Minutes: CGS Board Meeting, Palm Canyon Resort,

Saturday, March 17, 2007

Present: John Aubert (President), Jennifer Helzer (Vice President), Robin Lyons (Secretary), Dan Walsh (Treasurer), Debra Sharkey (Past President), Julie Cidell, Steven Graves, Emily Lieb Townsend, Irene Naesse, Bruce Townsend, Lin Wu, Matt Ebiner, Robert Voeks, Robert O’Keefe, (Student Representative, Southern California),

The meeting was brought to order at 5:25 PM by President John Aubert.

Irene Naesse moved that the agenda for the meeting be approved, Emily Lieb-Townsend seconded, and the motion passed unanimously.

Announcements: Craig Davis has been excused from the meeting because of the recent birth of their baby. It was also announced that Bruce Townsend would be resigning from the board for personal reasons.

Board Duties: A list of board duties was circulated by President Aubert. He announced that there is a need for a scholastic coordinator position on the board. A coordinator of merchandise purchasing is also needed. It was also mentioned that papers presented at the annual meetings should have the abstracts published, and that a board member should be responsible for this duty.

2008 Annual CGS Conference: Jennifer Helzer, Vice President, announced that next year’s annual meeting will be held at CSU Chico, May 2-4, 2008. Jaque Chase, of CSU Chico will be the meeting coordinator. The President’s house will be available for some of the events. Several of the prospective field trips were listed.

Election Results: President Aubert, reporting for Craig Davis and Dick Eigenheer, who were not able to be present at the meeting, announced the results of the recent CGS election. Vice President Jennifer Helzer was unanimously elected President by 54 votes, and Robert Voeks was elected Vice President. Craig Davis, Steven Graves and Lin Wu were all reelected to the board as well as new comers John Carroll (CSU Fullerton) and Jim Wanket (CSU Sacramento). These results were also announced at the banquet in the evening. The board approved a vote of thanks for outgoing board members Debra Sharkey and Emily Lieb Townsend for all their work on the board during the past several years.

Treasurer’s Report: Dan Walsh reported that the budget was in flux because of incomplete conference earnings and expenses. Also, the bulletin publishing expenses had not yet been billed to the CGS. There were also a few miscellaneous expenses for CGS sale items that had not yet been reported. Dan requested that people or organizations submitting bids present more complete information regarding the expenses and products. Otherwise, the financial picture of the CGS remains very positive.

Membership Report: Debra Sharkey, Past President, circulated an up-to-date CGS membership report. She also explained the student membership breakdown into two categories: student memberships with the journal and those without a journal subscriptions. In March, 2007 there were 399 members including 37 life members. The mailing list also includes 511 non-renewed members from 2004 forward.

Vendor Report: Irene Naesse reported that there has been a decline in revenue earned from vendors. A new sponsor has been found for the CGS web link. There was a large increase in raffle items donated by vendors for this conference including MapLink.

CG Editor’s Report: John Aubert, reporting for Dolly Friedel, informed the board that the CGS sponsored journal, The California Geographer, is soliciting submissions for the next issue. He also reported that the timing of the publication is improving. The archive of old journals was thoroughly scanned, published and bound for the complete past volumes of the CG. These will be made available at subscribing libraries through EBSCO.

Bulletin Editor’s Report: President John Aubert, reporting for Crystal LoVetere, requested that CGS members be encouraged to submit articles of interest to the CGS bulletin. These articles should be submitted within the month following the annual meeting. Photos of the field trips and conference events, as well as photos of student contest winners should be included. Vice President Jennifer Helzer suggested that the category winners’ pictures should be combined to streamline the photo portion of the awards ceremony.

Website Report: Steven Graves, the CGS webmaster, noted that he has completed a redesign of the web site and will upgrade the site again before the October Board meeting. He also requested that the board discuss policy issues related to web site advertisements.

Future Meetings: President Aubert announced that several suggestions for the annual meetings for 2009 and beyond were received including suggestions from CSU Fresno, Santa Ynez on California’s central coast, and CSU Fullerton. Vice President Jennifer Helzer reported that money is available for the student travel fund. The committee can award four students travel funds during this meeting. She also mentioned that there will need to be discussion regarding student travel funds placed on the agenda at the October board meeting. Emily Lieb Townsend moved that we fund four travel awards of $150.00 each for the 2007 annual meeting. Julie Cidell seconded the motion, and the board unanimously approved.

New Business: Emily Lieb Townsend reported that the awards ceremony could include two graduate student awards. There were no undergraduate applications. Robert Voeks moved and Steven Graves seconded that the two graduate awards be given at the banquet. It was suggested that the agenda of the fall board meeting include discussion of student awards. Steven Graves and Lin Wu suggested that the poster competition be divided according to educational level and that this idea also be discussed at the fall board meeting.

Adjournment: Irene Naesse moved that the meeting be adjourned, Robert Voeks seconded. All agreed. The meeting was adjourned at 6:05 PM.