Welcome and introductions. The meeting was called to order by President C. Windels at 5:05 p.m. Members of Council and staff present were: C. Windels, D. Jardine, L. Campbell, N. Van Alfen, H. Dillard, S. Slack, E. Stromberg, T. Burr, P. Lipps, J. Polston, R. Gergerich, J. Loper, J. Sherwood, D. Beadle, G. Chastagner, M. Daub, G. Shaner, S. Douglas, J. Leach, S. Coakley, S. Nelson, C. Ash, M. Wimer, A. Hope, and L. Hartman. President Windels welcomed Beth Carroll who was visiting council as Chair of the Industry Advisory Committee.

Not present: R. Nyvall

1. Appointment of parliamentarian. L. Campbell was appointed parliamentarian.

2. Review and approval of agenda (attachment #1). Two items were added to the agenda. 1). A proposal to add a new award in Regulatory Plant Pathology and 2). Communicating financial issues to the membership. MOTION to approve agenda. SECONDED MOTION CARRIED.

1. Wood Import Resolution. President Windels reviewed the history of the resolution since the Annual Meeting in Las Vegas. The Resolution was voted on electronically and passed. It has been sent Vice-president Gore with copies to Dan Glickman (Secretary of Agriculture), Dinah Bear (Director of Environmental Quality) Senators Patrick Leahy and Richard Lugar and Alfred Eldar (Head, USDA APHIS, PPQ). It was reported that the Oregon Natural Resources Council, Pacific Environment Resources Canter, and the Northcoast Environmental Center had sued APHIS over this situation and lost, but they were appealing.

2. International Conference on Emerging Technologies for Integrated Pest Management. T. Sutton, co-organizer of the event with ESA has asked APS to be a co-sponsor of this event. There will be no financial commitment. We have agreed to do this. There are several plant pathologists on the program. Details were placed on APSnet. APS will have a display there.

3. Letter from R.M. Roberts - National Research Initiative Competitive Grants Program. We have received a letter acknowledging the inequity between plant science funding and basic biology funding. He expressed the hope that adjustments could be made in the future. No decisions have been made with any current unappropriated funds. ACTION M. Daub offered to draft a follow-up letter for C. Windels.

4. Emerging/Exotic Diseases, ad hoc committee. APHIS has allotted $10,000 to develop a list of top ten "least wanted" foreign plant pathogens. In order to get the money we need to submit a proposal. The Entomological Society has already done this and we can use their proposal as a template that includes a work plan, committee members and budget. L. Madden is already working on this and the committee will develop a one-page fact sheet for each pathogen identified.

5. USDA, APHIS - New Pest Advisory Group (Sigatoka on bananas). Scott Redlin of APHIS has requested an official APS representative for discussions on black sigatoka disease. Randy Ploetz was appointed. APHIS currently has no pre- or post-entry quarantine restrictions on bananas and is now concerned about introduction of nonendemic diseases of bananas.

6. Mann Library TEEAL Project. C. Windels gave a quick review of this project. It was approved in Las Vegas pending a budget impact study. The study was completed and the impact of APS journal subscription income could be up to $50,000 annually. Although the quality of this project is high, APS can not afford this type of budget impact. L. Campbell wrote J. Olsen a letter declining the invitation to participate. J. Olsen wrote asking our reconsideration after eight countries were eliminated from the original list. A reevaluation of the budget impact indicated a potential loss of up to $48,000 annually would still exist. ACTION President Windels will write another letter to J. Olsen declining the offer to participate.

7. Other Items.

National Plant Pathology Board Activities. The National Plant Pathology Board remains active. Letters commenting on various topics have recently been written to the Department of Transportation, the Food and Drug Administration, and the Environmental Protection Agency. It was pointed out that often their letters are written as positive responses to items.

Worldwide Directory of Plant Pathologists. Concerns need to be passed on that APS appear as a partner, and not simply a vendor in this effort. ACTION L. Campbell will reestablish contact with Peter Scott in the absence of C. Delp.

Presidential Travel. President Windels reported attending the APS Southern Division Meeting. J. Polstson represented her at the Caribbean Division Meeting due to travel problems associated with Hurricane Mitch.

C. Minutes of APS Council Meeting in Las Vegas (11/98) (attachment #1a)

MOTION to approve the minutes FROM the Annual Council Meeting in Las Vegas. SECONDED MOTION CARRIED.

1. Current status of APS finances. J. Sherwood passed out a current summary of the simplified accounting statement (attachment #1b). He reviewed expenses and revenues for the current fiscal year. Through December, the Society has a positive balance of $51,659. A Statement of Changes in Net Assets for the Operating Reserve Fund (attachment #2) was distributed. A gain for the current year of 3% of total assests or $21,073.13 has been realized as of January 31, 1999.

2. Recommendations and Motions from FAC. The following items were brought forward. The next payment for "Conversations on Change" needs approval. This is for $10,000 and would be the second of three payments. The Financial Advisory Committee recommends that the item on how to set pricing for dual subscription rates (printed + electronic for the same journal) be turned over to the Publications Board for recommendation. ACTION The Publications Board will develop a pricing structure for dual subscriptions (hard copy/CD) by the Montreal meeting.

Financial Advisory Committee Motions. The following motions were made by the Financial Advisory Committee:

a. MOTION The registration for the 1999 Annual Meeting in Montreal be set at $205 for pre-registered members and the amount for the other participants as indicated on the handout (attachment #2a).

b. MOTION $4500 be approved for the Office of International Programs (OIP) and of that, $1500 be used for a portable display board and related materials.

c. MOTION That APS continue to provide $6,000 to the International Society of Plant Pathologists (ISPP) and that the treasurer continue to try and obtain an audited statement from that organization.

d. MOTION That anticipated revenues from operating reserves by FY98-99 be budgeted as follows; $30,000 for symposia at the Annual Meeting (increase of $3,000); $30,000 for support of current year’s services/programs; and $30,000 be reinvested in operating reserves.

e. MOTION The draft of the FY99-00 budget as prepared by staff and modified by passing and defeating of the previous motions be approved.

MOTION TO TABLE all motions from the Financial Advisory Committee. SECONDED MOTION CARRIED.

3. Status of ISPP dues. Efforts to get an audited statement from ISPP have not been successful. We will continue to try.

E. Review of Action Items List from 1998 Annual Meeting

A large number of items still remain to be completed. This is expected with the short time between the annual and midyear meetings. Some items still remain from the 1998 midyear meeting. As items are completed, please notify the secretary. The remaining items list from the previous two meetings was circulated so that items could be checked off if they were already completed.

Recommendations. 1) The Executive Committee is recommending the appointment of an Ad Hoc Implementation Committee for the Strategic Plan. The committee will consist of the Executive Committee (minus the President and Past President), the chair of the Publications Board and two Councilors (1 divisional and 1 at-large). 2) For the Annual Meeting Programing, each planning section will meet separately; chairs for each of the sections will be pre-selected; and budgeted monies will be delegated to each of the chairs as soon as possible. 3) It is recommended that Gary Bergstrom be reappointed as Director of the Office of Public Affairs and Education.

1. Manual of Operations revision. ACTION Each Council member should review their section of the Manual and any changes should be sent to the secretary by the Montreal meeting.

2. Plant and Soil Sciences Societies request for research agenda. A request for a prioritized APS research agenda was made by Brian Hyps, Public Affairs Director, American Society of Plant Physiologists. A. Vidaver provided the following list: 1) How do plants defend themselves against pathogens and insects; 2) Effect of narrowing the germplasm base; and 3) Useful aquatic plants. Executive Committee recommended adding two more items: 4) Ecologically based pest management; and 5) Globalization of plant disease.

3. Research Priorities Committee. Based on the request from the American Society of Plant Physiologists, we should consider having a mechanism in place to identify issues for future requests. A Research Priorities Committee may be an appropriate vehicle.

4. Regular conference call for Exec and Committee. President Windels indicated she would like to have monthly conference calls alternating between the Executive Committee and full Council. The purpose of these calls is to take care of some items as they occur so that the annual and midyear meetings might be more streamlined.

5. Various appointments. See Section O.

6. Proposed award in Regulatory Plant Pathology. The Executive Committee, with input from the Awards and Honors Committee, recommends that this award not be established. See Section P. 2.

7. Other items.

a. Certification Program for plant pathologists. An ad hoc committee will be appointed to meet in Montreal and assess the value of the certification program and make a recommendation to Council by Wednesday of the meeting on whether to continue support of the certification program.

b. Acronyms list. A list of Acronyms commonly used by members of Council was distributed (attachment #3).

President Windels gave some background on the Strategic Plan. The Strategic Plan has undergone extensive revision since the annual meeting in Las Vegas with input from members and various APS boards and offices. We have a vision statement, core values, and core purposes, and the plan is close to approval. Council needs to set the direction on the implementation of this plan, the Financial Advisory Committee will need to allocate resources to execute the plan, and Headquarters staff will need to allocate the human and capital resources to execute the plan. The recent member survey showed that we are successful, yet change must occur. We have strength in our volunteers with 500 members currently volunteering in over 700 positions. Volunteers are changing however, wanting shorter term commitments. We must keep more people involved.

President Windels reviewed plans for the scheduled Saturday morning break-out sessions for the Strategic Plan (attachment #4).

1. Break-out groups. Each group will meet for 2 hours on Saturday, February 27 from 8:00 to 10:00 a.m.. The objective is to make sure that the plans goals and objectives are consistent with the vision statement. Secondly, action items for plan implementation need to be developed and prioritized. We need to come away with something we can work with and for members of Council to be invested in the Strategic Plan.

The meeting was adjourned for the evening at 6:20 p.m.

The meeting of Council was reconvened on Saturday, February 27, at 10:15 a.m.

Council and Staff Present: C. Windels, D. Jardine, N. Van Alfen, J. Leach, T. Burr, G. Chastagner, J. Sherwood, D. Beadle, S. Douglas, J. Loper, P. Lipps, J. Polston, R. Gergerich, M. Daub, G. Shaner, H. Dillard, S. Slack, E. Stromberg, L. Campbell, S. Coakley, L. Harman, M. Bjerkness, C. Ash, A. Hope, S. Nelson, M. Wimer.

Visitors: D. Gross, M. McLauglin, B. Carroll.

Not Present: R. Nyvall

2. Reports from break-out groups. Following the break-out sessions, the reporters from each group summarized the results of their discussions (attachment #5).

3. Discuss and vote on Strategic Plan. Presentations were followed by general discussion on a goal by goal basis. Goal 1. Much of the discussion centered around the Annual Meeting. The question was asked as to whether we should have more non-research items at the meeting. This may be at the expense of the science program. It was suggested that perhaps more of the non-research items can be addressed through on-line forums. The topic of what does the Society want to be, scientists or practitioners, and where do we want to go was discussed. Can we really adequately do both. This needs to be evaluated as we strategize for the Annual Meeting. It was suggested that perhaps science could be the focus at the Annual Meeting and practice could be the focus of Divisional Meetings. Goal 2. It was suggested to change the order of the objectives to C > A > B. Discussion centered on lobbying versus information providing. With regard for the need for a Washington presence to represent APS, there is a constitutional question concerning lobbying. It was brought up that providing accurate information to groups is not lobbying, nor is keeping our members informed of government actions and policies. It was mentioned that all scientific societies should be providing sound science to Washington because they are not currently always getting it. Goal 3. The issue of the "Plant Doctor" image was discussed. Does this meet all of our needs or is it too narrow of a component? Many new hires in Plant Pathology departments are not clinical pathologists and in fact do not even attend our meetings. There was some discussion of the "image" of plant pathology as addressed in Goal 3 versus the "understanding" of plant pathology as addressed in Goal 2. M. McLauglin gave some background information on the development of these goals by the committee. It was suggested that goals 2 and 3 could be combined. Objectives 2A and 2B could also be combined. A new goal 3 was proposed that would state: Strengthen the science and practice of plant pathology. Some of the objectives from other goals could be moved to the new goal. For instance, monitoring the health of the journals as proposed in objectives 4C and 4D could be placed under the new goal 3. Goal 4. This goal will focus on property rights and on-line issues. Goal 5. It was pointed out that objective 5C overlaps with 4A. It should be moved under goal 4 to replace 4C and 4D. It was also suggested that objective 5E could be combined with 5A. It was noted that all of the proposed changes did not change the Strategic Plan, but rather clarified and solidified it. The Plan needs to be redrafted to reflect the current changes. This could be put out by e-mail for review and then have discussion by conference call. MOTION That the Strategic Plan be accepted in principle pending the making of the final suggested changes. SECONDED Discussion centered on what was meant by "in principle". MOTION TO TABLE approval of the Strategic Plan. SECONDED It was discussed that we need to see the final document, prior to voting. M. McLauglin will try and make the changes before tomorrow. MOTION CARRIED.

Break for lunch at 12:15 p.m.

Council was reconvened by President Windels at 12:45 p.m.

M. McLauglin completed the changes to the Strategic Plan over lunch and distributed copies to Council (attachment #6).

MOTION Accept the goals of the Strategic Plan as written and the objectives for implementation in principle, as described. SECONDED Discussion centered on the objective dealing with publications. They have been combined in this latest version and there was concern that they should be separated back out because the original intent was to have them separate. Some discussion of the wording of the two latest versions occurred. MOTION CARRIED. ACTION The Secretary will conduct an electronic vote of members of Council for the FINAL approval of the objectives of the Strategic Plan (after word smithing).

President Windels thanked M. McLauglin and his committee for their efforts and a round of applause was given by all.

4. Selection of ad hoc Implementation Committee from Council for follow-up. President Windels appointed the committee to consist of S. Slack, N. Van Alfen, H. Dillard, J. Sherwood, D. Jardine, G. Shaner, D. Beadle, and J. Loper. S. Slack will serve as the chair. Dates tentatively set for a meeting are May 19-20 at a location to be determined.

ACTION C. Windels will send letters to the Strategic Plan Ad Hoc committee members thanking them for all of their work in developing the plan.

A. Vidaver contacted C. Windels in January concerning the Plant Protection Act and our opportunities for input, especially concerning movement of pathogens across borders. Discussion followed concerning the costs of a consultant and the amount of money available in the Board’s budget. Concerns over lobbying issues were brought up again. A problem is that we don’t know what is in the Plant Protection Act and in fact, two versions have been introduced. It was felt that this information could be accessed on the Web. A second issue is the potential need to be present during committee hearings on the bills. Executive Committee has some discomfort with this whole issue and has urged the Plant Pathology Board to develop a plan that would expand on their need for outside help over a larger number of issues and set limits as to what a consultant would do. We must be careful when we take stances on issues because we are such a large group, we are likely to have members in favor of both sides of an issue. As an example, C. Windels shared a letter from a member who took offense with the National Plant Pathology Board’s position on the Organic Foods Act and the lack of communication from the Board on the issue. Discussion continued both in support of and against providing the requested assistance. After much discussion, it was agreed that the most important thing is that we need more communication with the Board. The Manual of Operations does not require the National Plant Pathology Board to report back to members. There may need to be a revision in the Manual to emphasize this. ACTION In the next revision of the Manual of Operations, insert a section under National Plant Pathology Board indicating a responsibility to report back to members on their activities. ACTION J. Leach volunteered to find copies of the Plant Protection Act bills and to work with A. Vidaver to read though them and understand if there are any immediate issues for APS to deal with.

S. Slack is chair of this committee. The committee’s membership and report are posted on the Council area of APSnet (attachment #7). They have put together a series of documents on intellectual property rights as well as a philosophy statement. There are a lot of questions, such as concerning electronic medium that still need to be answered. A full report will be given in Montreal. ACTION (Slack) Develop a series of recommendations on Intellectual Property Rights to include the electronic medium.

J. Loper handed out a report (attachment #8) and reviewed the history, rationale, support and objections to the present policy of abstract publication. The committee also offered some short term responses to the objections. ACTION (Loper) An article will be written in Phytopathology News outlining the policy and its benefits. An avenue by which members can purchase print copies of the Phytopathology supplement containing abstracts needs to be developed. We also need to determine how broad the discontent is among the membership. MOTION The APS abstract book (Phytopathology Supplement) will be available for purchase prior to the APS Annual Meeting and announcement of sale will be placed in Phytopathology News. SECONDED MOTION CARRIED.

B. Carroll reported on the committee’s first meeting (attachment #9). The Industry Advisory Committee is proposing a session for the annual meeting. It will be an interactive session on industry contributions to the current agricultural revolution in crop protection. Topics will include food safety, biotechnology, agricultural policy, resistance management, and industry decision making standards. It was noted that the Industry Advisory Board is an ad hoc committee and must be renewed yearly and that it operates separately form the Industry Committee. The Industry Advisory Committee will meet with department heads in Montreal. J. Sherwood is chairing that session and will contact V. Morton from the committee to complete plans. B. Carroll provided information on a new mobile display on commodities developed for farmers. This display may be available for APS use in the future.

1. Committee on Committees. H. Dillard reported on the actions of the Committee on Committees (attachment #10). A new Pathogen Resistance Committee has been formed. MOTION To approve the establishment of the Turfgrass Pathology Committee as a subject matter committee (attachment #11). SECONDED Discussion occurred on whether this might weaken the Ornamentals Committee. It was suggested that this might actually bring people back to APS from Agronomy. MOTION CARRIED. MOTION Appointment of all committee members to all committees. MOTION CARRIED.

2. Nominations and Elections. Nominees have been identified and will be contacted. ACTION (Loper) Notices of acceptance will be sent to Council members following acceptance of the nominations.

3. Meeting site selection. Discussion deferred until F. Labatt is present.

4. Division Issues. See mid-year Councilor’s Reports. E. Stromberg reported that there are 173 pre-registrants for the Northeast/Potomac Division Meeting. The meeting will feature a turfgrass symposium.

5. Member Services. There will be an increased need for member services following the implementation of the new Strategic Plan.

Break occurred at 2:35 p.m.

Reconvened at 2:50 p.m.

1. General Issues. G. Shaner will be the new Publications Boards Chair beginning in Montreal. There was a discussion of page charge reductions. These could be page neutral if established by July 1. RECOMMENDATION: Manuscripts invoiced for the July issues be done so at the new rate. ACTION M. Daub will place an announcement of the new rates in the August Phytopathology News. There needs to be a process to send e-mail to subscribers with the Table of Contents for each new issue. It was suggested this could be done in the News Capsules.

2. Electronic Journal Plan. Issues of dual subscribers (on-line and paper) were discussed. There is some resistance to the perceived rapid movement to on-line subscriptions. There is also resistance to enhancing the on-line versions of papers with extra photos, graphs, etc. that would not be in the paper edition. The Publication Board indicated that their goal is not necessarily to get more people on-line, but they will look at some of these issues. Discussion continued on issues related to on-line publication including library subscriptions. Caution must be taken until industry standards are set. ACTION J. Sherwood asked the Publications Board for a pricing structure for dual subscriptions (on-line/paper).

Some of the on-line enhancements were discussed. Better use of color can be made on-line. The April Feature article in PLANT DISEASE will have hot links in the on-line version. The links will also appear in the print edition. There will be a supplemental appendix in the on-line version only of the May PLANT DISEASE. These examples will be in the on-line author instructions for viewing. C. Windels wondered if we could show examples of these enhancements at the next annual business meeting as a demonstration. J. MacDonald has provided a number of examples of enhancements that could be done. Discussion occurred about developing a centralized record keeping system for all journals accessible by editors and potentially even authors. Commercial products that could allow this are being evaluated.

There is still an issue on how to properly write virus names. ACTION M. Daub will contact virology editors and the Virus Committee Chair for a consensus on what to do.

3. APS Press. MOTION To approve the ranked list of nominees for APS Press Editor-in-Chief. The editor-in-chief position is elected a year in advance to allow a transition year. MOTION CARRIED. ACTION S. Douglas will contact the nominees in the order of ranking. ACTION S. Windels will send a letter from Council formally appointing the new editor-in-chief.

4. Phytopathology. MOTION To approve the ranked list of nominees for Phytopathology Editor-in-Chief to begin in December, 1999. MOTION CARRIED. ACTION M. Daub will contact nominees in the order ranked. ACTION S. Windels will send a letter from Council formally appointing the new editor-in-chief. President Windels thanked S. Douglas and M. Daub for their service as Editors-in-Chief and Council concurred. The protocol for APS Press senior editor selection has been changed to conform with the other journals. ACTION Senior Editor nominees will be contacted and an electronic vote will follow. (S. Douglas and D. Jardine).

Discussion on a proposed new on-line, peer reviewed electronic journal aimed at membership, lay members and farmers occurred. M. Wimer has an example of what it might look like. There is no name for it yet. MOTION APS Council will approve the concept of the on-line journal, pending finalization of the details by the Office of Electronic Communications (OEC). Council will be asked for electronic vote to finalize the approval. The committee will be meeting in March to finalize things.

M. Wimer gave a history of citable, peer reviewed, on-line materials (attachment #12). Integrated pest management may be to narrow of a focus. The current proposal has no regular publication schedule. Items will reside on the net. The gateway would be through public information and would receive complimentary access to related areas.

D. Gross, representing J. MacDonald presented the OEC report (attachment #13). They hope to have a process for soliciting contributions by July. There will be an emphasis on teaching materials. The committee needs replacements for K.B. Scholthof and M. Cline, who are stepping down. The OEC budget includes funds for a new hire to be split with the Cereal Chemists to manage the web site. This will allow other staff to be redirected. As the collection of materials grow, demand, i.e. subscriptions, should grow. No direct financing is currently being requested. There was discussion on whether material will be maintained in perpetuity. S. Nelson indicated it would be kept as long as we are in business. A discussion on citation access also took place. Questions also arose on how material will be collected, i.e. solicited or contributed. This journal is a place for things not fit for the traditional journals. This material will probably not appear on the year-end CD-ROM disk. Other discussion on strategizing dissemination, placement in Scientific Citations Index and funding occurred. There will probably be a request for project specific funds in Montreal. MOTION CARRIED. ACTION Secretary Jardine will conduct the vote.

5. Plant Disease. G. Shaner provided an update on the status of interpretive summaries. Senior editors are generally supportive. Plans would be to put them on the public side of APSnet to reach nonmembers. G. Shaner picked an article and asked the author to write an interpretive summary. ACTION G. Shaner will put an article in Phytopath News with the summary as an example. Other discussion on the interpretive summaries followed. Summaries will not be required at least at first. If the summaries are approved, instructions to authors will be included beginning in January, 2000. MOTION Council expresses appreciation to Greg Shaner, Editor-in-Chief of Plant Disease, for developing a procedure to provide interpretive summaries for Plant Disease papers and supports the publication of such summaries. SECONDED MOTION CARRIED.

6. Molecular Plant-Microbe Interactions. J. Leach reported a genomics section will be added to the journal. Papers in this area would include computer based hypothetical comparisons. They are trying to get ahead of other journals in this area.

7. Phytopathology News. No report due to the illness of R. Nyvall.

8. Headquarters. A brief report on the status of open areas of APSnet: i.e. abstracts, Plant Disease feature articles was given. It is not done yet.

L. Councilors' Forum (continued)

3. Meeting site selection - 2002. MOTION APS will meet in Milwaukee, WI on August 17-21, 2002. Selection was based on a new points rating system. This eliminates pressures from individuals that were sometimes a problem in the past. Because of budget constraints, only second tier cities are considered. Criteria are weighted by importance. There was a 42 point difference between the high and low cities. The system worked well and Councilor’s appreciated it. MOTION CARRIED. The mid-Atlantic region is being looked at for 2003. Some possibilities suggested include Charlotte, NC; Lexington, KY; Wilmington, DE; Virginia Beach, VA; and Greensboro, NC. The 2004 meeting will be in the west, possibly Portland, Seattle, or Hawaii. MOTION APS will extend an invitation to the Mycological Society of America to meet with APS in 2002. SECONDED MOTION CARRIED. ACTION C. Windels will send a letter of invitation. It was suggested to see if the Milwaukee date can be move up earlier in August to avoid problems with schools that start back early. The possibility of meeting with the International Society of Molecular Plant Microbe Interactions (ISMPMI) in 2005 was brought up, perhaps in an overlapping meeting format. ACTION C. Windels will send a letter expressing interest.

1. 1999 - Montreal update. An annual meeting history survey was distributed for discussion (attachment #14). L. Campbell noted the move toward more posters over the years. An update of the upcoming Montreal meeting was given by N. Van Alfen.

Joint planning. The meeting is joint with the Canadian Phytopathological Society (CPS) but the financial arrangements are not set yet. It is probably not in their best interest to share in the costs and profits in case there is a loss. F. Labatt has given them some choices and they are leaning toward sharing. They will be shown a profit/loss potential once the budget is developed so they can make their final decision.

Joint events. Suitable tours are being developed. There will be a joint APS/CPS Awards Ceremony and Reception. Seven joint special sessions are planned based on a list we provided to them. An eighth is in the works on wheat scab. These sessions have had varying levels of joint planning. CPS is putting in $2,400 U.S. to defray expenses.

APS/CPS abstracts. CPS members will submit abstracts to APS, but they can choose between publication in Phytopathology or the Canadian Journal of Plant Pathology. All abstracts will be on-line. They may also be on-line through CPS. CPS will pick up extra costs for publishing CPS abstract books distributed at the Montreal meeting.

Program update. N. Van Alfen reviewed the history of programming by sections (attachment #15). He was surprised by the number of sessions in the Professionalism/Service/Outreach section (PSO). The 1999 meeting is skewed toward this section along with the Epidemiology/Ecology/Environmental Biology section and the Plant Disease Management section. The spread is somewhat reflective of the subject matter committee breakdown. He is currently trying to beef up those sections that are under represented. He then reviewed the budget allocations for the sessions. There was some discussion on whether we should encourage more molecular offerings by providing more funding to this area. N. Van Alfen made three recommendations for future program planning. 1) Have separate planning meetings with each section. Cross-sectional meetings can be arranged for separately. Subject matter committees can go to the section of their choice or more than one if appropriate. 2) Choose section chairs ahead of time and work with them prior to the meeting, delegating them the authority to make program decisions within their sections. 3) Allocate the budget to the chairs up front. The 2000 program is still unbalanced. There may have to be a limit in the number of sessions per section. By limiting session numbers, committees may look to other sections for space. There was discussion about what is a "balanced" program. Sections may need to be revised in the future after some experience is gained. Committees are free to choose what section they want to be in. They may have sessions over several sections. It was suggested we keep track of special session attendance like we already do for oral sessions. Attendance would reflect on how successful planning was. There was further discussion about possible flaws in this current method of planning. Major developments and trends are lacking in some cases. This may be due to the fact that planning is left to so few people. These gaps may keep people from attending the annual meeting at all. Strategic thinking is needed on how planning can help keep us viable and dynamic. A discussion of membership participation in committees followed. F. Labatt shared some of the same struggles that the Society of Nutrition Education had and how they tried to deal with them. A current gap in our programming is genomics. It was suggested that the committee structure may need to be changed to reflect the subject matter specialties of current members. Caution needs to be taken before tampering with the committee structure. J. Leach pointed out that when ISMPMI meets, they siphon off some of our attendance. Our program needs to be strong in the subject areas their members represent when they meet outside of North America so that we can attract their students who cannot afford to go to overseas meetings.

Leadership workshop. It is hoped to repeat this again in 1999. M. Levin will not be available, however. Some suggestions for alternate speakers were discussed. ACTION C. Windels will check on the availability of C. D’Arcy, and find alternative co-facilitators, if necessary.

Adjourned for dinner at 5:35 p.m.

Reconvened, Sunday at 8:05 a.m.

Present were: C. Windels, D. Jardine, L. Campbell, E. Stromberg, J. Leach, M. Daub, J. Polston, H. Dillard, P. Lipps, D. Beadle, G. Chastagner, R. Gergerich, G. Shaner, N. Van Alfen, S. Slack, J. Sherwood, T. Burr, J. Loper, and S. Coakley. Staff present: M. Bjerkness, S. Nelson, C. Ash, L. Hartman, A. Hope. Visitors: D. Gross

Melhus Student Speaker Award. P. Lipps reported they were awaiting the March 15 deadline for nominations. Councilor’s Forum will meet afterward to decide.

Conversations on Change - Council for Agricultural Science and Technology (CAST). S. Slack, S. Nelson, and M. Boehm attended the meeting in San Antonio. It was a very high energy meeting. There were a lot of committed people and definite benefits will be coming out of this program. Issues such as electronic communications are common among societies. Decisions we make will need to be compatible with other societies. Strong linkages are being developed. Kellogg will likely continue funding. Our returns will be far above our investment of $10,000 per year for three years. This is a good place for sharing information products. Issues we are dealing with in our Strategic Plan are being faced by a lot of societies. APS is looked to as a leader in electronic communications and membership, but we lag behind in government relations. MOTION Approve the next $10,000 in funding for Conversations on Change. MOTION TO TABLE. MOTION CARRIED.

P. Offices and Boards (continued from below)

3. Office of Public Affairs and Education (OPAE). G. Bergstrom is interested in continuing as director of OPAE and the Executive Committee has recommended his reappointment. There was general discussion about the office and its responsibilities. This office is different from others in APS in that it had to pull together and reorganize existing groups. There have been some differences of opinion with the Office of Electronic Communications concerning what and how information will be provided to the public, but these are being worked out. It was suggested that Council may need to provide some guidance to the director in areas such as what is appropriate in news releases. The question was asked whether they should have a strategic plan. S. Nelson noted that OPAE has developed a complete marketing plan, however, there is very little in their budget for new programming. President Windels reviewed the history of the search for a director. Various examples of OPAE accomplishments were reviewed such as their participation in the Science on the National Mall program where there will be a M.AS.H. tent for sick plants. There was some discussion on whether we are going overboard on public outreach since we are a relatively small society. Perhaps the money would be better spent on public policy issues. There was some philosophical discussion of the role of the National Plant Pathology Board within OPAE. Further opinions on the discomforts with OPAE were offered as well as examples of the benefits. MOTION To reappoint G. Bergstrom as director of the Office of Public Affairs and Education. SECONDED MOTION CARRIED. ACTION C. Windels will notify G. Bergstrom of his reappointment and ask him to move forward with OPAE plans consistent with the Strategic Plan.

1. International Society for Plant Pathology. L. Campbell reviewed what their role is. They vote on site selection for the next meeting. We are allowed one delegate for every 500 members.

Election of four new representatives. A list of nominations received by the secretary was distributed (attachment #16). The candidates were ranked. ACTION C. Windels will contact the nominees in the order ranked. It was noted that they should be planning to attend the next international meeting.

Election of Chair. It was decided that the representatives should elect a chair from among themselves.

2. American Type Culture Collection (ATTC). C. Windels distributed the current list of representatives to our various affiliates. (attachment #17). We are in need of a new ATTC representative. J. Hill is our outgoing representative. R. Nelson of the Noble Foundation was nominated. C. Windels reviewed his qualifications. He has expressed an interest. There were no other nominations. MOTION To appoint R. Nelson as the APS representative to the American Type Culture Collection. SECONDED MOTION CARRIED. ACTION C. Windels will send a letter to R. Cypress notifying him that APS has nominated R. Nelson and request his approval by the ATCC Board..

3. Terms that expire in 2000. C. Windels reviewed the current appointments to other affiliates. S. Slack is the APS representative to the National Research Council’s Board on Agriculture. ACTION C. Windels will contact the Chair of APS Mycology Committee regarding a vacancy of an APS representative to the Mycological Society of America. She will ask the committee to appoint a representative. ACTION (C. Windels). Contact the 1997 appointees notifying them that their term will expire in 2000. Inquire if they are interested in serving another term and if they are not, to recommend a replacement. It was mentioned that the Strategic Plan calls for more volunteer opportunities. This will be a good chance to get some new people involved. ACTION The secretary will check to see which appointees have been filing annual reports regularly as a sign of activity with the affiliate. D. Gross shared his experience with the International Union for Microbiological Societies. He recommended appointing someone closer to Washington D.C., perhaps a virologist. We need to assess our roles in these societies. ACTION L. Campbell will place this on the agenda for the Montreal meeting. The question of whether we need affiliation with groups such as the United Soybean Board or Cotton Incorporated was brought up with no answer. There was also a question about what is happening with CROPS 99. ACTION C. Windels will contact S. Tolin for an update. The cost in travel and expense of maintaining these affiliations was brought up. ACTION Headquarters will provide a breakdown of costs associated with maintaining affiliations.

MOTION To remove the financial motions from the table. SECONDED MOTION CARRIED

MOTION Approve the next $10,000 in funding for Conversations on Change. NO DISCUSSION. MOTION CARRIED.

MOTION The registration for the 1999 Annual Meeting in Montreal be set at $205 for pre-registered members and the amount for the other participants as indicated on the handout (attachment #18) DISCUSSION J. Sherwood reviewed why the costs were down in Las Vegas. We negotiated a significant food break with the hotel in return for moving our meeting date. CPS will pay the same fees in American dollars. MOTION CARRIED

MOTION $4500 be approved for the Office of International Programs (OIP) and of that, $1500 be used for a portable display board and related materials. MOTION CARRIED

MOTION That APS continue to provide $6,000 to the International Society of Plant Pathologists (ISPP) and that the treasurer continue to try and obtain an audited statement from that organization. DISCUSSION We get very little feedback on our $6,000. The host society plans the meeting. We have no input into the program. ISPP is a very loosely run group. Do we just accept this and continue our support? Negatives of not belonging to ISPP were discussed. We would have no vote on the meeting location. We are aggressive internationally and it is good will to belong. One-third of our members are international. The $6,000 is based on our membership. We have received an income and expense summary with no itemization or indication of cash reserves. ACTION S. Coakley offered to contact Peter Scott to find out why we cannot get an audited itemized accounting of income and expenses. Further discussion for and against the motion occurred. AMENDED MOTION That APS provide $6,000 to the International Society of Plant Pathologists (ISPP) when APS Treasurer John Sherwood receives an audited statement from ISPP as well as a list of member societies/organizations and the amount of dues paid by each society/organization. SECONDED MOTION CARRIED.

MOTION That anticipated revenues from operating reserves by FY98-99 be budgeted as follows; $30,000 for symposia at the Annual Meeting (increase of $3,000); $30,000 for support of current year’s services/programs; and $30,000 be reinvested in operating reserves. DISCUSSION J. Sherwood reviewed the history of spending operating reserves revenue. The only change from the previous year is that $3,000 is being added to the annual meeting budget for programming. A friendly amendment was offered to change the word symposia to special sessions. The amendment was accepted. MOTION CARRIED.

MOTION The draft of the FY99-00 budget as prepared by staff and modified by passing and defeating of the previous motions be approved. DISCUSSION J. Sherwood reviewed the assumptions on the budget (attachment #19). S. Nelson pointed out that staff is already moving on the Strategic Plan and are moving away from spending time and money on things that are not included in the new plan. The staff was complimented on the fine job of preparing the budget. There was a question about the $140,000 listed for short courses. This represents the budget for two courses and is similar to the annual meeting budget. Expenses are recovered from participant fees. MOTION CARRIED.

Refreshment break at 10:00 a.m.

The meeting was reconvened by President Windels at 10:25 a.m.

P. Offices and Boards

1. APS Foundation. S. Coakley reviewed the pros of bringing the Foundation back into APS (attachment #20). There will be an initial cost to bring the Foundation back into APS, but the costs will be quickly recovered by the savings of separate auditing costs each year. Staff support is already authorized so there would be no increased expense in this area. She proceeded to review why it was originally separated from APS. This would not require a constitutional change and it would continue to operate as in the past. If the merger is done before 1 July, they can save a lot of money in auditing expense. Funds would not be commingled. L. Harman would continue to do the accounting. It was questioned as to what assurances there were that it would remain autonomous. C. Windels read from the Constitution Article VI, Sections 6 and 7:

"Section 6. The funds accruing to the Foundation shall be derived from gifts, grants, and bequests.

Section 7. The solicitation, investment, and distribution of the Foundation funds shall be a function of the Board of Directors of the Foundation. Funds shall be maintained separately from the normal operating budget of the Society."

It is done both ways in other societies. The cost to bring it back in is $6,000. The merger should relieve staff time a small amount. MOTION That APS Council approve the re-joining of the APS Foundation with the parent society if approved by the APS Foundation. SECONDED MOTION CARRIED.

The guidelines for cash awards for certain APS awards was discussed. (attachment #20). S. Coakley presented some background. The current draft being presented is pretty much final. N. Van Alfen reported that the APS Awards and Honors Committee is not enthusiastic because they feel it is unnecessary. It especially would not be appropriate for Fellows. It was noted that the idea is not inconsistent with other current awards such as the Novartis, Hutchins and Allen Awards. There are donors who think cash awards are important and we need places for the donated money to go. It was clarified that these cash donations would be for existing awards, not new ones. This item has been discussed at length by the Foundation and they feel since the precedent has already been set, that we should proceed. MOTION To approve guidelines for cash awards (NOT FELLOW OR AWARD OF DISTINCTION) as submitted by the APS Foundation. SECONDED MOTION CARRIED.

In other items, the Foundation will contribute to the Melhus Student Speaker Seminar probably as travel support. A replacement is needed on the Foundation board for A. Vidaver who is not eligible for another term. Four board members are appointed by Council and three by the Board. It is a three-year term, renewable one time. In discussion, it was suggested that we might consider a younger person. Nominations were made and the candidates were ranked. ACTION C. Windels will contact the nominees in rank order till the appointment is accepted.

2. Awards and Honors. N. Van Alfen reported ten awardees were selected, including seven Fellows. There were no awards for International, Industry or Teaching due to a lack of nominations. There was some discussion on this latter fact. Awards and Honors is considering a beginner investigator award, similar to the Novartis Award but not as restrictive. C. Windels noted that contacting the recipients is one of the most fun jobs for the president.

The Awards and Honors Committee considered the proposed Beverly T. Galloway Award in Regulatory Plant Pathology. They felt it was not necessary and do not support it. Executive Committee does not support it either. Nobody with this type of background has ever been nominated. Our current framework of awards could be used to recognize such individuals. ACTION (C. Windels) Contact Calvin Schoulties and Sue Cohen about declining their proposal for an APS Regulatory Award. Encourage them to nominate APS members working in this area for an APS Fellow Award.

3. Office of Public Affairs and Education. (see P. 3 above)

4. Office of Electronic Communications. No report.

See the submitted report for most of the details. Student membership is showing a downward trend as well as a couple of other areas. We need to see if student members are converting to regular membership upon graduation. We lose about 25% of student and post-doctoral members each year. Staff wants to take advantage of the capabilities of the new IMUS database system. There are also some new staff positions and reassignment of duties of current staff. C. Ash reported on upcoming short courses including one on Introduction to Molecular and Genomic Technologies, 6 Aug in Montreal and a Shade Tree Wilt Conference 25-28 Aug in St. Paul. Other conferences in planning are an Urban Soils Conference and repeats of the Evergreen Pest and Statistics Refresher courses. There was further discussion on the courses. C. Ash works with local people in the host state as much as possible. We try and stay away from things that a host state may already be doing. This tends to make them more regional or national. Currently the Executive Committee approves workshop proposals. There was a general feeling that this should be done by Council.

This item will be handled by mail.

S. Voting on Financial Motions (see above)

We need to do a better job of communicating financial issues to members by doing it on a more frequent basis.

1. APS Foundation, 28 Feb - 1 Mar, 1999
2. Office of Electronic Communications, 18-20 Mar, 1999
3. Office of Public Affairs and Education, 9-10 April, 1999
4. Financial Advisory Committee, 6 May, 1999
5. Headquarter Operation Committee, 7 May, 1999
6. Council at 1999 annual meeting: Friday and Saturday (6-7 Aug), Wednesday (11 Aug)
7. Mid-year Council, 25-27 Feb or 3-6 Mar, 2000

MOTION To adjourn. SECONDED MOTION CARRIED.

Meeting adjourned 11:15 a.m.

Respectfully submitted,

Douglas J. Jardine
APS Secretary

© Copyright 1999 by
The American Phytopathological Society