R. Hazen called the meeting to order at 8:08 AM, Saturday, October 15, 2005, and everyone introduced themselves, stating their relationship to MSA and/or the Council. He made some introductory remarks about the general excellent health of the Society but the long-term concern about expenses and finances.

Financial Advisory Committee, Series Editor of the Reviews in Mineralogy and Geochemistry & Monographs Series, the Editor of The Lattice & Society News Editor, Elements, Meetings Coordinator (outgoing-M. Gunter), MSA Webmaster, Lecture Program Committee, Representatives to the American Crystallographic Association, American Geological Institute, Clay Minerals Society, European Mineralogical Union (EMU), International Mineralogical Association (IMA), and the Interest groups for Pegmatites, Planetary Materials, and Teaching.

R. Angel moved to accept these Reports to Council. S = M. Gunter. Motion passed unanimously.

Ross noted that John Brodholt’s name was misspelled.

J. Valley moved to approve the Minutes of the Second 2005 Council Meeting. S = R. Angel. Motion passed unanimously.

Roebling Medal:...................................................W. Gary Ernst

Distinguished Public Service Medal is biennial with no awardee this year

Dana Medal:................................................….....Frank Spear

MSA Award:........................................………....Daniel Frost

MSA Fellows

Crystallographic Research Grant:.......................Jason Bryan Burt

Mineralogy/Petrology Research Grant: Angelo Antignano and Gregory Dumond

M. Gunter moved to approve the recommendations for awards, grants and honors. S = B. Dutrow. Motion passed unanimously.

The Chair recommends minor changes to bring the Committee Handbook into conformity with the guidelines on the MSA website, and to ensure maximum participation of the committee members in the voting process:

(a) In Section 2, strike:

and replace with:

J. Hughes moved to accept the recommendation for change in Section 2 of the Roebling Committee Handbook and the equivalent section of the other award handbooks. S. = R. Downs. Motion passed unanimously.

(b) In Section 3, strike:

and replace with:

In discussion of the initial rewording of the instructions in item (b), it was suggested that the actual date be used and a clearer timeline of receipt of nominations. Alex noted that these instructions can change at the discretion of Council, which applies to the dates as well, so nothing is lost or compromised with more explicit instructions. The wording above includes these modifications.

M. Gunter moved to accept the recommendation for change in Section 3 of the Roebling Committee Handbook and the equivalent section of the other award handbooks. S. = B. Dutrow. Motion passed unanimously.

(c) In Section 3, strike:

and replace with:

Alex suggested that the above changes be included, as appropriate, to all of the award instructions and notebooks. In discussion it was agreed that the changes suggested in (a), (b), and (c) should be applied to all of the awards and their handbooks.

R. Angel moved to adopt the suggested wording of the instructions to the Chair and members of the Roebling Medal Committee and that appropriate changes be made to the other award announcements and handbooks. S. = R. Lange. Motion passed unanimously.

The Fellow Committee Chair requests that Council accept the Committee recommendation to limit holdover nominations to two years beyond the year of initial consideration.

In discussion of this recommendation, the last phrase was appended to clarify that nominations could be resubmitted.

B. Dutrow moved to approve the recommendation from Fellow Committee chair to limit holdover nominations to two years beyond the year of initial consideration, unless nominations are resubmitted. S. = R. Downs. Motion passed unanimously.

The committee seeks guidance from Council concerning the criteria for selection of awardees. Notwithstanding the website’s description of the award’s purpose and the statements there concerning the contributions made by prior awardees, members of the selection committee remain unclear about how to tackle this task.

Discussion reviewed the fact that Public Service is a broad concept and that specificity may not be helpful. As the committee has successfully arrived at good candidates, the system appears to be working properly. No action was deemed necessary.

Consider options for making a separate award to M.Sc. students or, if not, then amend the description of the award to make it clear that proposals from MS and PhD students are judged together.

Discussion ensued whether 1) a warning should be given to applicants that proposals from MS and PhD are judged together or 2) to split off a separate award for MS students. Maintaining the high caliber of proposals was agreed to be our fundamental goal so that the Society must be careful with modifications to the awards. The topic was tabled for further consideration by Ross Angel, Dave London, and Becky Lange, with the intention to modify the wording of the Grant description.

Dana Medal:

Although no recommendations had been made by the Committee, M. Carpenter brought up the subject of the 25-year rule for candidates for this mid-career award and the problem of the perceived creeping up of ages of recipients. Discussion focused on the desire for reasonable guidelines, while not being overly restrictive. After some discussion, S. Redfern suggested modifying the wording to be "normally before 25 years after receiving the Ph.D."

R. Angel moved to modify the wording of the Dana Medal description to "a mid-career candidate should normally be no more than 25 years beyond the terminal degree." S. = M. Gunter. Motion passed unanimously.

The actual vote on appointment of Committees and other posts occurs during the First 2006 Council Meeting. Alex pointed out that he will remain on the Board of Directors of GSW and Doug Rumble would remain on the Advisory Board to GSW.

7. Meetings Coordinator:

Ross Angel solicited Bill Minarik (McGill) to be the MSA representative to the Spring 2006 AGU meeting (and this meeting, alone), and Bill agreed.

8. From the MSA President — appointment of new Editor for the American Mineralogist:

R. Hazen discussed the history of finding a new editor upon the resignation of Lee Groat. After soliciting recommendations from Council members and the editorial staff of the journal, and producing a ranked list of candidates, George A. Lager, (University of Louisville) enthusiastically agreed to take on this challenge and is already actively engaged in his editorial duties. However, a formal appointment is here required.

B. Dutrow moved to appoint George A. Lager as the new Editor for the American Mineralogist, filling the position being vacated by Lee Groat. S = R. Downs. Motion passed unanimously.

Chair Mike Holdaway wishes to remain on the FAC for only one more year and requests that the Committee on Committees find a replacement effective January 1, 2007. If someone is found soon, he/she can take over at any time, or remain as chairman-elect for 2006. He realizes that there probably will not be a need to fill any vacancies for 2006, but he provided some suggestions for the Committee on Committees.

It was the SoC that President Valley and Vice-President Dutrow need to have a conversation with Mike Holdaway on how to proceed with finding a replacement and adopting the essence of his recommendations.

10. Report of the Nominating Committee for Officers:

Starting with the committee’s lists of possible candidates for Vice-President and for Councilors, Council rank-ordered the lists by discipline. The MSA Secretary will contact the candidates on each list in order of ranking, inviting each to run for office, until a slate of candidates is achieved.

B. Dutrow moved to accept the ranked lists of candidates for officers as amended by Council. S = R. Downs. Motion passed unanimously.

11. Report from the Management Committee on Staff Evaluations.

All visitors to Council were asked to leave the room during this time. President Hazen discussed the committee’s deliberations of the previous day. The committee was pleased with the performance of the entire business and editorial staff and, particularly, noted their gratitude to Alex Speer, Executive Director, for handling all office matters as well as the negotiating of new office space and the move to that space in July.

R. Angel moved to accept the recommendation of the Management Committee on raises for salaries of the MSA staff: either 4% or the published COLA for September 2005, whichever is higher. S = D. London. Motion passed unanimously.

(a) Asks Council to accept the 2005 election results and give permission to destroy the ballots upon acceptance.

J. Valley moved to accept the results from the 2005 election and permit the Executive Director to destroy the ballots. S = R. Downs. Motion passed unanimously.

(b) Asks Council to decide when and where it will hold its 2006 Spring Council meeting. The most likely dates are the day before (Monday, May 22, 2006) or the day following (Saturday May 27, 2006) the technical sessions at the Spring AGU meeting. The usual location would be a hotel in Baltimore, Maryland, but the nearness to Chantilly, Virginia also allows the possibility of meeting in the new MSA Offices.

J. Valley proposed to have the Spring 2006 Council Meeting at the Business Office in Chantilly, VA on May 22. S = J. Hughes. There was further discussion about the timing of the award of the Dana Medal to Rod Ewing at the AGU meeting, but it was agreed that we would request Tuesday for the Dana Medal and that this did not affect the schedule for the Council Meeting. Motion passed unanimously.

(c) The Executive Director recommends adoption of the Electronic Publishing Policies (Section 3, Appendix F of the Bluebook) until electronic publishing becomes better established and standard practices evolve.

In a short discussion the Executive Director pointed out that the policies represent the current MSA policies as far as possible and provide some protection and guidance to the Society as it moves into this new and quickly evolving arena.

B. Dutrow moved to adopt the Electronic Publishing Policies as presented in Section 3, Appendix F of the Bluebook. S = R. Lange. Motion passed unanimously.

(d) The Executive Director recommends adoption of the Record Retention and Whistleblower Policies in Section 3, Appendix G and Appendix H of the Bluebook.

B. Dutrow moved to adopt the Record Retention and Whistleblower Policies in Section 3, Appendix G and Appendix H of the Bluebook. S = M. Gunter. Motion passed unanimously.

(a) The Treasurer has no specific action items relating to 2005 finances for the 2005 Council (the 2006 budget will need to be approved in the First 2006 Council Meeting). John Hughes thanked Alex Speer, Executive Director, for his help in educating Hughes about the finances of the Society and reviewing activities during a visit to MSA Offices. John noted that the Audit of the 2004 budget and books was satisfactory and that we are in conformance with accounting principles generally acceptable in the United States. Next year, assets will include RiMG volumes that should make the financial statements more accurately reflect the financial position of the society. Other recommendations of the Audit include providing the Treasurer with on-line access to the checking account, to see transactions, and creating an audit committee. The latter will be constituted from the FAC, including its chair, plus the Treasurer, who will meet with the auditors next year. Finally, Hughes noted that in line with FAC recommendations, transfers from the Roebling Fund were being limited to 4% of value to maintain a conservative usage of our endowment.

(b) The Treasurer suggests a new category of membership in the Society, "Sustaining Member" (or "Sustaining Fellow"), which must be brought before the membership for a vote to be approved, as required by the Society Bylaws. The membership category will be open to any new or continuing member or Fellow, and each year the cost of such a membership will be the cost of a regular membership plus an amount, to be determined annually by MSA Council, with the added amount being a gift to the Society to sustain its activities. Initially, a Sustaining Membership will be set at the cost of regular membership + $150. Gifts realized from Sustaining Memberships will be placed in the Society’s Endowment Fund.

The response to this suggestion was very positive among Council Members.

G. Harlow moved to approve the recommendation for the new membership categories, Sustaining Member and Sustaining Fellow, which will be open to members and fellows who pay the annual dues plus an added amount, as determined annually by council, which will be a gift to the society to be placed in the Endowment Fund. S = B. Dutrow. Motion passed unanimously.

Pres. Hazen charged J. Hughes and J. Valley to work with others to craft a statement for a change in the by-laws for these new classes of membership to be included on next year’s ballot.

Alex Speer said there were just a few changes in the membership numbers as compared to his report. In commenting upon the comments from office employee’s with regards to the unexpected large jump in the cost-of-living adjustment of the salaries , he compared the staff to that of a family business, where everyone is concerned about the health and well-being of the business, i.e., the Society.

There are no action items but the Treasurer wanted Council to pay attention to the concluding paragraph of FAC report:

Discussion was deferred until later in the meeting or the 1^st 2006 Council meeting.

(a) Mickey Gunter, the outgoing Meetings Coordinator, commented on his sublime experience in hosting the Moscow, Idaho Goldschmidt Conference, although it saturated his quotient for meetings organizational activities.

(b) Ross Angel reviewed the less than ideal relationship between MSA and AGU, concerns for future involvement in AGU meetings, and the need for policy guidance to the meetings coordinator. Mike Brown is organizing Spring 2006 AGU in Baltimore and asked for our participation — a good thing. The Dana Medal presentation is scheduled for the meeting along with a session on a subject appropriate to medallist Rod Ewing. For Fall 2006 AGU we need to engage; Abby Kavner has expressed willingness to act as liaison for this meeting. For Spring 2007 AGU we have a conflict in participating in "Frontiers in Mineralogy" in Cambridge, England, 26-28 June.

17.  Short Course Committee action items:

a) The committee requests approval for planning to proceed for the short course and volume titled "Fluid-fluid equilibria in the crust: petrology — geochemistry — economic potential" organized by Axel Liebscher to be held prior to the Goldschmidt conference in Cologne, Germany in the Spring of 2007.

J. Valley moved to approve for planning to proceed for this short course.  S = R. Angel.  Motion passed unanimously.

b) The committee recommends approval for planning to proceed for the RIMG volume (only) of "Oxygen in earliest solar system: material and processes" organized by a group supported by the NASA Cosmochemistry Program and the Lunar and Planetary Institute. 

M. Gunter moved to approve for planning proceed for this RIMG volume.  S = R. Lange.  Motion passed unanimously.

18. Report of the MSA member of the Executive Committee of Elements:

(a) John Hughes reported that discussion within the Elements Executive Committee indicated that many governance issues still need to be worked out. One, in particular, is representation among member societies that have varying financial stakes in the magazine. Suggestions include 1) representation according to societal membership, for example, one vote/500 members, and 2) a "Security Council" model, wherein the charter societies would have a "permanent seat" on the Executive Committee and societies that join at a later date would rotate among several additional seats on the Committee, and 3) one vote per society. He asked Council to consider MSA’s representation so that he can convey this information to the Elements Executive Committee.

A short discussion showed that the largest concern for MSA is its financial interest in Elements as well as its liability.

(b) Hughes recounted a discussion about constraining costs in producing Elements with the goal for potential profits to be returned to the participating societies. He asked for authority to convey that MSA will continue to support Elements however possible, but MSA urges that measures be taken to make the venture as self-supporting as possible, so that the contributions from member societies can be contained as much as possible.

The SoC was that J. Hughes be given authority to convey this message to the Elements Executive Committee.

19. Report of the MSA Distinguished Lecture Program Administrator:

Cameron Davidson did not submit a report but the schedule for 2005-2006 tour was provided at the Council meeting for the three lecturers: Penelope King, Patrick O’Brien, and Thomas Sharp. M. Gunter noted that no reports from the last year’s lecturers were provided in the Bluebook and requests that they be forwarded to Council.

20. Report of the Outreach Committee (databases)

Bob Downs discussed his progress with the American Mineralogist Crystal Structure Database which includes every structure published in the American Mineralogist, the Canadian Mineralogist, the European Journal of Mineralogy and is beginning to include structures from Physics and Chemistry of Minerals. The entire American Mineralogist has been scanned from 1977 to the first posting on the MSA website. He seeks permission to have these added to the MSA website.

Alex Speer pointed out that this approval has already been given (Spring 2005 Council Meeting) but that the process has been slow because of other commitments; he anticipates completing the posting by year’s end.

The SoC was to encourage R. Downs to continue with his valuable mission with the Crystal Structure Data Base and relevant article scanning within legal limits.

21. The Secretary received a response to MSA's letter to Robert Jordan, American Association of State Geologists regarding the Ian Campbell Medal. MSA had written that individuals who knew Ian Campbell best compose objective criteria for the award. These criteria could be used by both nominators and the award committee who do not have a personal knowledge of Ian Campbell's career. With more objective award criteria, MSA can publicize a call for nominations in Elements as its contribution to publicizing the award. The AASG proposed establishing a fund that appears to be for a cash award, which MSA said it could not assist with. Robert Jordan responded that AASG was not soliciting funds but asks that MSA join AASG in the educational effort intended to perpetuate the endowment and the objectives of the Medal. It was agreed that a verbal discussion was needed to clarify the position on both sides; Alex or George will do this.

With time remaining before lunch, we skipped to item 23 in the agenda.

23. Action Items from the Executive Director:

(a) The Executive Director recommends Council designate the MSA Executive Committee to approve the final version of any Letter of Agreement with the Clay Mineral Society in locating with MSA in the Chantilly, VA offices.

A. Speer explained that the most difficult part of any agreement will be arriving at equitable cost-sharing of the facilities and staff. The goal is to enact an agreement by June, 2006. So, permitting the Executive Committee to approve the agreement provides the needed flexibility for the process.

G. Harlow moved to authorize the MSA Executive Committee to approve the final version of any Letter of Agreement with the Clay Mineral Society on locating offices with MSA. S = B. Dutrow.  Motion passed unanimously.

(b) Does MSA council have any thoughts about MSA sharing management resources with National Association of Geology Teachers (NAGT)?

A. Speer commented that in his communication with Ian Macgregor, Executive Director of NAGT, he learned the association represents about 2,200 members, and what they really need is our advice and experience rather than our services. Everyone agreed that supporting the teaching of geology through NAGT is definitely in MSA’s interest.

The SoC was for the Executive Director to proceed with discussions on assisting NAGT.

The Council meeting broke for lunch at 12:00 and reconvened at 1:00 pm.

George A. Lager joined the meeting.

President Hazen welcomed George Lager to the meeting and thanked him on behalf of Council for agreeing to become an Editor.

The Editors’ report requested Council input on several questions and items:

(a) specific questions relating to balancing the size of the journal (to limit increase in costs) against the number of papers (increase in wait time to be published if size of journal does not grow):

Before proceeding with each item, R. Angel asked for the financial implications of the subject. The Executive Director responded that added papers and/or issues adds costs.

It was pointed out that generally Presidential Addresses are not a problem, but that on occasion one can be a large manuscript. After some discussion, Ross Angel suggested that the editors might provide some guidelines on the scope of these manuscripts, that they should not be an occasion to publish a major review or summary and that reviewers be encouraged to be astute on such issues. It was added that if page charges were encouraged and actually paid, there would not be a problem. Several noted that the Presidential address is an invited activity so that we should be careful about soliciting page charges. It was generally agreed that page charges should not be discouraged.

It was the SoC that the Editors try to provide guidelines for publishing presidential addresses, including the above suggestions and others they deemed reasonable.

In the discussion it was pointed out the some authors of review papers want open access for these highly cited publications. The Executive Director pointed out that open-access is available upon paying the charge of $250/page for production costs. Lager reminded everyone that we must be up front about seeking page charges.

It was the SoC that the Editors can change the policy on page charges for invited review papers, to the extent that such payments be encouraged with the additional incentive of stating the charge for open-access.

The discussion focused on soliciting review papers rather than the definition. M. Gunter said regulatory review articles, such as on health aspects of minerals, have a very high impact. G. Harlow suggested that a short statement in Elements could be used to encourage the submission of review papers. Following on the high impact theme, R. Angel suggested such timely manuscripts might be processed via the Letters mechanism to provide expeditious handling and fast production. Elements was suggested as a place for previewing concepts for RiMG volumes, and presumably short courses. S. Redfern returned to the importance of review articles, emphasizing the need both to solicit them and to revise the Am.Min. guidelines to indicate this along with the instruction for potential authors to consult the Editors.

Asked about the background on this issue, A. Speer noted that these issues tend to be large, expensive and disruptive to the general flow of the journal. They can also lower the impact factor of a journal. Do they require approval? — only if they change the finances for journal dramatically.

It was the SoC that the Editors and instructions not solicit special issues, and to suggest that special issues with a topical focus are preferred over potpourri conglomerations.

A. Speer and others noted that mineral descriptions are of great interest generally and to collectors particularly. Moreover, it is a fundamental activity of MSA as the U.S. mineralogical society. The increase in space has been used to provide some of the useful information about the new species that is perhaps of the greatest interest.

It was the SoC that section on New Mineral Names be continued, and certainly not decreased in size.

Little discussion was needed as the discussion of the publication of Presidential Addresses was considered the appropriate model to follow.

It was the SoC that the Editors follow the same procedure and guidelines for Dana Lecture papers as for Presidential Addresses.

(b) Does Council think the yearly indexing (in the Nov/Dec issues) can be dropped since both web sites for the Journal (MSA and GSW) have search tools to find any article.

Little discussion followed as the statement answered the question.

It was the SoC that the Editors discontinue a printed index and move to (and point to) the on-line indices.

G. Nord noted that some search engines restrict the nature of access to the MSA/Am. Min. site, or any other mineralogical journal for that matter, so that an on-line index may not be totally and freely accessible. He said he would look into the matter and advise Council whether we have a problem.

Council was encouraged by this interchange and encouraged the Editors and Managing Editor to continue the high standards and rigorous evaluation procedures they have been using.

24. The MSA President has one discussion item: Fund Raising:

During the last 12 months the Past-President’s Fund has reached $25,000 in donations and pledges. It’s time to think about how best to leverage these contributions. One option is to contact potential donors and invite them to contribute at some level of giving that will accomplish a specific objective (support one lecture tour, underwrite a student membership, etc.). Creative ideas are needed to move this discussion along. President. Hazen reminded us that in the last year by adding a new editor for Letters, an editorial assistant, COLA raises and Elements charges, we added $37K to our annual costs which represents an additional $15/member. The discussion moved on to income sources. GSW is a question mark for the time being. Charging overhead for the administration of awards was discussed as a rational way to keep award expenses where they belong. Likewise, charging incoming moneys with an administration fee would be reasonable. Someone suggested that a development theme be added to our message in Elements, perhaps dedicating the MSA portion in the August issue to development. It was suggested that a portion of the MSA booth could, likewise, be devoted to development.

M. Gunter moved that the 3^rd 2005 Council meeting be adjourned. S = R. Lange. The motion passed unanimously and the meeting was adjourned at 3:00 PM.