Labstracts, Fall 2002 (pg 6)

The meeting was called to order by President Maggie Haag at 5:31 PM. Maggie welcomed everyone and noted that we come together to do the biology we all love and for collegiality, some mutual support, and just plain laughter. Bill and Ann were thanked for providing the setting for some of the latter and the great conference so far.

Denise Martin adding a motion to 3.5 Membership, item 3.5a.
New item, 3.13 Regional ABLE, Ruth Beattie.
Under Other Business, Ruthanne to talk about partnerships with other organizations and putting forth some motions.

Photocopies of the minutes were provided. A motion for approval was moved and seconded.

3.1 President’s Report (Maggie Haag)
Maggie reviewed actions taken by the organization to improve its mandate to the membership.

Putting chair and committee reports into the workshop binder.
Advertising vacancies in Board membership prior to the annual meeting. The response to the E-mail was overwhelming with several members volunteering for positions and offering to start in the position right away so the overlap would aid training.
Increasing the organization’s profile with other professional societies.
Continuing to improve the web site.
Continuing to attract applications to registration fee waivers and laboratory initiative grants.
In the winter Labstracts describing what we value most about ABLE, namely the annual workshops and what we can take back to our institutions.

Maggie thanked everyone for committee work and especially Mike O’Donnell for shrinking the size of the Proceedings!

It was noted that there is a declining ABLE membership and fewer people offering to give major workshops. This is the main reason for scheduling the discussion in Part II of the general meeting.

First VP – Roz Potter
Second VP – Bill Wischusen
Treasurer – Alex Motten (Bob Hodson added as Assistant Treasurer)
Membership – Denise Martin (succeeded by Rudi Berkelheimer)
Nominations – Kathy Schwab (succeeded by Bill Glider)
Major Workshops – Jim Bader (succeeded by Sue Karcher and Anne Cordon)
Mini Workshops – Catherine Ketter and Tom Fogel (Ralph Pressler added; one more member needed)
Proceedings – Mike O’Donnell
Labstracts – Doreen Schroeder (Marielle Hoefnagels to take over Fall ‘03)
Members-at-Large – Donna Bozzone (Grants-in-Aid), Ruth Beattie (1^st year), Bill Glider, Kathy Schwab (Marsha Fanning elected beginning July ‘02)
Webmaster – Corey Goldman

3.2 1^st Vice-President’s Report (Roz Potter)
Roz gave an overview of the 2001 meeting at the University of Chicago. There were 168 persons attending, many with family members, 24 major workshops, 17 mini workshops, and 68 on post-meeting trips. Roz described hosting as a good experience and urged others to consider it. Maggie asked, on behalf of the members, that Roz thank her chairperson Jose Quintans for his generous and enthusiastic support.

3.3 2^nd Vice-President’s Report (Bill Wischusen)
Bill noted that LSU personnel had very favorable comments about working with ABLE members, and he hoped we would keep up the façade for two more days!

3.4 Treasurer’s Report (Alex Motten)
Alex was recognized for an excellent job being done. He reported on ABLE’s cash flows and financial reserves. Both are in good shape. ABLE is on track to bringing expenses and expenditures back in line, and he expects to break even on this year’s conference. Reserves are conservatively invested in CD’s with staggered maturity dates to coincide with expenditure peaks. Total assets have changed little from last year.

3.5 Membership Committee’s Report (Denise Martin)
There are 392 members, which is down from 483 last year. There are 63 new members (less than the usual 90), with 95 memberships expired and an additional 235 expiring at the end of the month. Five-hundred copies of the membership directory were printed and mailed to all members in January.

ABLE proceedings were mailed by Carol Budd, and 131 were distributed in the registration packets, a practice that holds down mailing costs and should be continued at future meetings.

This year membership registration could not be combined with the annual meeting due to constraints at the host institution. Future hosting guidelines will have a requirement that membership registration be allowed with meeting registration. Alex Motten is also exploring other ways (e.g. electronic) of membership registration. Denise was thanked for the difficult job done of keeping track of the changing membership and E-mail addresses. She is stepping down and being succeeded by Rudi Berkelheimer.

3.5a Motion from Membership Committee
A motion to make the registration fee for graduate students and post-doctoral fellows one-half of the regular fee was moved, seconded, and passed by voice vote.

3.6 Nomination Committee’s Report (Kathy Schwab)
Three positions were open this year. Carol Budd was elected to President-Elect, Robert Hodson to a second term as Secretary, and Marsha Fanning to Member-at-Large. There was continued success with on-line voting, with 54% of membership participating which was a record. Todd Nickels and Doreen Schroeder were thanked for making the election process easy. Bill Glider is taking over the Nominations Chair position, and Kathy Schwab moves on to the 4^th year responsibility for a Member-at-Large. Some leadership positions are available for next year such as Treasurer and Member-at-Large. There was emphasis on Member-at-Large which receives a newly elected person each year. Member-at-Large for years 1-2 are active on the Major Workshop Committee, year 3 on the Nomination Committee, and year 4 oversees the group and has responsibilities with the Grants-in-Aid committee and Lab Initiative grants.

3.7 Major Workshop Committee’s Report (Tom Fogel for Jim Bader)
By the deadline of November 16, 2001, 17 proposals were received which is a precipitous drop from the previous two years. It has been difficult attracting major workshops. An outreach of links to web sites of professional organizations and letters to department chairpersons in Canada gave little yield. One new initiative is to have committee co-chairs: Sue Karcher (Purdue) for the US, and Anne Cordon (Toronto) for Canada. Hosting a meeting was discussed; there is a lot of help available from previous hosts. Jim is stepping down and was thanked for his work on this committee.

3.8 Mini Workshop Committee’s Report (Tom Fogel for Catherine Ketter)
Twenty-six workshops were accepted and 25 will be presented at this meeting. There is an upward trend in the number of workshops proposed and the fraction requiring electronic support. Members seem to prefer those workshops that can be adopted such as “wet labs” and computer simulations. Descriptions of activities and student outcomes are less popular.

The meeting format had mini workshops spread out during all of Friday. The committee is interested in feedback on this format. Catherine is considering some sort of survey. Potential presenters were reminded that there is a one-half registration fee waiver for one presenter of each mini workshop.

3.9 Proceedings Editor’s Report (Mike O’Donnell)
Volume 23 (Chicago meeting) was printed at significantly lower cost than volumes 21 and 22 due to condensing some white space for student answers and smaller font for some portions of each manuscript. Nevertheless there were 20 chapters of major workshops and 15 mini workshops of which 8 were expanded to as much as 10 pages. The editorial approach was enthusiastically endorsed. Participation on an Editorial Board was invited. Applications for future presentations are readily available from the ABLE website.

Carol Budd, introduced as our new President-Elect, is stepping down from several years of storing Proceedings volumes and mailing requests for them. This activity is being taken over by Fran Kennedy.

3.10 Labstracts Editor’s Report (Doreen Schroeder)
Labstracts was published electronically in October 2001 and March 2002. A new feature was listing of meetings of other organizations, and more photographs and hyperlinks are being included. Special thanks went to Corey Goldman (Web Master), Todd Nichols (on-line voting), Denise Martin (Membership), and contributors. Submissions for the fall 2002 issue were invited, particularly some of the best mini workshops at the current meeting to speed up their dissemination.

An ABLE organization brochure has been prepared. The bulk of the printing will go to Maggie for distribution upon request to ABLE members who are attending meetings with other organizations.

3.11 Grants-in-Aid Committee’s Report (Donna Bozzone)
Five applications to Grants-in-Aid for the Registration Fee were received and awarded. Five applications to Laboratory Teaching Initiative Grant are being considered. Members are strongly encouraged to take advantage of these financial opportunities and thereby promote attendance at the meeting and development of material for future workshops.

3.12. ABLE Website Report (Maggie for Corey Goldman)
Thirteen changes in the ABLE website since June 2001 were reported. Also will be hiring someone to put more Proceedings on-line. ABLE’s deep appreciation for Corey’s work was expressed.

4.1 Regional Meetings (Ruth Beattie)
Regional meetings were described and encouraged. The format is to conduct a small meeting featuring four of the major workshops from the preceding national meeting. Best timing depends on the host’s situation but October was suggested.

4.2 Outreach to Other Societies (Ruthann Pitkin)
Ruthanne has been exploring affiliations with other societies to attract to ABLE more members and more workshops. Two were singled out in her report.

BEN (Biological Sciences Education Network) is a coalition of 11 professional societies whose purpose is to provide access to searchable digital library collections of its members as a reliable resource for biological education. Membership would cost ABLE nothing. A motion to join BEN was made, seconded, and passed.
NABT (National Association of Biology Teachers) is also being explored.

Other societies such as ESA (Ecological Society of America) and ASM (American Society for Microbiology) are supposed to have links to our website. Suggestions for other associations or partnerships with professional societies were invited.

4.3 Announcements (Maggie Haag)
Upon request Maggie will send several printed copies of the forthcoming ABLE brochure to each Board member. Doreen will look into putting the brochure on the ABLE website as a PDF file.


Fall 2002 Page 6

Minutes of the Annual General Meeting Held at Louisiana State University in A101 Life Science Building on 13 June 2002 *Robert C. Hodson*
The meeting was called to order by President Maggie Haag at 5:31 PM. Maggie welcomed everyone and noted that we come together to do the biology we all love and for collegiality, some mutual support, and just plain laughter. Bill and Ann were thanked for providing the setting for some of the latter and the great conference so far. 1. Approval of Agenda of the 2002 Annual Business Meeting There were some additions: Denise Martin adding a motion to 3.5 Membership, item 3.5a. New item, 3.13 Regional ABLE, Ruth Beattie. Under Other Business, Ruthanne to talk about partnerships with other organizations and putting forth some motions. A motion to approve the amended Agenda was moved and seconded. 2. Approval of Minutes of the 2001 Annual Business Meeting Photocopies of the minutes were provided. A motion for approval was moved and seconded. 3. Part I (June 13, 2002) – Reports from Officers and Committee Chairs 3.1 President’s Report (Maggie Haag) Maggie reviewed actions taken by the organization to improve its mandate to the membership. Putting chair and committee reports into the workshop binder. Advertising vacancies in Board membership prior to the annual meeting. The response to the E-mail was overwhelming with several members volunteering for positions and offering to start in the position right away so the overlap would aid training. Increasing the organization’s profile with other professional societies. Continuing to improve the web site. Continuing to attract applications to registration fee waivers and laboratory initiative grants. In the winter Labstracts describing what we value most about ABLE, namely the annual workshops and what we can take back to our institutions. Maggie thanked everyone for committee work and especially Mike O’Donnell for shrinking the size of the Proceedings! It was noted that there is a declining ABLE membership and fewer people offering to give major workshops. This is the main reason for scheduling the discussion in Part II of the general meeting. Board members were introduced along with additions and replacements. First VP – Roz Potter Second VP – Bill Wischusen Treasurer – Alex Motten (Bob Hodson added as Assistant Treasurer) Membership – Denise Martin (succeeded by Rudi Berkelheimer) Nominations – Kathy Schwab (succeeded by Bill Glider) Major Workshops – Jim Bader (succeeded by Sue Karcher and Anne Cordon) Mini Workshops – Catherine Ketter and Tom Fogel (Ralph Pressler added; one more member needed) Proceedings – Mike O’Donnell Labstracts – Doreen Schroeder (Marielle Hoefnagels to take over Fall ‘03) Members-at-Large – Donna Bozzone (Grants-in-Aid), Ruth Beattie (1^st year), Bill Glider, Kathy Schwab (Marsha Fanning elected beginning July ‘02) Webmaster – Corey Goldman 3.2 1^st Vice-President’s Report (Roz Potter) Roz gave an overview of the 2001 meeting at the University of Chicago. There were 168 persons attending, many with family members, 24 major workshops, 17 mini workshops, and 68 on post-meeting trips. Roz described hosting as a good experience and urged others to consider it. Maggie asked, on behalf of the members, that Roz thank her chairperson Jose Quintans for his generous and enthusiastic support. 3.3 2^nd Vice-President’s Report (Bill Wischusen) Bill noted that LSU personnel had very favorable comments about working with ABLE members, and he hoped we would keep up the façade for two more days! 3.4 Treasurer’s Report (Alex Motten) Alex was recognized for an excellent job being done. He reported on ABLE’s cash flows and financial reserves. Both are in good shape. ABLE is on track to bringing expenses and expenditures back in line, and he expects to break even on this year’s conference. Reserves are conservatively invested in CD’s with staggered maturity dates to coincide with expenditure peaks. Total assets have changed little from last year. 3.5 Membership Committee’s Report (Denise Martin) There are 392 members, which is down from 483 last year. There are 63 new members (less than the usual 90), with 95 memberships expired and an additional 235 expiring at the end of the month. Five-hundred copies of the membership directory were printed and mailed to all members in January. ABLE proceedings were mailed by Carol Budd, and 131 were distributed in the registration packets, a practice that holds down mailing costs and should be continued at future meetings. This year membership registration could not be combined with the annual meeting due to constraints at the host institution. Future hosting guidelines will have a requirement that membership registration be allowed with meeting registration. Alex Motten is also exploring other ways (e.g. electronic) of membership registration. Denise was thanked for the difficult job done of keeping track of the changing membership and E-mail addresses. She is stepping down and being succeeded by Rudi Berkelheimer. 3.5a Motion from Membership Committee A motion to make the registration fee for graduate students and post-doctoral fellows one-half of the regular fee was moved, seconded, and passed by voice vote. 3.6 Nomination Committee’s Report (Kathy Schwab) Three positions were open this year. Carol Budd was elected to President-Elect, Robert Hodson to a second term as Secretary, and Marsha Fanning to Member-at-Large. There was continued success with on-line voting, with 54% of membership participating which was a record. Todd Nickels and Doreen Schroeder were thanked for making the election process easy. Bill Glider is taking over the Nominations Chair position, and Kathy Schwab moves on to the 4^th year responsibility for a Member-at-Large. Some leadership positions are available for next year such as Treasurer and Member-at-Large. There was emphasis on Member-at-Large which receives a newly elected person each year. Member-at-Large for years 1-2 are active on the Major Workshop Committee, year 3 on the Nomination Committee, and year 4 oversees the group and has responsibilities with the Grants-in-Aid committee and Lab Initiative grants. 3.7 Major Workshop Committee’s Report (Tom Fogel for Jim Bader) By the deadline of November 16, 2001, 17 proposals were received which is a precipitous drop from the previous two years. It has been difficult attracting major workshops. An outreach of links to web sites of professional organizations and letters to department chairpersons in Canada gave little yield. One new initiative is to have committee co-chairs: Sue Karcher (Purdue) for the US, and Anne Cordon (Toronto) for Canada. Hosting a meeting was discussed; there is a lot of help available from previous hosts. Jim is stepping down and was thanked for his work on this committee. 3.8 Mini Workshop Committee’s Report (Tom Fogel for Catherine Ketter) Twenty-six workshops were accepted and 25 will be presented at this meeting. There is an upward trend in the number of workshops proposed and the fraction requiring electronic support. Members seem to prefer those workshops that can be adopted such as “wet labs” and computer simulations. Descriptions of activities and student outcomes are less popular. The meeting format had mini workshops spread out during all of Friday. The committee is interested in feedback on this format. Catherine is considering some sort of survey. Potential presenters were reminded that there is a one-half registration fee waiver for one presenter of each mini workshop. 3.9 Proceedings Editor’s Report (Mike O’Donnell) Volume 23 (Chicago meeting) was printed at significantly lower cost than volumes 21 and 22 due to condensing some white space for student answers and smaller font for some portions of each manuscript. Nevertheless there were 20 chapters of major workshops and 15 mini workshops of which 8 were expanded to as much as 10 pages. The editorial approach was enthusiastically endorsed. Participation on an Editorial Board was invited. Applications for future presentations are readily available from the ABLE website. Carol Budd, introduced as our new President-Elect, is stepping down from several years of storing Proceedings volumes and mailing requests for them. This activity is being taken over by Fran Kennedy. 3.10 Labstracts Editor’s Report (Doreen Schroeder) Labstracts was published electronically in October 2001 and March 2002. A new feature was listing of meetings of other organizations, and more photographs and hyperlinks are being included. Special thanks went to Corey Goldman (Web Master), Todd Nichols (on-line voting), Denise Martin (Membership), and contributors. Submissions for the fall 2002 issue were invited, particularly some of the best mini workshops at the current meeting to speed up their dissemination. An ABLE organization brochure has been prepared. The bulk of the printing will go to Maggie for distribution upon request to ABLE members who are attending meetings with other organizations. 3.11 Grants-in-Aid Committee’s Report (Donna Bozzone) Five applications to Grants-in-Aid for the Registration Fee were received and awarded. Five applications to Laboratory Teaching Initiative Grant are being considered. Members are strongly encouraged to take advantage of these financial opportunities and thereby promote attendance at the meeting and development of material for future workshops. Donna completes her tenure in this position and as a Member-at-Large. 3.12. ABLE Website Report (Maggie for Corey Goldman) Thirteen changes in the ABLE website since June 2001 were reported. Also will be hiring someone to put more Proceedings on-line. ABLE’s deep appreciation for Corey’s work was expressed. 4.0 Other Business 4.1 Regional Meetings (Ruth Beattie) Regional meetings were described and encouraged. The format is to conduct a small meeting featuring four of the major workshops from the preceding national meeting. Best timing depends on the host’s situation but October was suggested. 4.2 Outreach to Other Societies (Ruthann Pitkin) Ruthanne has been exploring affiliations with other societies to attract to ABLE more members and more workshops. Two were singled out in her report. BEN (Biological Sciences Education Network) is a coalition of 11 professional societies whose purpose is to provide access to searchable digital library collections of its members as a reliable resource for biological education. Membership would cost ABLE nothing. A motion to join BEN was made, seconded, and passed. NABT (National Association of Biology Teachers) is also being explored. Other societies such as ESA (Ecological Society of America) and ASM (American Society for Microbiology) are supposed to have links to our website. Suggestions for other associations or partnerships with professional societies were invited. 4.3 Announcements (Maggie Haag) Upon request Maggie will send several printed copies of the forthcoming ABLE brochure to each Board member. Doreen will look into putting the brochure on the ABLE website as a PDF file. The meeting recessed at 6:30 PM. Respectfully submitted, Robert C. Hodson Secretary

© 2002 ABLE. All rights reserved.