1. President Kinsey called the meeting to order at 8:07 a.m. and thanked Susan Offutt for making the meeting arrangements. Kinsey announced that CHOICES editor Paul Barkley has experienced serious heart problems and has resigned from his editorship. Kinsey and AAEA Executive Director Donna Dunn are in the process of making arrangements and contacting the CHOICES associate editors to take over the remaining issues of Paul's contract. If any Board members have suggestions for individuals to contact, please see Kinsey.
   
   

2. Minutes of January board meeting

   Motion: Ron Knutson moved to approve, Bruce Gardner seconded. Motion carried unanimously.

   Other issues from January's meeting
   President Kinsey noted that the Finance Committee was charged with examining the return on investment policy. The committee will do this before the next budget year.

   The proposed Senior Section is protesting the Board's January decision to remove the age requirement from that section's by-laws. Dunn will consult with legal counsel to see what the ramifications are for leaving the age distinction in the by-laws. Offutt suggested language to express the intent of the section without excluding members.

   Employment Services Committee salary survey - the chair of the committee has been notified, and the survey will be done.

   100th Anniversary Task Force - Kinsey has not appointed this group yet, but will do so before August.

   
   

3. Fiscal Year discussion
   AAEA CFO Betty Eckebrecht prepared an issue paper on the possibility of switching AAEA's fiscal year end. Eckebrecht's recommendation is to delay the switch of the fiscal year end until 2007, at which point a switch to a March 31 fiscal-year end will be the preferred action.

   
   

4. Fellows selection
   The Board moved into Executive Session at 8:20 a.m.

   The Board made a revision to the composition of the Fellows Selection Committee. Terms of service on the committee will change from five-year appointments to three-year appointments, with two new members appointed each year. The committee will then consist of six members in addition to the immediate past president.

   The Board reconvened at 9:58 a.m.

5. Report of the Communications Working Group
   Rob King, chair of the Communications Working Group, presented the group's final report to the Executive Board.

   The Communications Working Group was charged with assessing AAEA's internal and external communications efforts and recommending appropriate actions. The working group was to explore options on ways to achieve the goals, develop a communications plan and provide recommendations concerning existing communications materials produced by AAEA to the Executive Board.

   King presented a preliminary report to the Board at its January meeting and briefly reviewed that report. Since January, the group has been examining data on the costs of various alternative production methods for CHOICES and has prepared a revised version of the CHOICES editorial structure.

   Members of the working group conducted interviews with extension communication professionals at four different universities. King shared the results of those interviews with the group. The group also conducted a readership survey for CHOICES, sent to all AAEA members and all non-member subscribers. The survey results indicated that all respondents had a high level of familiarity with CHOICES, as well as a fairly high level of interest in and anticipated use of on-line versions of CHOICES articles. The working group used this data to form three alternatives for CHOICES - electronic publication only, electronic publication with some type of printed newsletter notification, and print distribution of a quarterly magazine (status quo). The working group did not make a specific recommendation, but polled the group members on their preferred alternative. The majority preferred the second alternative, combining print newsletter and electronic publication.

   Discussion followed. The Board recognized the unique member service provided by CHOICES and determined that CHOICES should continue to be edited by an academic editor and published solely on the Web as a means of member education and information exchange. A technical editor will make the articles Web-ready. On-line access will be open to members and non-members and will be included with membership dues to all members. Members will receive e-mail notices of new articles and user statistics for the on-line versions will be carefully monitored. The format will allow for flexibility in posting times and the length/format of articles. AAEA will seek outside funding to place prior issues of CHOICES on-line. The on-line version will replace the printed copy beginning in 2003.

   Motion: Ron Knutson moved to adopt the above recommendation. Bruce Gardner seconded. The motion carried with eight votes in favor of adoption.

   Joe Glauber and David Zilberman will coordinate the search for the next CHOICES editor. Kinsey will appoint members to serve on the search committee, with Glauber and Zilberman's input.

   Kinsey has contacted several individuals to replace current CHOICES Editor Barkley for the remainder of this year. Dunn will work with the current publisher to begin putting this year's remaining three issues of CHOICES on-line so that members will receive both the electronic and print copies. King has encountered some frequently-asked questions about CHOICES during his work with the working group and will compile these questions for publication in the next newsletter and on the Web site.

   Knutson moved to commend King for his leadership and the entire Communications Working Group for its efforts on these issues.

6. 2005 meeting location
   Baltimore, Md., and Providence, R.I., were the two options presented to the Board for consideration as the site of the 2005 Annual Meeting. Dunn and AAEA Meeting Coordinator Joan Greiner visited both cities in February to view the facilities and meet with hotel and convention bureau staff. Baltimore's convention center would be shared with another group during the AAEA meeting, and the host hotels are located across a busy street from the convention center. The city is good for entertainment but very expensive, and the costs for the Baltimore convention center are more than double the cost of the Providence facilities. Providence is much like Long Beach in terms of accommodations and size. Providence's downtown area has revitalized in past years, and the location of surrounding hotels lends itself very well to the configuration of AAEA's meeting. Travel to Providence is very easy with air and train access and close proximity to Boston and New England attractions.

   The board agreed by consensus to select Providence as the site for the 2005 meeting.

7. RAE editorial council
   Offutt shared the editors' goal to have the review and publication process be a turnkey operation that editors can pass off to the next team. The current editorial team is making adjustments to the way the journal is produced and wants some type of advisory committee from which to gather feedback on these changes. The regional associations have each named a representative to this committee. AAEA sections and other affiliated organizations suggested names that have been added to the committee roster. That roster is appended to these minutes. The editors have revised the editorial policy and will have an article for the newsletter this summer explaining the revised policy.

   Motion: Ron Knutson moved to approve the proposed RAE Editorial Council. Rob King seconded. Motion approved unanimously.

   Information for electronic publication of the RAE and AJAE in 2003 is in Dunn's office for review. Dunn and Offutt will work on a written proposal for electronic publication to be sent to the Board for review before June.

   The transition to new RAE editorial team and the turnaround process has been very slow. The editors will be developing a new set of performance measures to show the aging of submissions, and also are investigating an electronic submission process that would allow submitters to track the status of their work.

   Two new Executive Board members will be elected this summer and will be considered for appointment as board liaisons to the RAE Editorial Council.

8. Image/Name Change Task Force
   Kinsey has appointed a task force to investigate the image of the association. The results of this group's work could determine whether a name change for the association is needed. The declining membership in the association and declining enrollment in academic programs prompted this desire to look at the association and why individuals would or would not want to join the association. The task force consists of Steve Buccola (chair), Donna Dunn (ex officio), Jerry Fletcher, George Hoffman, Jean Kinsey (Board liaison), Rulon Pope, Kathy Segerson and Laura Teihen.

   The task force is working to compile case histories of several professional organizations that have been faced with name and image issues similar to AAEA's in recent years. The task force also is collecting data on the activity fields of AAEA members with a view to seeing how the work of AAEA members has changed over the years. The group also plans to seek funding to hire a professional firm to conduct a study of AAEA members' constituents to assess AAEA's external image. Constituents might include policy analysts, academics in allied fields, prospective graduate and undergraduate students, funding agencies and AAEA members. The group hopes to have all these activities completed before this year's annual meeting.

   King suggested that this task force be connected with the Graduate Student Section for its input on the image of the association, and perhaps find a way to have the two groups meet in Long Beach

9. Selected Paper/Selected Poster issues
   Daniel Pick, chair of 2002 Selected Paper Committee, joined the Board to provide an update on the selected paper process for this year. This year the acceptance rate was 47 percent. Pick selected topic leaders for each area and the topic leaders chose the reviewers. The reviewers examined each abstract and sent their reviews to Pick for his decision on which papers to accept for presentation. Pick believes there are many inconsistencies in review process and reviewers need to be better informed about what their rankings mean. Pick suggested that, in future years, the topic leaders assign abstracts to reviewers to ensure that reviewers have knowledge in the specific area addressed in each abstract. Pick cited the need for changes in the review form, since reviewers now read only a two-page abstract rather than the complete paper. Pick was very impressed with qualifications of the reviewers who volunteered this year.

   Concerns were raised regarding the current practice of allowing rejected selected paper submitters to submit their work as a potential selected poster. It was noted that this process denigrates the value of posters, and posters should be considered as a valuable way of conveying information. It was proposed that rejected selected paper submitters should not be allowed to submit for poster review and vice versa.

   Motion: Cathy Kling moved to adopt the above proposal. Offutt seconded. Motion carried unanimously.

10. Other Business
    First quarter variance reports were distributed to the Board. The AAEA staff has met to review their departmental budgets for the first quarter. The staff is concerned about the bank charges and credit card processing fees and is investigating services available from other financial institutions. It was noted that the spending amount AAEA can withdraw from the investment account is down because the total value of the investment account is down.

    Kinsey is organizing a session at the European Association meeting in Zaragoza on behalf of the association. The session will be devoted to a discussion of what the developed world can do to better help the progress of lesser-developed countries. Kinsey thanked Past-President Bruce Gardner for his help in organizing this session

    Dunn has had inquiries from other associations about taking over management of their groups as the association current does for the American Agricultural Law Association. She will continue following up with these groups and report back to the Board.

11. Adjourn
    Rob King moved to adjourn the meeting. Cathy Kling seconded. There being no objection, meeting was adjourned at 3:39 p.m.

April 12, 2002
TO: AAEA Board of Directors

FROM: Neil Conklin, Kathryn Lipton, Susan Offutt, Kitty Smith, Scott Swinton
Review of Agricultural Economics Editorial Team

SUBJECT: Selectees and Nominees for RAE Editorial Council

The current Review of Agricultural Economics (RAE) Editorial Team would like to propose for your approval the establishment of a new RAE Editorial Council, comprised of individuals who (with one exception) would serve through the remainder of our term as Editors.

We do not intend the Editorial Council members to act as a supplemental cadre of journal peer reviewers. Rather, our intent is to use the Council as a source of advice, consultation, and input into journal policy decision making. Consequently, we hope to work with an Editorial Council that represents as broad a sample as possible of different perspectives and professional backgrounds

In accordance with AAEA bylaws, we asked the regional associations each to name an individual to serve on the RAE Editorial Council. Those individuals selected by the regional associations are:

Molly Espey, Clemson Univ. (SAEA)
John Halstead, Univ. New Hampshire (NAREA)
Doug Larson, Univ. Calif.-Davis (WAEA)

We request an AAEA Executive Board member of your choice to act as liaison between the Board and RAE and make contributions as an Editorial Council member.

In addition, we gave each AAEA Section, as well as each of the affiliated organizations, AERE, IAAE, IAMA, and CAES, an opportunity to nominate individuals as potential members of the RAE Editorial Council. From this solicitation, and our own selection of nominees to round out the slate, we have the following, additional group to propose to you for approval as RAE Editorial Council members.

Enefiok Ekanem, Tennessee State Univ. (nominated by COSBAE)
Joan Fulton, Purdue Univ.
Ellen Goddard, Univ. of Alberta (nominated by CAES)
Robbin Johnson, Cargill
Joe Parcell, Univ. Missouri (nominated by Extension Section)
Prabhu Pingali, CIMMYT (nominated by IAAE)
Warren Preston, Agricultural Marketing Service, USDA (nominated by FAMPS)
Aslihan Spaulding, University of Kentucky (nominated as President of the
Graduate Student Section. NOTE: The GSS Section representative will be
GSS President in any given year)
David Sunding, Univ. of California-Berkeley
Lauriann Unnevehr, Univ. of Illinois (nominated by Food Safety Section)

Thank you for considering this slate of candidates; one that we feel does represent the spectrum of regions, backgrounds and perspectives we need for a broadly useful and responsive RAE.