AMERICAN METEOROLOGICAL SOCIETY

Meeting of the Council

11 January 2004

Seattle, WA

Minutes

President-Elect Avery called the Council to order at 8:00 a.m. on 11 January.

Present: President Friday, President-Elect Avery, Past-Presidents Rosen and Serafin; Councilors Arkin, Barros, Blaskovich, Carr, Colton, Fine, Jones, Karl, Karoly, Killeen, Paegle, Stephens; Commissioners: Ban, Colman, Klemp, Rasmusson, and Winkler; Executive Director McPherson; SecretaryBTreasurer Spengler; Recorders Seitter and Annese. New councilors present, but not voting: Walt Lyons, Anthony Hollingsworth, Thomas MacPhail, Stan Marsh, Chuck Wash and Dave Blaskovich, along with commissioners George McVehil and John Toohey-Morales.

1. Agenda

President-Elect Avery began the meeting on behalf of President Friday, who was called to briefly serve in another capacity at the annual meeting. She welcomed the Council as well as those newly elected future Council members in attendance.

2. Minutes and mail ballots

The inclusion of the minutes and e-mail ballot results were noted, but no action was required.

3. Election results

Executive Director McPherson reviewed the report of the ballot-tellers for the election just completed and introduced the incoming officers, most of whom were present.

4. STAC Commission report

Commissioner Colman reported that the meeting of the STAC Commission that had occurred the day before was one of the best to date, with representation by the chairs of one board and 28 committees and very good discussions on a number of topics. He provided a brief view of the program chair handbook being prepared to serve as guidance for conference and symposium program committees which the Commission feels will greatly ease the burden on the volunteers. Colman noted that 13 STAC committees would be leading conferences and symposia at this annual meeting. Colman reported that the STAC committees expressed concern at the process through which AMS statements are prepared and that the Commission hopes to make recommendations to the Council on ways to improve the process. He also reported that efforts were underway within the Commission to normalize the selection process for the various awards and lectureships under the purview of the Commission. Colman completed his report by highlighting the activities of a number of STAC committees that were included in their individual committee reports.

[President Friday returned to the meeting during the next agenda item.]

5. Publications Commission report

Commissioner Klemp reported that there were only a few items requiring update for the Council since the more complete report provided at the fall meeting. He noted the efforts to engage the community in a broader discussion of the possibility of the discontinuation of the print version of the journals and reported that new color pricing would be introduced soon to lower the cost to authors. Given the small, but positive response to the BAMS article on the concept of an integrated single journal of the AMS, Klemp suggested that an ad hoc committee be established under the Commission to explore the idea further. He suggested that any Council member interested in serving on this committee should contact him. There was some concern expressed by a few members of the Council that losing the individual name recognition and prestige of the current journals by folding them all into a single new journal would be detrimental to the attraction of authors in the disciplines related to the atmosphere, such as oceanography and hydrology. In the discussion, it was pointed out that the concept of a single overarching journal was most easily envisioned after the print versions of all the journals had been discontinued. This led to some discussion of the economics of electronic-only journals and it was noted that while the subscribers were moving toward electronic subscriptions there was still a high percentage receiving the journals in print form, indicating continued strong support for the print versions.

On the recommendation of the Commissioner, the Council voted to create an additional editor's position for Journal of Climate, to be filled at a later date. The Council also approved the appointment of Christa Peters-Lidard as an editor for Journal of Hydrometeorology for a term ending January 2007, and William Kustas as chief editor for JHM for a term ending January 2007. After some discussion of the process through which editors were selected, it was suggested that the Commission look at ways to encourage as broad a participation as possible with an easy means for individuals to volunteer to become editors.

6. Education and Human Resources Commission report

Commissioner Winkler had no action items for the Council at this time, but highlighted a number of Commission activities taking place at this annual meeting. Those included the very successful third Student Conference occurring over the weekend, the strong program in this year's Education Symposium, and the special session on Women in the Atmospheric Sciences that was to occur later in the week. Looking to the coming year, Commissioner Winkler noted that the Board on Higher Education will be busy with the planning of the biennial heads and chairs meeting as well as the revision of the AMS Statement on a Bachelor's Degree in the Atmospheric Sciences. The Board on Women and Minorities will be busy this year in preparing for the next survey of the members will occur in the fall.

7. Professional Affairs Commission report

Commissioner Ban began his report by introducing John Toohey-Morales, who takes over as Commissioner with this meeting. Ban then requested and received Council approval of Steve Newman as chair-elect and confirmation of Paul Croft as chair for 2004 for the Board on Continuing Education. Ban noted that at this annual meeting the Board on Operational Government Meteorologists was sponsoring a town hall meeting on the role of the human in the forecasting process and that the Board on Private Sector Meteorology was sponsoring a town hall meeting introducing the community to the new leadership of the WMO. President Friday led the Council in thanking Commissioner Ban for his service to the Society as Commissioner for the past six years.

8. Planning Commission report

Commissioner Rasmusson reported that the Commission was providing oversight and guidance on the response to the NRC Fair Weather report being prepared by the ad hoc committee on partnerships and on the report from the committee conducting the Mid-Term Review of the Ten-Year Vision study. Both activities were still in committee, but the Commission looked forward to reviewing their reports and providing any additional guidance that may be requested. Rasmusson introduced George McVehil, who takes over as Commissioner at this meeting. President Friday led the Council in thanking Commissioner Rasmusson for his service to the Society as commissioner for the past six years.

9. New Seal of Approval and Certified Broadcast Meteorologist procedures

Commissioner Ban briefed the Council on the formal procedures documents covering the Broadcast Seal of Approval and Certified Broadcast Meteorologist programs that were prepared based on the guidance provided by the Council at its fall meeting. There was some discussion on specifics in the procedures documents, and the need to carefully define the equivalency of a bachelor=s degree in meteorology. The Council also noted that the table of professional development activities and point values were not yet completed and would require review and approval separately. The Council voted to approve the procedures.

10. New CCM procedures

Commissioner Ban briefed the Council on the inclusion of mandatory professional development in the formal procedures documents covering the CCM program that were prepared based on the guidance provided by the Council at its fall meeting. There was some discussion on the need to continue to refine the continuing development point values based on early experience with the program, and it was noted that the Executive Committee had suggested some changes to the proposed fee structure so that nonmembers paid more for certification activities than members did. The Council voted to approve the procedures. The Council thanked Commissioner Ray for leading the efforts to revise the procedures of the certification programs.

11. Atmospheric Policy Program report

Director Hooke briefed the Council on the activities of the Atmospheric Policy Program (APP), noting the success of the ongoing programs supporting AAAS Congressional Fellows, the summer Policy Colloquia, and the series of colloquia on Weather and Climate and National Priorities. Increased support of the latter two programs by agency funding and industry sponsorship has been critical in stabilizing the programs. There was discussion on the ongoing positive impact that APP programs have on the community. It was noted that the Committee on Societal Impacts, which has expressed a desire to become more active could be drawn into some of the APP activities.

[Past-President Rosen excused himself for the following agenda item.]

12. Government Relations Program

Executive Director McPherson briefed the Council on the activities of the Government Relations Program over the past year. He then introduced the list of issues expected to be addressed by the program during 2004. There was some sense among the Council that there needed to be broader advocacy by the Society on issues related to climate change, with Executive Director McPherson reporting back to the Council regularly on these activities. With this addition, the consensus of the Council was that the proposed plan was reasonable and should serve the Society well.

13. Lecturers

On the recommendation of the Awards Oversight Committee, with the concurrence of the Executive Committee, the Council voted to approve Peter Rhines as the next Haurwitz Lecturer and Dennis Lettenmaier as the next Roberts Lecturer.

The Council recessed for lunch from 11:45 a.m. to 1:15 p.m.

14. Mid-Term Review

Councilor Arkin and former Councilor Glackin, co-chairs of the committee carrying out the Mid-Term Review of the Ten-Year Vision Study, briefed the Council on the interim report that would be given to the membership at a town hall meeting during the annual meeting. There was some discussion on several points related to financial demands of the Ten-Year Vision implementation since it had been created in a time of economic growth, but an overall economic downturn had occurred as implementation began. It was suggested that the mid-term review could help identify priorities from the Ten-Year Vision in addition to assessing progress to date. The Council was asked to provide additional input on the interim report by 6 February.

15. Ad Hoc Committee on Partnerships

John Snow, chair of the ad hoc committee that has been preparing a response to the NRC Fair Weather report, briefed the Council. Snow discussed the recommendation of the committee that the Society create a new Commission on the Weather and Climate Enterprise to address the sorts of partnership issues among the sectors that have been identified in the NRC report. The possible structure, approach, and costs of the new commission were reviewed, as well as the possible impact to the existing commission structure of the Society. In discussion after the briefing, it was clear that the Council felt that this was a very important issue that needs to be addressed by the Society but there was little consensus on the precise approach that should be taken, with some favoring a structure similar to that proposed by the ad hoc committee and others suggesting very different approaches. There was some agreement that the ad hoc committee should work toward getting some of the key individuals of the various sectors together soon to discuss one or more critical topics raised in the Fair Weather report as a means of moving forward to action and to afford an opportunity to discuss more formal structures that could be established by AMS to institutionalize such efforts. The Council agreed that the committee had covered a lot of ground in only a few months and expressed its appreciation to Snow and the members of the ad hoc committee for their efforts to date.

16. Diversity Statement

On the recommendation of the Education Advisory Committee, with the concurrence of the Commissioner of Education and Human Resources and the Executive Committee, the Council voted to approve the Statement on Increasing Diversity in the Earth, Ocean, Atmospheric, Space, and Physical Sciences.

17. Statements

With Councilor Carr=s term on the Council ending, Councilor Karl agreed to serve as Council facilitator for the completion of the Statement on Tornado Warning and Forecasting and the Statement on Mobile Homes and Severe Windstorms currently posted for the 30-day public comment period.

It was noted here that the STAC Commission plans to provide some suggestions to the Executive Committee and Council on ways to improve the statement creation and revision process.

18. Report on the 2003 Budget

Executive Director McPherson reported that while the financial records for the 2003 budget year were not yet analyzed, it was clear that the Services, Publications, and Meetings portion of the operating budget had ended the year in deficit due to several factors. A full report would be provided to the Executive Committee at its April meeting.

19. Committees of the Executive Committee

President Friday noted for the Council that the agenda package included informational reports by the committees of the Executive Committee but that no action was required.

20. The 2005 Annual Meeting

President-Elect Avery provided a brief overview of the 2005 annual meeting that will be held in San Diego. Planning is well underway and Avery said it was shaping up to be a very exciting meeting under the broad theme of, “Building the Earth Information System.”

21. Discussion of AMS meetings

Executive Director McPherson led a brief discussion on the overall strategy of the Society=s meetings to foster the dissemination of scientific results and interaction within the community. He noted that as the meetings have become larger and necessarily more formal in structure, some of the informal interaction that characterized past meetings has been lost. He suggested that the Council members consider this an issue for future discussions when time permitted, and that suggestions for alternative meeting structures be forwarded to Commissioner Colman or the AMS staff.

22. Honorary Members

President Friday reminded the Council that Robert Simpson and Taroh Matsuno would be awarded Honorary Member status at this meeting and asked that the Council provide input and recommendations for individuals who should be considered later this year for election to Honorary Member of the Society.

23. Status reports

President Friday asked for questions from the Council on any of the informational status reports provided in the agenda packet. Having none, and with no action on the reports required, Friday commended those Councilors that had not done so to read through the reports to get a good sense of the many activities summarized in them.

24. AMS Prize

President Friday reported on a proposal from Past-President Atlas to create a cash prize in the area of remote sensing research to be funded by gifts to the Society with the expectation of becoming an endowed prize. Friday noted that the Executive Committee had voted to recommend to the Council that the various awards procedures be modified as needed to allow the establishment of such a cash prize. The Council endorsed this idea and voted to authorize the Executive Director work with Atlas on establishing the details of the prize. It was agreed that new awards policy language that allowed prizes of this type would be prepared by the staff for review and approval by the Council at its fall meeting.

25. Closing remarks

President Friday thanked the Council for its attention and thoughtful guidance during the day and led the Council in expressing its appreciation to Past-President Serafin and Councilors Carr, Geller, Fine, Stephens, and Thompson whose service on the Council is completed with this meeting. The Council also expressed its appreciation to President Friday for his year of leadership. President-Elect Avery reminded the new Council of the important brief meeting that was to take place after the Business Meeting that evening.

The Council adjourned at 4:25 p.m.

The Council will next meet on 7 and 8 October 2004 in Boston.

AMERICAN METEOROLOGICAL SOCIETY

Meeting of the Council

11 January 2004

Seattle, WA

Minutes

President Avery called the Council to order at 6:10 p.m. on 11 January.

Present: President Avery, President-Elect Lyons, Past-President Friday; Councilors Arkin, Barros, Blaskovich, Colton, Jones, Karl, Karoly, Killeen, Marsh, MacPhail, Paegle, Wash; Executive Director McPherson; SecretaryBTreasurer Spengler; Recorder Seitter.

Appointment of Council representative to the Executive Committee

On the recommendation of President Avery, the Council voted to appoint Councilor Paegle to the Executive Committee for a two-year term ending January 2006.

The Council adjourned 6:15 p.m.