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American Association of Petroleum Geologists Minutes House of Delegates Meeting March 10, 2002 • Houston, TX

1. Call to Order and Introductions

The annual meeting of the House of Delegates was called to order at 8:00 a.m. by the Chairman of the House of Delegates, Edward D. Dolly. Chairman Dolly introduced the officers of the House of Delegates, Terry L. Hollrah, Chairman-Elect and Martin D. Hewitt, Secretary/Editor.

Chairman Dolly also recognized the AAPG Past Presidents, Past Chairs of the House, Executive Committee, Officer Candidates, Parliamentarian and the Headquarters’ staff.

2. Annual Meeting Report - Jeffrey W. Lund

Jeffrey W. Lund, General Chairman for the 2002 Houston annual meeting, was introduced and provided a report of the 2002 Houston Convention.

3. AAPG President’s Report - Robbie R. Gries

AAPG President Robbie R. Gries reported on initiatives being developed, finalized or completed by the 2001-02 Executive Committee, including matters on membership, access to digits, forming a publications aggregate, re-vitalizing certain committees, publications, regions, GeoTours, Popular Geology publications, diversity, electronic balloting, increases in student outreach, expansion of AAPG's public outreach efforts, best environmental practices, contributing to and working with TTC's, teaching petroleum geology, publications pipeline, GEM program, forward planning of international meetings, APPEX domestic and international, increasing intersociety activity, publication backlog reduction and increasing affiliated and associated society relationships.

4. Executive Director's Report - Richard D. Fritz

The Executive Director's report was presented by Richard D. Fritz.

5. Report from the Chairman of the House - Edward D. Dolly

The Chairman's report was presented by Chairman Edward D. Dolly. (Exhibit "A")

6. Credentials Committee

MOTION: Stewart Chuber moved to seat delegates Dave Campbell, Oklahoma City Geological Society and Alain-Yves Huc, European Region. Motion carried.

Stewart Chuber, Co-Chair of the Credentials Committee, reported that from a total of 248 elected delegates, the Credentials Committee cleared 207 voting delegates for the meeting. With 83% attendance, a quorum was declared.

7. Approval of the Agenda

MOTION: Dolly moved to approve, with modification, the agenda for the 2002 meeting of the House. (Exhibit "B") Motion carried.

8. Approval of the Minutes

MOTION: Dolly moved to approve the minutes of the House of Delegates meeting, June 3, 2001, held in Denver, CO, with the amendment that reports are received, not accepted. Motion carried.

The House reports began with PowerPoint presentations.

9. Constitution and Bylaws Committee

George Eynon, Chairman, introduced the Constitution and Bylaws Committee.

The Constitution and Bylaws Committee's final report appears in the January 2002 issue of The Delegates' Voice. (Exhibit "C")

Resolution for Amendment to provide for consultation of the AAPG governing bodies on Bylaw amendments affecting them (COCBAP2)

ARTICLE XIV. AMENDMENTS

SECTION 2. Amending Procedure

MOTION: It was moved and seconded; to approve and amend the Bylaws: Article XIV. Amendments, Section 2. Amending Procedure as follows:

1. Upon receipt of such proposals, they shall be referred to the Chairman of the House of Delegates, who shall then forward them to (a) the Executive Committee and (b) to the Constitution & Bylaws Committee of the House of Delegates for review and a report to be presented to the members of the House of Delegates, in accordance with its Rules & Procedures.

(b) Amendments proposed by resolution of the Executive Committee, by resolution of a majority vote of the Officers of the House of Delegates and the Chairman of the Constitution and Bylaws Committee of the House of Delegates, or by fifty (50) members of the Association shall within thirty (30) days of their receipt by the Chairman of the House of Delegates be distributed to the Executive Committee, the members of the House of Delegates, the Constitution and Bylaws committee of the House of Delegates, the Advisory Council, and any committee or member(s) of the Association designated by the Executive Committee to receive them.

(c) Each of the Advisory Council, committees or members of the Association, and members of the House of Delegates to whom a proposed amendment was distributed under these provisions bodies and members receiving proposed amendments pursuant to Section 2, paragraph (a) above, may submit comments to the Constitution and Bylaws committee of the House of Delegates not less than thirty (30) days prior to the annual meeting of the House of Delegates at which the proposed amendment shall is to be considered. The Chairman of the House of Delegates shall cause all such comments to be sent with the proposed amendment to the members of the House of Delegates prior to such annual meeting.

(d) Each of the bodies and members to receive proposed amendments under Section 2, paragraph (b) above, may submit comments concerning amendments proposed by resolution of the House of Delegates shall within thirty (30) days of their adoption be distributed to the members of the House of Delegates, the Executive Committee, the Advisory Council, and any Committee or member(s) of the Association designated by the Executive Committee to receive them. Each of the Executive Committee, the Advisory Council, committees or members of the Association, and members of the House of Delegates to whom a proposed amendment was distributed under these provisions, may submit comments to the Constitution and Bylaws committee of the House of Delegates not later than the next October 31^st following the adoption of the resolution and preceding the annual meeting of the House of Delegates at which the

proposed amendment shall be considered. The Chairman of the House of Delegates shall cause all such comments to be sent with the proposed amendment to the members of the House of Delegates as provided in its Rules and Procedures.

Motion carried.

Resolution for amendment to require an Executive Committee five vote "super-majority" to alter Advisory Council's officer nominations.

ARTICLE II. OFFICERS AND EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR

SECTION 10. Election of Officers

MOTION: It was moved and seconded; to approve and amend the Bylaws: Article II. Officers and Executive Director, Section 10. Election of Officers as follows:

These officers shall be elected from among the members of the Association by means of secret ballot in the following manner: not later than June 30 of each year the Advisory Council shall annually recommend two (2) or more candidates each for the offices of Vice President and President-Elect, biennially recommend two (2) or more candidates each for offices of Secretary and Treasurer, and triennially recommend two (2) or more candidates for the office of Editor to stand for election during the following fiscal year, and, if elected, to serve during the second succeeding fiscal year. The Executive Committee shall approve the candidates recommended in the order (if the Advisory Council recommends candidates in a particular order) and for the office recommended by the Advisory Council unless the Executive Committee, by the affirmative vote of not less than five of its members in each instance, alters the order in which candidates are recommended or changes the office for which a particular candidate is recommended; provided, however, that no person shall be a candidate who declines such candidacy. The [Council’s recommendations shall thereafter be considered by the] Executive Committee [which ]shall annually approve two (2) candidates each for the offices of Vice President and President-Elect, biennially approve two (2) candidates each for the offices of Secretary and Treasurer and triennially approve two (2) candidates for the office of Editor. The names of approved candidates shall be published in the Bulletin or by other suitable means ninety (90) days prior to distribution of ballots to members. Additional nominations may be made by written petition of fifty (50) or more members in good standing received at Association headquarters not later than November 15 following. The Executive Committee shall then prepare a printed ballot, listing the candidates for each office, and one (1) ballot shall be mailed to each member on or before April 1. Marked ballots returned to and received by the Association after May 15 shall not be counted. The ballot committee shall count the ballots promptly after May 15 and report the results to the President. A plurality of all votes cast for an office is necessary for election. In case of a tie vote the Executive Committee shall cast one (1) additional deciding vote.

Motion carried.

Resolution for amendment to reduce required membership for Emeritus status to 30 years.

ARTICLE I. MEMBERSHIP

SECTION 4. Emeritus Members

MOTION: It was moved and seconded; to approve and amend the Bylaws: Article I. Membership, Section 4. Emeritus Members as follows:

When Active Members in good standing in the Association, with all dues paid to date, become sixty-five (65) years of age and have been members of the Association (regardless of classification) for a total of thirty[-five (35)] (30) years including time spent in military service, those members shall become Emeritus Members of this Association upon advising the Executive Director of the Association of their sixty-fifth (65th) birthday, and by requesting such classification of membership. Thereafter the emeriti members shall pay fifty percent (50%) of the amount of dues for Active Members and shall be entitled to all privileges and advantages of Active membership in this Association.

Motion carried.

Resolution for amendment to remove the effective date of Article II: Officers, Executive Director, and Association Positions, Section 13.

ARTICLE II. OFFICERS, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, and ASSOCIATION POSITIONS

SECTION 13. Limitations on Association Positions

There was not a vote by the House of Delegates, although when a date expires on the Constitution and Bylaws, the date may be removed.

The House leadership (Chair, Chair-Elect, Secretary/Editor and Chair of the C&BL) passed a resolution for amendment to remove the effective date of this Bylaws change. It was put in place last year to handle the problem of candidates already running that could have been in contravention of the Bylaws change as soon as it was passed. The effective date is now past and therefore redundant, and since this comes from the House leadership directly, it is presented as an amendment for vote in Houston in 2002.

Proposed Bylaw Amendment

(a) No member of any classification may hold more than one of the following offices at any one time;

Association President;
Association Vice President;
Association President-Elect;
Association Secretary;
Association Treasurer;
Association Editor;
Chairman, House of Delegates;
Chairman-Elect, House of Delegates;
Secretary/Editor, House of Delegates;
Immediate Past Chairman, House of Delegates;
President of any Division;
Advisory Council member elected by any United States Section; and
Advisory Council member elected by any International Region.

(b ) No past president of the Association may within three (3) years after expiration of his or her term of office as such hold any of the offices listed in subsection 13(a) above.

[(c) The effective date of this amendment is July 1st, 2001.]

Note on Committee discussion: Robert’s Rules of Order as AAPG’s official parliamentary authority.

There was not a vote by the House of Delegates.

The House of Delegates’ professional parliamentarian, Mary Bahde, suggested we consider adding an article to the Bylaws to make Robert’s Rules of Order the official parliamentary authority governing the AAPG’s conduct of business. Several cautionary objections have been raised.

First, there is considerable concern that if we make any small incorrect moves in our procedures, we may have to redo work unnecessarily. This is probably not a major issue since, thanks to Mary’s help, we already conduct the House business successfully (if without brevity) under Robert’s Rules of Order.

Second, and much more important in many members’ minds, most AAPG committees operate somewhat informally, especially since much of the work is performed by a myriad of standing- and sub-committees at a distance, through e-mail and teleconferences. No one is suggesting that these meetings be subject to Robert’s Rules of Order, unless each committee chooses to do so.

It is clear that Robert’s Rules of Order already apply to the official meetings of the Executive Committee, the Advisory Council and the House of Delegates; and the C&BL Committee sees no need to further specify that Robert’s Rules of Order apply to other meetings of the Association.

Note on Committee discussion: Elimination of Divisions’ minimum membership number for AC representation.

There was not a vote by the House of Delegates.

Earlier this year the Executive Committee suggested eliminating the minimum membership requirement for Division representation on the Advisory Council in order to avoid the situation that occurred in June when the EMD was not able to vote at the Advisory Council.

The Executive Committee withdrew its resolution, preferring to address the issue through an administrative policy for timely, ongoing notification by Headquarters staff to the Divisions regarding their changing membership levels.

In conjunction with the original Executive Committee proposal, the C&BL Committee also considered the merits of a similar provision for Sections and Regions, which similarly require a minimum of 750 members for their first voting representative, but can then have additional seats based on total membership.

The C&BL Committee discussed eliminating the 750-member requirement for the initial, voting seat for the Sections and Regions, which would give everyone at the table a vote. However, in light of the EC’s desired administrative approach with respect to Divisions, and in the absence of firm mandate from the Delegates, the Committee has not taken the matter any further at this juncture.

10. Rules and Procedures Committee

Larry Wickstrom, representing the Rules and Procedures Committee, in the absence of Mark Rainer, Chair, reviewed the proposed changes to the Rules and Procedures. (Exhibit "D")

MOTION: It was moved and seconded; to approve and amend the revised language of the Rules and Procedures of the House of Delegates: II. Meetings, "b." as follows in bold:

II. MEETINGS

B. Suggested Order of Business

1. Call to order and introductions

Motion carried.

MOTION: It was moved and seconded; to approve and amend the revised language of the Rules and Procedures of the House of Delegates: III. Committees and Their Duties, "g." to change the name of the House Certificate of Merit Award to the following in bold:

Motion carried.

MOTION: It was moved and seconded; to approve and amend the revised language of the Rules and Procedures of the House of Delegates: III. Committees and Their Duties, "g." to change the order of the awards to read as follows:

Motion carried.

MOTION: It was moved and seconded; to approve and amend the revised language of the Rules and Procedures of the House of Delegates: III. Committees and Their Duties, "g." to add as follows:

(7) No candidate for an HOD office can be nominated for an HOD award in the same year.

Motion carried.

MOTION: It was moved and seconded; to approve and amend the revised language of the Rules and Procedures of the House of Delegates: III. Committees and Their Duties, "i." as follows:

Motion carried.

11. Nomination and Election Committee

Jeanne Harris, Chair of the Nomination and Election Committee, recognized the committee. The following slate of candidates was introduced to the House and each candidate provided a statement.

Chairman-Elect: George Eynon

Secretary-Editor: Katharine Lee Avary

Chairwoman Harris asked for additional nominations from the floor and none were made.

Ballots were distributed for voting.

12. Honors and Awards Committee

John Hogg, Chairman of the Honors and Awards Committee recognized the committee and announced the following House awards recipients for the year 2002:

Honorary Member of the House Award - Will Green, Midland

Distinguished Member Award - Jean Lemmon, Tulsa and Tom Mairs, Dallas

Long Service Award - Patrick Daugherty, Wichita Falls

House Certificate of Merit - Ed Dolly, Denver

The Honorary Membership Award and the Distinguished Member Awards will be presented at the Opening AAPG Session, while the Long Service Award was given at the House of Delegates' Sunday Meeting, as was the Outgoing Chairman's Award.

The Honors and Awards Committee recommended the following to be considered as suggestions to be adopted and included as standard procedures for the House of Delegates Honors and Awards Committee:

1. Maximum awards, per category, in any given year should not exceed the number of candidates minus one.

2. Only one Honorary Membership be awarded each year.

3. No individual shall receive more than one House award in any one year.

4. In the case of multiple candidates, voting should occur in a ranked order.

5. In the case of a tie, a revote of the two candidates should take place by the entire committee.

13. Resolutions Committee

Mike Party, Chair of the Resolutions Committee, reported that formal application for affiliation had been submitted by the Association of Ukrainian Geologists and the Scientific Council for Petroleum of the Croatian Academy of Science and Arts.

Formal application had been submitted for associated status by the Geological Society of America.

MOTION: Mike Party moved to approve the applications for affiliation (Association of Ukrainian Geologists, the Scientific Council for Petroleum of the Croatian Academy of Science and Arts) and associated status (Geological Society of America). Motion carried.

Mike Party provided the Final Report of the Resolutions Committee. (Exhibit "E")

14. Newsletter Committee

Martin Hewitt, Newsletter Committee Chair, introduced the committee and provided a report regarding the content and cost of producing the Newsletter. Hewitt stated all delegates received new user names which allowed articles to be posted on the Delegates Forum. All committee reports are posted on the Delegates Forum. Hewitt is disappointed with the amount of discussion and the usage of the Forum with only 20-40 hits per article which calculates between 8-16% of the Delegates using the Forum. Hewitt solicited suggestions for improvement. The Delegates Forum will be a very important mechanism for communication in the future and Hewitt encourages all delegates to use the Forum. User names are not required to read the material on the Forum.

15. Future of Earth Scientists Committee

Don Lewis, Chair of the Future of Earth Sciences Committee, thanked the members of his committee.

Don Lewis presented results of a study by the Future of Earth Scientists Committee which addressed the future of petroleum geoscientists to the year 2020. Using projections of world petroleum production by Jack Edwards and membership demographics for AAPG and SEG, the report predicted that in the U.S. about 200-400 petroleum geoscientists will be needed per year. Data for worldwide geoscientist demand is poor, but about 2000-3500 will be needed each year for the next 20 years. Because worldwide petroleum production in 2060 will be about what it is now, the need for petroleum geoscientists will last at least 40 years in the U.S. and over 60 years worldwide, or longer than a career length for current geoscience students.

16. Other Reports

Delegates heard reports from the AAPG Treasurer, AAPG Editor, Chairman of the Foundation and Division Presidents. (Exhibit "F")

17. New Business

Tom Mairs stated that earlier in this House of Delegates meeting during the Rules and Procedures Committee Report that was presented by Larry Wickstrom, the House floor approved an amendment to the Honors and Awards Section of the Rules and Procedures, with specific approval of the proposed amendment to Article 3 g. Section 4. The purpose was to change the name of the award and redefine the award. As approved this morning, the amendment reads: House Recognition of Service presented yearly to the outgoing Chairman of the House of Delegates and Secretary/Editor at the end of their terms of office. Mairs moved for a one-time addendum as follows:

MOTION: Mairs moved, and it was seconded, to approve a one-time addendum to this approved amendment adding a second sentence as follows: the House Recognition of Service award shall be retroactive to honor each Recording Secretary and Secretary/Editor who has held either one of those offices since July 1, 1996. Motion carried.

18. Results of House Officer Elections

Jeanne E. Harris, Chair of the Nomination and Election Committee, announced the results of the election for the 2002-03 House Officers as follows: Chairman-Elect, George Eynon and Secretary/Editor, Katharine Lee Avary.

19. Adjournment

There being no further business, Chairman Dolly adjourned the meeting at 12:10 p.m.

Martin Hewitt, Secretary/Editor