COMMITTEE REPORT:
Credentials
REGISTRATION FOR HOUSE OF DELEGATES MEETING
The House of Delegates meeting will be held Sunday June 19, 2005, in the Imperial Ballroom, Hyatt Regency Hotel, Calgary, Alberta, Canada. The meeting will be called to order at 8:00 a.m. and will end when house business is concluded. The registration table will be open at 7:00 a.m. and the delegates are encouraged to check in early.
The Credentials Committee is responsible for:
- checking in and verifying all elected delegates, elected alternates and appointed alternates to the House of Delegates for the meeting;
- presenting to the House for seating any representative(s) that were not cleared 15 days before the meeting; and,
- submit to the Chairman of the House an attested roll of Delegates, Alternate Delegates, and Appointed Alternate Delegates who are qualified and present, and the number needed for a quorum.
The Credentials Committee consists of five (5) members including a Chairman to serve one (1) year terms. In the event one (1) or more members must relinquish his seat for any reason, the Chairman of the House shall have the authority to appoint a replacement. Officers of the House may not serve on this Committee. Present members of the Credentials Committee are the two candidates for chairman-elect (Alan DeGood and Larry J. Jones), the two candidates for secretary/editor (Jay G. Henthorne and Robert C. Shoup), and the Chairman, Patrick J. Gooding. Two members of the Credentials Committee, other than the chairman, will greet delegates at the entrance to the meeting room, present a ribbon to them, and direct them to the registration desk. The other two members of the committee will staff the registration desk. At 7:30 a.m. committee members greeting delegates will switch duties with the committee members at the registration desk. The chairman will be near the registration desk, working with AAPG staff, to solve any problems that may arise.
The official list of representatives by society and region is provided by AAPG headquarters, and includes the names of all the elected delegates, elected alternates, and appointed alternates received before the deadline. After clearance by the Credentials Committee, the hand of the delegate is stamped which allows that person to be seated in the voting section. The stamp ensures that a delegate will be permitted back into the voting area without having to be re-checked should they leave for any reason. Only Active Members in good standing may serve as delegates.
Eligible appointed alternates whose documentation was not submitted on time, or have come to the meeting with a request (written or verbal) to serve, must remain outside the voting area of the House until they are officially seated by a vote of the other delegates. They are then stamped and may join the voting delegates. In the event of a dispute over credentials, the Chairman shall place the matter before the House. In this event, the Committee shall submit verbally, and in writing, to the House its reason for withholding accreditation. Immediately thereafter, the designating society as well as the nominated Delegate or Alternate may submit verbally, and in writing, reasons to support accreditation of the Delegate. The House shall vote on the dispute with a majority vote governing.
Ineligible appointees are welcome to stay for the proceedings in order to report back to their societies; however, they cannot be seated in the voting area. It is important to note that anyone may attend the HoD meeting. In fact, all AAPG members are invited to do so and there are chairs outside the voting area for visitors.
A delegate should notify his/her society or region president if unable to attend the House of Delegates meeting. The president should then contact the elected alternate and if the alternate cannot attend, the president may appoint an alternate for the purpose of representation at the annual meeting only. The president needs to notify Donna Riggs at AAPG headquarters, (hod@aapg.org), in writing, 15 days prior to the meeting of any appointed alternates who may be representing their society or region. Delegates are encouraged to take the initiative and contact their presidents to ensure credentialed representatives attend the meeting.
Only Delegates, chosen by means given in Article IV of the Association Bylaws, may be considered as qualified. A qualified Delegate shall be a full voting member in good standing of the Association as defined by the Constitution and Bylaws as of the time of designation and during tenure in the House of Delegates. Qualified society Delegates shall be members of the Affiliated Society that they represent. Appointed alternate delegates whose names are not received in writing by the Headquarters office of the Association at least fifteen (15) days prior to the meeting of the House of Delegates for which they are appointed to serve shall not be qualified to serve as Delegates at such meeting.
In 2000, there were a total of 246 delegates. This number decreased to 244 in 2001 and increased to 248 the following year. Since 2002, there has been a slight, but stead, decline in the amount of delegates representing their societies. In 2005, there are 232 delegates. The number of delegates attending the annual meeting has steadily decreased from 210 in 2000 to 187 in 2004. This also reflects the decrease in the total number of delegates elected. During the past five years, from 2000 to 2004, 79.5% to 85.3% of the elected delegates were present for voting at the annual meeting. The number of eligible appointed alternates whose documentation was not submitted on time, or have come to the meeting with a request to serve, have varied quite substantially over the last five years. In 2000, no request was made. In 2001 and 2002 two persons asked to be seated. The number rose to nine in 2003 and fell to four in 2004.