Update of APS Constitution and Bylaws: 
Approval By Membership Sought

Carol Windels, University of Minnesota

As a member of the American Phytopathological Society, are you aware of our society’s constitution and bylaws? What they contain? Or where to find them? These documents describe the society’s basic rules of organization and policy. The constitution contains the most essential provisions relating to APS’s name and objectives; membership; officers, council, and executive committee; selection of officers and councilors; meetings; APS Foundation; code of professional conduct; sexual harassment policy; and amendments. The bylaws include the framework of additional key structures and activities, such as dues and contributions, honors, publications and editorial boards, committees, divisions, chapters, affiliated societies, society representatives to other organizations, amendments, etc. As is typical of older organizations, APS divided the framework of rules into two documents, so the constitution is more difficult to amend than the bylaws. These documents are posted at www.apsnet.org/members/gov/top.asp. The APS Manual of Operations also is posted at this site. It contains detailed descriptions of the responsibilities of APS officers, council members, offices, boards, APS Foundation, committee chairs, and representatives of APS.

Over the years, APS has made a number of amendments to the constitution and bylaws that reflect additions and changes to the rules of our society. Recently, council realized that several procedures currently in place had not been amended in the constitution and bylaws. These procedures have evolved gradually as the primary role of the full council has shifted from operational decisions to strategic planning. Furthermore, the bylaws, which have not been updated for several years, do not include recent new awards, journals, and products. To update these documents, President Neal Van Alfen appointed an ad hoc APS Constitution and Bylaws Procedural Committee composed of Jacqueline Fletcher, Rose Gergerich, Erik Stromberg, Miles Wimer, and Carol Windels, chair. The charge of the committee was to review the constitution and bylaws and identify procedural practices that no longer are in effect and to amend the documents for consistency with current practices. Council also recommended that the committee condense two areas of the bylaws (Honors, Publications and Editorial Boards) to avoid redundancy.

As provided in the constitution and bylaws, amendments may be made to either document at any annual meeting of the society or by mail ballot provided the proposed amendment is approved by council or is petitioned by at least 10% of regular members. The proposed change must be communicated in writing to all members eligible to vote at least one month before the annual meeting or one month before the date for tallying the ballots. Amendments to the constitution are approved if three-fourths of respondents cast affirmative votes and amendments to the bylaws are approved with a plurality of affirmative votes. The update of procedures made by the ad hoc committee has been approved by council. Written ballots for a vote of approval on the amendments were recently sent to all members with a deadline for return of July 13, 2001. Only those portions of the constitution and bylaws that are being amended accompany the ballot. If you have questions or concerns, you are invited to discuss them with members of council or the ad hoc committee. As a member of APS, you also are encouraged to become familiar with the complete content of the APS Constitution and Bylaws to more fully understand and participate in the society’s affairs.

The following explanations are provided to help you understand the amendments:

Constitution

Article II, Section 2, D.1&2: Members in all categories (including group memberships) now are entitled to member prices on APS Press products (will continue to include publications). Certain services and products are available at an additional fee to all categories of membership.

Article III, Section 5: Council is dealing with an increasing number of issues that involve discussion and resolution between the mid-year and annual meeting. Any member of Council may bring up issues for discussion. Recent APS presidents have held conference calls with Council, the Executive Committee, or other appropriate subsets of Council to resolve issues requiring timely responses. The APS Secretary records the minutes of these conference calls and, when voting is necessary, sends out an electronic ballot and compiles the results, which are sent to the President.

Article IV: The APS Secretary does not send out the nomination ballots for officers (Section 1). Instead, the Intermediate Councilor-at-Large, who serves as chair of the Nominating Committee, directs APS headquarters staff to send out ballots to eligible members. In Section 5, the years marking the beginning of terms for Division Councilors were updated, with no change in the sequence or time of their service.

Article VI: Changes made for the APS Foundation include: addition of a graduate student representative (chair of the APS Graduate Student Committee) as a third, nonvoting member; reduction in length of terms of voting members from five to three years; and clarification on number of consecutive terms for voting members. These changes, proposed by the Foundation Board to provide more input and continuity, were approved by Council.

Article IX, Section 1: Electronic balloting now is recognized as a valid and legal means of facilitating voting processes. Procedures outlined in the constitution, as well as the bylaws, do not include use of electronic balloting for amending either of these documents. Thus, APS currently is restricted from electronic balloting, which would allow flexibility and cost-saving opportunities. Since some members do not have an E-mail address or may have an invalid E-mail address, the proposed revision includes the option of mail and/or electronic ballots, so all members will have the opportunity to cast their vote.

Bylaws

1. Dues, C, Journal Prices: Determination of subscription prices for APS journals has changed with the advent of electronic subscriptions. All journals are available to members electronically (Plant Health Progress and The Plant Health Instructor are only offered electronically), with options for print and/or electronic subscriptions. Member subscription income for all journals continues to be considerably below actual cost and every effort is made to keep the prices as low as possible.

3. Contributions: The current bylaws stipulate a specific annual fee for Sustaining Associates, so any adjustment associated with the fee would require a vote by members. The change from a dollar amount to a more flexible fee schedule will allow for judicious adjustments and save APS the extra cost of sending ballots to members to authorize small fee changes.

5. Honors: This section has not been updated for several years. It included the APS Fellow, Ruth Allen Award, Lee M. Hutchins Award, and Award of Distinction but did not include other recently developed named awards (Excellence in Teaching Award, Excellence in Extension Award, Excellence in Industry Award, International Service Award, Distinguished Service Award, Novartis Award, and the William Boright Hewitt and Maybelle Ellen Ball Hewitt Award), nor did it allow flexibility for the potential addition of other awards. The proposed version will continue to adhere to guidelines established by APS and through bequests for named awards. It also allows for addition of new awards without an amendment to the bylaws. Descriptions of all APS awards are available on APSnet, are published annually in Phytopathology News, and are posted in the APS Manual of Operations.

6. Publications and Editorial Boards: This section of the Bylaws had not been updated for years and did not include descriptions for recent journals and other peer-review materials. Since formation of the APS Publications Board, journals published by the society have developed more uniform standards for editorial policy, selection of editors, and terms of office. In addition to journals, APS is publishing peer-reviewed instructional resources on APSnet, and the editorial board is organized similarly to those of APS journals. In revision of this part of the bylaws, a general description has been written to encompass how the journals have been operating and allows flexibility for addition of peer-reviewed products and publications. Details that are unique to each journal and peer-reviewed instructional resource will be included in the APS Manual of Operations. Also, fiduciary responsibility for these publications, as well as Phytopathology News, and APS Press now is shared by the APS Treasurer, Financial Advisory Committee, and Council. Routine fiscal matters are overseen by the society’s Executive Officer.

Phytopathology News has changed the name of its advisory committee. Details related to selection of committee members and terms of service will be included in the Manual of Operations.

APS Press has expanded its activities beyond book publications to include production of a wide range of nonjournal products. The process for selection of APS Press editors is similar to that followed for appointing the society’s journal editors. Terms of office and staggered appointments have evolved to provide continuity of projects

7. Committees: Standing committees of APS deal with general policies, internal relations, and subject matter. Members of these committees already select their officers. Recently, Council authorized chair to select new members (rather than this being done by the Senior Councilor-at-Large and then approved by Council). The establishment of new standing committees will continue to need the approval of Council.

10. Affiliated Societies: Recently, affiliations with other societies have been short-term (e.g., joint annual meetings or a joint symposium) and similar relationships will continue to increase. Other affiliations are long-term, such as with the American Institute of Biological Sciences. Council considers many factors when deciding on affiliations with other professional societies, including type and effectiveness of the relationship, whether it matches APS’s Strategic Plan, and potential impact on the society’s resources (member volunteer and staff time, facilities, finances).

15. Amendments: The proposed change is to add an electronic balloting option to the current mail balloting procedure when voting on amendments to the bylaws. See earlier paragraph, Article IX Section 1 under Constitution, for rationale related to this addition.

2001 APS Award Winners

Congratulations to the following individuals who have been named to receive these awards:

Ruth Allen Award

Robert E. Davis, USDA

Lee M. Hutchins Award

Mark Mazzola, USDA ARS

APS Fellow

Joyce E. Loper, USDA ARS

Christopher C. Mundt, Oregon State University

David M. Weller, Washington State University

Jeffrey B. Jones, University of Florida

Lester W. Burgess, University of Sydney

Noriyuki Doke, Nagoya University

Gary Bergstrom, Cornell University

James W. Moyer, North Carolina State University

Excellence in Teaching Award

William F. Zettler, University of Florida

Excellence in Extension Award

Patrick E. Lipps, Ohio State University

Excellence in Industry Award

Molly N. Cline, Monsanto Company

International Service Award

Robert S. Ziegler, Kansas State University

Syngenta Award

Eric L. Davis, North Carolina State University

Also in this issue: (as a .PDF file, see link below)

• Meetings 77
• Classifieds 78
• People 80
• Journal Articles 83

• Calendar of Events 84