The executive board meeting of the American Agricultural Economics Association was called to order on February 26, 1999 at 3:00 pm, in the Lombard Room of the Sheraton at Fisherman's Wharf. Board members and guests were extended a welcome by President Richard Shumway, and changes to the agenda were addressed. .

1. The minutes of the November 6-7 Executive Board were reviewed and the following corrections were made:
   • Item 12, motion, second line, change possible to "possibly". Fourth line of the same paragraph change might to "will".

   • Item 16, paragraph four, second sentence, changed to "will inform the Extension Section president and other section and committee chairs of editor candidates and seek input."

   • Item 20, third line, change if to "it".

   • Item 29, second paragraph, second sentence, remove the quote sign between "good marks." Change the third and fourth sentences to read "The organized symposia also had high ratings, with several recommendations for fewer symposia. Selected paper evaluations reflected an overall good balance, that visuals were helpful and there was generally efficient timing from moderators."

   Discussion on the minutes continued and were approved as corrected.

2. Three email board decisions were ratified and moved into the record.
   1. Approved the proposed investment policy. (Initial asset allocation of 65% equities, 35% bonds. (That discretion be given to the fund advisors to rebalance the portfolio from the initial allocation within a range of 10 percentage points higher and 5 percentage points lower for equities, i.e., between 75%-25% and 60%-40%. (The portfolio balance is reviewed quarterly.)

   2. Approved renewing membership for 1999 with the Council of Professional Associations on Federal Statistics.

   3. Approved the Choices advisory board nominees.

3. Walt Armbruster represented the Bylaws Review Committee and reported on their objectives for the Constitution and Bylaws. The committee will report to the executive board their recommendations by the first of April. Upon the executive board's approval a newsletter article will be published prior to the annual meeting with the recommendations. The committee will bring their recommendations to the annual meeting in August for membership approval.

4. Shumway began discussion on the current dues structure and presented a letter from Giancarlo Moschini of Iowa State University. Cost issues were reviewed. It was noted that current policy authorizes differential membership fees for members in other countries to cover differences in mailing costs. The AAEA Office will assure that international membership fees do not exceed mailing cost differences in 2000. The AAEA Office will correct the agency subscription rates listed on the web site. The issue of considering differences in demand elasticities when setting international membership rates was also discussed. Because those differences have not been documented and because part of the journal outsourcing discussions concern pricing policy for individuals and members in developing countries, this recommendation was deferred until after a decision on outsourcing the journals is made.

5. Donna Dunn presented a report from the ASAE Foundation on future trends for associations. A recommendation was made for one issue of the AAEA Newsletter to be sent out electronically as a test.

6. The board went into executive session to discuss fellows selection.

7. Bob Taylor presented, on behalf of the Foundation Governing Board, an essay contest proposal. The recommendation had been presented to the AAEA Foundation and had been forwarded to the executive board. It was recommended to have a committee develop a topic and details for the essay contest. The committee is: Steve Buccola as chair, Walt Armbruster, Claudia Parliament, and Harry Ayer. A conference call will take place in April to consider their recommendations.

8. A proposal was presented from the Professional Activities Committee to have a Fellows Retrospective as a regularly scheduled organized symposium at each annual meeting. The committee offered to organize the retrospective for the first few years. Discussion followed.

   Motion: Armbruster moved to have a "Fellows' Retrospective" every year at the annual meeting. Penn seconded. Approved.

9. Armbruster reported for the Nominating Committee. Discussion followed.

10. A report was given by Armbruster on the CAST seminar, Conversations on Change, held in San Antonio. The seminar was attended earlier in February by Walt Armbruster, Donna Dunn, Gerald Campbell and Stephanie Mercier. Recommendation was to continue engagement with the program and its initiatives.

11. Donna Dunn reported on the progress of the Congressional Science Fellowship applications. With no objections, the Board authorized the Congressional Science Fellowship Committee to carry over allocated AAEA funds for the fellow to next year if it chooses not to recommend a candidate for appointment this year.

12. C-FARE issues and activities were presented by Armbruster and reviewed by the Executive Board.

13. John Antle presented the recommendation from the AJAE-RAE Outsourcing Committee. The committee found net benefits to outsourcing. The committee also made the Board aware of the potential impact of outsourcing on AAEA staff

    Motion: Antle moved to empower AAEA to enter further negotiations with Blackwell and Oxford for both journals (AJAE and RAE). Seconded by Buccola. Approved.

    Antle, Stefanou and Dunn were designated as representatives.

    The meeting adjourned at 7:00 pm.

    February 27, 1999

    The AAEA Executive Board meeting reconvened at 8:15, Saturday, February 27th.

    Members present:	Richard Shumway, John Antle, Claudia Parliament, J.B. Penn, Julie Caswell, Steve Buccola, and Bob Taylor.
    Members absent:	Walt Armbruster and Per Pinstrup-Andersen
    Guests:	Harry Ayer, Gail Cramer, and Spiro Stefanou.
    AAEA Staff:	Donna Dunn and Pam Davis

    
    
    14. Shumway presented the recommendation to reappoint Spiro Stefanou as editor to the AJAE for an additional two years.

        Motion: Caswell moved to reappoint Stefanou. Seconded by Antle. Approved.

    15. Spiro Stefanou presented an AJAE transition budget proposal for $3,600 to cover expenses from August 1999 to September 2000.

        Motion: Buccola moved to accept the budget proposal. Seconded by Caswell. Approved.

    16. Harry Ayer presented a request for funding the assessment and planning of a European edition of Choices.

        Motion: Penn moved to approve net expenditure of $4,000 for the year of 2000 for assessment and planning of the European edition of Choices. Seconded by Antle. Approved.

    17. Bylaws for the Community Economics Section were presented.

        Motion: Caswell moved the Community Economics Section be approved as a section. Seconded by Antle. Approved.

    18. The proposed bylaws for the probationary Food and Agricultural Marketing Policy Section were reviewed.

    19. Caswell was appointed to be board liaison for the Food and Agricultural Marketing Policy Section. Shumway will appoint a board liaison to the Community Economics Section later.

    20. Dunn present a proposal revising the regional rotation for annual meeting sites. The AAEA office proposed that the regions be revised into three sections -- East, Central and West. Three regions offer more potential for joint meetings and more selection of cities with suitable facilities.

        Motion: Buccola moved to approve the proposal for three regions. Seconded by Parliament. Approved.

    21. The relocation options for the 2000 AAEA Annual Meeting were reported by Dunn. Discussion followed with the recommendation that a decision be made by a conference call.

    22. Dunn also reported on the 2003 Annual Meeting location with a recommendation for Montreal.

        Motion: Bob Taylor moved to approve Montreal for 2003. Seconded by Caswell. Approved.

    23. The proposal approved at the November Executive Board Meeting for a revised check signing policy requires a change in AAEA bylaws, Article IX. Commercial Transactions, Section 5, Negotiable instruments. The following was proposed (underscores are added):

        Section 5. Negotiable instruments. All checks, drafts, notes, bonds, bills of exchange and orders for the payment of money of the association may be signed by the executive director, president, chair of the finance committee or senior staff as designated by the executive director. Instruments of value under $3,000 require one signature, $3,000 and above require two signatures. On instruments of value over $25,000, one of the signatures must be the president or chair of the finance committee.

        Motion: Penn moved approval of the new bylaw language. Seconded by Taylor. Approved.

    24. The Professional Activities Committee proposed a Learning Workshop on game theory for the 2000 Annual Meeting.

        Motion: Antle moved to approve the Learning Workshop. Seconded by Parliament. Approved.

    25. Penn reported on the recommendation by the Foundation Board to transfer the Opportunity Fund to the Foundation. Discussion followed. The Executive Board recommended scheduling a joint meeting of both boards to discuss the proposal.

    26. Penn and Dunn presented the 1998 year-end financial report.

    27. Antle reported on the principal paper sessions tentatively approved for the Annual Meeting.

        Motion: Antle moved to approve the set of revised principal paper proposals. Seconded by Buccola. Approved.

    28. Ayer reported on Choices noting that the millennium issue and discussions about a European version of Choices are progressing well.

    29. Dunn reported on possible outsourcing of Choices. A summarization from two publishers was reviewed. Shumway appointed a committee to further explore possible outsourcing of Choices -- J.B. Penn as chair, Bob Taylor, Harry Ayer and Donna Dunn. A report was requested for the August board meeting.

    30. Shumway reported on the organized symposia and free session proposals. The program committee has reviewed proposals and accepted 61 of 75 proposed sessions.

    31. Selected paper and selected poster abstract proposals were discussed by Dunn. A new method of receiving and distributing abstracts to reviewers was used this year. The process will be refined for the 2000 annual meeting.

    32. Taylor expressed a concern to the board regarding economic policy and business alliances. Discussion followed concerning the capacity of AAEA to provide forums for discussion of issues important to the agricultural economics profession and how to identify those issues in a timely manner. A recommendation was made to Taylor to submit a specific proposal to the board. A conference call will be scheduled for follow up if a majority of the board approve the proposal by email as an agenda item. Antle will work with Dunn to create proposed guidelines and a process for identifying and selecting issues for dialogue sponsorship by AAEA.

        The meeting was adjourned 12:35 pm, Saturday, February 27.

        The next Executive Board Meeting will be a conference call, to be scheduled.

        Respectfully submitted,
        Donna French Dunn
        Executive Director