Michael O'Donnell

The Annual Business Meeting was called to order by President Ruthanne Pitkin at 5:45 PM. She welcomed everyone in attendance, and thanked Bob Kosinski, Conference Host.

1. Approval of agenda of 2000 Annual Business Meeting
A motion (Nilson/Bozzone) to approve the agenda of the 2000 Annual Business Meeting at Clemson University was duly seconded and carried.

2. Approval of minutes of 1999 Annual Business Meeting
A motion (Schwab/Potter) to approve the minutes of the 1999 Annual Business Meeting at the University of Nebraska was duly seconded and carried.

3. Announcements
Host Bob Kosinski welcomed everyone and thanked ABLE members for their help. He made several announcements about conference logistics.

4. Reports from Officers and Committee Chairs

4.1 President’s Report (Ruthann Pitkin)
President Pitkin's report included ABLE news from the past year: we have switched to online Labstracts, elected new officers, revised job descriptions, arranged for the 2001 conference in Chicago, and started arranging for future conferences at Louisiana State University, Bowling Green, and University of Nevada-Las Vegas, through 2004. She thanked members of the Board and committees for their contributions of the past year.

4.2 First Vice-President’s Report (Bill Glider, 1999 Conference Host)
Bill Glider noted that past ABLE hosts do survive, and he encouraged anyone who might be interested in hosting to talk to previous hosts. He thanked everyone who took the time to send a note of thanks, and presented a brief overview of the 1999 Conference at the University of Nebraska.

4.3 Second Vice-President (Bob Kosinski, 2000 Conference Host)
Bob Kosinski announced that Proceedings volumes and t-shirts may still be picked up. President Pitkin reminded the membership that this conference has a different schedule, with all the mini-workshops on friday. She asked the membership to comment on that scheduling change.

4.4 Treasurer’s Report (Alec Motten)
Treasurer Alec Motten stated that the Association is in good financial health, and reported on ABLE’s checking account balance, reserve CDs, and total assets, as well as last year’s cash inflow and expenditures. He explained that the increase in assets over the past year was in large part because of conference overage reimbursements from both Univ. Nebraska (1999 conference) and Florida State Univ. (1998 conference). He added that a full copy of his report is available to anyone who wants it.

4.5 Membership Committee Report (Nancy Rosenbaum, Chair)
Nancy Rosenbaum's reported on ABLE membership numbers (427 current members, with many new members from community colleges and high schools), noting that none of the new or renewing membership data from the Clemson meeting was available for this report. She introduced Denise Martin as the new Membership Chair, and urged all members to notify Ms. Martin of any address changes.

President Pitkin thanked Nancy Rosenbaum for her many years of service as Membership Chair.

4.6 Nominations Committee Report (Nancy Goodyear, Chair)
Nancy Goodyear announced the past year's election results: Bill Glider was elected as a Member-at-large. She urged everyone to vote (24% voted last year), and introduced Donna Bozzone as the new Nominations Chair. We will need nominations for a new Member-at-Large next year.

President Pitkin reported that Bob Hodson (Secretary) and Maggie Haag (President-Elect) begin their new terms July 1, 2000. She also urged people to see Donna Bozzone about nominations for next year's positions, and to nominate oneself if you want to run for office.

4.7 Major Workshops Committee Report (Jim Bader, Chair)
Jim Bader reported on the process of soliciting and reviewing workshops for the 2000 conference. The Committee received 29 proposals, and accepted 19 of them. He asked the membership to submit workshop proposals to him, and to send him our favorite mailing lists so that he can send out announcements requesting proposals for next year's conference. Jim Bader closed his remarks by thanking Host Bob Kosinski for getting people from Clemson to present workshops.

4.8 Mini Workshops Committee Report (Catherine Teare-Ketter, Chair)
Catherine Teare-Ketter reported on the number of mini workshops at this year's conference (23), and on the process of workshop solicitation, review, and acceptance. Moving the deadline from Jan. 29 to Feb. 10 helped tremendously. She announced that the Board voted to grant a 50% waiver of the conference registration fee for mini-workshop presenters. She also encouraged anyone to contact her about mini-workshops.

President Pitkin told the membership to contact her if they ever need a letter of workshop acceptance on ABLE letterhead.

4.9 Proceedings Committee Report (Sue Karcher, Editor)
Sue Karcher's report described Volume 21, the largest volume yet, which contains 22 chapters of major workshops and 15 pages of the 21 mini workshops that were presented at the University of Nebraska in 1999. For the first time, brief biographies of mini workshop presenters were included. If presenters did not submit a manuscript for the proceedings, an abstract of the workshop was included in an appendix. Volume 21 also contained a summary of the Regional ABLE Conference held at the University of Kentucky in 1999. She announced that this year is her last as Proceedings Editor, and that Michael O'Donnell will become Editor for Volume 23 (ABLE 2001 at the University of Chicago). Sue Karcher reminded the membership about past volumes that are still in print, and about selected past chapters that are posted on the ABLE Web site. She asked membership to consider whether to put proceedings volumes on the Web, or to wait until each volume is out of print. She asked for volunteers to be members of the Editorial Board, and thanked the workshop presenters, and thanked everyone for doing a good job of completing workshop evaluations.

4.10 Communications Committee (Labstracts) Report (Ed Andrews, Editor)
Ed Andrews described his work on Labstracts for the past year, including the transition to a web-based newsletter for the winter issue. He acknowledged Corey Goldman for his help in putting up the web version. Ed Andrews then announced he is stepping down as Labstracts Editor, and urged membership to contact a Board member if interested in the position.

President Pitkin thanked Ed for all his work as Labstracts Editor, and encouraged the membership to contribute material to upcoming issues.

4.11 Regional Workshops Committee Report (Ruth Beattie)
Ruth Beattie described the second annual regional ABLE conference at the University of Kentucky in October 1999. The target audience was introductory college and AP high school biology teachers. There were 38 participants from 18 institutions across 7 states. Participants attended 4 major workshops previously presented at ABLE conferences and 2-3 mini workshops.

President Pitkin thanked Ruth Beattie for hosting a regional workshop, and encouraged members to go to the ABLE Web Site to get more information on Regional ABLE Workshops.

4.12 Lab Teaching Initiative Grant Report (Maggie Haag)
Maggie Haag explained what the Laboratory Teaching Initiative grants are (up to $2,000 for development of new laboratory exercises), and announced the winner for this year. The Committee received 6 inquiries, 5 applications, and awarded a grant to Leonard Pysh from Roanoke College in Virginia, for his proposal titled "The Power of Genetics.". Maggie Haag noted that grant recipients are required to submit a progress report to Labstracts, and present a workshop at an ABLE Conference within 2 years. She added that we have had problems with recipients following up on these requirements in the past, and that all winners are now required to sign a form noting the conditions of the grant. Maggie encouraged people to submit proposals for next year's Lab Teaching Initiative Grant awards. Bill Glider asked if the grants were for major or mini workshops. Maggie Haag replied that both workshops are eligible, and reminded membership of the registration waivers and honorarium for workshop presenters.

4.13 Web Site Committee (Corey Goldman, Chair)
President Pitkin noted that the ABLE Web site has received a "Links2Go Key Resource" award. Corey Goldman asked membership to speak to him about comments or suggestions. He thanked Bob Kosinski for preparing the conference brochure material, and thanked Ed Andrews for editing and sending him the Labstracts material. He reminded the membership that Labstracts access is password protected. Corey Goldman next showed the ABLE web site at http://www.zoo.toronto.edu/able/ and noted some content highlights. He reminded the membership that the ABLE Bulletin Board is there for us to use. Reinforcing what Sue Karcher had previously mentioned, he asked the membership to consider when we should publish proceedings volumes on the Web site, and if web access to volumes should be password protected. Corey achnowledged John Bohmfalk for updating the Hot Links page, and encouraged everyone to contribute.

Ruthann Pitkin announced that there will be no paper copy of future conference brochures; all conference information will be at the Web site.

5. Old Business

5.1 25^th Anniversary Presentation
President Pitkin informed the membership that she, Anna Wilson, and Jon Glase would organize the 25th Anniversary Presentation. She added that they are open to any and all suggestions for the 25^th anniversary celebration.

5.2 Duties of Members at Large (Maggie Haag)
Maggie Haag announced the motions passed by the Board that clarify the duties of the Members-at-Large. The 5 motions read as follows:

1. For the first two years of their term, Members-at-Large will serve on the Major Workshop Committee, assisting the Chair of the Committee on various matters including: choosing workshops and soliciting workshop proposals.

2. In the third year of their term, Members-at-Large will serve as head of the Nomination Committee and will conduct the annual elections.

3. In the fourth year of the term, the Member-at-Large will serve as the Chair of the Lab Initiatives Committee. (This involves the receipt of proposals, dispersal of proposals to the other Members-at-Large, and notifying successful applicants.)

4. In the fourth year of the term, the Member-at-Large will serve as the Chair of the Members-at-Large Group. (The Chair of the Members-at-Large Group will remind the members of their duties and ensure the passing of information from one member to the other.  They would inform new person of general duties, etc.)

5. All Members-at-Large shall serve on the Lab Initiatives Committee for all 4 years of their term.

5.3 Fate of Scholarship Committee
Maggie Haag informed the membership that the Board had discussed how the old "Scholarship Committee" has become the "Lab Teaching Initiatives Committee," and what else this committee should be doing. Maggie added that President Pitkin had directed her to redefine the Scholarship Committee. For that purpose, she offered two motions, each duly seconded and passed separately. The motions read as follows:

1. The first motion (Haag/Goodyear) changes the name of the Scholarship Committee to the Grants-in-Aid Committee.

2. The second motion (Haag/McBain) states that the Grants-in-Aid Committee shall be responsible for the Lab Teaching Initiative grants plus registration waivers to encourage attendance at ABLE meetings. The target of these waivers will be graduate students, post-docs, new faculty, and community college faculty. The goal is to award a minimum of 10 waivers per year.

Ed Andrews added that the waivers would be given only if ABLE has the funding to do so. Maggie Haag announced that a form for these registration waivers would be created and posted on the ABLE Web site.

5.4 Other Old Business
President Pitkin informed the membership that the Board had voted to give one free proceedings volume to each major and mini workshop presenter.

6. New Business

6.1 ABLE 2001 (Roz Potter)
President Pitkin introduced Roz Potter, the Host for ABLE 2001 at the University of Chicago. Ms. Potter noted that the conference would be held later than usual: June 19-22, 2001. She told the membership to watch the Web site for more information as it gets added, gave a slide presentation on Chicago and the university, discussing conference logistics, such as transportation, lodging, facilities, and field trips. She asked members to let her know if they could conduct a workshop at the Indiana Dunes.

6.2 ABLE 2002
President Pitkin announced that the 2002 ABLE Conference would be held at Louisiana State University.

6.3 Conference brochures
President Pitkin told the membership that the Board has decided to eliminate the paper copy of the conference. Instead, all that information will be posted to the ABLE Web site.

6.4 Registration waiver
President Pitkin announced that the Board had voted to waive 50% of the conference registration fee for mini workshop presenters. Only one waiver would be made per workshop, although that number may be increased at the discretion of the host.

6.5 Clearinghouse for Undergraduate Labs (Bob Hodson)
Bob Hodson (University of Delaware) gave a presentation on his idea for a Biology Laboratory Clearinghouse (BLC), an online searchable database of lab exercises and multimedia (video clips, tutorials, images), plus a forum for improvement ideas. He announced that he wwould be giving a presentation on the BCL on friday, and he'll put information in Labstracts, plus the ABLE Bulletin Board (at the Web site). Bob wanted to know if ABLE has an interest in this project, and urged the membership to give him feedback.

President Pitkin reminded everyone about the exhibitors in Long Hall, and asked us all to visit them. There being no further business, a motion to adjourn was made, duly seconded, and carried. The meeting was adjourned at 6:35 pm.

Respectfully submitted,
Michael O’Donnell, Secretary