AMERICAN METEOROLOGICAL SOCIETY

Meeting of the Council

7-8 October 2004

AMS HQ, Boston, MA

Minutes

President Avery called the meeting to order at 8:30 AM on 7 October 2004. Rasmussen took roll call.

Present: President Avery; President-Elect Lyons; Past Presidents Friday and Rosen; Councilors Arkin, Blaskovich, Colton, Francis, Hollingsworth, Jones, Karl, Karoly, Killeen, Marsh, McPhail, Paegle, and Wash; Commissioners Colman, Klemp, McVehil, Toohey-Morales, and Winkler; Executive Director Seitter; Past Executive Director McPherson; Secretary-Treasurer Spangler; Attorney McLaughlin; Guests John Snow and Kerry Emanuel; AMS staff members Fisher, Claudia Gorski, Greenfield, Heideman, Hooke, Mohan, and Rasmussen (recorder). Councilors Barros and Fung were absent.

1. Agenda and Prior Meeting Minutes

President Avery welcomed the Council and other attendees, and previewed the agenda, noting it was extremely full. Minutes of prior meetings had been approved by e-mail ballot and so no action was required.

2. STAC Commission Report

Commissioner Colman began the report with a discussion of future named symposia. The Council voted to approve plans to hold two named symposia, for Jim Holton and Doug Lilly, at the Atlanta Annual Meeting in 2006. Following the votes, the Council discussed appropriate lengths for named symposia. After much discussion, a consensus formed, without formal vote, that future named symposia should be no more than one day long. Additional time, if needed, can be obtained by having named joint sessions with other meetings.

Next, Commissioner Colman introduced, and the Council subsequently passed, a proposal to move the Committee on Societal Impacts out from under the Executive Committee (EC) to become a cross-cutting Board within STAC. The proposal was endorsed by both the EC and Committee Chair Pulwarty.

3. Publications Commission Report

Commissioner Klemp noted that AMS Journals have been ranked very highly by ISI for impact; journals online are complete except for Monthly Weather Review, which is now back to 1920, and NOAA is scanning older back issues; and issues older than five years will be freely available to all. Our switch to Sheridan Press is going well, with journal production time now at about 140 days. It appears that we may be able to achieve 120 days with a paperless process. All electronic editing will start with the Journal of Climate in January, and by 2008 all journals should have made the change.

The Bulletin of the AMS is a victim of its own great success in that submissions and production times have greatly increased. Jeff Rosenfeld deserves a great deal of credit. Now, the BAMS staff would like guidance on how to deal with the additional workload, and additional staff are needed to ensure that BAMS remains healthy.

The need for a new Journal of Climate Applications was discussed. The Journal of Climate is huge and needs to offload some papers. Commissioner Klemp would like to add climate applications to the Journal of Applied Meteorology, change the terms of reference accordingly, add an additional editor to handle the additional papers, and later, if appropriate, change the name to Journal of Applied Meteorology and Climatology. The Council approved the additional editor.

A draft editorial by President Avery on unpaid page charges was approved.

The Council voted to approve a special issue for the Journal of Physical Oceanography.

The Council voted to approve the following editor positions and appointments: Chris Snyder (JAS), Tony Del Genio (JOC), Sandrine Bony (JCLI), and a new position for (JAM), appointee to be decided. The Council approved one-year extensions to current editor appointments for Marcia Politovich (JTECH) and K.K. Tung (JAS). It also approved two-year extensions for: Peter Muller (JPO), Roger Samelson (JPO), Lynne Talley (JPO), Eric Firing (JPO), Mark Donelan (JPO), Mike Spall (JPO), Peter Ray (Monographs), John Perry (Historical Monographs), and Dick Orville (Member at Large).

Commissioner Klemp sought the Council’s guidance on a proposal for a unified AMS Journal. After a long, friendly, and fruitful discussion that included input from Kerry Emanuel, who favored a phased approach leading toward a proposal in 2007, and the EC, who presently oppose a unified journal, the Council reached a consensus to continue to track member interest with a phased approach, delay a survey of members until the Council is prepared to act on the survey results, and discuss the concept at a future Heads and Chairs Meeting.

4. Professional Affairs Commission Report

Commissioner Tooley-Morales delivered the report.

The test for the new Certified Broadcast Meteorologist position was tested in New Orleans and was viewed to be hard, but fair. LaserGrade, a contractor with low fees and many test center locations, will implement the test. The Comet program is developing a test guide. The AMS staff has been asked to review CCM and Seal fees and reduce the large differences if possible. The Broadcast Board will work toward having their conference at the AMS Annual Meeting in years when it is held early in January (typically before Martin Luther King Day). The Council voted to approve Lisa Spencer as Chair and Greg Fishel as Chair Elect, and extend both terms for one additional year. It approved the following for two year terms, beginning in 2005: Veronica Johnson, Wayne Hart, David Bernard, and Ron Hearst. It approved the following for three year terms, beginning in 2005: Katie Horner, Mark Nelson, Jay Prater, and John Guaraldi. It also voted to extend the term of Robin Reed for one additional year.

The CCM Board was recently expanded to eight members with the addition of Jill Hasling and Peter Robinson. Tracking of Continued Professional Development is being implemented and the board has submitted an article on it to BAMS. The board hopes that the $10 renewal fee increase for 2005 will go entirely toward marketing the CCM program. The CCM Board will be holding another short course in San Diego in January. The Council voted to appoint Andy White as chair.

The Private Sector Board may change its focus in reaction to the new Enterprise Commission—to focus on individuals only, and not on corporations or companies—as well as its name, to Board on Private Sector Meteorologists . It is sponsoring a town hall meeting in San Diego in January. The Council voted to appoint Jim Block as Chair in 2005, and to extend his term by three years. It voted to appoint Jan Dutton and Ken Carey to three year terms, beginning in 2005.

The Council voted to extend Todd Glickman’s term on the Board on Continuing Educaiton by three years.

For the Board of Operational Government Meteorologists, the Council voted to appoint Reggina Garza as Chair, extend the term of Casey Crosbie by three years, and appoint Gail Hartfield to a three year term.

5. Education and Human Resources Commission Report

Commissioner Julie Winkler reported on successful meetings in Seattle in January 2004: Symposium on Education, Student Conference, and Women in Meteorology, and gave a preview of the Heads and Chairs Meeting in Boulder the following week. She advised that the Student Conference Committee structure needs to be revised to assure continuity. Also, more help is needed. The Commission will seek staff support for an international conference in Boulder in 2006. There is a problem with book awards that could be solved by allowing the use of book reviews in the award nominee selection process. The K-12 book award will not be offered in 2005 because no consensus was reached in the committee. The Board of Women and Minorities will evaluate the electronic membership survey to be taken next year. The draft AMS statement on the Batchelor degree will be presented to the Heads and Chairs next week. Scholarships applications are down and need to be reenergized.

The Council approved all of the following appointments (with alternates in case some individuals decline): for the Committee of Judges for Undergraduate Awards, Paul Sirvatka as Chair for one year, Roger Wakimoto for a four-year term; for the Board on Higher Education, for three year terms, Eugene Cordero, Peter Sousounis, and Percy Thomas; for the Board on Outreach and Pre-College, as Chair for two years, with a three year term extension, Wendy Schreiber-Abshire, for three year terms, Eve Gruntfest, Susan Foster, Kathryn Hoxsie, and Cynthia Nelson; for the Board on Women and Minorities, Shirley Murillo as Chair for a two-year term, for three-year extension Howard Friedman, appoint for three-years Sepideh Yalda, and Sreela Nandi.

6. Planning Commission Report

Commissioner George McVehil described a priority study that the EC asked the Commission to undertake concerning the desire to achieve better sector balance among those elected to the Council. The Commission proposed a small step: asking, but not requiring, voters to vote for at least one candidate from each sector. President Avery took a straw vote, which ended in a tie with 9 in favor and 9 opposed. Several additional straw votes were taken on the order in which candidates should be listed on the ballot and the highest alternative was listing all in random order, with 8 votes in favor. This issue will be revisited at the January Council meeting.

7. Proposed Commission on the Weather and Climate Enterprise

Chair John Snow of the Ad Hoc Committee on the Weather and Climate Enterprise provided a summary of the past 14 months of committee activities, culminating in the committee report, which recommended that the Council establish a new Commission on the Weather and Climate Enterprise.

The Council offered several helpful suggestions, including one to include representatives of rank and file meteorologists in the Commission, another to find a more meaningful name, and a third to broaden the focus to include international questions. The report recommended the following: proceed moving forward toward establishing the Enterprise Commission, post the Committee report on the AMS web site and solicit public comment, start identifying the Commissioner and Board Chairs, refine proposal for final approval in January, hold a Town Hall meeting in San Diego to announce the creation of the new Commission, and dissolve the Ad Hoc committee in January, once the Commission is established. The Council voted to approve all recommendations.

8. Budget

Executive Director Seitter reviewed the status of the 2004 Budget (projected to nearly break even) and described the proposed 2005 Budget, which the Council voted to approve. He then reviewed plans to increase dues in 2006, with a decision due in January 2005.

9. Awards

John Snow left the room for the duration of the awards discussion.

The Council approved a proposal to keep nominees for the Suomi Award active for four years. It approved a change in the awards procedures for the Battan Award, to use independent reviews from BAMS as nominations. Also, the Council approved a change of wording in the awards procedures to permit cash prizes.

The Council discussed a new award for Journalism. It formed a consensus that the US restriction was too limiting, authors of brief articles written on deadline and longer pieces should both be eligible for award, meteorologists should be allowed to win, and a member of the Broadcast Board or Broadcast community should be on the Journalism Award Committee. The Council voted to request a formal proposal and terms of reference.

The EC recommended approval of all award recommendations from the Awards Oversight Committee Report, except for one: the recommendation for the Applied Meteorology Award. The EC withheld approval because they deemed the supporting package to be too weak to justify conferring the award. The Council had a long and lively discussion about the Applied Meteorology Award. In the end, the Council voted to not award the Applied Meteorology award in 2005, with 14 in favor, 1 opposed, and 1 abstention. The Council voted to make all other awards per the recommendations of the awards oversight committee.

The 2005 award recipients are as follows: Rossby, Jagadish Shukla; Charney, Graeme L. Stephens; Suomi, William B. Rossow; Sverdrup, Joesph Pedlosky; Stommel, John S. Allen; Brooks, John T. Snow, Abbe, Harry R. Glahn; Anderson, Ira W. Geer; Meisinger, Steven C. Sherwood; Houghton, Mark Z. Jacobson; Teaching Excellence, Donald R. Johnson; Mitchell, Alan Zahnle; Exceptional Specific Prediction, Samuel Lashley and David Taylor; Reichelderfer, Bartlett C. Hagemeyer; Broadcast Meteorology, Joseph P. Sobel; Outstanding Achievement In Biometeorology, John M. Norman; Battan–Adult, Jon M. Nese and Glenn Schwartz; Special, Mary Desjardins, Jeffrey D. Hawkins, Oklahoma Mesonet; JAS, Olaf Stiller; JAM, Thomas F. Eck; JPO, Alexander V. Babanin; MWR, T. N. Krishnamurti; JTECH, Lee-Lueng Fu; WAF, Ben Bernstein; JOC, Adam Schlosser; J HYDRO, Guido Salvucci; Chapter Of The Year, Omaha-Offutt Chapter; and Student Chapter Of The Year, Texas A&M University Student Local Chapter.

10. AMS Fellows

All Fellows candidates in the room left for the entire discussion. The Council voted to approve the entire list of 24 recommended fellows. The 2005 fellows are: John S. Allen, Antonio Busalacchi, Marie Claire Colton, Walter F. Dabberdt, Geoffrey DiMego, Efi Foufoula-Georgiou, Steven R. Hanna, Thomas J. Jackson, Yoram I. Kaufman, Daniel Keyser, Jeffrey T. Kiehl, Timothy L. Killeen, Lance Leslie, Max Mayfield, Dennis W. Moore, Timothy R. Oke, John O. Roads, Joan E. Rosenfield, William B. Rossow, Robert A. Schiffer, Theodore G. Shepherd, Pao K. Wang, Stephen G. Warren, and Julie Ann Winkler.

11. AMS Honorary Members

The Council voted to approve Joseph Fletcher and Richard E. Hallgren as Honorary Members.

12. Fellows Committee for 2005

The Council approved appointing Ray Ban and Louis Uccellini to three-year terms on the Fellows Committee, with terms beginning in January 2005. It also approved the following change in the organizational procedures for the Fellows Committee: "1. Fellows, a. Membership: Seven Fellows of the Society, to include at least two members from the 'operational and private communities,' appointed by the President; the second Past President shall serve as Chair, and the previous second Past President as nonvoting ex officio."

13. Selection of Fifth Councilor

The Council discussed possible candidates for the 2005 Fifth Councilor. Appointment of the Councilor will not be made until after the regular election results are available.

14. Report on Midterm Review

The Council voted to approve posting for comments, with a few minor changes, the Draft Report of the Ad Hoc Midterm Review Committee, regarding progress in implementing the Ten-Year Vision Statement.

15. Issues for Next Presidential Term

Rick Rosen, Tom Karl, Marie Colton, and John Jones recused themselves from this discussion.

Atmospheric Policy Program (APP) Director Hooke discussed the partnership between AMS and UCAR over the past 20 years to document vital issues in our field at the beginning of each U.S. Presidential term. He summarized the work now in progress—which will be distributed on about February 1, 2005—and requested Council input and guidance regarding the most important issues over the next four years. After providing its input, the Council voted to authorize Director Hook to continue working with UCAR on the 2005 document.

16. AMS Statements

Executive Director Seitter provided an overview of the 24 statements currently in various stages of preparation. The discussion then shifted to discussion of the draft statement from the Satellite STAC Committee, and the request to post it for comments on the AMS website. Several Councilors noted various weaknesses in the draft statement, and suggested ways to strengthen it. Councilor Colton, as Council facilitator, agreed to make the desired changes in the statement. The Council then approved posting a modified version of the draft statement to the AMS web site for the 30-day comment period.

17. AMS Office of Public Outreach

Executive Director Seitter summarized, for information only, the proposal received from Jack Williams of USA Today to join the AMS staff as Public Outreach Officer once he retires from his current job. There are many issues still to be addressed, including the adequacy of the proposed funding mechanism for the position. If an agreement can be reached, however, there would also be great potential for achieving several Ten-Year Vision goals. Executive Director Seitter also discussed a request from the Earth and Sky radio program to form a partnership to secure funding for producing radio programs about exciting development in the atmospheric sciences.

18. Potential Conflict of Interest for Federal Employees Serving on the AMS Council

AMS Attorney McLaughlin reviewed the relevant US criminal statute, the varying interpretations of the statute by different federal agencies, and options for obtaining personal waivers (not recommended at this time). He advised Councilors to recuse themselves in those matters where there is a conflict, acknowledging that ongoing activities are problematic. Councilor Mc McPhail noted that the Federal Government would not pay salary, per diem, or travel expenses for doing AMS business. John Snow noted that states have the same issue. Attorney McLaughlin promised to investigate the matter further, in a quiet and careful way, so as to avoid attracting undue attention.

19. Other Matters

APP Director Bill Hooke summarized the Summer Policy Colloquium and the program for Congressional Science Fellows. Councilor Hollingsworth discussed Resolution 40 and the difficulty of translating it into French. Executive Director Seitter promised to provide via e-mail his vision for the AMS and a statement of core values.

The meeting adjourned at 1:00 p.m.