The meeting was called to order at 4:08 P.M. by Division Chair, Sandy Plisch. In attendance were: Sandy Plisch, Tina Chrzatowski, Susanne Redalje, Claire Stokes (observer), Anita Battiste, Ellen Mimnaugh, Dan Chandler, Dana Roth, Marilynn Dunker, Roger Beckman.
Minutes of the Sunday June 9, 1966 and Wednesday June 12, 1996 Board Meetings were approved as amended (for stipend - read reimbursement of expenses & correct the spelling of SR's name). Treasurer's report was accepted, with concern expressed about the growing balance. (Income = $10,309.62 / Expenses = $7,164.78 / Balance $23,168.58).
Committee Reports: Annual Business Meeting
June 9, 1997
The meeting was called to order at 8:08 A.M. by Sandy Plisch. The minutes of the 1996 Annual Business Meeting were accepted as printed in the August 1996 SLA Chemistry Division Newsletter.
1. Barry Anderson (Sales and Promotion Manager) of the Royal Society of Chemistry introduced the other members of his team: Robert Parker, Michael Hannant, and Kay Pierce. He went on to thank the Division for the opportunity of sponsoring the Division's Business Meeting breakfast. He also talked briefly; about the importance of the North American market, the RSC's commitment to fairly pricing their electronic products, the use of either Catchword or OCLC for electronic product delivery, the RSC's new Windows based CD-ROM -- Directory of Chemicals, Formulated Products and their Suppliers -- which is international in scope and a soon to be released Metabolism Database.
2. Hope Tillman (the SLA National Board's Proctor) was introduced.
3. Roger Beckman noted that the publication "Internet tools of the profession" ,with a chapter on chemistry resources, will be kept up to date on the web (www.sla.org/pubs/itotp) and that Stephen Heller had asked for assistance in publicizing the "Chemistry & Internet Conference" which will be held in September 1998 and will offer free attendance for two student members.
4. The treasurer's report from Anita Battista was given. The Division has a total balance on hand (April 30, 1997) of $23,168.58 compared with a balance of $19,808.90 on June 1, 1996 and $11,51.23 on June 1, 1995. The board is aware of the IRS implications of maintining an increasing balance (which is in large part due to Ellen Mimnaugh's unceasing efforts to maintain a balance between advertising revenue and the printing/mailing expenses of the Division's Newsletter.
5. The membership report was read (in the absence of Jayashri Nagaraja). As of April 1, 1997 there were 443 members (including 13 retired and 23 student members) of which 294 designated Chemistry as their primary division. This compares with 453 members (including 21 retired and 18 student members) of which 301 designated Chemistry as their primary division, as of April 1, 1996. Possible reasons for the decrease include the dues increase imposed for this year which may have been particularly onerous to some of the retirees (which dropped from 21 to 13).
6. Chuck Huber reported on the quadrennial Tri-Society Meeting which will be held in 1998 at the Fall ACS meeting in Boston (August 23-28).Bruce Slutsky (New Jersey Institute of Technology) is the lead planner. 1998 is also the 50th anniversary of the ACS Division of Chemical Information and the 75th anniversary of C&E News.
7. Susanne Redalje reported on the slate of officers for next year, thanking Heidi Mercado and Sharon Schwerzel for their help. Ellen Mimnaugh was nominated for Vice Chair/Chair Elect and Jim Oliver was nominated for secretary. This slate was adopted by unanimous vote. Sandy Plisch called for volunteers to work on next year's candidates, stressing the importance of the planning positions.
8. Roger Beckman moved that "the Chemistry Division contribute $1 per member per year to help support the CHMINF-L listserve, based on the member count as of January 1 each year". After discussion about the possible closure of the list, the motion passed unanimously.
9. Tina Chrzatowski described the purpose of the Strategic Planning handouts and strongly encouraged the membership to participate in this process (SLA Chemistry Division Newsletter, Spring 1997, Volume 13, Issue 2, page 7). The Board's goal is to define the mission and vision statements and be ready to adopt at least five goals & objectives at the 1998 conference. In essence, the Board is asking "where do we want to go?" in the next ten years.
10. The meeting was adjourned at 8:45 A.M.
Board MeetingMeeting called to order at 7:41 A.M.
Present were: Ellen Mimnaugh, Dan Chandler, Cathy Parker, Linda Shackle, Chuck Huber, Joan Long, Susanne Redalje, Anita Batista, Roger Beckman, Tina Chrzatowski, Sandy Plisch, Marilynn Dunker, Dana Roth.
1. Roger B talked about next year's focus: Programming, Communication (Newsletter and the web page) and membership (including student outreach).2. Chuck H described the Tri-Society Meeting whose theme will be "Untangling the web of chemical information". Dan C has a report from Loren Mendelson on the last meeting. CH moved that the Chemistry Division budget $500 as our contribution to the Tri-Society Meeting. Passed unanimously.
3. Roger B discussed the importance of encouraging student participation and proposed divisional assistance (registration & breakfast meeting expenses) for 2 students at the Indianapolis meeting. RB will check with SLA for guidelines. Discussion ensued on various details. SP moved that "$200 be budgeted to assist 2 students with registration and related expenses and that Anita B and Linda S be appointed to work out the details". Passed unanimously.
4. RB initiated discussion about formalizing the program planner positions. For the next year there will be 2 positions (1 each for Indianapolis and Minneapolis). Motion made to establish a program planning committee for the Minneapolis meeting that will work on program development and solicit sponsorships. Passed unanimously. A second motion was made to budget $1000 to cover expenses, as needed, for the program planners for both the Indianapolis and Minneapolis meetings to attend the mid-winter meeting.
RB and SP talked in general about the difficulties program planners have in balancing program ideas with costs and the need for guidelines relating to committments to co-sponsored meetings. There was a general feeling that a number of financial issues need to be more fully discussed and guidelines be drawn up. EM noted, however, that the Division's conference expenses have been running about $4K per year and that, at this level, they are balanced by the Division's membership allotment from SLA National. this lead to the realization that the Division's program planners need to actively recruit sponsors, if the conference expense is going to exceed $4K. SR proposed a sponsor's database to make it easier to raise funds. SP talked about expanding the planning committee's charge so that it is not restricted to a given meeting, which would facilitate "passing along the lore".
6. EM talked about establishing a e-mail distribution list for committee members to facilitate the planning.
7. SP will write up brief guidelines (which will be posted on the web) that will expand on Frank Lopez' procedure manual, both as an update and to collect the recent lore.
8. MD recognized the need to work with the Sci-Tech Division on our 65th birthday reception (as a section of Sci-Tech) since it would naturally coincide with Sci-Tech's 75th birthday. She will work with the ACS and CAS on sponsorship recognizing that this is our reception.
9. CH talked about the success of the CE course that he and Grace Baysinger presented and mentioned the possibility of repeating it at the Indianapolis meeting (there is an August 1 deadline for proposals). It was noted that there is only a minimum participant's fee for CE courses not a maximum and that since there is no reasonable expectation of any cost to the Division, he was encouraged to proceed.
10.DC will prepare a listing of audio tapes in the archives.
11. RB will work on formalizing the publications committee.
12. SP suggested that the nominating committee be expanded to help find volunteers.
13. Joan Long's offer to serve as business manager of the Newsletter was accepted with heartfelt thanks.
Meeting was adjourned at 9:00 A.M.