A possible title for this repository could be "Chronicles of Plant Health", and it would be seen as a resource center to draw in more subscribers. OEC has also worked with APS committees and Divisions to create web pages and provide links to them. J. MacDonald distributed the Mission Statement for OEC (Attachment #23). MOTION to approve the Mission Statement of for OEC. SECOND. MOTION CARRIED. ACTION The Secretary will revise the Manual of Operations to include a description of the Office of Electronic Communications. The description will be provided by J. MacDonald.

I. 7. APS Press (Attachment #24) S. Douglas gave a brief report on APS Press activities. During FY-1997 APS Press published 11 new books, two new slide sets, one CD-ROM, and one video tape. The Turfgrass CD-ROM was a milestone that marked the first interactive electronic product by APS Press. The Press sold 25,002 books, including 14,182 compendia, 247 symposia, 21 monographs, 108 classics, 1007 plant health management books, and 9,437 other books (non-series titles and B&C Tests). Additionally, 487 slide sets, 358 CD-ROMS, 17 videodiscs, and 106 video tapes were sold. The gross income was $1,163,116, and the net return to APS was $83,010 after adjustment for the APS Press share of general and administrative overhead costs. S. Douglas announced that APS Press was awarded the Media Award of Excellence from the National Association of Colleges and Teachers of Agriculture.

Nominees for Senior Editors, 1998-2001 Two senior editors will end their tenure on the APS Press Editorial Board at the Annual Meeting in November, 1998. MOTION (Publications Board) Nominees were presented in ranked order to replace senior editor Bob Linderman and Randy Ploetz. MOTION CARRIED.

Proposal for a Tenth Senior Editor for APS Press for On-Line Publication MOTION (Publications Board) To add a tenth senior editor for the APS Press Editorial Board to serve on both APS Press and OEC Boards to facilitate communication of issues associated with APSnet and publications of APS Press On-Line. MOTION CARRIED. MOTION (Publications Board) to nominate R. Ploetz to serve as the APS Press senior editor for on-line publication. MOTION CARRIED.

Illustrations Committee G. Hudler, J. Partridge, and V. Kumar are new members of the Illustrations Committee of APS Press.

Digitization of APS Image Collection and Database S. Douglas presented a proposal from APS Press to digitize the 35 mm slides and put the digitized slides into a searchable database. This will allow the delivery of these images online, provide the capability to produce customized collections for customers, and make it possible to do illustrated projects that are now too expensive to consider. It was proposed that the cost of $120,000 would be funded directly by APS Press and that it would be prorated over a three-year period. The question of the appropriateness of APS Press making a financial decision such as this was discussed. APS Press has been traditionally a more independent entity than the journals of APS which are controlled more by Council and do not generate a business plan. It was suggested that now that the journals are uncoupled from membership dues perhaps they should also have a business plan. The larger issue of what should be done with the sources of revenue for the Society was raised. The new member survey may provide some input as to what APS members want to do with APS revenues, and it was suggested that this should be considered in the development of the new Strategic Plan. ACTION Members of Council will send suggestions to M. Bjerkness for items to be included in the new membership survey. ACTION M. Bjerkness will send a draft of the new Membership Survey to each member of the Publications Board so they can review and have input.

Philosophy and Pricing of Products It was suggested that APS revisit the mission of APS Press products. Some products have been accepted for production by APS Press even though they won’t make money. However, there is no history for online products to decide whether they will or won’t make a profit. L. Campbell suggested that this might be a good issue for the new Strategic Plan. For example, what is our philosophy regarding pricing of products that students can’t afford, or for online products that would be beneficial for teachers. LINK TO CONTINUATION

K. 2. Awards and Honors (Attachment #25) A list of the awardees was distributed to Council. The Awards and Honors Committee nominated A. Vidaver to receive the Award of Distinction . MOTION To approve the nomination of A. Vidaver for the APS Award of Distinction. MOTION SECONDED. MOTION CARRIED.

Meeting adjourned 5:22 p.m.

L. Campbell called the meeting to order at 8:03 a.m. Present were L. Campbell, C. Ash, G. Bergstrom, M. Bjerkness, T. Burr, G. Chastagner, S. Coakley, M. Daub, H. Dillard, S. Douglas, J. Fletcher, R. Gergerich, L. Hartman, J. Leach, P. Lipps, J. Loper, L. Madden, J. MacDonald, S. Nelson, J. Polston, G. Shaner, J. Sherwood, E. Stromberg, D. Sumner, N. Van Alfen, M. Wimer, and C. Windels.

Council members voted to have Holiday Inn for hotel accommodations for future midyear APS Council meetings.

I. Publications Board (continued)

3. Phytopathology (Attachment #26). M. Daub referred council members to the midyear report for Phytopathology. In 1997, 159 research papers were published with an average length of 7.1 pages. The total number of papers published was 12% and 25% fewer than in 1996 and 1995, respectively. The average length of papers continues to increase, continuing a trend that has shown an increase in mean article length of almost 2 pages since 1990. The steady decrease in the number of research manuscripts remains a concern for the editorial board.

5. Molecular Plant-Microbe Interactions (Attachment #27) J. Leach pointed out the new cover format on the current issue of MPMI. S. Lindow has been named to the new senior editor position to cover interactions between biocontrol agents and plants. Two new associate editors have been named to balance submissions in the areas of plant response and cytology of plant-microbe interactions. The sections on "Commentaries", "For the Record" will be deleted, and the Note format will be discouraged. J. Leach noted that MPMI was very competitive, and that the number of submissions has increased. The Editor-in-Chief will approach the IS-MPMI Board of Directors to request funds to waive page charges for those unable to pay (this does not include color page charges). Efforts will be continued to increase library subscriptions and an increase in the library journal charge will be proposed based on the increase in the number of issues published per year and the attractiveness of the journal.

4. Plant Disease (Attachment #28) G. Shaner noted that the request for pre-submission of manuscripts for English correction (see item in section I.2 Publications Board)came from Plant Disease and was based on the increase in the number of submissions from authors whose native tongue is not English. A new Editorial Board assumed duties in November of 1997 with G. Shaner as Editor-in-Chief, and Senior Editors A. Biggs, J. Correll, L. Francl, D. Hopkins, N. O’Neill, M. Ostry, J. Pataky, C. Rush, D. Shew, and H. Waterworth. M. Gleason will be Features Editor for another term, Chet Sutula continues as Spotlight on Diagnosis Editor, M. Davis continues as Disease Notes Assigning Editor, and T. Kommendahl continues as Focus Editor. G. Shaner complimented Headquarters’ staff for their faster turnaround time, and he noted that reviewers are taking longer these days.

3. Office of Public Affairs and Education (OPAE) G. Bergstrom gave examples of a few of the many activities that OPAE has been involved in, including Juliet Carroll’s Teacher Workshop Proposal, establishing a plant pathology presence in national gardening magazine and television shows, assistance with putting on various workshops and displays, numerous media referrals, etc. (Attachment #29). He presented the proposed organizational structure for OPAE (see diagram in Attachment #29). The 6-8 member OPAE Board will be appointed so that OPAE has liaisons to the following areas: Extension, Youth Programs, Teaching, Industry, Sustaining Associates, Private Practice, International Programs, and APS Representatives to Affiliates.

1998 OPAE Media Plan The 1998 Media Plan for OPAE was distributed to Council and discussed briefly by G. Bergstrom (see Attachment #29).

Media Referrals to APS Members Through ProfNet, OPAE receives inquiries from the media on many different issues. OPAE wants to develop a better network to quickly locate the experts who are able to answer the questions that arise. It was suggested that department heads might be a good source of this information. Other organizations have selected a number of individuals to go through a 2-3 day training course to learn how to deal with the media, and then have used these individuals as a resource to answer questions. G. Bergstrom said that the Communications Committee has looked at this option, but that the questions are on very diverse topics. APS Committee Chairs were suggested as a possible resource to identify experts within specific fields. Each press release costs about $500 and OPAE plans to release about one per month. L. Campbell said that Council has asked OPAE to use the OPAE budget appropriately, and that it is up to OPAE to prioritize the requests that it receives.

New Public Communications Committee The only committee that will be under OPAE will be the Communications Committee, and the chair of this committee will be an ex officio member of OEC.

Interaction with the Office of Electronic Communication To help cement APSnet’s role as a focal point for Society communications, OEC and OPAE have teamed up to develop a series of front page features on topics of interest to the membership, and to the public at large. The first feature was on Methyl Bromide, and the second is on Late Blight. D. Gross has assumed the role of Front Page Editor, and is working closely with C. Ash to develop a series of articles that are very unique because of what can be done via the WWW. The APSnet Front Page is a cooperative venture between OPAE and OEC.

Revisit Logo and Slogan Issue OPAE asked for clearance to use the "Healthy Plants/Healthy World" logo and slogan on its public communications. It was suggested that it would be good if there were one logo and slogan for the whole society. The society seal was not seen as a realistic option because it is not interactive enough for public outreach. L. Campbell asked if it was the sense of Council that the logo and slogan could be used for OPAE and other places, for example in the annual meeting booklet. No dissension was voiced. The slogan "Healthy Plants/Healthy Planet was proposed earlier, but this is owned by another entity. 

1. APS Foundation (Attachment #30) APS Council selected M. Cline to replace D. Smith on the Foundation Board as a representative from industry. New APS Foundation Board appointments will be made for a 3-year term and each board member is limited to two consecutive terms.

Update on Student Travel Grants During 1997, seven named student travel award funds were established. An annual competition will continue to be held to select recipients of student travel awards. It is hoped that the number of travel awards may increase to 20 in 1998.

Fund Raising Activities In 1997 there was a 44% increase in donors to the APS Foundation. This included $40,000 for student travel grants, $14,000 for the endowment, and $3000 for the Frank L. Howard Undergraduate Fellowship that was created in late 1997 for the purpose of encouraging outstanding undergraduate students to enter the field of plant pathology.

Melhus Student Speaker for the 1998 Annual Meeting See section H.8. under Councilors’ Forum.

Other Items APS Foundation was set up originally as a separate entity from APS. ACTION The APS Secretary will include a description of APS Foundation in the Manual of Operations. S. Coakley will write the description. Foundation Day will be on Tuesday at the 1998 Annual Meeting in Las Vegas, and the drawing will be held on Wednesday afternoon.

4. National Plant Pathology Board See midyear report for the National Plant Pathology Board (Attachment #31).

6. Office of International Programs

Journal Distribution Program See Section I.2 under Publications Board (Sending Journals to Developing Countries).

Group Memberships There are currently only two group memberships to APS.

World-Wide Directory C. Delp is still collecting databases for the directory, and he is approaching the number needed to make the project work.

1. 1998-Las Vegas Update The 1998 annual meeting in Las Vegas will truly be a joint meeting with an estimated attendance of 1600 for APS and 2400 for ESA. C. Windel, L. Campbell, J. Sherwood and S. Nelson will meet with ESA representatives on March 29th and 30th to continue planning the meeting. The technical program will have 44 special sessions and about two-thirds of these will be joint sessions with ESA. There will be 9 symposia plus an additional symposium on ecologically based pest management funded through the USDA.   G. Bergstrom is working with ESA on a joint media plan for the meeting. L. Campbell commended C. Windels on the extra effort she has taken to coordinate the program and various sessions with ESA. The theme for the meeting is "Science in Transition".  M. Levine and Cleo D'Arcy will conduct the Leadership Workshop at the annual meeting this year.

2. 1999 and Beyond N. Van Alfen asked for advice on how to encourage poster presentations in order to give more opportunities for special sessions. He asked Council to consider continuing the 2-week difference in submission deadlines for the poster and paper presentations in order to encourage poster submission. It was suggested that we always have the option of asking some people (not students if they have checked the box) who signed up for an oral presentation to give a poster instead. It may be necessary to have three poster sessions with one poster session per day. Abstract submissions for special sessions are encouraged but are optional. Councilors’ Forum is working on a way to group committees into subject matter sections as an aid to help organizing the special sessions for the annual meeting.

Break at 9:36 a.m.

Reconvene at 9:50 a.m.

L. Voting on Financial Actions MOTION To take motions from the Financial Advisory Committee off the table. These motions will take place in the next fiscal year, except for the $4000 for the Archive Preservation project at Iowa State. MOTION SECONDED. MOTION CARRIED. Each FAC motion was discussed and considered separately as follows:

MOTION 1: The registration fee for the FY99 meeting be set at $190 for members (pre-registration) and as scheduled for other registrants. J. Sherwood outlined the items that affect the bottom line at the annual meeting. The income at the proposed registration fee will be $308,565 and the predicted expenses will be $375,156 with a loss of $66,591. The cost for the grand reception is $72,000, the coffee for the meeting will cost $9000, the breakfast will cost $12,000, and the symposia will cost $19,800. There will be a $20,000 offset from the hotel because we were able to accommodate them and change the meeting dates. The large investment in the grand reception was questioned, but it was felt that we need to have a reception because people have come to expect this at the annual meeting. An amendment was offered to the motion to make the registration fee $205 for this annual meeting, and the amendment was seconded. It was suggested that it would be better to end up with a deficit for the annual meeting than end up with a surplus. A vote on the amendment was taken with 9 in favor and 8 opposed. MOTION To vote by e-mail on this issue after we have the information from ESA on their registration fee, and if we can reduce the deficit to $24,000. SECOND. MOTION TO TABLE FOR TWO WEEKS. SECOND. MOTION TO TABLE CARRIED. ACTION L. Campbell, J. Sherwood, and Headquarters’ staff will reconsider the registration fee of $205 for the Las Vegas meeting based on discussion with representatives from ESA, and will consider the tabled motion to revisit the issue with Council by e-mail by April 13, 1998.

MOTION 2: The tentative budget for FY99 was approved with anticipated income of $3,545,559, expenditures of $3,553,212, allocation to reserves of $26,770, and a deficit of $34,423. MOTION CARRIED.

MOTION 3: That APS provide $10,000 per year for 3 years to support the "Conversations on Change" program of CAST. APS will benefit from this program by formation of new alliances with other organizations and societies, and increased public relations for APS. Concern was expressed about how APS will ensure that we benefit from this program. Other societies that are being invited are being asked to contribute similar amounts. M. Wimer was involved in a session in "Conversations on Change" with 10 of his counterparts from other societies, and he said they discussed issues that their societies have in common, such as how they solved various financial and publication issues. He felt that this could start a process whereby APS and other societies might consortiate to approach libraries regarding online subscription rates and work together on other issues of electronic publication. AMENDMENT That APS allocates $10,000 to CAST "Conversations on Change" for one year, and an additional $10,000 for each of the next two years subject to review by Council. AMENDMENT SECONDED. L. Campbell pointed out the dialog in "Conversations on Change" might also involve what an annual meeting looks like, or how society governance is carried out. The money contributed by APS will be used to fund incentive grants. ACTION L. Campbell will ask M. Boehm to write an article for Phytopathology News and address Council in Las Vegas on his experiences with Conversations on Change and give some specifics on what could be done regarding APS involvement in "Conversations on Change". AMENDMENT CARRIED. MOTION CARRIED AS AMENDED (one opposed).

MOTION 4: That APS provide $5,000 for an ad hoc committee chaired by N. Van Alfen to develop a product to celebrate the turn of the century. MOTION CARRIED.

MOTION 5: That APS provide $4,000 to facilitate description of items and development of a web page for archival material at Iowa State University for this coming summer. MOTION CARRIED.

A discussion was held regarding the tabled motion to establish a new page charge category of $40 per page for publication in Phytopathology and Plant Disease. This category would be available to authors who are subscribers to the journal. L. Campbell asked for suggestions on this issue and requested a reading of the sense of council on whether we want to pursue this, and if we do, how we should offset the cost. He suggested that we may want to put something into the member survey such as "What would it take for you to publish in an APS journal if you don’t publish in it now?" J. Sherwood pointed out that this issue must be resolved before August 1 for a calendar year decision, and if it is not resolved, it will have to wait another year. M. Daub pointed out that the Publications Board did not put a date on its motion. She noted that the TriSocieties had abolished all page charges for their journals, and she suggested that we should find out how this has affected their journals. MOTION That Council make a commitment to reducing page charges for APS journals to a competitive level and have balanced revenues and develop a business plan of options to accomplish this for all three journals by the end of the calendar year, with the understanding that MPMI would have the option to do this. MOTION CARRIED. ACTION When developing a business plan for APS journals , J. Sherwood and Headquarters’ staff will consider a special subscription price for student members.

MOTION TO ADJOURN. SECOND. MOTION CARRIED.

Meeting adjourned at 11:15 a.m.

Respectfully submitted,

Rose Gergerich, APS Secretary

ATTACHMENTS FOR  MINUTES
APS MIDYEAR COUNCIL MEETING
27 MARCH - 29 MARCH, 1998

If anyone has a question about the following attachments, please contact the current APS secretary.

1. Meeting Agenda

2. President’s Report

3. Brochure for CROPS (Coalition on Research on Plant Systems)

4. Draft of the Minutes of the 1997 APS Council Meeting in Rochester

5. Simplified Accounting Sheet for APS on February 27, 1998

6. Action List from the 1997 Annual Meeting of Council at Rochester

7. Draft of the Conflict of Interest Policy for APS

8. Revised Vision Statement for APS

9. Draft of the Manual of Operations Revision

10. 1998 Staff Report

11. AACC/APS Staff Organization Chart

12. Staff Goals

13. CAST - Conversations on Change Document

14. Caribbean Division Midyear Report

15. North Central Division Midyear Report

16. Northeast Division Midyear Report

17. Pacific Division Midyear Report

18. Potomac Division Midyear Report

19. Southern Division Midyear Report

20. Journal Survey - Capsule Report

21. Report of the Office of Electronic Communication

22. Mission Statement of the Office of Electronic Communication

23. Statistics on APSnet Use 1-1-98 to 3-25-98

24. APS Press Midyear Report

25. List of APS Awardees

26. Phytopathology Midyear Report

27. Molecular Plant-Microbe Interactions Midyear Report

28. Plant Disease Midyear Report

29. Proposed OPAE Organizational Structure

30. APS Foundation Midyear Report

31. National Plant Pathology Board Midyear Report

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 © Copyright 1998 by
The American Phytopathological Society