2014 Meeting Minutes, Quebec City, Quebec

1. The meeting was called to order at 2:00 PM.
2. Carlson introduced the guest in attendance:
   1. Paukert – USGS at University of Missouri
   2. Boreman – North Carolina State University
   3. Sutton – University of Alaska
   4. Dauwalter – Trout Unlimited
   5. Phelps – Missouri Department of Conservation and Southeast Missouri State University
   6. Essig – U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
3. A quorum (> 15 members) was determined to be present (n = 28).
4. Motioned was made to approve Minutes of the 2013 Annual Subsection Business Meeting. Motion was seconded.
5. Canadian Division Representative Report given by Kyle Wilson
   1. Stated communication is strong within the Ontario and BC/Washington sections but there is less communication with the Mid-Canada Chapter. Future initiatives will be to work with the cooperatively with the Canadian Aquatic Research Section to improve communication among students across Canada and to build a strong social media presence.
6. Education Section Report given by Craig Paukert
   1. Noted that the Education Section had a lively discussion of the Undergraduate Travel Award and passed funding for the award to continue for the next 3 years. Other highlights included approval for $50,000 to be given to the Skinner Memorial Endowment and will requests additional match from other sections. The Skinner Memorial Award has been primarily supported by Education Section book revenue and there is now a desire to look for other revenue streams.
7. President Comments/Old Business given by President Elect Andrew Carlson
   1. Mid-year Governing Board meeting
      1. Two subsection representatives attended. Topics of discussion during the meeting included advocacy and representation.
   2. 2014 Annual Meeting Student Colloquium
      1. This year the colloquium was wrapped into the Future of Fisheries symposium with great success.
   3. Undergraduate Travel Award Committee Report
      1. A brief history of the award was given along with the purpose and description of the funding source by the Education Section. The section has experienced high retention of award recipients with all of the 2012 (n=7) and 2013 (n=4) going on to become members of AFS. It was discussed that there will be an Ad Hoc Committee to determine the future direction of the award.
      2. Andrew Carlson dispensed this year’s awards to:
      3. Lucas Price from West Virginia University
      4. Dalton Benage from South Dakota State University
      5. As a new part of the award this year, Lucas Price was set up with a mentor at the meeting with Sarah Walters-Burnsed from Florida Fish and Wildlife Research Institute. Dalton Benage was set up with Melissa Treml from Minnesota Department of Natural Resources.
   4. Student Colloquia
      1. The colloquia didn’t occur this year but an effort will be made by the Subsection president to work with student Subunit presidents to organize a meeting for this upcoming year.
   5. “Student Angles”
      1. Two issues are being passed through Fisheries production staff that have been worked on by executive committee. Topics of the article include a historical review of the “Student Angle” and the process of submitting an article.
   6. Social Media
      1. The Subsection has experienced increased growth in its Facebook presence. Primary credit for this is given to Jeremy Kientz and Laura Heironimus who searched all of Facebook for AFS sites and asked all sections to like the Subsection. Laura has also linked the Facebook account to Twitter so that both sites can be update simultaneously.
8. Secretary/Treasurer Report given by Janice Kerns
   1. Only one transaction was made during the 2013-2014 fiscal year. This was for the purchase of lunch during the previous subsection Business meeting.
   2. A motion was made to approve the Secretary/Treasurer Report and the motion was seconded.

9. Division Representative Reports
   1. Northeast Report given by Jan-Michael Hessenauer
      1. Stated attempt was made to contact student Subunits but found communication with student officers to be difficult.
   2. North Central Report given by Kyle Bales
      1. Also stated attempt was made to contact student Subunits but found communication with student officers to be difficult. Other news included the addition of a new student Subunit at Southeast Missouri State University. Other Subunits are constantly trying to build their membership by appealing to both graduate and undergraduates students. For instance, the Kansas student Subunit helped local biologists put on a fishing clinic and volunteered at local meetings. The South Dakota State Subunit put on an ice fishing derby and job fair for undergraduates. They also volunteered at local meetings. The University of Missouri Subunit continued the ongoing independent study.
   3. Southern Report given by Ross Andrew
      1. Stated there was good student attendance at the Southern Division meeting held in Charleston, NC. The North Carolina State University Student Subunit won the award for AFS’s best Student Subunit. This unit has been actively involved with the community with activities like kids fishing tournaments. The West Virginia Subunit has also been attempting public outreach with a research focus by conducting public flora and fauna inventories at local parks and encouraging local high school groups to come out and participate. Ross also expressed difficulty in communicating to units within the region.
   4. Western Report submitted by Natalie Sopinka and given by Andrew Carlson
      1. Stated that within the region there have been a number of outreach events but also stated some frustrations with communication and limitations of email.
10. Officer Elections results were announced by Dan Dembkowski as the following:
    1. Executive Committee
       1. President: Andrew Carlson
       2. President Elect: Ross Boucek
       3. Secretary/Treasurer: Karen Dunmall
    2. Division Representatives:
       1. North Central: Nick Cole
       2. Western: Tracy Wendt
       3. Southern: Clint Lloyd
       4. Northeastern: Vivian Nguyen
       5. Canadian: Kyle Wilson
11. Incoming President remarks were given by Andrew Carlson
    1. He first gave thanks for all the work that had been done over the previous year and for the nomination. His stated goals for the upcoming year will be to improve communication between the divisions, units, and our members; recruit and retain new members; and enhance student education through development of a Subunit brochure, “How To …” series, and mentorship program.
12. New Business and Announcements were given by Andrew Carlson
    1. Undergraduate Student Travel Award
       1. Education Section discussion meeting topics were discussed among the Subsection members including:
       2. Scope
          1. Multiple ideas were discussed among the members including: the idea of keeping the award separate from the Skinner Award, the idea of regional awards that could possibly be used at regional meetings to decrease cost and increase attendance, a combined regional and national/international scope, and what would a regional award budget look like? A discussion point was made that the committee should investigate what other biology, ecology (e.g., ESA), or wildlife societies (e.g., TWS) do. Some preference was also given to keep the award at Annual meeting level to increase opportunity of undergraduate students to attend a meeting at an international scale.
       3. Amount
          1. Discussion included the idea of finding ways to obtain registration waivers and free shared housing for recipients. Committee would need to work with meeting host to put this through. Recipients would also have to agree to share a room. It was suggested that the committee should work with the Equal Opportunity Section to coordinate rooms.
       4. Application
          1. It was suggested that an expected travel budget should be included in the application
       5. Publicity
          1. Need to increase advertisement by updating Education Section website, improve marketing through social media, and need to contact undergraduate programs directly.
    2. Communication within the unit needs to be enhanced
       1. The idea of having a Social Media Officer was proposed. To do this we would need to change the bylaws which Craig Paukert says may be easy to do.
       2. Another option would be to have an Ad Hoc Committee for two years whose charge it would be to increase communication.
       3. To keep an up-to-date list of active student groups it was suggested that a a standardized online submission form be posted on the Subsection website and distributed to students and faculty to allow Subunits to update their contact information.
       4. It was also suggested that student Subunits use a generic email address (e.g., [email protected]) so that a continuous contact email address could be used even as officers change.
       5. The idea of contacting new student members with a “welcome” email was also suggested. Within the email the new member could get information that maybe relevant to them and their area. R. Essig (USFWS) mentioned that AFS was making an effort to develop “welcome” emails for new members.
    3. Finances
       1. A brief discussion of the current financial income was given. Currently the Subsection does not collect dues and receives funding the Education Section when requested. The idea of other funding opportunities was discussed.
    4. Young Professionals
       1. The idea of including the young professionals group within the Student Subsection to keep continuity between the two groups was discussed. Most were in agreement that combining groups would benefit all. The majority also suggested that a name change should take place to incorporate both groups. The process for changing the name would include changing the bylaws and would need to be passed by both the Education section and Subsection.
    5. Furthering Student education.
       1. A brief discussion of putting together a “how to series” was discussed and Rebecca Krogman, Kyle Wilson, and Laura Heirnominus volunteered to take the lead on this project.
    6. Recognition was given by Andrew Carlson of all outgoing Officers, Division Representatives, and Social Media volunteers
    7. Other New Business
       1. Mentoring Program
          1. The idea was put forth to have a mentoring program between the Young Professional and the Student Subsection.
          2. Need to work with regional representatives and develop stated goals
       2. Voting at Governing Board meeting
          1. Currently the Student President sits in on the Governing Board Meeting but doesn’t vote in the meeting. It was suggested by Bob Hughes that the Student President should have a vote. A short discussion was had amongst the subsection members and it was determined that we need to determine what the pros and cons would be to having a vote.
       3. Social Media
          1. Laura Heironimus announced Shannon White a PhD student from Penn State would be taking over social media responsibilities.
          2. The current web manager, Rebecca Krogman, stated she is working with Sarah Fox at the central AFS office to switch our website over to WordPress to increase user friendliness of updating the website. Rebecca asked to be contacted for any suggested updates.
       4. Undergraduate Travel Assistance Award
          1. Explore possibility of matching funds provided by universities for Undergraduate Travel Assistance Award recipients
       5. “How To …” series
          1. Include guide for Subsection President on how to fundraise, coordinate and distribute awards, implement new initiatives, etc.
       6. Student Awards
          1. Create comprehensive list of all student awards (Society, Section, etc.) available to students at Annual Meetings

Respectfully Submitted by Janice Kerns

August 25^th, 2014