AFS Excom Meeting

CO-WY AFS Chapter ExCom Meeting Minutes

Colorado Division of Wildlife

Fort Collins, Colorado

Thursday, December 2, 2004

Prepared on December 7, 2004 by Lori Martin, Secretary/Treasurer

Attendees: Dave Zafft (Past President), Mark Smith (2005 Annual Meeting-Program Co-Chair), Hilda Sexauer (Vice-President), Anita Martinez (President), Rosemary Black (2005 Annual Meeting-Arrangements Co-Chair), James Dominguez (CO Membership Committee Co-Chair), Greg Anderson (WY Membership Committee Co-Chair), Boyd Wright (CSU Student Subunit President), Mario Sullivan (CSU Student Subunit), Kendall Ross (CSU Student Subunit), Mike Bower (UW Student Subunit President), Scott Gangl (Angler Newsletter Editor), Brett Johnson (Continuing Education Committee Chair), and Lori Martin (Secretary-Treasurer)

Anita Martinez called the meeting to order at 8:40 am. A quorum of officers was present. Order of topics on the Agenda was adjusted to accommodate schedules of those attending. Thus, the minutes below reflect these organizational changes.

Approval of September 2004 ExCom Meeting Minutes

The September 2004 ExCom meeting minutes were approved.

Chapter Budget

Update: Lori Martin reported that the checking account balance as of November 30 was $10,421.15; the savings account balance as of November 30 was $26,017.98.

Checking and Savings Account Information

As of November 30, 2004

US Bank-Checking Account Balance = $10,421.15

US Bank-Savings Account Balance = $26,017.98

US Bank-Total Account Balance = $36,439.13

US Bank-Checking Account Balance

Starting Balance = (as of September 1, 2004) $11,767.71

Description Expenses Credits

ExCom expense-lunch 9/3/2004 $52.10

Expo expense-R. Gipson 10/18/2004 $48.00

Student subunit WY-tshirt 10/18/2004 $21.70

Expo expense-G. Anderson 10/18/2004 $26.55

Excom expense-stamps, office supplies-L.Martin 10/23/2004 $99.80

Gift membership-G. Thomas 10/23/2004 $43.00

Expo expenses-D.Zafft 11/2/2004 (not cleared as of 11/30/2004) $6.88

Wisconsin travel expenses-H. Sexauer 11/2/2004 $655.63

Scholarship-WY endowment 11/2/2004 $500.00

Annual meeting expense-P. Mavrakis 11/16/2004 $399.78

Ending Balance = (as of November 30, 2004) $10,421.15 (-$6.88 outstanding)

US Bank-Savings Account Balance

Starting Balance = (as of September 1, 2004) $26,004.91

Description Expenses Credits

September interest 9/24/2004 $4.40

October interest 10/24/2004 $4.55

November interest 11/24/2004 $4.12

Ending Balance = (as of November 30, 2004) $26,017.98

Income Tax: Anita Martinez indicated that we will need to file our own taxes. The Excom decided that Chapter funds should be set aside to cover the costs of professional preparation.

· Action Item: Lori Martin will check will tax preparers in Grand Junction to determine costs for preparation

Panel Purchase: Greg Anderson provided information to the ExCom regarding the professional display board that he would like the Chapter to purchase. The total cost of $2,000 would include the 8’x 8’carpeted board, hard case, and accessories. Greg indicated that the display board is versatile, and could be used by anyone in the Chapter, or those affiliated with AFS. Discussion followed regarding the use of the display board by others outside of the Chapter or AFS. Greg mentioned that the membership committee chair would have control of who utilizes the display board. Suggestions were made about potential Chapter donors covering partial or entire purchase cost of the display board.

· Action Item: Greg Anderson will check with Paul Dey to see if potential Chapter donors would be interested in covering purchasing costs of the display board.

Endowment Funding Procedures: Dave Zafft provided background information regarding the differences between “Bylaws,” “Rules,” and “Procedures” in relation to funding procedures. Bylaws are the foundation of the Chapter, and such take precedence over all other Rules and Procedures of the Chapter. Proposed amendments to the bylaws must be circulated in writing to the Chapter membership at least 30 days prior to voting. The Bylaws may then be amended by a 2/3 majority of active Chapter members. Rules are the next highest level of documentation of Chapter operations. Such are established to facilitate the conduct of Chapter business, and to describe duties and responsibilities of officers and committees. Rules may be suspended until the next Chapter meeting by a 2/3 majority of the ExCom, and may be amended by a majority of active Chapter members voting at an annual or special Chapter meeting. Rule information does not need to be disseminated to the Chapter membership prior to voting. Procedures are the easiest to deal with and are generally established to provide continuity in the conduct of Chapter business. The Procedures may be suspended or amended by a majority vote of the ExCom. In terms of Endowments Funding, the Procedures are formal and were adopted in 2002. Such Procedures are temporarily in place until February 2007 or until the CSU Endowment Fund is fully endowed at $20,000. Obtaining “new” endowment funding should be led by a Standing Committee (as opposed to a Special Committee) which will prepare the policy for such, and ensure that endowments will grow. This committee should also be responsible for making sure that the awardees are rewarded appropriately, and that the awards do not slip through the cracks. A motion will need to be provided to include Endowment Funding within the Bylaws. Discussion followed regarding what should be included within the new Endowment Funding Bylaw, such as where the funding for the endowments would come from, and what portion of the endowment would be funded annually. The new Endowment Funding Bylaw would be developed and voted on at the annual business meeting in 2005.

· Action Item: The ExCom needs to pursue this topic via a conference call. Dave Zafft agreed to draft a Bylaw change or new rule to address the above issues.

· Action Item: In general, the Procedures need to be reviewed. There should be one current copy of the Procedures that is kept by the President. A current version of the Procedures will also be maintained on the Chapter website.

Grant Funding Procedures: Dave Zafft began discussion by questioning whether the Grant Funding Procedures should be included within the Bylaws. Dave indicated that the grant funding request form on the Chapter’s website is not functioning. Currently, there is discretionary funding within the Bylaws to fund up to $2,000 for grant applications. The $2,000 funds are considered seed money, with the expectation that should these funds be granted, repayment is expected. The Bylaws have not been revised since the grant fund request form was created, and such should be revised to reflect the Finance Section (VII. C.). Further discussion revolved around the Chapter’s process once grant requests are received. Anita Martinez indicated that she would like to make the Grant Funding Procedures more liberal so that there would be no requirement to repay. Further discussion followed regarding review and editing of the current Bylaw. Any decision to fund under $500 can be voted upon by the ExCom. Any decision to fund in exceedance of $500 will require Chapter membership approval. A suggestion was also made to utilize the Angler as a way to advertise the availability of grant funds.

· Action Item: Dave Zafft will work with Bill Bradshaw and Venice Beske to sort through old Chapter meeting minutes (probably 1999) to determine what the intent of past ExComs was in relation to the grant funding process.

· Action Item: Hilda Sexauer will work to get the grant funding request form up and running on the Chapter website.

Continuing Education Funding Procedures: Anita Martinez indicated that the Continuing Education Committee does not currently have funding available to bring in speakers. Continuing Education should target professionals, and be worthy of topics that would provide interest and learning opportunities for the Chapter membership. The Continuing Education Committee is hindered from providing such opportunities without a funding mechanism. Dave Zafft indicated that within the Bylaws there is already money available to assist with Continuing Education. Discussion continued regarding Continuing Education Workshop registration fees, and the structure of the workshop. Anita mentioned that she would like to try to get more aquaculturists to attend the annual meeting, and become more involved with AFS. The Continuing Education Workshop would be a perfect environment for this. Anita mentioned that continuing education can occur any time throughout the year, and is not just restricted to the annual meeting. Anita mentioned that she had spoken with Eric Hughes, Aquatics Chief for the CDOW about what he thought might attract aquaculturists to the annual meeting. Eric indicated that aquaculturists desire a laid back environment that will foster idea sharing. Supervisors could assist by promoting attendance of their employees at annual meetings. Suggestions were made as to possible meeting formats that would accommodate everyone, not just biologists, researchers, and students. One issue with the current annual meeting appears to be the formality of the annual meeting. The concern is that the annual meeting format does not foster discussion among and between all groups. Suggestions were made to change the annual meeting format to accommodate varieties of presentations. Shorter presentations and “show and tell” formats should be considered. Discussion followed regarding whether a Continuing Education Workshop would be the appropriate forum to generate more interest from aquaculturists; the Excom decided to continue further discussion when Brett Johnson would be able to participate.

Student Subunit Updates

CSU: Boyd Wright mentioned that the CSU Student Subunit has had a good and productive semester. Six speakers have presented information during the subunit’s bimonthly meetings. The fall semester speaker presentations focused on a management theme, while speaker presentations in the spring will focus on research. Students and professors will be among the speakers during the spring semester. A substantial increase in student attendance at bimonthly meetings has occurred. Forty to fifty students usually attend the meetings. The student subunit is hoping to have a good turnout at the 2005 annual meeting based on the bimonthly meeting results. The primary fundraiser of the student subunit will be the fishing derby, a day of fishing with the Boys and Girls Club of northern Colorado. The largest event that the student subunit is planning for is the 2005 annual meeting. The student subunit may consider changing officer elections from the beginning of the fall to the winter.

UW: Mike Bower indicated that the UW Student Subunit has also had speakers present information at meetings this fall. The student subunit has had difficulty in revising the student subunit website. Once complete, though, the website will provide a forum to share and gather ideas. The student subunit is considering a new t-shirt design for the 2005 annual meeting. The student subunit has considered soliciting ideas for design from students, including those within the UW Art Department. A $50 prize would be awarded to the best design. Anita Martinez suggested that the student subunit solicit the Chapter membership to gain potential design ideas. T-shirt design criteria should be established by the student subunit. The flycasters symposium will be planned with a management component, incorporating professions in fisheries. Student subunit officer elections will occur in the winter rather than in the beginning of fall to provide more consistency across terms. Mid- to late December/beginning of January will be the induction of new officers.

Boyd Wright indicated that the CSU Student Subunit would like to have a social with the UW Student Subunit the first evening of the 2005 annual meeting. Anita Martinez mentioned that the Chapter has not reserved a room to date for this, and that the Chapter would have to sponsor the Student Subunits in order for the social to take place. Boyd did not realize that a Chapter social has already been planned, and thus, decided that there is no need for an additional social.

Further discussion followed regarding the Chapter social scheduled for the first evening of the 2005 annual meeting. Rosemary Black indicated that Fort Collins is very alcohol-sensitive due to the recent alcohol-related deaths of students. Beer kegs donated to the 2005 annual meeting will have to be brought in by a designated distributor, with a zero balance invoice. Anita indicated that the Chapter must continue to have a controlled environment regarding alcohol at the meeting. Brett Johnson mentioned that the Chapter must account for underage students at the meeting, as well. Dave Zafft questioned whether the Chapter can formally donate beer to the hotel. The Chapter will have to negotiate with the hotel on alcohol, and the hotel will need to serve it. Kendall Ross suggested the CSU Student Subunit could provide volunteer shuttles to assist in driving situations. The social will take place from 6:00-10:00 pm. Discussion followed regarding the structure of the social. Suggestions were made to include a mentoring session for a portion of the social. This would encourage students and professionals to mingle during this time. Student subunits could coordinate these arrangements. A suggestion was also made to continue a casual environment, rather than having a structured social. A job postings (temporary and permanent positions) board could also be provided during the social or somewhere at the annual meeting. Further posting of jobs could be provided via the student subunit websites, with a link to government agencies. Job positions could also be announced in the Angler. Details of the social should also be announced in the next Angler. A suggestion was also made to include color coding on registration name tags to identify the person’s areas of interest. Such coding could also designate those looking for jobs and/or employees. WGFD will have four entry level fish biologist openings soon. CDOW will be filling two fish biologist positions in the near future.

· Action Item: Anita Martinez will check with Paul Dey to see if he has a distributor license that will enable him to donate his homebrew to the meeting.

· Action Item: Lori Martin will send Boyd Wright a check for $250.00. These dollar to dollar funds (not to exceed $250) will match the funds raised by the CSU Student Subunit for donation to the Louis Swift Scholarship Foundation.

· Action Item: Did we decide on the structure of the social? What about a job postings board? Name tag coding? Announcements in Angler about social and job openings? We did not decide on any of this stuff. It seems like it would be easy enough to have a job board and announce the social (and job board) in the Angler. Does anyone want to pursue this?

The Excom adjourned at noon for lunch.

The meeting was resumed at 1:10 pm.

2005 Annual Meeting Plans

Arrangements: Rosemary Black has made arrangements for the 2005 annual meeting to be held at the Holiday Inn in Fort Collins, Colorado. The ExCom visited the Holiday Inn and reviewed the accommodations. Arrangements have been set-up for 100 people. The total package for the meeting was about $6,000. Cost of the meeting rooms is $820; food and drinks for the breaks, breakfast meeting, and banquet total $5,140. This partitions out to approximately $60 per person. Early registration for professional parent society members is $75, while total cost for the banquet ($20) and breakfast meeting ($5) is $25. Hopefully, two donated beer kegs will be provided for the banquet, and one donated beer keg will be provided for the social.

Support: Neither Paul Bailey nor Craig Amadio was able to attend the meeting. Suggestions were made concerning reducing student costs for the meeting in return for their assistance at the meeting. One idea was to base the registration discount on how much time a student is willing to donate. A question arose as to whether students have been given a break in the banquet price. Students have not been given a break in the banquet cost, although in the past, sometimes the student registration fee has included the cost of the banquet. A suggestion was made to let Paul and Craig decide how registration discounts will be determined for students helping. Students and others that have volunteered to assist with Audio Visual equipment will need to attend an orientation session. Moderators should meet with presenters to virus check presentations, and also to preview presentations in case formatting has changed during the downloading process. A suggestion was made to have one person organize needs for all tasks to be completed during the annual meeting. This person would coordinate with Paul, Craig, and others to schedule volunteers.

· Action Item: Anita Martinez will check with Paul Bailey and Craig Amadio to get their thoughts on designating one person to organize annual meeting needs and schedule volunteers.

· Action Item: Anita Martinez will discuss with Paul Bailey and Craig Amadio the process for reducing student helper registration costs.

Registration: The meeting registration form was included in the latest edition of the Angler, and is available on the Chapter website. No registration fees have been received to date. The next edition of the Angler will include the meeting registration form.

Program: Mark Smith passed around the type of water bottle that will be provided to presenters. Abstracts should have a 250 word limit. One abstract has been received to date. Mark and Paul Mavrakis will begin solicitation of papers. Total number of contributed papers should not exceed 30. This will allow for one full day session, and a half-day session. The Aquaculture Session will be after the breakfast meeting, and will not be concurrent with any other sessions. If more than 30 contributed papers are submitted, then sessions will need to be concurrent. The program will be available before the meeting. A guesstimate will be made regarding the total number of programs needed. Sponsors should be included within the program. Late registrants will be provided with CDs that contain the program. A plenary session will not be planned for, although coal bed methane presentations will be encouraged. Presentations should be limited to 20 minutes, but the opportunity for shorter (10 minute) and “show and tell” presentations should be made available. Moderators will be necessary, and these people will need to coordinate and communicate with the Audio Visual volunteers. Very few posters are predicted. The Chapter and/or Best Student Paper/Poster Judging Committee need to promote poster submittals. Suggestions were made to develop a dedicated time for posters (maybe during the social/breaks) so that can people can talk with poster developers.

· Action Item: Mark Smith and Paul Mavrakis will set a 250-word limit for abstracts, and will provide this information to the Chapter membership.

· Action Item: Will all speakers have the option to present informal and formal presentations, or are informal presentations just for the aquaculture session? If all speakers will have the option of informal/formal presentations, award criteria will need to be reconsidered.

· Action Item: Who is going to promote poster sessions? Are we going to have a dedicated time for poster presenters to explain their posters?

Continuing Education: Brett Johnson was updated with what was discussed earlier in the meeting regarding the structure of the Continuing Education Workshop. Discussion centered around the idea of adding an aquaculture session concurrent with the planned Continuing Education Workshop. The ExCom decided that an aquaculture session should be planned separate of the Continuing Education Workshop. This session will follow the breakfast meeting on Wednesday morning. Brett indicated that the Continuing Education Workshop (half-day) at the annual meeting will involve the principles of sample design and population monitoring. Drs. Gary White and Paul Doherty from CSU will be the instructors. Brett will need to check with the Parent Society regarding Continuing Education credits. He also would like to develop a Chapter member survey of potential Continuing Education Workshop topics. Such a survey may be introduced in the program first thing on Tuesday morning. A long list of topics may be generated at the annual meeting, followed by a shorter list of topics for inclusion in the Angler. Brett will talk with Barb Horn about putting together a survey of potential topics. Dave Zafft mentioned that the Parent Society has also generated a list of potential workshop topics that might be consulted. Discussion followed regarding funding and registration fees for the Continuing Education Workshop. A total of $500 will be given to the instructors. This amount of money has already been guaranteed to the professors. Each will receive $250 for their efforts.

Suggestions were made to standardize Continuing Education Workshop fees, and to provide more pay or benefits to the instructors. Further discussion revolved around the funds that Brett would have to work with for materials. A maximum of $2000 is available as seed money (through the Grants Application process in the Bylaws) for Brett, with the stipulation that any of the $2000 utilized must be repaid. Questions arose as to what the Continuing Education Workshop registration fees are delegated for. In the past, these registration fees have gone into the general fund of the Chapter. Suggestions were made to earmark any profits from the Continuing Education Workshop as such within the Chapter’s general fund. Chapter Bylaws and Procedures need to be reworked to consider future Continuing Education Workshop funding, as well as handling any profits from the Continuing Education Workshops. A line item regarding Continuing Education funding should be incorporated into the annual budget. The Chapter has never had the expectation of generating a profit from the Continuing Education Workshops. Further suggestions were made regarding potential uses of the profits. Brett could keep the profits, but then specifications for use of the profits would need to be developed and agreed upon. This process should be consistent as possible from year to year. Costs of the room and breaks for the Continuing Education Workshop are not included within the workshop registration fee. Further discussion continued regarding the use of profits from Continuing Education Workshops, and potential funding mechanisms for continuing education. Hilda Sexauer motioned that any seed money that Brett asks for (up to $2000 beyond the $500 to be paid to the instructors) will be paid back to the Chapter, and that profits remaining from registration fees will be deposited into the Chapter’s general fund. Mike Bower seconded the motion. Brett can request additional funds at the next Excom meeting (January conference call). Brett will forward any Continuing Education Workshop expense bills to Lori Martin to be paid.

· Action Item: Who is in charge of planning the aquaculture session? What planning is required??? Anita Martinez has been laying the groundwork in CO and WY, but she expects the Program Chairs to take the lead.

· Action Item: Lori Martin will make sure that the 2005 annual meeting registration form includes the title of the Continuing Education Workshop.

· Action Item: Brett Johnson will prepare a description of the Continuing Education Workshop for inclusion in the next edition of the Angler. Brett will also provide Lori Martin with mailing addresses for Drs. Gary White and Paul Doherty.

· Action Item: Lori Martin will send checks to Drs. Gary White and Paul Doherty for $250 each.

· Action Item: Dave Zafft will work with Brett Johnson and Bill Bradshaw concerning funding for and profits of the Continuing Education Workshops, and incorporation of such into the Chapter Bylaws and Procedures.

Best Student Paper/Poster Judging: Kevin Gelwicks was unable to attend the meeting. Consensus was reached that professional and student awards should be continued. Consensus was not reached regarding whether poster awards should be continued. The ExCom agreed that those involved with the judging and awards will make the decision as to whether posters are awarded.

· Action Item: Kevin Gelwicks and others will determine whether awards are given for posters.

Awards: Kathy Foster was unable to attend the meeting. The leaky boot has not disappeared; Dave Zafft has the leaky boot in his possession.

Raffle: Neither Tracy Stephens nor Dan Brauch was able to attend the meeting.

Business Meeting Agenda: Anita Martinez forgot to bring her list of items for the agenda. So far, there is some unresolved business, i.e. Bob Wiley award. Bylaws will need to be approved, and the Chapter membership will need to be informed that the Procedures have been finalized. The ExCom will vote on any changes to the Procedures. Potential changes to the Bylaws can be emailed to the Chapter membership.

· Action Item: Hilda Sexauer and Dirk Miller will work on revising the Bylaws.

· Action Item: Dave Zafft and Bill Bradshaw will continue to work on the Bylaws that they have already been working on to date.

· Action Item: Lori Martin will search for the wording associated with B. Wiley’s motion, which is believed to have been tabled at the 2002 annual meeting.

Student and Professional Travel Assistance: UW will need to get a van for transportation to and from the annual meeting. Cost of the van will be covered by the department. Securing hotel rooms will be the limiting factor for UW student attendance. The hotel has not provided the Chapter with any complimentary rooms. Discussion continued with the possibility of the Chapter providing each student subunit some financial assistance to cover meeting costs. Lori Martin motioned that the Chapter provide $100 to each student subunit for meeting expenses. Hilda Sexauer revised the motion so that the Chapter would waive 3 registrations for each subunit. Another suggestion was to build students volunteer time into what the Chapter would donate to each student subunit. Lori raised her motion again, and Mike Bower seconded the motion. Each student subunit will be provided $100 to assist with meeting expenses.

· Action Item: Lori Martin will send the CSU and UW student subunits checks for $100 each to assist in covering meeting expenses.

Fundraising: Paul Dey was unable to attend the meeting. He has circulated an email with a donor letter to the ExCom. Paul indicated that letter recipients would include BLM, BOR, USWFS, FS, and WAPA. He also suggested that Colorado and Wyoming Trout Unlimited be contacted. Paul will pursue Wyoming, and someone from Colorado should approach Colorado Trout Unlimited. The target amount will range from $1,000 to $1,500. Paul reminded the Excom that there may be cases in which agencies that donate will expect waived meeting registrations for several of their employees. He asked the ExCom if there are any other fundraising efforts ongoing that he should be made aware of so as not to duplicate efforts.

· Action Item: Who from Colorado will approach Colorado Trout Unlimited about donating funds, etc. to the annual meeting?

· Action Item: Paul Dey will provide donation updates to the Excom in mid-December and early January.

Procedures Manual Revision

Matt Kondratieff was unable to attend the meeting. Specific details regarding revision of the manual should be discussed in a conference call. Anita Martinez indicated that she has minor changes. Hilda Sexauer mentioned that the bank account information provided within the manual is incorrect. Dave Zafft indicated that Matt would like to see more information added to the major sections. The manual needs to be approved, and revision comments should be received by the first of next year. A majority vote of the ExCom will be required for approval. Discussion followed regarding a process for reviewing the manual.

· Action Item: Who will arrange a conference call to discuss manual revision details? This conference call could be in combination with the conference call to discuss Bylaw revisions.

· Action Item: Lori Martin will check with Bill Bradshaw to determine what the current process is for thank-you letters and plaques to those who donate; are we duplicating efforts?

Environmental Policy Committee-Illicit Fish Introduction Policy

Anita Martinez provided copies of the January 23, 2004 memo to the ExCom regarding a potential illicit fish introduction policy. Brett Johnson discussed some basic principles of the problem, and recommendations to consider. Discussion followed and revolved around the Chapter rules on advocacy, policy statement development, and options for change (revising laws or fees and outlining ecological problems for fisheries). A suggestion was made that the Environmental Policy Committee package this information for the ExCom, and then provide such to the Chapter membership. Brett indicated he would like to see a small position statement be developed; we have problems, so let’s be proactive and definitive. Questions arose about what the next steps are, a policy paper or position statement? Anita volunteered to be on the committee, and has already generated a table of waters in Colorado with illicit introductions. Hilda Sexauer and Paul Mavrakis have been soliciting information from Wyoming biologists to determine waters that are known to have illicit introductions. A conference call between committee members (Dave Zafft, Hilda, Anita, Brett, and Paul) will need to occur.

· Action Item: Hilda Sexauer will discuss with Paul Mavrakis his efforts, and she will then arrange a conference call with committee members, possibly the week of December 20^th, to discuss next steps.

Website Update

Hilda Sexauer indicated that the transition to tie into the Western Division’s website is ready to proceed. She did not have the cost for the new software that will be required, but mentioned that we will need to act soon to get this transition accomplished. The Chapter is currently paying $150/year for the use of the Parent Society’s link. This cost was mentioned, but none of the Excom remember the Parent Society charging the Chapter this fee. This cost may be extracted from our annual parent society dues.

· Action Item: Hilda Sexauer will continue with the transition to tie into the Western Division’s website. She will also purchase the required software, as needed.

Standing Committee Reports

Newsletter: Scott Gangl asked the ExCom whether we want to consider electronic balloting as an option this year, or just continue with the traditional paper ballot. It was suggested that we would probably get more response with electronic balloting, but how would double voting be tracked? Another concern regarding secret balloting was expressed. Some form of identification would probably be required to make this work. Hilda Sexauer will check with the Parent Society for suggestions with the electronic balloting option. The next Angler issue will be sent out the end of January, which will be past the registration deadline of January 24, 2005. A meeting announcement and registration form could be sent to the Chapter membership via email, rather than included within the January issue of the Angler. A conference call will need to occur before January 15, 2005 if revisions to Bylaws are to be included within the January issue of the Angler. Bylaw revisions could be sent to Chapter membership via email, as well. The Chapter membership email list will include those registered as members as of the end of the calendar year, December 31, 2004.

· Action Item: Hilda Sexauer will contact the Parent Society to see if there is a way that the Chapter could utilize electronic balloting. If Hilda can make this work by mid-January, then this should be enough time to get the electronic balloting up and running. If not, then the paper ballot process will be used.

· Action Item: Scott Gangl will send a meeting announcement and registration form to the Chapter membership via email.

· Action Item: Will a conference call be held prior to January 15, 2005 to discuss Bylaw revisions to include in the January issue of the Angler? Or, will the Bylaw revisions be emailed to the Chapter membership? Dave Zafft will arrange the conference call. The ExCom will need to review the proposed revisions to the Bylaws (for endowment, grant, and cont. ed. funding) prior to the conference call. If the proposed changes are to be included in the Angler, the conference call MUST be before 1/15/05.

· Action Information: Deadline for submission to the January issue of the Angler is January 15, 2005.

· Action Information: Deadline for registration is January 24, 2005.

· Action Information: Deadline for abstract submission is February 23, 2005.

Membership: Greg Anderson indicated that the Wyoming Expo went well, and passed around a thank-you letter received based on efforts at the Expo. He mentioned that the deadline for submitting applications for the Hutton Program is February 1, 2005. Scott Gilmore with the Colorado Division of Wildlife has been asked to present information on the Hutton Program at the annual meeting. New 2005 Hutton Program brochures are available through Greg. Recently, one complimentary membership has been provided to a CSU undergraduate student, four have been issued this year, and eight remain available. Greg indicated that he is sending out a packet of information to administrators and human resource personnel in Wyoming and Colorado. He mentioned that a Chapter membership services booth will be provided at the annual meeting, and a display board will be borrowed for this to occur. Greg indicated that he will send out a request to have help at the annual meeting covering the booth. Greg introduced James Dominguez as Colorado’s representative on the Membership Committee. The committee will be co-chaired by Greg and James. Greg also provided membership information to the student subunit presidents.

· Action Item: Greg Anderson will request help from the Chapter membership to cover the membership services booth at the annual meeting.

Chapter Archivist: Anita Martinez indicated that Venice Beske would like the ExCom to consider a storage place for Chapter records. Lori Martin mentioned that the Chapter should have a protocol in place for what records should be archived, and which records should be kept with which officers.

· Action Item: Lori Martin will contact Venice to inquire about storage space, and the process of archiving Chapter records.

Further Items of Discussion

The following were additional questions and comments outside of the meeting agenda:

-Will there be an ExCom meeting in addition to the business meeting, at the annual meeting?

-An Excom conference call will need to occur to discuss meeting logistics. Dave Zafft can arrange through Wyoming Game and Fish.

-Chapter membership voting on Bylaw revisions could occur through the mail via a postcard, rather than a decision occurring during the business meeting of the annual meeting. This needs to be decided on before the annual meeting; might want to include plans in January Angler issue.

-Dave Zafft mentioned that Bill Bradshaw indicated the Chapter’s Coca Cola stock should be considered for endowments, and not as part of the Chapter’s COFRS.

-Anita Martinez indicated that Tom McMahon (AFS Western Division Past President) will attend the annual meeting. He will be joining us the evening of March 9^th at the banquet. Tom would like some time to speak at the banquet.

-Greg Anderson reminded Anita Martinez and Lori Martin to bring Colorado’s Chapter banner to the annual meeting.

The meeting was adjourned at 4:40pm.