In this document:
- Call to Order
- Attendance
- Approval of Nat'l Council 2004 Agenda
- Approval of 2003 Nat'l Council Meeting Minutes
- Editorial Board Report
- Fellowships Committee Report
- Honorary Membership Award
- Nominating Committee Report
- Old Business
- New Business
- Adjournment
The National Council consists of the President, President-Elect, Vice President, Secretary, Treasurer, Past President, Editor, Archivist, and the members of the Board of Directors. It may also include up to three members of any standing committee. A member of the Parliamentary Committee may also be present to serve as Parliamentarian.
National Council meeting was called to order by Carol Hodes, GWIS National President, at 9:02 am at Northeastern University, Boston, MA on Friday, June 11, 2003
Roll call was performed by Diane Tulipani,
National Secretary, to determine quorum: Executive Board
President, Dr. Carol Hodes - present
President-Elect, Ms. Amber Bradley - present
Vice-President, Dr. Regina Vidaver - present
Secretary, Ms. Diane Tulipani - present
Treasurer, Dr. Helen D. Haller - present
Past-President, Dr. Kathy Grako - absent
Board of Directors
Ms. Mary Anderson - present
Ms. Gloria Gridley - present
Dr. Virginia Carson - absent
Ms. Dee McManus - present
Dr. Robin Woo - present
Committees
Nominating, Dr. Penny Beuning - present
Parliamentary, Dr. Marcha Flint - present
Omega Chapter committee - Dr. Pat Shaffer - present
Of a possible 15 voting positions on National Council, 13 members were present and 2 absent. A quorum was achieved with 13 of 15 positions represented.
Also present at the National Council meeting, but not voting members, were Ms. Paddy Wiesenfeld (Omicron), Ms. Amy Berta (Beta), Ms. Kim Luke (Beta), Dr. Sue Keirstead (Xi), Ms. Sharotka Godzina (Alpha Omega), Dr. Liz Von Kaenal (Omicron), Ms. Marie Drottar (Alpha Omega), Ms. Katherine Jones (Alpha Omega), Dr. Judith Artley (Alpha Omega).
Approval of National
Council Agenda 2004
Mary Anderson moved to accept the agenda for the 2004 National Council
meeting as published. Motioned seconded by Patty Wiesenfeld. Motion passed
unanimously.
Previous National
Council Meeting Minutes from June 2003 Approval
The minutes from the National Council Meeting held June 2003 were presented
for approval. Helen Haller had several suggestions for improving details
of the minutes. She submitted to the secretary copies of these corrections.
At the conclusion of this discussion, Helen moved to accept the amended
version of the 2003 National Council Meeting Minutes. Amber Bradley seconded
the motion. The motion passed unanimously.
Editorial Board
Dee McManus presented her report. Three Bulletins, the GWIS National newsletter,
were published and mailed out to members during the 2003-2004 membership
year. The third Bulletin included the ballot of National officers and
committee members needed. The National Council and Grand Chapter can accept
the ballots. The completed ballots are due by June 30, 2004.
Dee next discussed the budget for producing the Bulletins. The publishing of 3 Bulletins was under budget (with the third's costs being estimated). Dee noted that the cost per page stayed relatively the same. There was some discussion whether or not the $1500 from the Fellowships ad was added to the budgeted amount of $10,000 or not. Dee said it takes about 20hrs to assemble one Bulleting and another 20hrs for producing the layout. Carol added to Dee's comments that articles are needed for the Bulletin. She also requested summaries of the speakers at the upcoming conference to be included in the next Bulletin. Robin Woo asked if advertising should be started in the Bulletin to generate income.
Dee also stated that 1250 copies are printed, with 1000 being sent to members. The remaining 250 are for new members as well as to be distributed to the chapters upon request. She also explained that the $150 fee for the bulk mailing permit was used to send out the mailing.
Finally, several members (and agreed by all present) expressed great appreciation to Dee and to her assistant, Cynthia Dekay for all the hard work they do to produce the Bulletin as well as maintain the organization's website.
Fellowships Committee
Robin Woo presented the committee's report based on the report submitted
by Kate Kelley, Chair of the committee, who has done a great job of coordinating
all the reviews. Robin was the chair of the Eli Lilly Travel Award.
In her report, Kate summarized that there were 72 applicants for the Eloise Gerry Fellowship, 60 applicants for the SDE Fellowships, 40 for the Vessa Notchev awards totaling $2400, 9 applicants for the Nell I. Mondy awards, and 5 applicants were recommended for the Eli Lilly Travel awards. The Eli Lilly award is likely to be $3500, but there is some issues with the processing of the requests. The applicant pool was from many areas around the U.S., including several international applicants. In general, there was a definite increase in number of applications submitted. Regina Vidaver stated that the distribution of funds for the SDE Fellowships should have the Adele Lewis Grant Fellowships be given to the first place candidate.
Amber Bradley motioned to accept the Fellowships winners as recommended by the Fellowships committee. Regina seconded. Additional discussion followed. Helen Haller seconded the amount of hard work involved with reviewing and choosing the awardees. She also suggested that the chairs of each of the Felllowships notify the awardees by letter and then Helen will send them their check. Dee McManus agreed to track the awardees. Alternatively, Kate Kelley could have a graduate student keep track of awardees. Regina reminded the council that a one page update is required from all awardees. Carol Hodes suggested sending a follow-up letter to remind the awardees. Robin Woo requested to amend the motion to accept the recommendations of the Fellowships committee so that the Eli Lilly awards are accepted provisionally until she gets the details worked out. Amended motion was accepted.
Robin explained the problem that has arisen with the Eli Lilly award. There has been a change in the way the company disburses funds; it is now through a consulting firm. The rules have changed so that money awarded is only for future travel, not past travel. The awardees selected this year have already completed their travel. Robin asked for suggestions from the National Council on how to approach Eli Lilly - 1) submit request for the 4 members but omit their travel dates, 2) say it is for future travel, or 3) say it is for GWIS members. Dee commented that this change by Lilly is reflective of a national trend in the pharmaceutical industry in response to bad press. Regina suggested that Robin ask for a larger grant to GWIS for travel over the next 5 years. Also refine wording of the award was suggested. Robin will request $20000 ($4000 per year for 5 years). Dee made a motioned for Robin to make the $20000 request and Regina seconded it. Motion passed
Honorary Membership
Award
Carol Hodes gave the report. The nominee presented at last year's national
meeting, Dr. Ruth Faden, was accepted by the members. She has the certificate
to send to Dr. Faden. Carol also reported that in the previous two years
there have been three Honorary memberships awarded. Carol also reported
looking for a new committee member.
Nominating Committee
Kit Barker, chair of the committee, submitted a slate for National Officers
which was presented by Carol Hodes. Carol read the slate of 2004-05 candidates,
which is as follows:
President: Amber Bradley
President-Elect: Regina Vidaver
Vice President: Paddy Wiesenfeld
Board of Director Member: Kathy Grako
Secretary: Marie Drottar
Omega Committee: Joan Priscilla "Perky" Kilbourn
Nominating Committee: Alison Bell St. John
Treasurer: Helen Haller will be continuing her term.
Dee commented that it is difficult to get nominations because it seems the committee had not asked for as much input at they could have. Regina suggested that the nominating committee should tap chapter leaders for input to fill national positions or as volunteer. Sue Kierstead suggested that the National level positions should be promoted among the chapters.
Diane Tulipani described the implementation of the One-Pay plan for the all of the chapters. The One-Pay plan has been implemented for the following chapters: Alpha Omega, Beta, Lambda, Nu, Omega, Omicron, Sigma, Theta Alpha, Tau, and Xi. Several chapters never responded to the request for information; these were Rho, Theta, Gamma Alpha, and Kappa. Nell Mondy of Alpha chapter did respond saying that that chapter was not active. She once again included a copy of the information form used. All the participating chapters received their funds in a timely manner owing much to Helen Haller's work as treasurer. Gamma Alpha has been in contact recently with Helen and appears there is an effort to reorganize. Hopefully, the incoming executive board can reestablish contact with the other three chapters who did not respond.
Diane discussed the successful second mailing sent out in early May 2004. By the beginning of June, she had already received several hundred renewals. The one issue that arose from this mailing was new members who recently joined the organization (in March or later). All did not realize that the membership year runs from July 1 to June 30. Of the few people this affected, I had extended their memberships to expire on June 30, 2005.
Diane also suggested an upgrade to the version of FileMaker Pro to version 7.0. Robin Woo was going to check out this new version and give a recommendation for upgrading or not.
Dee McManus reported on the GWIS website. The new template was designed and implemented in December 2003. She requested input from all members to help with the accuracy of the information posted on the site. She continued to used the same ISP. Our website is currently using only 4MB with the capability of 2000MB. With this much space available, more information can be added, like pictures and activities. She plans to work more with the chapters to develop their own websites. There was the successful implementation of online registration and payment for this National meeting. She would like to eventually have online payment for dues, both National and Chapter, with the appropriate one going to the correct account. Unfortunately, it can not be done at this time. Dee recommended $1000 in the budget for maintenance of the website. Regina suggested $2000 if we are going to use more online services, like online payments of dues. The question remains what is the source of the $2000?
Sue Keirstead commented that having the downloadable Fellowships applications online could help streamline the review process. Regina suggested that applicants email the application to the specific review committee chair of the Fellowships they were applying for and mail their letter. This would remove the need for a self-addressed envelope. Letters of recommendations could also be emailed, but would need to have a hardcopy sent to the chair as follow-up.
Dee McManus called a point of order for a break.
Break called by Carol Hodes at 10:48 am. The meeting reconvened at 11:05
am.
Mary Anderson discussed the decision madder regarding GWIS participation/connection with the Women's Health Initiative. She said that, as a result of the liability concerns raised at last year's National meeting and via emails over the past year, the Executive Board and Board of Director decided to be a supporter but not sponsors of this program. Mary elaborated that physicians and literature were available to be sent to chapter in the event they would like to have a presentation done at a local chapter meeting.
4. National Membership Directory
Since the renewal mailing was such a large undertaking, the new directory will be issued by the incoming secretary, Marie Drottar. Diane will assist the new secretary with the task, developing the layout and export procedure for Marie. The directory will be published and mailed out in September 2004. Employer name and position title were requested to be added to that which is already printed. Liz Von Kaenel requested that the cover be a different color for each new edition.
Carol Hodes reported on this situation. She stated that Chi chapter's charter was returned and the chapter has been officially disbanded. Dr. Elfriede Linsmaer-Bednar is trying to revive/establish a new Eta chapter in Chicago. She has contacted former Chi members and was in the process of submitting the appropriate paperwork to establish the new chapter. Unfortunately, nothing was received before the National meeting.
The money from the Leichsenring fund was received by the National treasurer, Helen D. Haller. What to do with the funds was discussed under the treasurer's report.
Treasurer's report spans both Old and New Business. Details are all under New Business agenda item 1.
Helen D. Haller presented and led the discussion on the proposed budget for 2004-2005 references the published reports in the National Meeting hand out, on pages 19-25. Helen started her discussion with the reports on page 22-23 of the Invested Funds. Her main question to the council was concerning $37,566 in the Operating Fund - what to do with it and or what other account to move it? Interest from the endowment accounts goes into the Fellowships checking account. The newly receive from the defunct Chi chapter, the Jane Leichsenring Fund, has "no strings attached", no restrictions, as to its use. The trust accounts listed at the bottom of both pages have larger bank fees because of the larger balances carried. Helen suggested that the Adele Lewis Grant Endowment fund be incorporated into the Adele Lewis Grant Trust fund.
Referring to page 21, the discussion turned to the Special Projects Budget Summary report. There was a question on the amount listed for the Fund Income carryover line. This was adjusted from $9000 to $6500, decreasing the total to $9100. In the Discretionary Expenses section, $500 was added to line item Washington DC AAAS meeting; $1000 for a new National GWIS display. The Discretionary Expenses for 2004-05 totaled $7380, leaving a balance in Special Projects budge of $1720. Dee explained that the Executive Board needs to approve spending from the President's discretionary fund.
Several questions follow regarding several of the funds as well as the changes to the original amounts listed on Helen's report. Regina asked if only interest is used to pay fellowships awards? Helen pointed out the IRS requirement that non-profit organizations must disburse 5% of it earnings. Katherine Jones asked if it was possible to dissolve a trust fund. Helen replied that a trust cannot be completely dissolved. Regina inquired about the single amount specified for the SDE Fellowships, particularly since last year, there were specific amounts stated for each SDE Fellowships. Robin reminded the group that there was an increase in the Ruth Dickie Fund in 2001, which Helen said was probably the completion of the final estate disbursal. Sue Keirstead added that there are probably restrictions on moving moneys between accounts.
Robin asked that an additional listing for the Washington DC AAAS meeting in February 2005 for a booth fee. She asked if GWIS wanted to have a sole booth or share. Past experiences with having a booth have been positive.
Referring to page 19, the discussion moved on to the Operating Budget. Helen mentioned that, as of June 5, membership dues received were $14,880. Dee asked if a full audit was done every other year. Gloria added that it was usually done between changing of treasurers. Dee suggested money be added for a full scale audit.
Referring to page 20, Helen presented the SDE-GWIS Fellowships Budget & Actuals report. She had requested Merrill Lynch to transfer money from the Fellowships accounts to the Fellowships money market checking account in preparation to write checks to the 2003-04 Fellowships awardees. Of the $10,000 budgeted for publishing the Bulletins, $1500 comes from the Fellowships account.
Referring to page 24, Helen discussed the 2004-05 Proposed Operating Budget. Under Operating Income section, the $1000 given to the National meeting host chapter was discussed. Whatever amount over $1000 is to be kept by the chapter. The $1000 indicating reimbursement of the seed money for the National meeting was deleted. The Balance brought forward line was changed to $300 (from $4000). The Total Income line changed to $21470. Under the Operating Expenses section, Dee suggested to pay Diane an additional $1000 for her assistance to Marie with generating the new National Membership Directory to be published in September 2004. Part of the expense of the National Directory ($4500) comes from the Ruth Dickie Fund. To reconcile the two sections, $6200 needed to be added to the Operating Income section.
Carol Hodes called a break at 12:40pm for lunch before continuing with the treasurer's report at 1:00pm.
Referring to page 25 SDE-GWIS Proposed Fellowships Budget 2004-2005, Helen said that she will be asking the Hartley Corporation for $2000-2500 at their meeting on June 21, 2004. Dee offered that GWIS greatly appreciates the contributions made by the Hartley Corporation, which have totaled $35,000 to date.
For 2004-05, Helen proposed spending of $30,000 in fellowships and associated expenses. Dee raised a concern of "dipping into the corpus" of the funds in addition to the earned interest, like Vessa Notchev, to pay out the awards. Helen stated that GWIS needs to be giving $30,100 (5% of earnings). That to do this, some amount of the fund's principle would need to be used. Sue suggested not offering the Vessa Notchev award in 2004-05. Mary suggested that it would increase work to not offer the V. Notchev award, instead reduce the amount of the award. Sue suggested limiting the number of fellowships awarded.
Here is a summary of the changes made to the Proposed Fellowships Budget 2004-05: Under Fellowships Income, delete $6000 on the Carryover from previous year line. Increase the Eloise Gerry Fellowships Fund to $16,000; decrease the Vessa Notchev Fellowships Fund to $1000; increase the SDE Fellowships fund to $7000; increase the Nell Mondy Fellowships fund to $3500; increase Interest line to $4500. The new Total Fellowships Income was $34,725. For the Fellowships Expenses, increase Secretary Salary to $2500; increase Audit and tax return prep to $500, increase the Eloise Gerry Fellowships Fund to $16,000; decrease the Vessa Notchev Fellowships Fund to $1000; increase the SDE Fellowships fund to $7000. The Fellowships Budget balance then gets changed to $45.
From the Ruth Dickie Fund, $1000 will be used for a new National GWIS display and $500 for hosting an Interim meeting. Dee was concerned that National officers were not at the AAAS meetings. Mary stated that an Interim meeting can still be held, but no official business can be conducted.
Personal note (D. Tulipani): I want to acknowledge on the record the huge effort Helen has put in to understand and explain the various budgets and accounts. It was a major undertaking and I, for one, certainly appreciate all the time she has spent on this, making it more comprehendible.
2. Interim meeting - AAAS February 17-21, 2005, Washington, DC.
3. National meeting 2005 - June 9-12 at the University of San Diego, San Diego, CA
4. Honorary Membership - new
process
The new process has been incorporated into the policies and procedures.
5. Board of Director's National
Executive Office
Mary Anderson said that details about the investigation into fees related
to establishing an Executive Office. GWIS is looking for someone to increase
membership and fund raising. She proposed that the organization move forward
on starting a search from among our current membership. She discussed
an advertisement to be published in the Bulletin to solicit applicants
with experience in sciences, grant writing, and have executive level experience
in making them successful. The National Council needs to agree on an amount
to pay the person and to give the Board of Directors permission to search
for applicants. Also, the Executive Director will need to find grants
to fund their salary, which will be supplemented with a percentage of
other funds they raise for GWIS. The position will be renewable if the
person meets the criteria set by the Board of Directors. A performance
review would probably be quarterly. Regina asked about the source of the
initial funding. It can come from the Operating Budget. Also, if only
asking for a one year commitment, this may not be enough time to establish
the fundraising contacts, etc. Realistically, this position should be
2-3 years. The Executive Director position should eventually become self-supporting
through grants and fundraising. Marcha Flint mentioned that she knows
of other executive directorships where the salary is $100,000 for a fulltime
person. Robin suggested that the 'convenience factor' (i.e. working at
home or limited office time) be promoted. Regina shared some personal
experience in that it may be difficult to realistically find someone to
do the job for on a one year guaranteed position. Robin suggested that
a grant request be written to fund the position, simultaneously with the
search for the person. Dee mentioned that AWIS received a Sloan Foundation
grant to fund their Executive Officer initially. That person now has an
office with many employees. The ad should be placed initially in the Bulletin
so the search would start with GWIS members. Some of the money for the
initial salary could come from the checking account, the Ruth Dickie fund,
maybe Life Membership account, or the Jane Leichsenring fund. Penny Beuning
shared that the AWIS executive officers has no science background. Amy
Berta suggested that it would be exciting option to working in a traditional
science /research setting. Sue Keirstead stated that whether we know we
have the funding or not, we should see if there is a response to the ad.
Regina suggested that there should be a review after 6 months and at one
year. GWIS would need to commit to 2 years. Gloria asked if grants would
be able to replace the startup cost for this position. Dee offered that
incentives should be built into the contract so the person will hopefully
be more aggressive in pursuing funding leads. Helen stated that we need
to be clear about what the initial grant is for. There needs to be a prioritization
of what is wanted and needed.
Mary made the following motion:
I propose that the Board be given approval to write and submit an advertisement
for the position of GWIS Acting Executive Director. This position would
be advertised as a part-time, one-year post with potential for renewal
through successful grant writing and fundraising, as well as successful
completion of the objectives determined by the Board. If a suitable applicant
is identified and approved by the Executive Committee and Board of Directors,
the Board will be given permission to move forward with writing a contract
and hiring said individual. A maximum expenditure of $55,000 over 2 years
(including salary, fees, and travel benefits) would be funded by GWIS.
Robin seconded the motion. It was passed unanimously.
6. Chapter Establishment
updates:
Tabled due to time constraint. However, Robin motioned to welcome Psi
chapter (Seattle, WA) to SDE. Gloria seconded. Motion was approved unanimously.
Paperwork will be turned over to the Parliamentary committee for review.
Eta chapter establishment forms were not submitted on time.
7. Bequests and their use:
Tabled due to time constraint.
The National Council meeting was adjourned by Carol Hodes at 2:44pm.
