Division of Professional Affairs Mid-Year Council Meeting October 4, 2008 Houston, Texas

Transcription

1 Division of Professional Affairs Mid-Year Council Meeting October 4, 2008 Houston, Texas Present Rick L. Ericksen, DPA President Paul W. Britt, Acting Vice Chair & President Elect Michael A. Fogarty, Treasurer Thomas E. Ewing, Past President Councilors Pete MacKenzie Stewart Chuber Maurice Birdwell W. David Hart Mark Gallagher Bill Goff Robert Schalla J. Michael Party Paul H. Pause Committee Chairs Deborah Sacrey, WAG AAPG Staff Rick Fritz, AAPG Executive Director Norma Newby, AAPG Divisions Manager 1. Call to Order/Introductions Minutes Paul Britt called the meeting to order at 9:08 and determined there was a quorum present. 2. Approval of Agenda Motion: Party moved/mackenzie seconded; to approve the agenda as revised. Motion carried. 3. Approval of Minutes Motion: Fogarty moved/sacrey seconded; to approve the minutes of the April 19, 2008 meeting as presented. Motion carried. 4. President s Report Rick Ericksen Ericksen reviewed his written report that included items for the Council s consideration. Page 1 of 10

2 a. Reformation of ad hoc Committee The Professional Liaison Committee has been renamed External Affairs Committee. The committee is chaired by Bennett Bearden. b. Committee Chair Vacancy A vacancy remains on the Long Range Planning Committee. David Hart agreed to chair the Continuing Education Committee. c. TrendTRACK The DPA has entered into a contract with TrendTRACK. TrendTRACK s legislative reporting service has been placed on the DPA s Members Only section of the DPA s Web site. d. DPA s Web Site In the process of updating DPA s Web site that contains outdated information. Bill Goff is chair of the Web Site Committee. e. Online Ethics Courses Currently being edited and reviewed for production. Two initial courses are John Gibson s presentation, The Ethics Storybooks with Tales from the Oil Patch; and Bob Shoup s ethics course, The Grey Scale of Ethics. Test at the end of the Video - Ericksen asked that each Councilor review the CD and develop two questions from the material presented. With those questions should be four multiple choice answers. This should be sent to Ericksen by November 1 st. f. DPA Executive Committee Conference Calls Conference calls have been initiated to maintain both continuity and contact within the Division s leadership. Ericksen stated that he would like to initiate regularly scheduled conference calls with committee chairs and committee members to ensure that Council directives/wishes are addressed. Also suggested was the possibility of regularly scheduled conference calls with Section councilors. Fritz said AAPG HQ is looking into Web teleconferencing. The only thing required is a camera. Fritz said AAPG will pay for the camera if a receipt is provided. g. Guidelines for the DPA Presidency A PowerPoint presentation has been prepared using Past President Tom Ewing s presentation to AAPG Sections as a guide. This will be passed on to incoming presidents to aid in their transitioning into the DPA presidency. h. Vacancy in the Office of Vice President Ericksen reported that Dan Reynolds has resigned from the office of DPA Vice President due to an illness in his family. Ericksen said Michael Canich has agreed to fill this position. Page 2 of 10

3 An was sent to the Council requesting names of potential nominees for this position. None were received. Based on that, the following action was taken: Motion: Ericksen moved/sacrey seconded; that Michael Canich be approved by the DPA Council for the office of Vice President for the fiscal year. Motion: Fogarty moved/party seconded; that nominations be closed. It was the decision of the Council that approval will be handled by vote by acclamation. Action: Britt called for a vote on the motion to close nominations. Motion carried unanimously. Action: Britt called for a vote on the motion to approve Michael Canich as Vice President for the fiscal year. Motion carried unanimously. i. j. Chair Tenure of the WAG Most of the committee chair positions within AAPG are three years. However, the charter for the WAG states that the chair will serve a one-year term. DPA Business Plan Working on updating the business plan. Modifications will be circulated to the Council. The special needs of international members needs to be addressed as well as long-range and immediate goals. k. DPA Representation at NAPE Was authorized by the Council but did not occur. Sacrey said she didn t feel it was a wise use of DPA money. Party suggested a breakfast function as an alternative. Sacrey suggested use of the AAPG booth. In a discussion regarding ways to attract more members, Fritz suggested the use of Town Hall meetings at the local level. Also suggested was the development of more membership services. l. International Web Page This subject has been tabled until more information is gathered. A committee needs to be formed and a budget made. Erickesen reminded the Councilors that a recent change to the DPA Bylaws states that all Councilors serve on the Membership Committee. Page 3 of 10

4 5. Report from the President-Elect Paul Britt a. Councilor Vacancies Effective the end of this fiscal year, vacancies will occur in the Eastern Section, Rocky Mountain Section and Pacific Section. The deadline for submission of names is the end of November b. Section Meetings Are there other things DPA should be doing at Section meetings other than luncheons? c. Congressional Visit Days Britt represented the DPA at the Washington GEO-DC Visit Days in early September. Twenty-two people attended. Britt said it was a very eye-opening experience. Britt encouraged participation in future visits. Two congressional visits have been organized one is general scientific and the other geosciences. d. Ad Space in the EXPLORER Ad space in the EXPLORER for DPA runs out at the end of the calendar year. There is still an opportunity to put an article in the December issue or lose it. 6. Treasurer s Report Michael Fogarty Fogarty reviewed the financial report for year ending June 30, (The entire report is located on the DPA web page.) The DPA is financially sound with substantial investments to support it due to a long-standing policy of investing funds above the level of income. However, recent changes in spending have substantially increased due to the partial funding of the GEO-DC office, which has resulted in a net loss for the Division. a. Income and Expense Statement The income and expense statement shows operating income of $175,434, which is almost 87% and $27,016 below budgeted operating income. This is due to a miscellaneous income shortfall of $49,525. Operating expenses were $154,141, which is $3,900 less than budgeted. Travel expenses and miscellaneous grant expenses were the two items which were significantly lower than budgeted amounts. b. Balance Sheet The balance sheet shows cash of $41,997. Total assets are $877,798 for the same time frame. Total liabilities are $90,891; and the fund balance is $786,907. c. Investment Portfolio Investments show a fair market value of $834,593.73, down from the previous year of $933, There was an unrealized loss of $144,149 in the investment portfolio. DPA investments are co-mingled with AAPG s investments and reflect a percentage of the overall AAPG portfolio performance. The market and bonds were down significantly for FY Page 4 of 10

5 d. Budget The 2009 budget shows a projected loss of $53,216, primarily due to partial funding of the GEO-DC office in the amount of a $60,000 grant. The Councilors discussed ways to increase income. Ericksen suggested the development of membership services in order to attract new members in lieu of a dues increase at this time. If this doesn t work, then maybe a dues increase would be in order. The bottom line: DPA needs to be proactive by anticipating the future. Membership continues to decline, and operating expenses continue to increase. Guidelines need to be established for future Councilors. Party stated that the Councilors should be recruiting more members. Motion: Birdwell moved/sacrey seconded; to accept the Treasurer s report as presented. Motion carried. 7. Report from the Executive Director Rick Fritz The focus for AAPG and DPA is providing the best professionalism and science. Key economic indicators for AAPG are membership and finances. AAPG is finally turning around Active member losses sustained for a number of years. A positive trend is that younger people are joining as Actives. Graduated dues are up to 1,000 members. About 20% are new members; the others are members who pay less dues than they paid before. The Foundation s fundraising campaign has generated 25M. This total represents contributions from individuals. The next phase will be to solicit contributions from industry. Very pleased with the way the GEO-DC is running. It provides information, surveillance and opportunities. The DOE will be presenting a proposal to AAPG/DPA regarding the possibility of an OTC-type meeting. Fritz reviewed potential changes to AAPG s Bylaws which will be addressed in future EXPLORER articles. Change in Headquarters personnel A new Director of Education will be named soon. In the process of searching for a qualified person to assist both Norma Newby (Office of Divisions) and Administration. International conferences are taking a great deal of staff time. There is now a London office, and Middle East office. Looking at a joint office in Singapore. Page 5 of 10

6 8. Past President s Report Thomas Ewing a. Nominations for DPA Awards Ewing presented the following nominations for awards as recommended by the DPA Awards Committee: Life Membership Pete Rose Distinguished Service Award Dan Tearpock Heritage Award John Amoruso Certificate of Merit Carl Smith, Charles Sternbach, Martha Guethle and Mark Norville Best Paper Award No recommendations Motion: Fogarty moved/pause seconded; to approve award nominations as proposed by the Awards Committee. Motion carried unanimously. Awardees will be notified and citations prepared. b. Nominations for DPA Officer Candidates Ewing said there were no nominations to consider at this time. The slate of proposed officer candidates will be provided to the Councilors for their consideration at a later date. 9. Report from the Washington Advocacy Committee (WAG) Deborah Sacrey Sacrey reviewed her written report provided at the time of the meeting. The WAG Committee is a subcommittee of the Governmental Affairs Committee. The purpose of the committee is to promote the participation of AAPG members for the two Congressional Visit Days (CVD) held each year. The visit in the spring is a general science and mathematics CVD. AAPG had 20 participants, which was the goal this year. There were 60 people who attended this GEO-CVD, but AAPG had the largest group by far. This year the AGI put on the very first CVD targeting geoscientists. 10. Council Reports a. Eastern Section Pete MacKenzie Mackenzie reviewed his written report. The Eastern Section meeting is coming up 750 have been preregistered 1,000 are expected. Looking into the possibility of holding a Section meeting in Washington, D.C. in Page 6 of 10

7 b. Gulf Coast Section The 2009 GCAGS meeting will be held in Shreveport. c. Mid-Continent Section - Mark Gallagher Mark Gallagher reviewed his written report. The 2009 section meeting will be held in Tulsa. Planning a talk in the spring with the Tulsa Geological Society. Goals set for the Section are: make contact with member societies; participate in a luncheon meeting in Oklahoma City and Tulsa; and offer assistance to the Mid-Continent Section meeting in d. Pacific Section Jim Hill was absent from the meeting but provided the following written report: The next Section meeting will be held in Ventura, California. The date of the meeting has not been determined, but should be in May. Continuing the lobbying efforts on behalf of the membership. Hill has attended most of the local society meetings and talked to the membership about DPA and the WAG group. e. Rocky Mountain Section Bill Goff Goff reviewed his written report. The SIPES Denver chapter is hosting the 2010 meeting in Colorado Springs. This will be an interesting opportunity to get DPA involved with the SIPES annual meeting. f. Southwest Section Report Paul Pause Pause reviewed his written report. The next Section meeting will be April 26-29, 2009, in Midland, Texas. Lenny Wood is general chairman; Stonnie Pollock, technical co-chair; and Pat Welch, technical co-chair. Section DPA membership was 443 as of September The Section is planning to host two free short courses before yearend one in Abilene and one in Fort Worth. Topic and instructions to be announced. Page 7 of 10

8 g. International Section No written report available. 11. Committee Reports a. Board of Certification (Written report provided) The Board approved four applications during the period April 2008 through September Four applications are in pending status awaiting completion of delegate reports, sponsorship forms or reciprocity approval. Additionally, one Board Certified Member (BCM) has been approved during this reporting period. The BCM program seems to be running as expected. b. Bylaws Committee Paul Britt Nothing has come before the Bylaws Committee at this time. c. Continuing Education Committee Covered in Ericksen s President s report given earlier in the meeting. d. Governmental Affairs Committee Written report provided. The 2008 National Conference of State Legislatures (NCSL) was held in New Orleans. AAPG had its own booth. The 2009 NCSL will be held in Philadelphia. Three proposed statements are in the works: Fairness of Income Taxation for American Oil and Gas Industry Professionals Working Abroad; Onshore Drilling in the U.S.; and Energy Costs GeoDC office activity was included with the written report e. Membership Committee J. Michael Party Party reviewed his written report. Total DPA membership was 3,056 as of October 1, The Council needs to discuss how to pass on the benefits of becoming a member of the DPA. f. Publications Committee Bob Shoup Bob Shoup was unable to attend the meeting, but provided a written report. Page 8 of 10

9 g. State Registration and Licensing Committee Rick Ericksen Ericksen reviewed his written report. Seven states have mandatory continuing education requirements and one state (Mississippi) has a voluntary continuing education program. ** h. Committee on Conventions - Written report provided by Vice Chair Cliff Clark on the 2009 AAPG Annual Meeting AAPG Annual Meeting Denver, June AAPG Annual Meeting New Orleans, April AAPG Annual Meeting Houston, date TBA i. j. k. DPA Procedures Manual - The Procedures Manual Is located on the DPA web site. It provides duties and guidelines for councilors and is very helpful especially for new councilors. Web Site Committee No report. Data Preservation Committee Written report provided. 12. Old Business There was no old business to discuss. 13. New Business a. Web-based Form - Britt Britt suggested the use of a Section Reporting Form on the DPA Web site for each Section. Councilor s could post their Section activities as well as view activities in other Sections. It was pointed out that unless one individual is responsible for updating activities, it may not get done. The There will be no costs involved. The consensus of opinion was that this Web-based form would be a useful document and will help streamline reports. b. How Do We Sell DPA? How Do We Increase Membership? The Council reviewed the benefits of being a DPA member. The certification process shows that an individual can do the job. The Council discussed the possibility of developing an exclusive DPA Speaker s Bureau. The feasibility of an Apprentice category of membership was discussed. This member would not be certified at the time; would be Page 9 of 10

10 a non-voting member; and would only have access to the Correlator. on-line. The Council agreed this would be worthy of further consideration and discussion. This would help attract younger members. Fritz pointed out that Apprentice members would need to have something to do or they will lose interest. Mike Party will follow-up on the Apprentice program. c. DPA Ad Space in the EXPLORER The DPA gets an annual free quarter page ad in the EXPLORER. Newby stated that ads have not appeared for some time. One suggestion was an ad for TrendTRACK. d. Discussion Regarding Possible Dues Increase The Council was strongly against any dues increase at this time. 14. Date of Next Meeting The next meeting will be held June 6, 2009, in Denver, Colorado. 15. Adjournment Motion: Pause moved/ewing seconded; to adjourn the meeting. Motion carried. The meeting adjourned at 3:56 p.m. EXECUTIVE SESSION Motion: It was moved and seconded; that the DPA Executive Committee approve all action s of the DPA Council as presented October 4, Motion carried unanimously. Page 10 of 10