Minutes of the APS Executive Committee Conference Call
February 1, 2001
President Slack called the meeting to order at 3:05 p.m. CST.
Present: S. Slack, D. Jardine, R. Gergerich, N. Keen, and J. Sherwood. N. VanAlfen joined the conference in progress.
Staff present: S. Nelson and M. Smith
Absent: J. Fletcher
Schedule and Topics: S. Slack and S. Nelson had a telephone conference with Tim Neumann on 31 January. He would like more time in the morning so the schedule will allot him from 8:00 – 11:45 a.m. on Saturday. Council will reconvene at 1:30 p.m. C. Becker will be invited to attend the meeting. L. Madden has been invited as chair of the Governance Committee.
A tentative schedule (by group) has been sent out from headquarters. D. Jardine reported that the call for midyear reports has been made. A second reminder will be sent out. The minutes from New Orleans posted on the web are listed as “DRAFT” because they will not be approved until midyear. A report from the Industry Advisory Committee has been received and will be sent out to Council members.
The major issue for midyear will be the National Plant Pathology Board report submitted by chair J. Sherwood. We will need some time set aside early on in the meeting for discussion.
Other smaller issues to be addressed include:
1. Meeting Board recommendations. This can be handled in Executive Committee with a motion for action going to Council.
2. AIBS. The Financial Advisory Council and Executive Committee will deal with separate aspects. Discussion with full Council is likely.
3. Phytopathology News. A new editor-in-chief is needed. This will be an item for Publications Board.
4. CAMPPS proposal. A motion from Executive Council will be needed.
5. IAPP. This will be a Council discussion item. There will be reports from Councilor’s Forum and staff on the issue.
6. Updates from the Publications Board on Plant Health Progress and electronic journal subscription issues.
7. Councilor’s Forum reports on electronic nominations and volunteerism.
8. ICME. A recommendation for dissolution will be made.
9. Brand Marketing. The committee may have a report, but it will not be a final one. The committee will be meeting just before the midyear Council meeting. They hope to have a mail ballot on a new logo by June, and to introduce the logo at the annual meeting.
10. The By-Laws and Constitution Committee is continuing its work. They will want Council to look at it at least one more time. There may be a report for the midyear meeting, but a final report is not expected until the annual meeting.
11. As time permits, there may be a strategic discussion on governance and globalization late Saturday.
2.
Phytopathology News
A. Advisory Board Nominations. There was general discussion on the purpose of the board. It is consultative, but staff feels it has a useful purpose and should be continued. Five nominations were made for two available positions. Candidates were discussed and ranked. S. Slack will contact N. O’Neill and D. Rizzo and ask them to accept the positions.
B. Editor-in-chief. There were no nominations prior to the conference call. A potential candidate surfaced and was discussed. Since the other editor-in-chief positions come through the Publications Board, this name will be forwarded to B. Hillman to see how he would like to proceed with this nomination.
3.
IAPP
There has been some discussion in Councilor’ Forum. There has been a lack of enthusiasm for the affiliation. Staff has provided some concerns on the potential affiliation. S. Slack proposed forwarding the information from staff to Executive Committee for discussion and a final recommendation at midyear.
4.
CoFARM – APS Research Priorities
CoFARM
met in January. They requested research priorities from each society for a
presentation to the Coalition for Food and Agricultural Research (CFAR). Given
the short time for response, J. Sherwood used a one-page summary of the
priorities developed by the NPPB. The final CFAR document mentions microbial
genomes and not just plant genomes. There was also some language on pest
management.
5. Electronic Ballots/Election Update
Nominations are still coming in. Headquarters will send a reminder. 3,718 ballots were emailed and 700 sent as hard copies. There have been 80 electronic responses and another 20 paper ballots. There was discussion on why there is such a low rate.
6. Other items
R. Gergerich has received a list of advisory board nominees for OIP from R. Bennet. There has been no action yet.
The conference call was adjourned at 3:50 p.m. CST.
Respectfully submitted,
Douglas Jardine,
APS Secretary