1. Donna Dunn has collected thank you notes from travel grant recipients that Board members are welcome to review.
   
2. Several collections of journals were sent to underdeveloped nations and Dunn received a wonderful thank you letter from Zimbabwe that Board members can read at the conclusion of the meeting.
   
3. Progress reports also are available from the 2001 Farm Credit/Small Farmer scholarship recipients.

Minutes of August 2001 meeting were reviewed.

Motion: Ron Knutson moved to approve the minutes as presented. Todd Petzel seconded. Motion carried unanimously.

Finance Committee report

1. Financial reports and budget
   
   1. A budget worksheet was distributed for use during the upcoming funding discussion. A comparison of the 2001 and 2002 budgets for budgeted amounts versus actual spending was presented. Also included was a spreadsheet detailing the last seven years of spending and the endowment/Appreciation Club balances as of Dec. 31, 2001. Ten thousand dollars remains in 2001 budget as Congressional Science Fellow set-aside monies pending a decision on that program from the Association Executive Board.
      
   2. It was recommended that the Board revise the Foundation Operating Policies concerning the Foundation's policy for carrying funds from one budget year to the next. Current practices do not reflect what is detailed in the policies. That item was added to the "Other Business" section of the agenda for Board action.
      
   3. Clarification was requested for the origin of the Foundation's allotment of six percent of the three-year rolling average of the endowment to spendable funds. This number is purely an historical figure.
   4. The Endowment fund balance as of Dec. 31, 2001, is $1,192,219. The year-to-date losses for the investment portfolio total $55,683.

2. Appreciation Clubs report
   

   1. Potential 2002 clubs
      
      1. Vice President of Programs Mary Marchant reported that the Alex McCalla club has appointed an organizing committee including Stan Johnson, Kelly White, Per Pinstrup Andersen, Giovanni Anania, John Antle, Nicole Ballenger and Colin Carter. This group has held off on fundraising throughout the fall, and now will need the help of the AAEA office to get this club on track for chartering at the August meetings.
         
      2. Dunn has been in contact with Robert Taylor regarding the potential Baker/Swanson club. An organizing committee has been formed and is moving forward for having this club chartered in August.
         
      3. A group out of the University of Florida is coordinating the George Ladd club. The fund has already received $5,000 in donations from a family foundation. The official fund drive will start very soon and the club is planned for charter in August.
         
      4. Segarra commended each Foundation board member for their involvement in getting these clubs organized.

   2. Potential 2003 clubs
      

   1. There had been discussion regarding a club honoring Harold Brimeyer. It was suggested that this club be pursued for 2003 chartering.
      
   2. The Foundation Board discussed exploring ways to add more diversity to the group of individuals honored with Appreciation Clubs. Otto Doering has offered to explore the 1890 Land Grant schools for individuals who may be potential Appreciation Club honorees.
      
   3. Stan Johnson and Segarra will work together to contact the organizers of those clubs that are currently below the charter level.
      
   4. Potential clubs were suggested for 2003.

3. Fundraising event for Long Beach
   Dunn visited Long Beach in November and noted the significant transformation that has occurred in that city in past years. Dunn and AAEA Meeting Coordinator Joan Greiner looked at several venues for the fundraising event. The Aquarium of the Pacific is only four blocks from the hotel and easily accessible by foot or via Long Beach's free bus system. They are looking at hosting a dinner and a behind-the-scenes tour of the aquarium, ending with a viewing of the fireworks display launched from the Queen Mary. This event should be something of interest to many meeting attendees and would allow people time to interact. Also, it would appeal broadly to members who are attending the meeting with their families. Other suggestions included a day tour of the Port of Long Beach.

4. Investments
   The year-end report from the Vanguard Group had not arrived when AAEA staff left the office for the Board meeting. As soon as it is available AAEA Chief Financial Officer Betty Eckebrecht will have it in the mail to the Board. It was suggested that the Board invite its Vanguard advisor to the August meeting to hear her thoughts in regard to the market turn-around, etc. Todd Petzel's employer conducts a survey each year of the spending policies of several comparable associations and will make the survey results available to the Board in case a review of the Foundation's current policy is warranted.

Program Committee report

1. Marchant thanked program subcommittee members Enrique Figueroa and Roberta Cook for their efforts. Dunn also provided advisory insight to the subcommittee's work.

2. The call for proposals to be funded in 2002 highlighted the five priority areas of the AAEA Foundation. Fifteen new proposals were submitted for consideration.

3. Proposal review
   

   1. Travel grants for African professionals to participate in free session - $6,000 allocated from the African Travel Grant Carryover in 2001.
      
   2. Travel grants for minority students to 2002 PAWC Conference - approved request for $5,000 for travel to the 2002 meeting.
      
   3. "Globalization and Agriculture, Rural Poverty and the Environment" workshop proposal - funds may be made available pending the submission of a revised proposal.
      
   4. "Sprawl in Southern California" paper session sponsored by Community Economics Section - funding request of $1,000 denied based on incomplete information provided in the proposal.
      
   5. Scholarships for pre-conference workshop sponsored by AEM section - approved request for $2,250.
      
   6. Committee on Women in Agricultural Economics (CWAE) pre-conference workshop on diversity - granted $3,500.
      
   7. Graduate student section reception - approved request for $2,400.
      
   8. Graduate student survey by CWAE subcommittee - approved request for $320.
      
   9. "Ag in the Classroom" teaching modules on economics of the food system - Board granted request of $5,000.
      
   10. Proposal for digitizing the "Journal of Agricultural and Applied Economics" - approved request for $3,412.
       
   11. Proposal for one year of operating funds for the Student Section of AAEA - request of $5,000 approved and an additional $1,000 granted for use in outreach efforts to undergraduate students at the 1890 Land Grant institutions.
       
   12. "Comprehensive Survey of Agricultural Economist and Agribusiness Compensation" proposal - funding request of $5,500 denied on the basis that this activity would be carried out by the AAEA Employment Services Committee.
       
   13. Internet-based scheduling system for annual meeting Employment Center - funding request was initially for $10,000. The Board decided to fund the activity at the $5,000 level with an evaluation of the method by which the Employment Center distributes information about applicants to employers.
       
   14. C-FARE proposal for priority-setting sessions - funds may be made available pending a report from C-FARE regarding the timing of the completion of this work and more details on the parties involved in the priority-setting work. The Board also discussed inviting a representative from the C-FARE board of directors to present a report on the Council's activities at the Foundation Board's August meeting.
       
   15. Teaching & Learning Committee pre-conference - awarded $4,500.
       
   16. Travel Grants - the Board set aside $9,000 to fund travel grants for graduate students and minority professionals to the annual meeting in Long Beach.

Other Business

1. Task Force Progress Report
   Alan Randall, chair of the Foundation Enhancement Task Force, reported on the results of the first meeting of the task force. The group has started their work by examining the character of the Foundation, which is still relatively small and very endowment-oriented in comparison to comparable foundations. Randall hopes the group's work will encourage the Foundation to become more outward-looking and explore the options of selling sponsorships and becoming more active in the role of providing information to larger publics, as the Association has articulated in its new vision statement.

   The group will begin meeting via monthly conference calls. The first call, scheduled for February, will cover the topics of a new mission statement for the Foundation and possible sources of sponsorships. Later calls will address comparisons between the AAEA Foundation and other comparable groups. The group looks to make a semi-final report by the August Foundation meeting.

2. Production of Foundation Annual Report
   The production of the Foundation's annual report must wait each year for the audited financial statements for the Association and the Foundation. This year's audit is not scheduled until April 2002. The Board discussed the possible economies available in moving the end of the Association's fiscal year to another point in the year. This issue will be brought to the attention of the Executive Board at its next meeting.

3. Sylvia Lane Mentorship Fund
   Dunn has been working with CWAE Chair Margot Rudstrom to increase the balance of the Sylvia Lane Mentorship Fund. CWAE plans to offer the mentorship to applicants this year.

4. Farm Credit Scholarships
   The Farm Credit System Foundation has come through with $8,000 to offer the Young, Beginning and Small Farmer scholarships in 2002. Dunn has received progress reports from both the 2001 scholarship recipients. Marchant will work with the Farm Credit representatives to select the 2002 winners.

5. Carryover Funds issue in Operating Policies
   As noted in the budget discussion, the current practices of the Foundation regarding carryover funds do not match the operating policies.

   Motion: Todd Petzel moved to modify the operating policies to increase flexibility in the carrying-over of funds for up to three years (for non-assigned funds). Joyce Cacho seconded. Motion carried unanimously.

Assignments

1. A new appointed member of the Foundation Board must be named by the August meeting of the Foundation. Segarra asked for Board members to forward the names of potential members, along with a brief biographical sketch, to him by the second week of February.

2. The Program Committee will work with the AAEA office to set up minimum standards for screening funding proposals. These standards should include itemized budgets for each proposal, a target audience for each activity, a cross-reference for proposals that are scheduled in conjunction with other AAEA activities, and a clause detailing that the Foundation will not fund activities that have already taken place. Cook will work with Dunn to craft these standards.