Microscopy Society of America

Executive Council Meeting Minutes

Chicago, IL

July 28 - 29, 2006

Draft by BO - Submitted to Sec. 10/09/06

Secretary Approval

Sent to Webmaster for Posting

Council Approval 3/10/07

MSA Council Present: Appointed Officers & Guests

Jay Jerome, President Ralph Albrecht, Undergraduate Scholarships Chair

Michael O'Keefe, President-Elect Ron Anderson, M&M 2007 LAC Chair

Grace Burke, Past President Ed Barnas, Cambridge University Press

Jeanette Killius, Secretary Michael Bode, Sustaining Members Liaison

Ev Osten, Treasurer David Cockayne, IFSM President

William T. Gunning III Luisa Amelia Dempere, International Chair

John Mackenzie, Jr. Richard Edleman, Expo Committee

David W. Piston E. Ann Ellis, Certification Chair

Lou Ross Paul Fischione, Marketing & Comm. Chair

Supapan Seraphin Ron Gronsky, Publications Chair

Robert J. Simmons Peter Ingram, Legal Liaison, Public Policy Chair

David W. Smith Paul Kotula, M&M 2006 Program Chair

Andree Kraker, Sustaining Members Liaison

Charles Lyman, Journal Editor

Pamela Lloyd, Mega Booth, Placement Office

Beverly Maleeff, Focused Inerest Group Chair

John Mansfield, Education Chair

Michael Marko, M&M 2007 Program Chair

Stuart McKernan, Proceedings Chair

Joseph Michaels, M&M 2008 LAC Chair

Sara Miller, Exhibitor Liaison

John Henry Scott, M&M 2008 Program Chair

Caroline Schooley, Project Micro Chair

John Shields, Proceedings

Janet Woodward, 2009 Program Chair

Valerie Woodward, Technologists Forum Chair

Nestor Zaluzec, M&M 2006 LAC Chair

Staff Present:

Cynthia Keillor, Deputy Director

Philip Lesser, Senior Advisor

Phillip Ridley, Meeting Manager

1. CALL TO ORDER

The meeting was called to order at 8:20 am, July 28, 2006, and a quorum was recognized.

2. WELCOME AND INTRODUCTIONS (J. Jerome)

President Jerome welcomed Council and invited guests; introduced new MSA Deputy Director, Cynthia Keillor. All attendees introduced themselves.

3. Treasurer's Report & Year-End Financials (E. Osten)

MSA Treasurer, Ev Osten reviewed current MSA Financials and compared with previous years. Emphasis must be placed on reducing expenses in 2006 and 2007.

Upon a MOTION duly carried, the Treasurer's Report was accepted.

4. Strategic Planning

Marketing and Communications Chair, Paul Fischione presented an alternative model for governance/management where the Executive Council would function as the Board of Directors and the Society would employ a Scientific Director and Operations Director.

The model would eliminate management layers by combining directorship and committee chair positions and would bring FIGs back into MSA mainstream. Increasing marketing, advertising and visibility of the national meeting was also discussed.

Because of the amount of change in MSA Council and committee leadership from year to year, discussion took place of how best to track progress on issues.

Upon a MOTION duly carried, Council will develop annual goals and objectives, to be documented in the minutes and reviewed at the Winter Council meeting each year.

Motion Carried

Additional planning discussion took place regarding the Annual Meeting, MSA's current site selection process and potential future sites. The importance of planning 10 years out was stressed. Additionally, it was suggested that Meeting Management should assume the logistics work of the LACs, in order to relieve some of the burden placed on the local volunteers.

Upon a MOTION duly carried, an ad hoc committee will be formed to consider and recommend changes to the governance structure of the Society.

Recommendations from the ad hoc committee are to be brought to WC07.

Further discussion regarding MSA expectations for the Annual Meeting and what it can accomplish took place. Reasons for holding an Annual Meeting were discussed and student education was emphasized. Many ideas were suggested for improvements. In order to maintain a fresh program, new speakers should be identified, especially students. Program expenses should be reduced where possible to save money for other initiatives.

Upon a MOTION duly carried, effective M&M 2008, Council prohibits invited speakers and session chairs from receiving Program Committee reimbursement (including registration waiver) in consecutive years.

Upon a MOTION duly carried, effective M&M 2008, Council recommends that speakers not be invited in consecutive years.

Additional discussion took place on how to encourage more student participation in MSA and the Annual Meeting. Ideas to increase membership were also discussed.

Jay Jerome requested the Business Office to distribute the draft "How to Books" to the appropriate committee chairs and their Council Liaisons after the meeting.

STRATEGIC PLANNING SUMMARY:

This is a subjective summary of our strategic planning discussion taking into consideration discussions at both 2006 Winter Council and 2006 Summer Council.

1. It was agreed that the underlying purpose of MSA, as described in the bylaws, remains an admirable working principal.

a. "To increase and diffuse, for scientific and educational goals, the science and practice of microscopy, imaging, and compositional analysis and the instruments and results relating to such activities. "

2. Our principal means for accomplishing this purpose are:

a. The Microscopy and Microanalysis meeting and related MSA-associated meetings

b. Support for Local Societies

c. Our Journal and Magazine

d. Our Web site

e. Our educational outreach programs

3. Necessary key initiatives to accomplish our goals.

a. Web presence

i. Web presence should be reevaluated with the strategic goals of:

1. Attract new members

2. Provide method of archiving, retrieving, and exchanging all society information

3. Provide information to non-members about microscopy

ii. Action that is required

1. A plan for the new architecture of the Web site has been worked out. This needs to be mounted in a secure location that allows council members to evaluate and make suggestions on the blueprint.

2. An ad hoc committee needs to work with a suitable outside organization skilled in web design to implement the Web blueprint.

3. A suitable hosting location needs to be identified and contracted to host the web site.

b. Increase the number of young scientists that are members of MSA

i. It was debated whether expanded membership in MSA should be a goal. Our publications, meeting, and magazine are very successful. We are starting a book series. These venues increase the visibility of the society, help accomplish our societal purpose, and produce the necessary income to run the society and accomplish our goals. Membership dues contribute only a small portion of our revenues. Thus, it may be more important to allocate resources towards other initiatives rather than expanding our membership base.

ii. However, it is clear that the talent to continue the Society and its goals must come from the membership. Therefore, it is imperative to attract and train the next generation of leaders in microscopy to MSA.

iii. Action that is required

1. We need to evaluate how to attract students to our meeting and facilitate their attendance. Once students are at the meeting, we must engage their interest in becoming a member of the society. A committee has been charged with drafting a plan for this purpose.

2. We need to make sure the meeting is open to presentations by young scientists and those new to MSA. Some new rules have been passed already to open up the meeting to new voices. The underlying principal of increasing participation in the meeting should also be an important objective in the organization of the Microscopy and Microanalysis meeting (see Annual Meeting).

c. Insure a stable and diversified revenue stream to the society to accomplish our goals.

i. Significant progress has been made on expanding the sources of revenue for the Society so that we are not completely dependent upon the annual meeting. Our journal and magazine now provide revenue to the society. It is probably worth discussing whether other options, in line with our purpose, are also available and if it would be desirable to purpose these opportunities. There is also room to expand the income from the Microscopy and Microanalysis meeting by expanding the meeting and by reevaluating the expenses of the meeting (see Annual Meeting)

ii. Action required: continued discussion.

d. Annual Meeting

i. Our annual meeting is very successful both scientifically and financially. However, the organizational plan of the meeting has not changed since 1998. It is probably worth reviewing the meeting with the following strategic goals in mind:

1. Expand the scope of the meeting. Some underserved areas (with respect to the general level of activity within science) would appear to be biological live cell, biological molecular imaging and nanotechnology. Others could probably also be identified.

2. Expand presentations by junior investigators, students, and fellows.

3. Reduce expenses for the meeting.

4. Expand utility of the meeting for a broad cross section of microscopists (exhibitors, technologists, students, fellows, young investigators, senior investigators interested in new technologies, etc,) by offering creative sessions other than just platform sessions with succession of speakers. Some of this, such as tutorials and roundtables, are already part of the meeting. We should look at all mechanisms for information exchange.

ii. Action that is required: appoint a small ad hoc committee composed of MSA members (particularly program chairs), sustaining members, and our strategic partner MAS to determine if the current meeting format is the best to meet our needs or if changes would better align the meeting with our strategic goals. Change just for change sake should not be encouraged.

e. Society governance

i. MSA and the field of microscopy have grown considerably since the governance structure of MSA was last reviewed. Our strategic initiatives are now more extensive and more varied. It is time to determine if the governance structure is the optimum one to meet our goals. Paul Fischione provided an alternative governance structure (see attached PowerPoint). Other governance structures were also discussed.

ii. Action that is required: appoint a small ad hoc committee to review our governance structure and make recommendations. Change just for change sake should not be encouraged.

5. Secretary's Report (Killius)

Written report reviewed.

Upon a MOTION duly carried, the Meeting Minutes of Winter Council 2006 were accepted as revised.

6. Business Office Report (Keillor)

Written report reviewed.

Upon a MOTION duly carried, the Business Office Report was accepted.

[Meeting adjourned at 5:00 pm - meeting reconvened Saturday, July 29 at 8:00 am]

7. M&M 2006 Chicago (Kotula/Zaluzec)

Program Committee:

Paul Kotula provided a verbal update on the program for 2006.

Local Arrangements Committee:

Written report reviewed; no action required.

Nestor Zaluzec provided a verbal update on Local Arrangements for 2006.

MSA Council commended the Local Arrangements Committee for doing an excellent job.

8. M&M 2007 Ft. Lauderdale (Marko/Anderson)

Program Committee:

Mike Marko provided a verbal update on status of programming plans for 2007. The pre-meeting workshop will be on cryo EM.

Local Arrangements Committee:

Written report reviewed; no action required.

Ron Anderson provided a verbal update on status of Local Arrangements for 2007.

9. M&M 2008 Albuquerque (Scott/Michaels)

Program Committee:

Written report reviewed; no action required.

John Henry Scott provided a verbal update on status of programming plans for 2008.

Business Office will have accounts payable pull up speaker lists from recent years and share with Program Chairs. Program Chairs can review this review annually to avoid inviting same speakers in consecutive years.

10. Meeting Manager (Ridley)

Written report reviewed; no action required.

11. Future Meeting Sites (Ridley)

Meeting Manager, Phillip Ridley submitted a written comparison report of twelve potential cities for future meetings. Meeting Management will add Richmond to chart and email to Council.

After discussion Meeting Management was directed to look closer at the following cities and report back at Winter Council 2007.

2008 Albuquerque, NM

2009 Baltimore, MD

2010 Cleveland, OH, Minneapolis, MN, Grand Rapids, MI

2011 Portland, OR, Long Beach, CA

2012 Austin, TX, Ft. Worth, TX, San Antonio, TX

2013 Richmond, VA

2014 Montreal, Canada

2015 Portland, OR

12. Committee Reports - Passed by consent agenda & were not discussed.

Archivist (Marko/Simmons)

-No Action Items Submitted.

Awards (Gunning)

-Request Recognition of Expiring Committee Member Terms: Kathy Spenser and Oliver Wells.

Certification Board (Ellis/Smith)

-No Action Items Submitted.

Education (Mansfield/Mackenzie)

-Request to Sort Out the Source of Funds for Student Bursaries and Student Workers.

FIG (Maleeff/Killius)

-Approve Proposed Amendments to FIG Guidelines.

-Request to Move Student Membership Recruitment Activities from the FIG Chair to Membership and/or Education Committees

Project Micro (Schooley)

-No Action Items Submitted.

Undergraduate Scholarships (Albrecht)

-No Action Items Submitted.

Information Technology (Zaluzec/Jerome)

-No Action Items Submitted.

International [no report] (Dempere/Smith)

-No Action Items Submitted.

From Legal Report: Office of Foreign Access Control and MSA Membership and

Listserver (Ingram)

-No Action Items Submitted.

Upon a MOTION duly carried, to accept the Membership Committee recommendation to approve the list of new MSA members as submitted.

Jeanette Killius will send a revised membership questionnaire to Council after the meeting. Revised questionnaire will include suggested changes made by Council during the meeting.

Upon a MOTION duly carried, the proposed amendments to the FIG guidelines were approved as revised.

13. Local Affiliated Societies (Ross)

Written report reviewed; no action required.

14. Marketing & Communications (Fischione/O'Keefe)

Written report reviewed; no action required. Renovations to the MSA website are being worked on.

15. Membership (Killius)

Written report reviewed; no action required.

16. Megabooth (Lloyd/O'Keefe)

Written report reviewed; no action required.

17. Nominating (Burke)

Past President Burke and the members of the Nominating Committee have met and are working to secure candidates for the upcoming election.

18. Placement (Lloyd/Mackenzie)

Written report reviewed; no action required.

19. Public Policy & Legal Liaison (Ingram/Seraphin)

Written report reviewed; no action required.

20. IFSM (Cockayne)

David Cockayne reminded MSA Leaders that it is difficult for younger scientists to attend both M&M and the International Meeting in years when both meetings are held. However, there are some funds available from both MSA and IFSM for promoting young scientist attendance at each meeting.

21. Publications (Gronsky/Burke)

Ron Gronsky and Gracie Burke reported on the need to implement an online submission process as well as a succession plan for the various editors of MSA publications.

Upon a MOTION duly carried, the Publications Committee is charged to undertake a search for a new Editor in Chief of Microscopy and Microanalysis to assume Editorship January 1, 2008.

The Cambridge University Press contract is up for renewal.

22. Journal (Lyman/Barnas)

Written report reviewed; no action required. It was recommended to improve turnaround time between paper submission and publication.

23. Microscopy Today (Anderson)

Written report reviewed; no action required.

Ron Anderson will add the MSA logo to the publication.

24. Expo (Gunning/Edelman)

Written report reviewed; no action required.

Bill Gunning reported that Richard Edelman will be taking over Expo responsibilities.

25. Proceedings (McKernan/Shields)

Written report reviewed; no action required.

Stuart McKernan reported that John Shields will be taking over Proceedings responsibilities.

MSA Council recognized both Bill Gunning and Stuart McKernan for their hard work over the years.

26. Sustaining Members (Bode/Kraker/O'Keefe/Miller)

Written report reviewed; no action required.

27. Technologists' Forum (Woodward/Ross)

Written report reviewed; no action required.

28. Old Business

None.

29. MSA 2007 Budget (Osten)

Written report reviewed.

Upon a MOTION duly carried, all full meeting registration fees will be increased by $20.00 for 2007 with the exception of Student Registration and Emeritus registration fees.

Upon a MOTION duly carried, the 2007 budget was accepted as amended.

30. New Business

None.

[Meeting adjourned on Friday, July 29, 2006 at 4:45 pm]