Annual Board of Directors Meeting Summary

ASSOCIATION OF ENVIRONMENTAL & ENGINEERING GEOLOGISTS (AEG)
Annual Board of Directors Meeting Summary

The Association of Environmental & Engineering Geologists (AEG) officers convene meetings biannually to review the status and conduct the business of our organization. On September 20-21, 2008, the Board of Directors (BOD) Annual Board Meeting was in session in New Orleans, Louisiana, location of the 2008 Annual Meeting. Detailed meeting minutes were prepared and will be available for approval at the next Mid-Year Board Meeting, which will take place in Seattle, Washington in April 2009. The following summary was prepared to assist our Directors in highlighting major issues and topic areas for communication to the general membership.

AEG has twenty-five (25) sections. Twenty (20) Section Chairpersons or their proxies were present along with the Executive Council (EC): President Molinari, Vice President/President-Elect Kreuger, Treasurer Hilton, Secretary Bauer, and Past-President Kuper. Chief Operating Officer Roland was also present, as were Governance Committee Co-Chairs Prince and Andrews, Finance Committee member Beiber and other invited guests. Sections absent were Kansas City-Omaha, Montreal-Canada, New York-Philadelphia, Ohio River Valley, and Southeastern.

• Mark Molinari gave the Presidents Report and indicated the talks he will be presenting to the sections are Practical Applications of Airborne LiDAR Data for Environmental and Engineering Geology Projects and The 2003 Washington SR-20 Rock Avalanche – A Case Study from Emergency Response through Characterization, Design, and Construction

• Treasurer Hilton informed the board that AEG has contracted a new CPA, Anton Collins-Mitchell (ACM), who will be auditing the 2007-2008 financials during October. The audit report will be presented to the Board at the 2009 Mid-year Board Meeting.

• Vice President Kreuger updated the Board on AEG’s investments, indicating that we have $272,349 toward the Board directed goal of $350,000 to be set aside as a reserve. The Board is in support of the EC staying the course regarding investments.

• Headquarters is actively working to correct the $10,000 that our books logged as income from the 2006 Boston Annual Meeting, but did not show up in our account. The bank charged members’ credit cards for the meeting, but never deposited the money in AEG’s account.

• The Board voted to change the current Fiscal Year term from July 1 - June 30 to the calendar year. This change allows for the annual CPA report to be prepared ahead of the spring BOD meeting for approval by the BOD. This also makes it easier to budget for membership dues, which are based on a calendar year cycle, and get the CPA review shortly after the Annual Meeting.

• Since the mid-year 2008 Board meeting, AEG reviewed changing the Incorporation status from California to Colorado. COO Roland had discussions with AEG’s attorney and CPA, both of whom recommended remaining incorporated in California, and the Board voted in favor of this.

• Past President Kuper reported on the AGI Congressional Visit Days in which she and COO Becky Roland participated.

• Future Annual Meetings are progressing well with 2009 in South Lake Tahoe, 2010 in Charleston, 2011 in Anchorage, 2012 in Salt Lake City, and 2013 approved at this meeting to be in Seattle, WA.

• Julie Keaton, who has served as AEG’s Annual Meeting Manager since 1997 is retiring in December 2008 but will continue to provide support planning the Shlemon Specialty Conferences. AEG has contracted Colorado Event Organizers (CEO) to assist with Annual Meeting Planning in the future starting with the 2009 meeting. CEO representative, Heather Lopez, shadowed Julie during the 2008 Annual Meeting, and these expenses will be covered by the discretionary funds presented to the Board at the 2008 mid-year meeting. In addition, responsibility for associated AEG functions (e.g. Corporate Luncheon, banquet, awards) will be handled by Phoenix AMC who will work with CEO to coordinate these with the meeting planning.

• AEG Foundation President Hempen gave a report and promoted the member benefits of the Foundation to the Board. He emphasized that Sections are the primary donors and beneficiaries for the Foundation. Please visit www.aegfoundation.org for more information on the different funds and scholarships, and how to donate.

• Doug Boyer gave the Communications Committee report requesting that Section Chairs encourage submittals to the E&EG Journal. He also requested that Sections solicit advertisers for the AEG NEWS in order to help offset the cost for the recently added color photos. Additionally, AEG is working with AIPG to develop a joint issue of AEG NEWS focusing on students, which will come out in the Spring of 2009.

• AEG members can become members of IAEG for $17 or $50 if they wish to receive The Bulletin.

• The Strategic Planning Committee, chaired by Paul Hale, intends to focus on updating the website, continuing the Visiting Professionals Program through the Student and Young Professionals Support Committee, and surveying the membership again to guide the SP workshop for the 2009 Mid-year Board Meeting.

• All present Section Chairs answered two questions: What’s working for your section? What challenges are you (the Section) facing that Headquarters could assist you with? Section reports will be available on the website.

• The Advocacy Committee led a workshop on Licensure. Four break-out groups came up with several ways that AEG can be more proactive in promoting and supporting Sections regarding licensure and associated legislation. An ad-hoc committee will be established to compile pertinent information on licensing and implement the recommendations of the workshop.

• The Board approved the San Joaquin Chapter of the Sacramento Section and four new student chapters: University of Missouri – Kansas City, Fresno State, Cal Poly Pomona, and California State Univ. - Chico. Two more are pending formal application.

• The Board supported AEG looking into co-hosting the International Landslide Symposium in 2012 with the Canadian Geotechnical Society in Banff and co-hosting a Geohazards Conference in Central America with GSA.

• The Joint Task Force on Areas of Practice (JTFAP) draft document has been prepared. The Task Force includes members from AEG, ASCE-GeoInstitute, and AIPG and the document is under review by each organization’s Board members. After Board review, the Task Force will review the comments and prepare a revised draft for general membership review from each organization.

• In the upcoming year, the Governance Committee, co-chaired by Andrea Prince and Dale Andrews, will take a look at the governance structure of the organization again, and will revisit the issue of Board size as it relates to efficiency. The GC will work with Headquarters to inform incoming Board members about the Director’s Handbook.

• Planning for the 2009 Shelmon Specialty Conference to be in the Midwest on the New Madrid Fault system is going well. The Board is in support of a second Shlemon Specialty Conference on Ground Rupture Regulation in California in February 2009. A formal approval will be voted on after a budget is presented to the Board via email in October.

• The next Board meeting will be April 18-19, 2009 in Seattle, WA.