Minutes 2005

ASEH Executive Committee Meeting

Minutes

March 19, 2005

Houston, Texas

[Please note that attachments mentioned in the Minutes for 2005 are not included in this Executive Committee Meeting packet.  These were reports that we reviewed at the Executive Committee meeting in Houston, and they are attached to the original copy of the minutes with the permanent ASEH records in Seattle.  –Lisa]

Participants: Doug Weiner, Steve Pyne, Nancy Langston, Mark Madison, Lisa Mighetto, Carolyn Merchant, Jackie Corn, Sarah Elkind, Delores Greenberg, Melissa Wiedenfeld, and Adam Rome

Guests: Steve Anderson, Kathy Brosnan, Ellen Stroud, Jay Taylor, and Verena Winiwarter

President Doug Weiner called the meeting to order at approximately 12:45 p.m.

1.            Approval of Minutes.  Mark Madison made a motion to approve the minutes for the 2004 meeting.  Jackie Corn seconded the motion.  Motion carried.

            Lisa Mighetto circulated the Executive Committee roster for updating.  [Sent to Steve Pyne and Ellen Stroud on April 1, 2005.]

2.            Election Results.  Lisa reported the following results of the election:

Officers

Vice President/President Elect – Nancy Langston

Treasurer – Mark Madison

Secretary – Ellen Stroud

Executive Committee

Kathleen Brosnan

Peter Coates

Katherine Morrissey

Verena Winiwarter

Nominating Committee

Adam Rome

Melissa Wiedenfeld

Changes to ByLaws

Approved

3.         Status of Future Conferences.  Steve Pyne mentioned the new liaison committee and the importance of using our conferences to build relationships with other organizations, such as the Society for Conservation Biology.  A discussion ensued about distributing the Call for Papers more widely.  Lisa then summarized the proposal to hold the 2008 meeting in Boise.

            Carolyn Merchant made a motion to accept Boise as the site for the 2008 conference, based on the proposal submitted.  Jackie Corn seconded the motion.  Motion carried.

4.            Houston Conference Reports.  Kathy Brosnan, Local Arrangements Committee Chair, mentioned numerous issues that future conference organizers might want to consider [see attached report].  These include increasing the charges for exhibit tables and advertisers, and extending the deadline for registration to two weeks before the conference if mailed and one week in advance if faxed, and a larger penalty for not registering early.  She agreed to inform ASEH members by writing an article for the newsletter.  [Task completed June 2005.]

            Steve Anderson and Adam Rome mentioned the importance of including membership information on the registration form.  We should make it as easy as possible for people to join at the time they are registering for the conference.  Lisa agreed to work with John Anfinson on this point for the St. Paul registration form.

            Jay Taylor, Program Committee Chair, explained the difficulties involved in evaluating paper and poster proposals, in terms of schedule and lack of information [see attached report].  He mentioned the uncertainty regarding amounts available for speakers' fees and the problem of last-minute cancellations, many of which involved overseas participants.  Jay suggested that $500 is not sufficient to cover international travel.  Also, there are no clear guidelines for awarding the travel grants.

5.         ICE-HO and the World Environmental History Conference, 2009.  Steve Anderson summarized the International Consortium of Environmental History Organizations, which is comprised of eight organizations, including the ASEH and Forest History Society.  He asked the Executive Committee to support further investigation of this idea of a world environmental history conference in 2009.  A lengthy discussion ensued and several motions were put forth and withdrawn.  While Executive Committee members supported the idea, some worried that many ASEH members might not be able to afford a conference abroad.  The issue of the timing of the meeting came up, as did the possibility of a second conference to be held in the United States.  Steve said he would draft a Call for Proposals to host the conference.  [Task completed April 2005.]

            At this point in the meeting Doug expressed dismay at the number of Executive Committee members missing from the Houston meeting, and asked that the Nominating Committee be encouraged to recruit members who are clearly committed and understand that attendance at the annual meeting is required.  [Lisa made a note of this request and will remind next year's Nominating Committee – two members of which were present at this meeting – when providing the instructions for next year's election.]

6.            Journal Budget Report [see attached report].  Steve Anderson discussed History Cooperative – and the Executive Committee asked Steve to estimate costs for getting back issues of Environmental History online.  [Note:  we need to follow up on this, since this request was also made last year.]

            Steve explained that it has been two years since membership dues have increased.  Since that time, the journal has added new features, such as online issues and the Gallery section.  Steve thought library subscriptions in particular should increase (to $120), and that general and student memberships should increase by $5.

            As was the case in last year's meeting, there was general sentiment opposing gating the online journal.  Steve, on the other hand, is supportive of gating and is planning to gate next year.  Nancy pointed out that federally funded projects might not be able to be gated; generally we want to make scholarship available and accessible.  Adam explained that the budget issue is separate from the gating issue.

            Carolyn Merchant made a motion to accept Steve's proposal for increases, with the exception of increasing the library subscriptions to $130.  Nancy Langston seconded the motion.  Motion carried.

Additional discussion about gating ensued – Executive Committee members expressed a desire not to gate the journal.

            Nancy Langston made a motion to encourage History Cooperative to move toward a rolling gate if there is a gate.  Delores Greenberg seconded the motion.  Motion carried.

            Initiated by Carolyn, we thanked Steve Anderson for the financial health of the journal and expressed general appreciation for all that he and the Forest History Society have done to benefit the journal.

7.            Editor's Report [see attached report]. 

            Adam mentioned that during the past year the journal gained 250 additional subscribers.  He reported that after severing relations with Duke University, advertising fell off, but Steve Anderson has ideas about how to increase advertising in the future.  Adam further reported that he believes that women are underrepresented on the editorial board, but pointed out a 22% increase in women-authored articles during the last year.  It was decided that Eve Munson would send Lisa 10 additional copies of the current issue of the journal each quarter for promotion.  [Eve began doing this in April 2005.]

8.         H-Environment Report [see attached report].

            Melissa Wiedenfeld noted the search for new H-Environment editors.  Doug thanked Melissa and the other editors for "a stunning job."  We agreed that Dennis Williams can submit the invoice for the H-Env. website to Mark Madison for payment – and Melissa agreed to notify Dennis of this point.

            The discussion turned to membership and ways to increase it, and Nancy suggested reviewing the H-Env. list and contacting people who are not yet members of ASEH.

9.            Treasurer's Report [see attached report].  Mark briefly summarized his report, noting the revenue gained from the Victoria conference.

            Carolyn Merchant made a motion to approve the Treasurer's Report.  Jackie Corn seconded the motion.  Motion carried.

10.            Incoming President's Objectives [see attached letter].  Steve Pyne mentioned a shift in emphasis from the Development Committee and the endowment to a newly formed committee headed by Hal Rothman, which will develop a business plan for ASEH, outlining strategies and goals – and for fundraising – during the next few years.  Steve asked for ideas from members of the Executive Committee.  There was a brief general discussion about Steve's objectives – and general agreement to move forward with them.

            Carolyn Merchant made a motion to endorse Steve Pyne's strategic plan for expanding ASEH goals.  Jackie Corn seconded the motion.  Motion carried.

At Doug Weiner's request Lisa Mighetto left the meeting at around 4:00 p.m. to attend to the Silent Auction in the exhibit area; hence the gap in the minutes….

11.            Executive Director Position.  Mark Madison provided the following notes from this portion of the meeting:

Interviews 2006 - 2007.  Selected candidate starts Jan. 2008.  Lisa Mighetto appointed Jan. 1, 2006 through Dec. 31, 2007.

Meeting adjourned at approximately 4:30 p.m.