1997 Meeting
Association
of Women Soil Scientists
Seventh Annual Meeting
Hilton Hotel
Anaheim, CA
Wednesday, October 29, 1997 at 4 p.m.
Minutes of the AWSS
Meeting at the 1997 ASA/CSSA/SSSA Annual Meeting
The meeting commenced at 4:05
p.m. on October 29, 1997 in the Capistrano Room, Hilton
Hotel, Anaheim, CA.
Executive Committee Chair Kathy
Newkirk explained who AWSS is and the group's purpose
for the benefit of non-members and then introduced other
Executive Committee members Maria Pautler, Myra Peak,
and Pamm Kasper. Margie Faber arrived a little later and
was also introduced.
New Business:
Dr. Lee Sommers, SSSA President, arrived and the meeting
shifted to new business. He was introduced to the group
as current SSSA liaison to AWSS. He spoke about the mentoring
award proposed to be presented as an SSSA award. Committee
co-chairs Marsha Sheppard and Lenore Matula Vasilas were
not present, so Kathy Newkirk explained the award. It
is to be awarded in alternate years by SSSA and the Soil
and Water Conservation Society (SWCS). Which society will
award when still needs to be decided. As far as SSSA is
concerned, Dr. Sommers said that the award proposal, once
approved by AWSS and SSSA, would get standardized and
put into the SSSA award booklet. He asked if there would
be a stipend with it and those present would like the
award to be for recognition rather than with a monetary
incentive. Dr. Sommers will discuss the mentoring award
at the next SSSA board meeting in the first week or March
1998. Those present were then asked if anyone had any
experience with a mentoring award and/or getting approval
for such an award. AWSS needs to be sure to define "mentor."
Bob Grossman mentioned that "mentor" and "teacher"
are different entities and that excellence in teaching
should not be weighted too heavily in award decisions.
Discussion turned as to whether an agronomist or strictly
a soils person should be considered. Myra Peak suggested
that it be kept soils-influenced and that it would be
valuable to present the award to both individuals and
organizations. It was wondered if the ASA Women in Agronomy
(WIA) committee would be involved with the award. Susan
Samson-Liebig, AWSS representative to WIA, thought that
WIA should be involved and it would be to AWSS' advantage
to work with WIA.
The next speaker was Dr. Tom Sims,
University of Delaware, and head of SSSA Committee S571,
Training of Soil Scientists. He discussed the poster he
presented at this ASA meeting, "Graduate Education
in Soil Science: Current Status and Future Challenges
for SSSA." In the U.S., there are 2.5 M.S. and 3.5
Ph.D. students/state/year; therefore, soil scientists
are not being grossly overproduced. He conducted a survey
(receiving 123 responses from the 300 surveys sent out,
of which 29% were from women), to see if graduates felt
that they were trained properly and if there were suggestions
for what SSSA could do to improve graduate education in
soil science. He hasn't looked at the job satisfaction/employment
side of the issue, but discussion included: continuing
to pursue soil science as a career and soil science licensing;
meeting with other societies to find out about opportunities
in areas other than agriculture and vice versa; making
industry know what students, particularly M.S. students
can do for them; and doing more for Ph.D. students in
terms of guiding them in opportunities such as teaching
at non-land grant universities.
Secretary Treasurer Report:
Neither Kristen Bloser nor GayLynn Kinter was present.
Kristen will be working with GayLynn in 1998 before taking
over the position entirely in 1999. Kathy Newkirk gave
the Treasurer's report as follows:
Total Monies: $8426.38 broken out as:
Checking Acct: $101.33
Savings Acct: $1787.10
CD #1: $ 2618.75 (Due 12/97)
CD#2: $ 3919.20 (Due 9/98)
Committee Reports:
Those who volunteer for a committee or find themselves
appointed to a committee were asked to notify the committee
chair or an Executive Committee member if she/he finds
that the commitment cannot be kept.
Directory: Chair
Kari Sever was not present. Kathy Newkirk announced that
a directory will be published in 1998 and information
request forms will be put in the December AWSS newsletter
to facilitate members updating their information.
Logo: Chair
Sheryl Hallmark Kunickis reported that there have been
no submissions of logos to her. AWSS would like to use
a new logo starting in 1998, so those present were encouraged
to submit designs of their own or someone they know. Designs
should be sent to Sheryl.
Membership:
Co-chair Margie Faber reported that AWSS has approximately
190 members. Members present were reminded to renew membership
for 1998 with prompt payment of dues.
Scholarship:
Co-chairs Betty McQuaid and Loretta Johnson were not present.
Kathy Newkirk reminded the group that AWSS shirt sales
are the source of funds for the scholarship that AWSS
proposes to begin awarding. The current scholarship proposal,
however, needs better direction and purpose. Cat Skinner
asked if the scholarship would be awarded to only an AWSS
member and could it be given to just a non-traditional
student (e.g., older person) finishing their M.S. or Ph.D.
Bob Grossman asked if the scholarship could be reserved
for someone going back to school for further education.
Others wondered if the scholarship would be awarded to
only women and/or only those in soil science. Some suggested
having the applicant explain what the money would be used
for; those present would like to see unrestricted use
of the money. Another issue was possibly limiting scholarship
eligibility to just graduate students or if B.S., M.S.,
and Ph.D. applicants were allowed, how would these be
compared to one another? The scholarship could be advertised
in Agronomy News. The Scholarship and Executive Committees
will decide on the recipient and will ask for comments
on the scholarship itself and recipients via the AWSS
newsletter. If there are no worthy recipients in any given
year, the scholarship would not be awarded that year.
T-Shirt: Chair
Cheryl Simmons was not present. Kathy Newkirk reported
the numbers of shirts in stock. Market saturation of the
current T-shirt design was brought up and if AWSS gets
a new logo, a new T-shirt design would be a good idea.
T-Shirts could not be sold at this year's ASA meeting
because an educational poster was not displayed; this
was an oversight on AWSS' part. AWSS needs volunteers
to present a poster at next year's ASA meeting and will
wait to hear what the theme of the meeting will be. This
year order forms with a design sample were made available
throughout the ASA meeting; the success of this method
of selling shirts will be determined.
Web Page: Kathy
Newkirk would like to know members' ideas about designing
an AWSS World Wide Web home page.
Announcements:
Cheryl Simmons asked for an AWSS session committee volunteer
for the annual meeting. Maxine Levin is the potential
volunteer and Laura Merkel was suggested as an assistant.
Nominations for the position of
AWSS Executive Committee Chair-Elect for 1998-99 were
solicited.
AWSS members have the opportunity
to serve on ASA and SSSA committees. One should send a
vita to Gary Petersen (Penn State University) for SSSA
committees and H.H. Cheng (University of Minnesota) for
ASA committees.
Kathy Newkirk originated the concept,
designed, and presented Margie Faber with a "Lifetime
Achievement Award," a plaque complete with a soil
sampling shovel. All the effort and energy put into AWSS
by Margie over the years is greatly appreciated!
All those present at this meeting
then introduced themselves. The meeting was adjourned
at 5:45 p.m.
Respectfully submitted, Maria
Pautler, Executive Committee Chair-Elect
People in attendance:
Susan Casby-Horton, Nancy Cavallaro, Jim Culver, Joan
Davenport, Chris Evans, Margie Faber, Bob Grossman, Rhonda
Janke, Pamm Kasper, Sheryl Kunickis, Samantha Langley-Turnbaugh,
Maxine Levin, Nicole Luka, Julia Nelson, Kathy Newkirk,
Deanna Osmond, Maria Pautler, Myra Peak, Christine Rawluk,
Elizabeth Rochette, Susan Samson-Liebig, Tom Sims, Cat
Skinner, Lee Sommers, Pamela Thomas, Yvonne Wood, Laila
Yesmin.
