SWS SOUTH CENTRAL CHAPTER
Fall Business Meeting Minutes
October 21, 2011 – Lafayette, LA

Click here to download Minutes

Officers
Carol Thompson – President- Present
Robbie Kroger – President Elect- Not Present
Matt Stahman– Past President - Present
Jayme Shiner - Treasurer - Present
Rebecca Howard – Secretary - Present

Board
Kevin Janni - Present
Rani Menon - Not Present
Samuel Pierce – Present
Chuck Walker – Not Present


Call to Order
The 2011 fall business meeting of the South Central Chapter was called to order by President Carol Thompson at 12:10 PM on 21 October 2011.

Quorum
A quorum was declared by Secretary Rebecca Howard, with a total of 33 Chapter members present. President Thompson thanked all for their attendance.

Past Meeting Minutes
Secretary Howard distributed copies of the minutes from the 2011 spring meeting in Prague, Czech Republic. A motion was made to accept the minutes as written. The motion was seconded and the minutes were approved by membership vote.

Treasurer Report
Treasurer Jayme Shiner reported Chapter assets of $16,715.71 as of 20 October 2011. These assets consist of $12,204.48 in a checking account and $4,511.23 in a certificate of deposit that matured in February 2008. Items highlighted from the report include:

• A total of $800 was provided to support student travel to the fall 2010 meeting in Oxford MS.
• The 2010 fall meeting was a success in terms of membership participation and high quality presentations; meeting expenditures, however, exceeded proceeds by about $400.
• A total of $2,950 was spent as travel support for the June 2011 meeting in Prague. The student award winner from the fall 2010 meeting (Rick Zarate) received $1,200 and the Chapter President (Matt Stahman) received $1,750.

Note: Treasurer Shiner made corrections to the Treasurer's report and submitted a revised version at the 2012 Spring Business Meeting in Orlando, FL. The correct amounts as of 20 October 2011 were:
$10,904.48 in the checking account and $4,578.95 in a CD, for total assets of $15,483.43.

Standing Committee Reports

• Membership. Secretary Howard reported that Chapter membership as of 1 October 2011 stands at 309. This is slightly less than the 321 members for 2010. Total SWS membership is 2,730.
• Program. President Thompson requested ideas for the location of the fall 2012 meeting. Arkansas had been considered last year for this year's meeting, and President Thompson put forward this as a possibility for 2012. However, no one expressed interest to act as a potential host in Arkansas. Kevin Janni suggested Fort Worth Texas as a possible location; he will seek information on possible venues and report his findings at the spring meeting in Orlando, FL.
• Nominations. Past-President Matt Stahman announced that elections will be held next spring for Chapter Secretary and two Board members. All terms are for two years. He requested that people contact him if they wish to be nominated for these positions.
• Archives. Rebecca Howard reported that the Chapter archives continue to be maintained here in Lafayette, LA.
• Bylaws and Standing Rules. No report
• Special Issues. No report

Special Committee Reports- Student Chapters

• Alabama Student Chapter: Josh Jones reported that there are currently 5 members, and they are actively recruiting for new Chapter members. Development of a Student Chapter website has been completed.
• Louisiana State University Student Chapter: Melissa Carle reported that there are currently about 20 Chapter members from several university departments. Recent volunteer activities included assisting middle school children in designing a wetland project. The student symposium organized by the Chapter has been change to a biennial schedule.

Old Business

• No old business was discussed.

New Business

• The formation of a Student Chapter in Houston, Texas was proposed by Chris Gable. Chis will scope out the level of interest and report at the next business meeting.
• SWS Annual Meeting Location. President Thompson announced that the location for the 2013 annual meeting will likely be Duluth, Minnesota. She noted that there has been suggestions from the SWS International Board that the South Central Chapter is due to host the meeting, and opened the topic of hosting it in 2014. At the previous Chapter meeting in Prague during a discussion about the possibility of hosting the 2013 meeting (the suggestion was later rejected by the SWS Board), there was consensus that possible host cities were, in order of preference, Memphis, Tennessee, Mobile, Alabama, and Corpus Christi, Texas. The opportunity for discussion on hosting the 2014 meeting was opened.

Discussion:

• Albuquerque was suggested as another possible host city.
• The following volunteers stepped forward as a potential organizing committee:
  - Andy Nyman – technical program
  - Matt Stahman
  - Chris Gable
  - Jenneke Visser
  - Ron Boustany
  - Carol Thompson
  - Ann Redmond

President Thompson will report on the outcome of meeting location discussions that will occur during the SWS mid-year Board meeting in February 2012 at the next Chapter business meeting

Other Business

Field trip scheduling for the Chapter meeting was opened as a topic for discussion. Specifically, it was proposed that a full meeting day should be devoted to local field trips, either on the same day as the workshops or on an additional meeting day. Issues discussed included the opinion that field trips should not compete with the workshops, which result in proceeds for the Chapter, and that the level of interest in field trips will vary with location. General consensus was that meeting hosts need to consider if a full-day field trip is appropriate in their circumstances.

With no additional discussion proposed, President Thompson called for a motion to close the Business Meeting. A motion to adjourn was made by Matt Stahman, seconded by Jenneke Visser, and approved by membership vote. The meeting was adjourned at 12:45 PM, and people participating in the afternoon field trips organized for departure.

Addendum
The following student presentation awards were made on Saturday 22 October:
1st: Taylor Sloey, University of Louisiana, Lafayette
2nd: Lisa Breaux, Nicholls State University
3rd: Allyn Fuell, University of Central Arkansas

Prepared by Rebecca Howard, Secretary
May 9, 2012
Revised June 11, 2012