- Introduction
- Call to Order
- Roll Call
- Approval of 2003 Grand Chapter Agenda
- Approval of minutes from June 2002 Grand Chapter meeting
- Moment of Silence for Deceased GWIS Members
- Summary of Reports of Officers
- Report of the President Elect
- Report of the Secretary
- Report of the Archivist
- Report of the Committee Chairs
- Chapter Reports
- GWIS Budget for 2003-2004
- Honorary Membership Awards Procedures
- Interim Meeting
- Women’s Health Initiative
- Board of Directors National Executive Office
- Nominations/Appointments of New Officers
- Adjournment
The Grand Chapter meeting follows with 52 voting members. It is composed of the Executive Board (6), Board of Directors (6), all committee chairs (8), all chapter presidents (15), and chapter membership (15). Minutes are taken of both meetings, but below is just the Grand Chapter meeting due to space issues. If you are interested in the National Council meeting, please contact the National Secretary for a copy.
Call to Order
Grand Chapter meeting was called to order by Kathy
Grako, GWIS National President, after the lunch break, at the Days Inn,
State College, PA on Friday, June 6, 2003.
Roll Call
Executive Board:
President, Dr. Kathy Grako - present
President-Elect, Dr. Carol Hodes - present
Vice-President, Ms. Amber Bradley - present
Secretary, Ms. Diane Tulipani - present
Treasurer, Ms. Doris Brown - absent
Past-President, Dr. Robin Woo - present
Board of Directors:
Dr. Joy Frestedt - absent
Ms. Mary Anderson - present
Ms. Gloria Gridley - present
Dr. Virginia Carson - present
Ms. Dee McManus - present
Committees were represented by: Dr. Helen D. Haller (Archivist), Ms. Dee
McManus (Editorial Board and Xi chapter), Dr. Robin Woo (Fellowship Committee,
Development Committee, and Omicron chapter), Dr. Carol Hodes (Honorary
Membership and Nu chapter), Ms. Amber Bradley (Tau chapter), Mrs. Carole
Ziegler (Nominating and Tau chapter), Dr. Judith Nuss-Steele (Omega committee
and chapter), Dr. Virginia Carson (Parliamentary and Sigma chapter), Ms.
Laurel Lynn Martin (Nu chapter), Ms. Paddy Weisenfeld (Omicron chapter),
Ms. Gloria Gridley (Omicron chapter), Dr. Monique Braude (Omicron chapter),
Dr. Kathy Grako (proxy for Theta Alpha chapter).
Of a possible 52 voting positions, there were 22 present achieving a quorum
for the Grand Chapter to conduct business.
Approval of 2003 Grand Chapter
Agenda
Virginia Carson made the motion to accept the minutes
from the 2003 Grand Chapter meeting. It was seconded by Mary Anderson.
Motion was passed unanimously.
Approval of minutes from June
2002 Grand Chapter meeting
Helen Haller requested amending the 2002 Grand Chapter
meeting minutes to elaborate on the Roll Call and Quorum Count information,
explicitly stating who was present and what group(s) they represented,
as well as the count of voting members present to total possible to determine
a quorum. She also submitted an edited copy of the 2002 minutes so corrections
can be made.
After review of the suggested changes, Helen made a motion to accept the
corrected minutes. Dee McManus seconded the motion. The motion was passed
unanimously.
Moment of Silence for Deceased
GWIS Members
Dr. Elizabeth O’Hern, more familiarly known as Betty
to family, friends, and colleagues, was a GWIS member from Omicron chapter
who passed away in March 2003. Dr. Monique Braude spoke in honor and memory
of Dr. O’Hern. She spoke of the gracious lady that Betty was and presented
a copy of a memoriam published in the American Society for Cell Biology’s
(ASCB)website. Betty was an active National member of GWIS as well as
active in Omicron chapter. She was National Secretary from 1974-76 and
as National Historian, she wrote the ‘History of Sigma Delta Epsilon’
in 1996. During her career, Betty wrote two books, the first being Profiles
of Pioneer Women Scientists. She was a founding member of ASCB in 1960
and continued to participate in that organization. She is survived by
her husband of fifty-one years and numerous nieces, nephews, grand-nieces
and grand-nephews. Betty O’Hern will be greatly missed by all.
Summary of Reports of Officers
Complete reports are contained within the document
distributed at the National meeting. Below is a brief summary of those
reports and/or the verbal report given by the officer.President: Dr. Kathy
Grako (Tau)
Kathy first wanted to offer her thanks to all the officers, especially
Dee McManus for all her help this past year. She summarized her report
that more members need to get involved to avoid ‘burn-out’ of those that
have served and continue to serve at the National level. The Board of
Directors is researching having a paid Executive Officer that would provide
support and continuity to GWIS leadership. At the beginning of her term,
Kathy promised to improve communication between National and all its members.
She issued quarterly letters to Chapter Presidents and Liaisons. Also,
Dee McManus published two Bulletins. Kathy will continue to serve at the
National level as both Past-President and as chair of the Chapter Establishment
committee.
President-elect:
Dr. Carole Hodes (Nu)
Carol reported on the activities of Honorary Awards
Committee. First, the committee recommended Dr. Ruth Faden for Honorary
Membership in GWIS. Second, Gloria Gridley and Monique Braude consulted
with Judy Nuss-Steele regarding a rewrite of the procedures for approval
of a nominee. She also reported on the AAAS Meeting held in February 2003
in Denver. Regarding the Annual National Meeting, Carol wanted to acknowledge
the immense effort by Laurel Lynn Martin in helping to organize the event.
As a result of having the meeting at Penn State, Nu chapter gained some
new members.
Secretary:
Ms. Diane Tulipani (Tau)
Diane pointed out the change in the phone number for
the National Office. As of February 1, 2003, it was changed to 619-521-1955.
The mailing address remains the same. She also requested input from National
officers, committee chairs, and chapters as to the types of reports that
they would like, based on the membership information stored in the National
database. She continued with the proposed implementation of the One-Pay
plan for all chapters. One-Pay was successfully implemented for Alpha
Omega chapter. A form was created that will be sent out to all chapters
requesting information that will be used to complete their membership
forms. As discussed in the National Council meeting, membership renewals
will be sent out by October and then again in May 2004. The mailing in
May is to align membership renewals with the fiscal year of the National
organization. Additional benefits to the shift will hopefully be seen
in capturing current member information in preparation for the new Directory
(to be generated by the end of August 2004) and to potentially retain
graduate students who have completed their degrees in the spring. Diane
also requested that the Fellowship committee to submit the GWIS membership
applications and dues payments more frequently. There were some problems
with checks getting returned because of the time between when a check
was received and when it was deposited.
Archivist: Dr. Helen D. Haller
(Omega)
Helen requested updated information from all chapters.
She also requested that she receive two copies of each of the Bulletins
when they are published.
- Editorial Board
- Honorary Membership Awards
- Membership Committee Report
- Omega Committee Report
- Parliamentary Committee
- AAAS Representatives
Dee discussed her work on managing the publication of the GWIS newsletter, The Bulletin. She stressed that more individuals are needed to write and submit articles. Having more people involved will make the whole process much more manageable. Dee proposed creating a group of members who would solicit articles from members. She also requested volunteers to update the Officer’s and Committee Directory that is to be published in the upcoming Fall Bulletin.
Honorary Membership Awards: Dr. Carol
Hodes (Nu)
The committee has been working to finalize the voting for the nominee,
Dr. Ruth Faden. A photograph and small article about Dr. Faden will be
included in the Fall Bulletin with the request for chapters votes. The
Honorary Membership Awards committee consulted with Judy Nuss-Steele of
the Parliamentary committee about changes to the voting procedures on
nominees. It was discussed in this meeting and the results are presented
under New Business.
Membership Committee Report:
Ms. Dee McManus (Xi) Dee presented summary reports and charts based on
membership information extracted by Diane from the National database.
The charts indicated a declining trend in Regular memberships and an increase
in Graduate student memberships. The increase is probably due to the requirement
of fellowship applicants to be National members. In 2002-2003 membership
year, 42% were Graduate students while only 26% were Regular memberships.
Leah Hansen and Carrie MacNabb (both from Xi chapter) in their report
suggested that local chapters need to have more communication amongst
themselves, maybe form a Chapter Presidents’ Forum.
Related to membership is the One-Pay plan. In the past, members of Xi
chapter have been strongly opposed to this procedure, mainly because they
believed that the money due to the chapter will not be returned to them
in a timely fashion. Sigma chapter is also concerned about the One-Pay
plan for similar reasons. Members of Omicron were happy with the functioning
and return of chapter money from National. Helen Haller noted that the
National Treasurer needs to report income to the IRS, so if chapters are
not paying their National dues, it could have legal ramifications regarding
the society’s tax-exempt status. Abiding law requirements can be stressed
as reasons for complying with the One-Pay plan. Liz Von Kaenel mentioned
that it is very possible that National Officers can be held legally responsible
for money collected but not counted as income. Robin Woo stated that Chapter
Fiscal reports are needed. Also requested by Paddy Wiesenfeld are templates
of reports for Chapter presidents.
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Omega
Committee Report:
Dr. Judith Nuss-Steele (Omega)
Unfortunately, the Omega committee was not very active this past year.
National Council requested that Judy contact Omega members to see if they
will agree to contribute any money toward the development of the SDE website
and this chapter’s website, which are linked.
Parliamentary
Committee:
Dr. Virginia Carson (Sigma)
Discussion centered on the Honorary Membership Award procedures, as described
above.
AAAS Representatives: Dr. Virginia
Carson (Sigma)
Virginia and a few other GWIS members attended the AAAS session organized
by Dr. Carson in Denver, CO in February. The keynote speaker was Dr. Rita
Colwell. Dr. Carson has received approval from AAAS to present a symposium
on Alzheimers Research at next year’s meeting in Seattle, WA.
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Chapter Reports
The complete reports submitted by various chapters
are included in the document distributed for the National Meeting. The
following notes are portions of those reports.
Omicron
Chapter President, Dr. Mahin Khatami gave a brief overview of the chapter's
activities, which included several meetings with special speakers and
a panel discussion/fundraiser. Of the four new members only one is a National
member.
Paddy Wiesenfeld presented the chapter’s financial report. Omicron had
an income of $515, expenses of $370, leaving a balance of $145. They also
have approximately $3300 in savings, a CD approximately worth $5000, and
$2500 in the Susan Feinman fund.
Liz Von Kaenel commented that the chapter experienced some difficulty
finding meeting places as a consequence of post 9/11 security measures.
Gloria Gridley wanted to discuss fundraising for chapters. Can a chapter
raise money without a specific reason (i.e., a scholarship)? Carole Ziegler
responded that as long as the chapter disburses 5% of what it collects,
it can.
Sigma
Dr. Virginia Carson spoke of 2 conferences, “What Do You Know about Complementary
and Alternative Medicine?” with participation by four guest speakers covering
topics on natural hormone replacement therapy, acupuncture, naturopathic
medicine, and complementary medicine. In March 2003, the Fourteenth Science
conference was held at California State University-Fullerton.
Tau
Carole Ziegler summarized the report submitted by Dr. Penny Perkins and
Sr. Pat Shaffer of Tau chapter. Tau chapter had several events in 2002-2003,
including a Grant Writing workshop cosponsored by the local AWIS chapter.
Also, a workshop on networking was held at the University of San Diego.
A field excursion to Rosarito Beach in Baja California, Mexico, was conducted
by Penny, during which members got to explore the tide pools and enjoy
a beautiful beach setting. In April, there were two presentations, one
on NSF programs and the other by the Deputy Director of NIH, Dr. Donna
Dean. The focus of the presentations was on the funding opportunities
available through each agency. Finally, at the annual spring luncheon,
the keynote speaker was Dr. Janice Meck of NASA/Johnson Space Center who
spoke about the difficulties that astronauts face when they return to
earth after space flights.
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Xi
Dee McManus spoke on behalf of Xi chapter. She mentioned that the chapter
was very busy this year. Their monthly meetings and board meetings alternated
between regular meetings and special speaker meetings. They also published
seven newsletters for its membership. Xi chapter awarded over $1500 in
Agnes Hansen and Mary Haga Travel Awards to women graduate students who
attended national meetings to present their research. Dee also mentioned
that Deborah Powell is the first woman Dean of the Medical School of the
University of Minnesota.
Nu
Laurel Lynn Martin reported for Nu chapter. Hosting the National Meeting
took a great deal of time and effort for chapter members over the course
of the year. In February, the annual Voice of Graduate Women was funded
through the WISE Foundation. There were 40 attendees, including graduate
students, faculty, staff and special invitees. Over the past 18 months,
Nu chapter has experienced a decrease in membership, losing members who
moved out of the area. The chapter plans a membership drive for the coming
year. Dee McManus suggested that they look to other sources, such as industry,
for new members.
Website Design: Ms. Dee McManus (Xi)
Helen Sievers resigned as webmistress in August 2002. Since then, until
April 2003, there was no support to make changes and corrections. In April,
Dee and her assistant reactivated GWIS service with A-Plus.net, a top
ISP company, and have made many corrections and updated the website. The
expenses associated with this service are approximately $228 annually.
Dee’s assistant is very good at graphic design. She submitted several
webpage designs for review and critique by those members present at the
meeting. There is a template in development and a URL for members to look
at and send comments to Dee. She will let us know when it is available.
Dee also spoke of the committee’s intention to move GWIS into e-commerce,
thereby allowing members to pay dues via the website. Dee now has 4 volunteers
to help with on the Website committee. She recommended that they function
as website liaisons (Xi, Omega, Delta, and Alpha Omega) to help establish
chapter websites during 2003-2004
Chicago chapter funds: Dr. Kathy
Grako (Tau)
The Chi chapter is an existing chapter but Kathy had been contacted by
a member who said that the chapter was inactive. This member, Dr. Elfriede
Linsmaier-Bednar, wants to establish a new chapter to replace Chi. As
was discussed previously in National Council, there is money, approximately
$25000, that needs to be located so the funds are not lost to the chapter.
Carol Hodes, the President-Elect, will write a letter to the Chi chapter
asking if it is still active or not. If no response is received after
60 days, National Council has the authority, according to the by-laws,
to revoke the chapter’s charter since it has not been represented (or
active) at the National Meeting in several years.
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New Business
GWIS Budget for 2003-2004
Dr. Helen D. Haller listed the following actions for
empowerment of the existing Treasurer:
Dee McManus moved to approve these actions of the existing Treasurer for
2002-2003. Dr. Virginia Carson seconded the motion. The motion was passed
unanimously.
The details of the proposed Budget for 2003-2004 are located on page 25
of the handout from the National Meeting. Prior to being voted on, several
changes were noted. Under Operating Income, the $2500 in the Estate of Susan
Feinman is to be added into the Total. Under the Fellowship Budget Fellowship
Income, The Hartley contribution was changed to $2500; Eli Lilly Travel
Awards was increased to $3000; Fellowship Income Total: $26,265. Under Fellowship
Expenses, Adele Lewis Grant label was corrected to include the word Funds;
Eli Lilly Travel Awards changed to $3000; Fellowship Income Total: $26,265.
Carole Ziegler made a motion to accept the budget as presented with corrections.
Laurel Lynn Martin seconded it. The motion passed unanimously. After the
vote, Robin Woo commented that the budgeted amounts for Fellowships seem
low compared to what is available in the supporting investment funds. The
funds for the current Fellowship awardees will be released after the National
Meeting.
Honorary Membership Awards Procedures
Judy Nuss-Steele is supposed to write the procedure
after conferring with Monique Braude, Gloria Gridley, and Carol Hodes.
The new procedure needs to be written so it is consistent with the by-laws.
It is the responsibility of the Board of Directors to keep the policies
and procedures up-to-date, so Judy will need to confer with them to keep
everything in accordance with the by-laws, as well as following Robert’s
Rules of Order.
Monique summarized the procedure as follows:
Interim Meeting
AAAS is holding its meeting February 12-17, 2004, in
Seattle, WA. Robin Woo suggested looking for members who live close to Seattle
who could potentially help get it coordinated. GWIS should try to have a
booth to attract potential new members.
Women’s Health Initiative: Ms.
Mary Anderson (Omicron)
Mary Anderson presented the Putting Women’s Health
First Campaign Participation Proposal to the Grand Chapter. This campaign
is a new outreach program to educate women about HPV, its connection to
cervical cancer, and how HPV testing plays in early detection and prevention.
Basically, GWIS would be provided information materials and speakers to
visit local chapters. There is no financial obligation involved, no cost
and no income. It is sponsored by Digene. The DNA test for HPV is advocated
by NHI and FDA. The initiative is to educate women and to disseminate
information.
There was much discussion and concern about the wording of the agreement
GWIS is being asked to sign and if there was any legal liability involved.
Both the AMA and NEJM support the DNA tests for HPV.
Dee McManus made the following motion: GWIS is willing to support the
educational information initiative, Putting Women’s Health First, provided
that Mary Anderson will provide the exact text of the agreement to the
Executive Board and to pass it on to be reviewed by an appropriate individual.
Once reviewed, it will be given to the Executive Board to make the decision
to accept it or not.
Monique Braude seconded the motion.
The motion was passed unanimously.
Board of Directors National Executive
Office:
Ms. Mary Anderson (Omicron)
The Board of Directors did some checking into the feasibility
of GWIS hiring a National Executive Officer. What they found was that
to have an executive officer, the salary would be many $10,000s. For comparison
they called FASEB, a managing society, to find out what fees they would
charge for comparable services. To contract their services, it would cost
over $7000 up front, plus service fees of $5600 for total active members,
plus $1500 annual database maintenance fees. Beyond this, there are fees
for processing dues payments by credit cards and accounting of transactions,
per-member fees for mailing out newsletters and other types of mailings.
Additionally, to convert the current database to their system, iMis, it
would be approximately $6000-$12,000.
GWIS needs to decide on a direction to develop the organization. Creative
alternatives to cash salary payment could also be a solution, such as
set a low salary and base a commission on the percentage of funds brought
in in the form of grant money, etc.
Monique Braude commented on the fact that GWIS is not alone in its struggle
to maintain members. This organization has already had experience with
FASEB which was negative as a result of the way they handled everything.
At that time FASEB needed much supervising.
The Executive Officer would need to be a part of GWIS and report directly
to the Board of Directors. Robin Woo stated that GWIS would need approximately
$0.5 million to cover 5 years for startup; $1.0 million for longer.
Carole Ziegler suggested a preliminary article be put in the Bulletin
to see what kind of response it would generate. Robin suggested that the
Development Committee form an informal search committee to put out ‘feelers’.
Helen Haller suggested that potential candidate pool be larger than just
GWIS.
Nominations/Appointments of New
Officers:
Dr. Kathy Grako (Tau)
Carole Ziegler, chair of the Nominations Committee,
presented the following slate of officers for appointment:
Dr. Carol Hodes - President
Ms. Amber Bradley - President-Elect
Dr. Regina Vidaver - Vice-President
Dr. Helen D. Haller - Treasurer
Ms. Diane Tulipani - Secretary
Dr. Robin Woo - Board of Directors
Dr. Kathy Grako - Past-President
Ms. Kit Barker - Nominating committee
Ms. Winnell Newman - Omega committee
The slate of officers and committee chairs was approved by the Grand Chapter
