Jacksonville, Florida

February 9 and 10, 2003

President Brad Majek called the meeting to order at about 1:40 p.m. on February 9. Board members attending were Roger Becker, representing NCWSS; Tim Dutt, Charlotte Eberlein, Mike Foley, Kent Harrison, Jerry Ivany, Nelroy Jackson, substituting for Steve Miller of WSWS; Joyce Lancaster, Al Hamill, Brad Majek, Carol Mallory-Smith, Dale Shaner, Horace Skipper, and Laura Whatley. Rob Hedberg, WSSA Director of Science Policy, and Leslie Weston, Director of Education, were also present, along with incoming Member-at-Large Steve Dewey, and Vice-President Elect Donn Thill. Ernest Del Fosse of USDA-ARS; Dallas Peterson, NCWSS president-Elect; Jeff Derr, Joan Dusky, Local Arrangements Chair; and Rhonda Green, Business Manager; attended portions of the Board meeting.

Introduction – All attendees were introduced.

Additions and Changes to the Agenda. It was moved (Hamill) seconded (Skipper), and passed unanimously to accept the agenda as presented.

Business Meeting Agenda. The Board reviewed the agenda for the WSSA business meeting.

Minutes from Previous Meeting. Skipper moved and Mallory-Smith seconded that the minutes from the July meeting be approved. The motion passed unanimously.

Program Committee Report. Hamill pointed out that some committee meetings will be co-located. However, this is not the norm and should not happen in the future. The proposed workshop on invasive weeds was canceled; the turf grass symposium was canceled too due to a scheduling conflict with the Gold Course Superintendent Association annual meeting.

Executive Secretary’s Report. Membership is down and the upper level of sustaining memberships is lower than last year. The Board had a lengthy discussion on membership issues, outreach programs, joint meetings with other societies and other avenues to enhance our Society mission and sustainability.

Mallory-Smith moved that Majek name a committee to look at linkages with other organizations; address membership issues, declining membership, and recruiting; and number of members needed to be self-sustaining. Thill seconded the motion; it passed unanimously.

ACTION: Majek will name the committee to address membership and sustainability issues.

The Herbicide Handbook is selling well; production problems delayed publication of the calendar. Investment income for the 2002 fiscal year was lower than that earned in 2001, but the annual meeting more than paid for itself.

Treasurer’s Report.

ACTION: Mallory-Smith will discuss the issues of credit card charges and investment policy with the Finance Committee.

Director of Publications. Renewing/extending the present publication contract with Allen Press was discussed.

ACTION: Lancaster will compile a list of contracts with Allen Press and Allen Marketing and Management, including contract expiration dates, for Thill.

ACTION: Thill will include the contract information with the committee listing.

The WSSA association with BioOne, the journal consolidator, will end December 31, 2003. Foley is evaluating possible new options, such as pay-per-view. The transition to AllenTrack is underway, although some papers have had to be loaded manually.

Foley noted that Bob Blackshaw had assumed the role of Weed Science editor before his term actually started. It was moved (Foley), seconded (Skipper), and passed unanimously that WSSA provide $1000, a one-month editor’s stipend, to Bob Blackshaw for his early editorial duties with Weed Science.

Reporting for the special committee, Foley suggested that further discussion of establishing an Executive Director position, combining duties of the current Director of Education and Director of Publications, be postponed or dropped.

Committees. Thill proposed changes to committee and liaison structure, as described below.

Rekindle ties with CoFarm (Council on Funding Agriculture Research Missions).

ACTION: Weston will get the MOP for CoFarm

ACTION: Hedberg will get the CoFarm mission statement.

Have the Director of Science Policy serve as the FICMNEW liaison.

Establishing a liaison with the Weed Science Society of Mexico (WSSM) was discussed, but the Board would like more information on WSSM before considering the idea.

ACTION.Tracy Sterling will try to get a copy of the WSSM’s Manual of Operating Procedures.

If the Placement Committee is still needed, limit membership to a chair and vice-chair.

A Strategic Planning and Implementation Committee should be added to the standing committee list and coded W7.

Drop the liaison with the Coalition for Education in the Life Sciences (CELS).

ACTION: Skipper will revise the MOP to reflect the new committee and liaison structure.

XID Update. The task force reviewing the proposal recommended that the Society partner with XID. It was moved (Hamill) and seconded (Eberlein) that WSSA proceed with the contract, as amended, for Phases I and II of the XID project. Foley moved to amend the motion by requiring that the contract be reviewed by an attorney prior to the President signing it; Kells seconded the amendment. The amended motion failed; the original motion passed.

Marketing, Photo Collection and Material Review committees are currently envisioned for the project.

Committee Reports. Skipper reported on WSSA Internal Affairs committees; he noted the need to revise the duties of the Vice-president and the Director of Publications in the Manual of Operating Procedures. A replacement chair for the awards committee needs to be appointed. He also reminded the Nominating Committee that one of the four At-Large members must be an industry representative.

ACTION: Skipper will revise pertinent portions of the MOP with input from the Vice-President and the Director of Publications.

Communication and decision-making other than at official Board meetings were discussed. It was moved (Whatley), seconded (Murphy), and passed unanimously that Skipper bring a draft communications policy to the July meeting. The draft will cover e-mail, fax, voting, and conference calls for the Board, plus a proposal for member electronic voting, survey, and polls.

ACTION: Skipper will draft a communication proposal for the Board’s summer meeting.

Board member attendance at Board meetings was discussed; any formal policy will require a change in the Manual of Operating Procedures (MOP).

ACTION: Skipper will draft an MOP change.

Director of Science Policy (DSP). Choosing highest priorities and interacting with various Society committees remains challenging for the DSP. Despite that, a number of milestones were reached in the past year. Among them were: requests for information from both Senate and House Agriculture Committees or staff; appointment of weed scientist John Abernathy to the USDA National Agricultural Research, Education, Extension and Economics Advisory Board; weed scientists appointed as chair and vice chair of Invasive Species Advisory Board; a successful National Invasive Weed Awareness Week; Invasive Species Compendium workshop; Undersecretary and Deputy Undersecretary meetings at USDA and USDI.

The Society of Range Management is now co-located with the Director of Science Policy.

Invasive Plants in Natural and Managed Systems Conference (IPINAMS), WSSA (Nelroy Jackson) and the Ecological Society of America are co-chairing a conference and workshop on invasive weed management. It will be held in conjunction with the 7^th International Conference on the Ecology and Management of Alien Plant Invasions, November 3 through7, 2003. Five hundred to 800 registrants are expected.

International Weed Science Society (IWSS). Steve Duke requested that WSSA subsidize graduate students in weed science so they can attend the annual IWSS meeting in South Africa.

Director of Education. Weston recommended that WSSA proceed with developing a display and brochure on weed science.

ACTION: Hedberg will write a proposal for a display and brochure, with a budget of no more than $10,000, for the summer Board meeting.

A prototype display, with poster, will be used at the National Invasive Weed Awareness Week.

ACTION: Eberlein, Weston, Westra, and Hedberg will decide what should appear on the poster by the end of the annual meeting.

Weston reiterated the importance of maintaining and renovating the WSSA web site. A possible post-doctoral position, with the charge of grant proposal writing, was discussed.

USDA/ARS Update. Ernest Del Fosse provided projected new USDA positions involving weed research if the 2003 budget is approved; aquatic weeds in Davis, CA; biological control in Sydney, MT; invasive shrubs and trees in Las Cruces, NM. He also noted the end of the 5-year cycle for the USDA-CRS organization when the structure will be evaluated. The review will include consideration of establishing a national program in in weed science. Del Fosse asked WSSA to provide him with weed science priorities.

Site Selection Committee. The 2006 annual meeting will be held in New York City. Majek recommended that the Site Selection committee make-up be changed to have the Past-President and Vice-President as co-chairs.

ACTION: Skipper will draft language for the MOP reflecting the change in Site Selection Committee make-up.

Western Society of Weed Science (WSWS). The WSWS will meet in March in Hawaii, and expects a large attendance. Their big project for the coming year is revamping the constitution and by-laws.

North Central Weed Science Society (NCWSS). About 500 people attended the December annual meeting in St. Louis, which is typical. Membership in the Society is stable, with just under 700 members.

Canadian Weed Science Society (CWSS). The Expert Committee on Weeds was renamed the Canadian Weed Science Society in mid-2002; there are between 150 and 175 members. Neil Harker is the current president and will preside over the upcoming meeting in Halifax, Nova Scotia (November 30 through December 3, 2003).

Northeast Weed Science Society (NEWSS). Attendance at the NEWSS annual meeting has been holding stable at about 200 for the past several years; the meeting has been held in conjunction with the Northeastern branch of the American Society of Horticultural Science annual meeting. The society has about 215 members, and has remained at that level. However, the number of private sector members continues to decline. The next annual meeting will be held in Boston, January 5-8, 2004.

Southern Weed Science Society (SWSS). About 400 members attended the recent SWSS meeting in Houston. Set 8 of the SWSS Weed ID Guide is approaching completion; when finished it will be available in both hard copy and CD-ROM. A new program section, Invasive Plants, will be added at future annual meetings; the next meeting will be held January 24-26, 2004, in Memphis.

Aquatic Plant Management Society. An educational pamphlet, “Understanding Invasive Aquatic Weeds” has gone through two large printings and another is needed. Obviously, it has been well received and the Society is soliciting donations for another printing.

Invasive Weeds. The North American Weed Management Association (NAWMA), made up of professionals directly managing invasive weeds, is interested in strengthening its ties to WSSA and possibly partnering on educational materials. Currently, the Society is developing a certification program for managers of invasive plants.

Hedberg mentioned a Weed Fact Book on Invasive Weeds that FICMNEW had reprinted; a new version will be available in July. WSSA could possibly warehouse and sell the book.

ACTION: Hedberg will present cost and other details on the Weed Fact Book at the summer Board meeting.

Skipper moved and seconded that the meeting be adjourned. The motion passed unanimously and the meeting ended at about 2:40 p.m. February 10.

Laura L. Whatley

Secretary