MINUTES OF THE SECOND 2000 COUNCIL MEETING

Summary of the motions and key items discussed at the

SECOND 2000 COUNCIL MEETING
MINERALOGICAL SOCIETY OF AMERICA
for posting on the MSA Website

Attending:

William Carlson, President
John M. Ferry, Past-President
Cornelis (Kase) Klein, Vice-President
Brooks Hanson, Treasurer
David M. Jenkins, Secretary
David L. Bish, Councillor
Michael A. Carpenter, Councillor - absent
Mark S. Ghiorso, Councillor - absent
Robert W. Luth, Councillor
Jeffrey E. Post, Councillor
Sorena S. Sorensen, Councillor
J. Alex Speer, MSA Administrator

visitors:

James Blencoe, MSA Treasurer nominee
Anne Hofmeister, Amer. Mineral., Editor
Rachel Russell, Amer. Mineral., Managing Editor
Robert J. Bodnar, Co-convenor Goldschmidt 2001 meeting
Nancy J. McMillan, Outreach Committee, Co-chair
Gordon Nord, MSA Internet Coordinator

Note: Motions and council action items are presented in italics; SoC = Sense of Council, S = Second

The Second meeting of the 2000 Council of the Mineralogical Society of America was held in the Washington Renaissance Hotel, Washington, DC, June 3, 2000.

ITEMS

1. Call to Order

William Carlson called the meeting to order at 9:10 AM, Saturday, June 3, 2000, and welcomed those in attendance. 2. Reports with no action items or questions R. Luth moved to accept the reports of the Nominating Committee for Officers; Reviews, Monographs, and Textbook Editor; Lecture Program Administrator; Arts Council; Distinguished Public Service Award; Nominating Committee for Fellows; Crystallographic Research Grant Committee; MSA Representative to AGI; MSA Representative to IMA; and Special Interest Group on Mineral Surfaces and Interfaces; which contain no actions or questions. S = D. Bish. Motion passed unanimously.
A late Financial Advisory Committee report was received by e-mail, contained no action items, and was also approved. 3. Secretaryís report

S. Sorensen moved to accept the minutes as amended.

4. Subscription rates for American Mineralogist J. Ferry moved that the institutional subscription rate for American Mineralogist for 2001 be established at $480/year for domestic and $490/year for foreign subscribers.

S = C. Klein. The motion passed unanimously.

Concerning membership subscription rates, B. Hanson recommended keeping the membership pricing at its current value of $30 per year. 5. Miscellaneous financial manners

(a) Kraus Fund and Mineralogy/Petrology Fund Grants

The recommendation to increase the annual research award from the Kraus Fund to $5000 and the two annual research awards from the Mineralogy/Petrology fund to $5000 each for the year 2002 was adopted by council without objection.
(b) Laptop computer

The executive committee approved allocation of $1500 to R. Dymek towards the purchase of a laptop computer to assist his editorial duties for the American Mineralogist while out of his office conducting summer research.

^nd

"The Society will transfer money from the ~~Endowment~~Roebling Fund to the General Operating Fund (GOF) on an annual basis to be done before the end of the following fiscal year to offset the budget deficit. Any budget surplus will be transferred from the GOF to the ~~Endowment~~Roebling Fund before the end of the following fiscal year".

Full justification for this revision is detailed in the Scientific Administratorís report to the 2^nd 2000 MSA Council meeting. The revision was adopted by council without objection.

"If that balance shows an excess over the previous balance plus all contributions and an inflation adjustment, the excess is to be considered the unrestricted portion of the Endowment Fund, and can be transferred to the unrestricted Roebling Fund and investments of the Roebling Fund if deemed necessary."

Full justification for this revision is detailed in the Scientific Administratorís report to the 2^nd2000 MSA Council meeting. The revision was adopted by council without objection.

B. Hanson discussed discrepancies between proposed and actual budgets. Discussion ensued concerning such matters as the cost of printing books and maintaining the MSA website. 6. Recommendations regarding MSA operations

(a) Reprints of out-of-print journal issues

MSA should assign Publication Service Company the right to sell paper back issues and to reprint out-of-print issues of American Mineralogist up to and including Volume 80 (1995). This agreement should take effect at the start of 2001.

(b) Advertising co-operative with the Mineral. Society of Great Britain and Ireland (MSGBI)

It was the SoC that MSA should not pursue the issue of an advertising co-operative with MSGBI. The Society Administrator should inquire of EMU whether or not distribution of the "Notes" could be done in the same way as other publications MSA sells, which includes an MSA membership discount.

The recommendation to eliminate student certification but to provide a place for students to indicate the e-mail address of a faculty member or department representative who could verify student status was adopted without objection.
(d) Publication agreement with the Geochemical Society (GS)

J. Speer discussed the preliminary outline of an agreement that could be made with GS regarding the printing and distribution of joint publications with GS.

It was the SoC that J. Speer should proceed and work out a detailed agreement to be presented to the Fall Council meeting. (e) Mid-Career Award

D. Bish discussed some issues and suggestions that arose from the Mid-Career Award.

Concerning the Mid-Career Award, it was the SoC that (i) a spring meeting (e.g., in conjunction with Goldschmidt or AGU meetings) was the best venue for the recipient of the Mid-Career Award to present a talk, (ii) the award should take the form of a bronze medal, (iii) the Mid-Career Award committee should provide new (more positive) wording for the description of the award, (iv) the talk should be published in the American Mineralogist, (v) the selection of the recipient should be moved to the spring (May-June) council meetings to allow sufficient time for scheduling a spring meeting talk, and (vi) that at this time no monetary award, other than travel/lodging reimbursement, be offered with the Mid-Career Award. 7. Brief refreshment break from 10:00 to 10:15 AM

8. Request for MSA participation in Goldschmidt 2001 conference

As a co-convenor of the the Goldschmidt 2001 conference, R. Bodnar presented a brief review of the history leading up to the conference scheduled for May 20-24, 2001, in Roanoke, Virginia.
W. Carlson moved that MSA commit $10,000 to the Goldschmidt 2001 conference in Roanoke, Virginia, and that this money be used primarily to subsidize the registration fees of students and post-docs, in a manner similar to that stipulated with the support offered by the Geochemical Society. Any unused portion of these funds shall then be used by the Goldschmidt 2001 conference as needed. S = S. Sorensen. The motion passed unanimously. 9. Short course issues

(a) DOE support of short courses

J. Speer discussed the interest on the part of the Department of Energy (DOE) in providing financial support to short courses for the costs of invited speakers.

Council asked that the Society Administrator finalize funding arrangements with DOE and that instructions for seeking this funding be inserted into the Short Course Convenor Guidelines.

(b) "Nanocrystals in the Environment and Technology" short course
It is the SoC that MSA supports the actions of the Short Course Committee and the convenors of the short course on "Nanocrystals in the Environment and Technology" to seek funding from DOE to allow the short course to be moved from 2002 to 2001. (c) "Phosphates: Geochemical, Geobiological, and Materials Importance" short course
It is the SoC that council is in agreement with the newly revised list of topics and proposed speakers for the "Phosphates" short course and that it be accepted as a short course for 2002. (d) "Stable Isotope" short course
It is the SoC that the final budget, table of contents, and list of authors proposed by J. Valley and D. Cole for the Stable Isotope short course to be held in conjunction with the Fall GSA meeting in Boston, MA, are approved. 10. Tentative list of committee members and committee chairs for 2001 C. Klein reviewed the actions taken by the Committee on Committees for compiling the names of individuals to fill committee positions being vacated next year.
It was the SoC that the Meetings Committee should remain in place but that a new mandate be drafted to make the purpose of the committee clearer R. Luth will look into the wording of the committeeís mandate.

W. Carlson suggested that a special task force might be established to examine the issue of electronic publication and other pressing issues of long-range interest.

S. Sorensen moved to charge the Executive Committee with formulating a task force specifically to address the issue of electronic publishing and other pressing issues for Society publications (as defined by the Executive Committee) and to report in time for action by the Fall Council meeting. S = R. Luth. Motion passed unanimously.

S. Sorensen moved to accept the Committee on Committees list of suggested MSA members for various committee assignments for 2001, as detailed in the report of the Chair of the Committee on Committees. S = J. Ferry. Motion passed unanimously.

11. American Mineralogist Editorsí report A. Hofmeister and R. Russell reported that publication of the American Mineralogist is going smoothly and that all aspects of desk-top publishing are now working well.

Council requested Vice-President Klein to proceed with the search for a new editor to replace A. Hofmeister.

12. Replacement editor for the Lattice D. Henry has requested that he be replaced as editor of the Lattice after he has completed the balance of the Lattices for the year 2000.
It was the SoC that President Carlson, Vice-President Klein, and Editor D. Henry should initiate the search for a replacement editor for the Lattice. 13. Replacement for Pamela Burnley as MSA representative to the Spring AGU meeting

14. Appointment of Susan C. Eriksson to the Outreach Committee

The appointment of Susan C. Eriksson to the K-12 education branch of the MSA Outreach Committee was adopted by council without objection. 15. Approval of Associate Editors for American Mineralogist. W. Carlson expressed his desire to eliminate Councilís practice of approving the list of Associate Editors for the American Mineralogist.
S. Sorensen moved to discontinue the Councilís practice of approving the list of Associate Editors and empower the Editors with the ability to choose and appoint the Associate Editors. S = D. Bish. The motion passed unanimously. 16. A lunch break occurred from 12:10 - 12:50 PM

17. Report from the Outreach Committee Co-Chair Nancy McMillan

N. McMillan provided council with an update of her activities on behalf of the K-12 educational component of the Outreach Committee including responses from about thirty K-12 teachers responding to a web survey.
It was the SoC that MSA needs to do something soon concerning its K-12 educational outreach and this should begin with the simplest steps. The following specific recommendations were made: (i) MSA should ally itself with other societies if possible; (ii) outreach activities should start with web activities; (iii) attention should be focused initially on developing materials for teachers; (iv) outreach will continue to be a (small) portion of MSAís budget; and (v) efforts should be directed towards revising the K-12 "dead-end" portion of MSAís existing web site. 18. Publication from the Planetary Materials Special Interest Group It was the SoC that there was general interest in pursuing a publication on this topic and requested the Planetary Materials Group to solicit a list of authors and topics. 19. Personal subscriptions

Council requested that the Editors of American Mineralogist look into the issue of placing a warning in the American Mineralogist that society members are entitled to the reduced subscription rate with the understanding that the journal is for their personal use only. 20. Report from Robert Downs, Internet Administrator for Databases Council discussed the report from R. Downs describing his on-going efforts to compile (and edit) all crystal structures ever published in the Amer. Mineral..
It was the SoC that R. Downs should be encouraged in his efforts. 21. Report from G. Nord, MSA Internet Coordinator

22. Presidential discussion items

(a) Summary of Presidential and Executive Committee actions

W. Carlson summarized the Presidential and Executive Committee actions that had transpired since the 1^st 2000 Council meeting. (b) Items tabled or pending from the 3^rd 1999 or 1^st 2000 Council meetings
(i) Meetings Committee; this issue was discussed previously (see item 10 above)

(ii) Publications Committee; this issue was discussed previously (see item 10 above.

(iii) Editorial Advisory Board

A possible role of an Advisory Board for the journal suggested at the Fall Council Meeting was further discussed by Council.
B. Hanson moved to table the issue of establishing an Advisory Board. S = C. Klein. The motion passed unanimously.
(iv) Best Paper Award It was the SoC that the Editors of the American Mineralogist should forward a list of 3-6 papers to a committee appointed by the council for final selection.
(c) New Lattice Editor; this issue was discussed previously (see item 12 above)

(d) Membership campaign

W. Carlson reviewed the difficulties of getting membership renewals and the cost involved.
S. Sorensen moved that the Society offer a $5 discount off of the normal membership dues for members who renew their membership before December 31, 2000. S = B. Hanson. Motion passed unanimously. W. Carlson discussed the importance of soliciting input from members about those aspects of MSA in which they find the greatest value, and if possible to find out from non-members and non-renewing members their reasons for not joining or renewing.
It was the SoC that some sort of membership survey should be pursued

W. Carlson also discussed creating a low-dues student membership category that includes the Lattice, does not include the Amer. Mineral., and which could give students membership discounts on books and meeting registrations.

It was the SoC that a student-member category be established for a membership price of $5 that would not include a journal subscription.
(e) Endowment Campaign
S. Sorensen moved that an item be added to the renewal notices allowing members to donate to the endowment fund at the level of $1 per year of membership. S = J. Ferry. Motion passed unanimously

W. Carlson discussed the importance of having one additional mailing to the membership to promote an endowment campaign.

S. Sorensen moved that Council approve the funding in the budget for 2001 for one additional mailing to the membership in support of the endowment campaign. S = B Hanson. Motion passed unanimously 23. Adjournment S. Sorensen moved that the 2nd 2000 Council meeting be adjourned. S = R. Luth. The motion passed unanimously and the meeting was adjourned at 3:15 PM. Respectfully submitted,

David M. Jenkins, MSA Secretary