MARCH 2004

Ad Hoc Committee on Advisory Council Representation

Tim Rynott, Chairman

The Ad Hoc Committee on Advisory Council (AC) Representation was given a charge to answer this fundamental question: Should membership in both deliberative bodies of AAPG governance (AC and House) be proportional to numbers of members, or should the Advisory Council continue to be "federal based" (structurally similar to the U.S. Senate)? As the investigation progressed, various questions and comments have been put to our committee, precipitating this second question: Has partisanship -- intentional or unintentional -- affected the duties of AC members?

To answer these questions this committee has implemented a three-phase program. Phase I involved compiling and summarizing the voting record of the AC since the 1999 restructuring. Phase II, just recently completed, entailed submitting a questionnaire to the current AC and all those who served on the AC since the 1999 restructuring. A total of 51 questionnaires were sent and 46 were returned. (A sample questionnaire is shown below). Phase III involves the Ad Hoc Committee examining the data from Phase I and Phase II, and then voting on possible recommendations. Due to the complexity of this important issue, the House leadership decided at the mid-year meeting in January that the term of the Ad Hoc Committee will be extended for one year.

Therefore, the committee will return its recommendations at the House of Delegates meeting in Calgary in June, 2005. The report in Dallas in April 2004 will therefore be a progress report.

Sample Questionnaire

1. How many years have you served on the AC since it was restructured in 1999?

2. Did you serve on the AC prior to the restructuring?
How many years?

3. If the number of voters on the AC were increased, would the AC function:

________ More effectively?

________ Less effectively?

________ Same?

________ Don't know?

4. Other than the expected initial support of a Sectional nominee, have you personally witnessed Sectional or Regional bias by an AC member?

Circle one: Often Occasionally Never

5. On a scale of one to five, how equitably do you think that each member of AAPG is being represented by the Advisory Council as composed under existing By-Laws?

(5 being very equitably and 1 being not equitably)

Circle one: 1 2 3 4 5

If you gave a low score please comment.

6. What change, if any, might improve the efficiency and/or effectiveness of the Advisory council in fulfilling its duties under the By-Laws?