AAEA Executive Board Meeting Minutes
April 7, 2000
Ames, Iowa

The Executive Board Meeting of the American Agricultural Economics Association was held at the Gateway Holiday Inn in Ames. President John Antle welcomed Board members and guests.

1. The board agenda was reviewed and the following additions and changes were made.
   • Section III, Meet with IAMA representatives was removed. IAMA representatives were unable to attend the meeting.
   • Section VI, Action Items, add AAEA Office Report by Donna Dunn
      

2. The minutes of the December 3 and 4, Executive Board Meeting were reviewed for approval. Board members requested to hold the review of the minutes until Saturday April 8, until all members had an opportunity to review.

3. E-mail decisions made by the Board members since the December 3 meeting were entered into record.

   1. Merrill Lynch account was established to sell stock donated to AAEA
   2. The formation of the Food Safety Section was approved as a section with probationary status.
      
      

   Motion: Julie Caswell moved to enter both e-mail decisions into the record. Seconded by J.B. Penn. Approved.

4. Choices Editor Paul Barkley informed the Board of the number of inquires on Choices article copies. University instructors request permission to reprint Choices articles for their courses. Copyright Clearance Center currently provides permission services for AAEA. It was concluded that there are more benefits to AAEA and Choices by leaving this service free. The Board recommended a policy be made for extraordinary use of Choices , and that the pricing be established by the AAEA office.

5. The AAEA office had been instructed by the Board in the December 3, 1999, Board Meeting to research an Annual Meeting rotation. Nancy Herselius proposed locations for both a four-and five-year rotational cycles for the AAEA Annual Meeting. A four-year rotation with the fourth year as a "wild card" year or a five-year rotation with the fourth year in Canada and the fifth year added as a "wild card" were proposed. John Antle recommended working into the rotation by holding the Annual Meetings in the designated cities. He will address the rotation through the President's letter in the AAEA newsletter.

   Motion: Rob King moved that AAEA initiate a move toward establishing a rotation of meeting sites with three regular cities and one wild card city. Cities tentatively identified as reoccurring sites are Baltimore, Long Beach and Denver. A final decision will be made after one meeting in each city. Seconded by Bruce Gardner. Approved.

6. Following the decision on a proposed annual meeting rotation, the discussion of 2004 annual meeting sites was limited to Denver. The locations for the upcoming annual meetings are 2001-Chicago, 2002-Long Beach, 2003-Montreal.

   Motion: Ron Knutson moved that the 2004 AAEA Annual Meeting be held in Denver. Seconded by Bob Taylor. Approved.

7. Richard Shumway proposed making AAEA Nominating Committee members ineligible for nomination to AAEA election positions during their 3-year term on the committee. Several committee members have been nominated for Executive or Foundation Board positions. Some members have declined nomination while others have resigned from the committee so that their names could be considered. The proposal would eliminate a potential conflict of interest and keep a fully constituted committee.

   Motion: Richard Shumway moved that Nominating Committee members be ineligible for nomination during the three-year committee term. Seconded by J.B. Penn. Approved .

8. Richard Shumway recommended that conference calls involving committee discussion of direct service to AAEA operations be paid by AAEA. This would include the Nominating Committee and Fellows Selection Committee along with the Executive Board and Foundation Governing Board conference calls. Currently AAEA pays for a conference call service by the minute and members pay for the long distance call from their phones. The AAEA office has changed providers and will be able to provide a toll-free service to those members without a substantial increase in cost. This can be done without amending the current operating policies.

9. Not all Selected Papers for the AAEA Annual Meeting are being placed on AgEcon Search. Richard Shumway recommended that all selected papers be submitted to AgEcon Search before they can be scheduled and presented at the AAEA Annual Meeting. If the paper is not submitted, then the individual would not be allowed to present.

   Motion: Ron Knutson moved that AAEA require submissions of selected papers to AgEcon Search before scheduling them on the Annual Meeting program. Seconded by Bruce Gardner. Approved.

10. A proposal was presented by John Antle to have the stipends for the AAEA Board President and President-Elect, retained by the AAEA office and issued on a reimbursement basis rather than the current practice of sending the stipend to the home institution. The existing policy originated at a time when the President and President-elect utilized more support services of their home institutions. That has changed with the increased level of support from the AAEA office. Reimbursements will be based on expenses incurred by the President and President-Elect in exercising their duties as officers, up to the current stipend amounts of $3,000 for the President Elect and $5,000 for the President.

    Motion: J. B. Penn moved that a stipend amount be budgeted, but retained by the AAEA office and issued on a reimbursement basis for expenses incurred by the President and President-elect in exercising their duties as officers. Seconded by Rob King. Approved.

11. Discussion moved to Board meeting materials being provided through the website. Unapproved Board Minutes will be e-mailed first to President for review, then to the other Board members. Minutes for Board members' review will be sent within two weeks after the meeting. Board materials will be available electronically to Board members at least two weeks prior to the Board meeting.

12. Betty Eckebrecht introduced Sue Chantline, of Meriwether Wilson & Co. PLC, from West Des Moines, IA. Meriwether Wilson is the CPA firm doing the AAEA audit. Sue gave an overview of the 1999 AAEA audit, its purpose, and how it was conducted. She discussed what would be contained in a management letter from the auditors including internal controls, areas for improvement and the challenges presented by a small office.

13. The Board went into executive session to discuss fellows selection.

14. The Executive Board considered nominations for the AAEA Fellows. Discussion followed on the high quality of those nominated, the number of fellows allowed by AAEA Operating Policies and the number of members of the Association with the credentials to become fellows.

    Motion: Richard Shumway moved to change the AAEA operating policies to permit the AAEA Executive Board to select up to five individuals to be named AAEA Fellows in any given year. Seconded by Rob King.
    Motion Amendment: J.B. Penn moved to amend the motion to make the motion read "up to six…" Seconded by Ron Knutson. Amendment passed. Amended motion approved.

15. The Executive Board reviewed the December 1999 minutes. The Board discussed increasing the amount of discussion presented in the minutes. Changes and corrections to the minutes were discussed.

    Motion: Ron Knutson moved to approve the minutes as edited with all additions and corrections included. Seconded by Richard Shumway. Approved.

16. The Board meeting was adjourned for the day at 5:30 p.m.

    The Executive Board Meeting reconvened Saturday, April 8, at 8:30 a.m.

    Attending:	John Antle, Bruce Gardner, Bob Taylor, J.B. Penn, Ron Knutson, Rob King, Julie Caswell, Richard Shumway
    Absent:	Steve Buccola
    Ex-Officio:	Donna Dunn, Paul Barkley, Gail Cramer, Spiro Stefanou
    Guests:	Betty Eckebrecht, Pam Davis

17. Donna Dunn reported on a number of office activities and informed the Board about several issues.

    • The Communications Specialist, Adam Jerdee's, resignation
    • The upcoming installation of the new accounting package to link with the AAEA database
    • The fair market value of the Association as of the end of March was $1,812,000
    • The fair market value of the AAEA Foundation was $1,225,000
    • Contact by the Agricultural Law Association regarding the possibility of AAEA handling their executive and office procedures
    • Discussion about AAEA providing membership services to the SAEA

    
    The Board discussed the issue of AAEA providing services to other organizations, and expressed the view that the Executive Director should further explore these possibilities and keep the Board informed as new information becomes available.

18. Gail Cramer, Editor of the Review of Agricultural Economics , reported on the journal schedule and the first draft with Blackwell Publishers. The Spring/Summer 2000 issue will be mailed around May 19 and the deadline for papers for the Fall/Winter issues is July 21. A name change for the RAE has been discussed with the Editorial Council of the RAE . The Council has also considered the possibility of publishing three issues of the RAE. It was decided to consult with Blackwell Publishers on the name change and the cost and benefits of three issues relative to the current two issues a year.

19. Spiro Stefanou, Editor of the American Journal of Agricultural Economics, discussed the development of a protocol for the executive summaries and indicated that the editors will have this protocol ready by the next Board meeting. Publication difficulties with Blackwell Publishers and the first issue of 2000 were discussed. The "blast e-mail" for the first on-line issue of the current AJAE went well. There have been a number of requests for back issues also to be available online. Discussions on sources and costs followed. The process of the outgoing and incoming AJAE Editors is in its last phase. The new editors are now receiving the November articles.

20. Paul Barkley, editor of Choices Magazine, reported the first issue for 2000 was complete, and issues were distributed to individuals in the meeting. Clear Window Communications, the new publishers, were reported as being innovative and very knowledgeable. Article length continues to be the biggest challenge for Choices . The publication is mailed quarterly and the schedule for mailing has fallen to the end of the quarter. Paul and Clear Window will be moving the printing and mailing of the publications forward by two weeks each quarter until the issues are mailed at the first of the quarter. A special issue on the "Food Quality Protection Act" is scheduled for 2000. A list of complementary issues is also being re-established to promote the magazine.

21. Donna Dunn reported on the progress of the Euro Choices and ongoing discussions with Harry Ayer. John Antle will contact John Davis of the British Society of Agricultural Economics regarding a feasibility study and the future of Euro Choices. Board members discussed the original proposal of the Euro Choices joint publication.

    It was recommended that the mission statement of AJAE, RAE and Choices be included as part of the AAEA Operating Policies.

22. Richard Shumway reported for the Nominating Committee. AAEA 2000 candidates for President-Elect are Jean Kinsey and Daniel Sumner. Candidates for Executive Board Directors are Adesoji Adelaja, Joseph Glauber, Catherine Kling, and Alan Randall. Foundation Governing Board Director candidates are Joyce Cacho, Neilson Conklin, Eduardo Segarra, and Carl Zulauf.

23. John Antle reviewed the request from the Industry Committee co-chairs to place an edited version of the Industry Track presentations in the AJAE as one of the principal paper submissions. After discussion of the merits of this proposal, the Board indicated support for the proposal on an experimental basis if the Industry Committee co-chairs can meet the AJAE 's production deadlines. Spiro Stefanou indicated he would provide the President with the production schedule deadlines.

    Motion: Richard Shumway moved to delegate to the President the decision to include a set of Industry track papers in the proceedings issue of the the AJAE. Seconded by Bruce Gardner. Approved.

24. AAEA's strategic plan, organizational structure and the relationship to current committees and sections were addressed. The President's letter in the January/February Exchange initiated a discussion on vision and mission as well as organizational structure. The Board expressed the view that there was consensus about the "big tent" vision for the AAEA. The issue was not whether the AAEA will pursue that vision, but rather how it will implement programs to pursue that vision. There was also consensus about the vision statement as presented in The Exchange: AAEA strives to be the leading professional organization for all economists who work in agriculture, food, resource and allied fields.

    The Board dismissed for lunch at 12:00 and reconvened at 12:45.

25. The board discussed the annual meeting as one area where changes would advance AAEA in pursuit of the vision. The proposal presented offers increased opportunity for committees and sections to play an expanded role in the annual meetings. The Board discussed alternative ways that tracks could be included in the annual meeting.

    Motion: Ron Knutson moved that committees and sections be invited to submit track proposals, subject to oversight and approval of the Board. The tracks could be of various lengths (one day, two days, two afternoons, etc.) to meet the needs of the committee or section. If the committee or section wished to have one of its sessions designated as a principal paper session, which would subsequently be published in the AJAE, it would need to submit that proposed session to the principal papers competition. Track proposals would be accepted on the same time line as principal paper proposals, generally due October 15. Each committee or section that did not submit a track proposal would be allocated one free session or organized symposia per meeting. Seconded by Bruce Garner. Approved.

26. The Board discussion addressed the issue of committees as they relate to the operation or governance of the association. The Board recognized that the existing committee structure is likely to need reorganization in the near future as some committees become sections. It was also recognized that some committees have not been active, and their status needs to be reassessed.

    The next Executive Board meeting will be held before the Annual Meeting in Tampa, Fla., on July 28-29, 2000.

    The meeting was adjourned at 4:30 p.m., Saturday, April 8, 2000.

    Respectfully submitted,
    Donna French Dunn
    Executive Director