At the annual meeting, the constitutional and bylaws amendments were all passed. Subject to approval by two-thirds majority vote of the AAPG members responding, future voting on nominees and amendments may soon be done electronically.

The "Selection Integrity Amendment" was passed in order to promote fairness and impartiality in the AAPG officer nomination and the honors and awards process by eliminating members of the governing bodies from consideration for those offices and awards.

Finally, the number of members serving on the Ethics Committee was increased from three to five to allow for one or more members to recuse themselves if a conflict of interest should occur.

The Rules and Procedures Committee proposed six changes to HoD rules and procedures. The Rules and Procedures, Constitution and Bylaws, and the Resolution Committees will now be allowed to have seven members on each committee as opposed to four previously. This will allow for better representation from the various Sections and Regions on these committees.

A change in the Nomination and Election Committee rules will call for each HoD officer candidate to have their biographical data in the hands of the HoD Chairman by September 30th of each year so it may be timely published in The Delegates’Voice newsletter. Likewise, the Honors and Awards Committee must have their list of recipients to the HoD Chairman by the same date.

A change in the rules and procedures for granting awards was passed which will now allow for a person who has served as a Delegate within the previous five years to be eligible to receive an award.

Finally, the HoD voted to remove the Future of Earth Scientists Committee from the HoD Rules and Procedures. This committee is expected to be moved to the AAPG committee system with the chairman reporting to the HoD at the annual meeting.

The Resolutions Committee presented applications by the Association of Petroleum Technicians and Professionals (France), the Atyrau Petroleum Geologists Association Kazakhstan, and the Sociedad Geologica del Peru, for affiliation as an Affiliated Society to AAPG. Each group was represented at the meeting and a summary of each association was presented to the HoD.

The Resolutions Committee also presented applications by the Association for Women Geoscientists and the National Association of Black Geologists and Geophysicists for affiliation as Associated Societies to AAPG.

All of the applications for association and affiliation were approved unanimously by the HoD.

The Honors and Awards Committee presented the following recipients of HoD awards: Tom Mairs, Honorary Member of the House; Ed Heath and Bob Countryman, Distinguished Members of the House; Pete Gray and Jeff Greenawalt, House Long Service Award. The committee also recognized the past Recording Secretaries and the past Secretary/ Editors with House Recognition of Service Awards. These individuals include: Jeanne Harris, Jeff Greenawalt, Jean Lemon, Deborah Sacrey, Sandi Barber, Marty Hewitt and Lee Avary. The HoD gavel tie was presented to George Eynon.

The Nomination and Election Committee presented the new officers to join George Eynon effective July 1, 2003. Valary Schulz and Steve Goolsby were elected Chairman-Elect and Secretary/ Editor, respectively.

In closing, so many individuals need to be thanked for their tireless efforts in making all of the House activities run so smoothly. George Eynon, Lee Avary, thanks for your help through the year. You both made it so much easier. Committee Chairmen Valary Schulz, Don Clarke, Deborah Sacrey, Bob Cowdery, Sandi Barber, and Marilyn Cisar and all of your committee members were truly appreciated.

Also, special thanks to Marilyn Taggi Cisar (for supplying the corsages to the female Delegates in recognition of Mother’s Day), to Mary Bahde, the Parliamentarian, and to Donna Riggs, for all of her help in coordinating everything. Thank you all, it’s been an honor to serve as your chairman.