Officers
The Mid-Year HoD Leadership Meeting
The annual Mid-Year HoD Leadership Meeting took place at the Houstonian Hotel on the 3rd and 4th of December. Prior to the meeting some of the attendees took part in a field trip to investigate modern fluvial and coastal systems from the Brazos River to Galveston Island. The trip was ably led by Julia Smith Wellner from the Department of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences at the University of Houston. The party enjoyed in-depth discussions of fluvial channel, delta and barrier island development.
Following is a summary of the salient points of the Leadership Meeting. In his opening remarks, Jeff Lund (HoD Chair) described the advantages of membership simplification and how to energize the Delegates to recruit new members. He discussed the actions taken by the EC, following a recommendation from the Membership Coordination and Communication Committee, to implement process changes to simplify and speed up application processing. He informed the group that a Delegates’ Handbook is being produced by Sharie Sartain and will be reviewed by the HoD leadership. During a discussion of the membership process it was revealed that some delegations/delegates are making it more stringent than is required in the bylaws.
Paul Weimer (AAPG President) posed the following questions: where are we going to be in 25 years and how do we get the “Millennium Generation” to become members? He suggested that it was time that the Association’s name change be seriously discussed and that the AAPG pursue joint activities with other societies. He stated that AAPG’s important intellectual property (Datapages, Search and Discovery, GIS-UDRIL and the website) need to be improved.
David Curtiss (AAPG Executive Director) informed the group that AAPG was packaging data in a GIS framework and that HQ was conducting a work process review. He also said that a complete review of the Constitutions and Bylaws was being discussed in order to remove ambiguities.
Sigrunn Johnsen (Chair of the Nomination and Election Committee) revealed that four candidates had been identified for election to the HoD committee, two each for the position of Chair-Elect (Steve Goolsby and Larry Wickstrom) and Secretary/ Editor (Karen Glaser and Rusty Gilbert). The candidates’ biographies are to be found in this edition of The Delegates’ Voice.
Sandi Barber (Chair of the Rules and Procedures Committee) reminded attendees that Section and Region officers are eligible to be nominated for HoD Leadership positions. Following a discussion, it was decided that a user-friendly version of HoD rules and procedures should be included or attached to the Delegates’ Handbook.
Dennis Moore (Chair of the Resolutions Committee) said that he was contacting societies that have not sent a Delegate to the HoD Meeting at the ACE for some time.
Dave Cook (HoD Secretary Editor) reviewed some concerns about the relevance of The Delegates’ Voice to the HoD. It was suggested that articles should focus on the business of the House, serving as a Delegate and activating the Delegates to work for the AAPG.
During David Entzminger’s (Chair of the Constitution & Bylaws Committee) presentation there was a discussion about whether or not the HoD should ratify the Strategic Plan. He informed the group that the Certification survey had been distributed. He clarified the endorser‘s (sponsor’s) requirements for membership applications, i.e. there is no timeframe required in the Bylaws for the endorser to have known the candidate. A campaign policy for the Regions will be created, reviewed by the EC and incorporated into AAPG policy. He described the EC resolution to bring Bylaws changes proposed by the Membership Coordination and Communication Committee to the HoD. An alternative proposal for membership classification may be presented to the House as an amendment to the amendment. Both proposals are described in this edition of the The Delegates’ Voice, with a link provided for comments. Please take time to review these proposals and comment upon them as you see fit.
Sharie Sartain reviewed the draft Delegates’ Handbook and asked for comments from the Leadership team. One objective is to standardize, to a certain extent, the review of applications, considering the necessary differences in approach adopted by the Sections and Regions.
Overall, it was a very worthwhile meeting with many issues discussed that will position AAPG to achieve its membership goals and, in particular, encourage qualified Associates to become Active Members.