Sigma Xi: The Scientific Research Society: 1998 Annual Meeting: Minutes

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Draft Summary of the 1998 Annual Meeting and Minutes of the Assembly of Delegates

Ninety-ninth Annual Meeting
November 12-15, 1998
Hyatt Regency
Vancouver, British Columbia

The 99th Annual Meeting of Sigma Xi, The Scientific Research Society took place at the Hyatt Regency Vancouver Hotel in Vancouver, British Columbia from Thursday,

November 12, to Sunday, November 15, 1998. The Assembly of Delegates was convened on November 13, 14, and 15 with Sigma Xi's President, Dr. John Moore, in the Chair. The Proceedings of the Assembly are annexed to this report. Delegates also participated in the six Regional Assemblies of Delegates, each of which was also convened on November 13, 14, and 15. During the Annual Meeting, the following meetings also were held:

November 11 Board of Directors - Sigma Xi, The Scientific Research Society

November 11 Board of Directors - Sigma Xi, The Scientific Research Society, Incorporated

November 11 Executive Committee

November 11 Committee on Development

November 12 Committee on Awards

November 12 & 15 Committee on Regions

November 13 & 14 Committee on Diversity

November 13 & 15 International Committee

November 14 Canadian Chapters

On Thursday and Friday, November 12 and 13, Sigma Xi sponsored a forum, "International Cooperation in Science and Technology," with funding provided by the Burroughs Wellcome Fund, the U.S. Department of Energy, the U.S. Department of Commerce, and Sigma Xi. With an emphasis on the science involved in international collaboration, the forum chronicled cooperative experiences in areas such as health science, space, the environment, education, atmospheric and oceanic science, and international security, and addressed the practical issues that complicate or facilitate international collaboration, such as geopolitical influences, funding mechanisms, and the evolving role of the Internet.

The forum opened with a plenary address, "The Human Genome Sequencing Project: An International Effort," by Michael Smith (University Killam Professor, Peter Wall Distinguished Professor and Nobel Laureate, University of British Columbia), followed by a second plenary session, "Efforts to Assist in the Safety and Closure of Chornobyl," with Laurin Dodd (Manager, International Nuclear Safety Program, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory) and Constantin Rudya (Special Advisor to the Minister, Ministry for Environmental Protection and Nuclear Safety of Ukraine). The opening plenary sessions were followed by three concurrent sessions that ran simultaneously and provided the opportunities for small group discussions: "Mapping the Human Genome," "International Cooperation in Technology Development," and "Severe Local Storms: Impacts and Predictions."

Thursday afternoon of the forum began with a plenary address, "International Space Station: Enabling World Class Science," by Kathryn. I. Clark (Chief Scientist, International Space Station, NASA Headquarters), followed by three concurrent sessions on "Using Information Technology for International Collaboration," "International Space Station: Some Assembly Required," and "The Use and Misuse of Science in Fisheries Management." The Thursday afternoon portion of the forum concluded with a plenary address, "A Host of Challenges, a World of Opportunities: Strategies for Science and Engineering Education in Canada, " by Claudine Simson (Vice President of Global Research and Development, Nortel).

The second day of the forum opened with plenary addresses on "Red Tides and Other Harmful Algal Blooms: A Growing Global Problem?" by F.J.R. "Max" Taylor (Professor of Biological Oceanography, University of British Columbia) and "Some Thoughts on Knowledge as the New Societal Leitmotiv and How It Affects the Research Enterprise" by George Bugliarello (Chancellor, Polytechnic University). Friday morning then concluded with three concurrent sessions on "The International Impact of Emerging and Re-emerging Diseases," "Weapons of Mass Destruction: The Technology and Politics of Verification," and "The Science and Politics of Large-Scale International Collaboration."

The final session of the forum on Friday afternoon opened with a plenary address, "Science Quests on the Deep Sea Floor," by Verena Tunnicliffe (Professor, School of Earth and Ocean Sciences, University of Victoria). The forum then concluded with a wonderfully entertaining presentation "Max Taylor and His Musical Dinoflagellate Show: An Enlightening Entertainment" by Max Taylor, Professor of Biological Oceanography at the University of British Columbia.

During 1999, a proceedings volume of the forum will be published by Sigma Xi and distributed to forum participants, chapters, and other interested organizations and individuals.

On Friday evening, November 13, the annual banquet was held during which Dr. Carl Djerassi, Professor of Chemistry at Stanford University, received the 1998 William Procter Prize for Scientific Achievement and delivered the Procter Prize Address, "A Pill for Men, But Which Pill?" In lieu of his honorarium as the Procter Prize recipient, Dr. Djerassi arranged for Sigma Xi to provide a complimentary copy of his latest book, NO, to each attendee at the annual banquet. Prior to the presentation of the Procter Prize, Dr. Jose-Luis Giner, Assistant Professor of Organic Chemistry at Syracuse University, received a $5,000 grant-in-aid of research from the Procter Prize Fund as the young scientist designated for this award by Dr. Djerassi.

On Saturday, November 14, workshop sessions were held on issues involving the Society and on issues involving science and society. The topics for these workshops were: "Mentoring for Professional Development of Under-Represented Young Faculty/Researchers," "Ethics," "Orientation for New Officers and New Delegates," "International Cooperation: What Role for Sigma Xi?" "Designing a Chapter Web Site" (that was offered on two occasions), "Six Keys to Becoming an Outstanding Chapter Mentor," "Science Advocacy for Sigma Xi Chapters," and "Undergraduate Education Reform: Dissemination of Best Practices."

From Friday afternoon through Sunday morning, two poster sessions were conducted simultaneously for delegates. The first session included over 40 interdisciplinary scientific posters that gave delegates an opportunity to share their research with one another and to stimulate a more vigorous scientific exchange at the annual meeting. The second poster session included about 20 chapter posters that provided delegates an opportunity to exchange ideas and to share information about their chapter activities.

Draft Proceedings of the Assembly of Delegates

The Assembly of Delegates to the November 1998 Annual Meeting of Sigma Xi, The Scientific Research Society was convened at the Hyatt Regency Vancouver Hotel in Vancouver, British Columbia, in three sessions on November 13, 14, and 15, 1998. The Chair of the Assembly was Dr. John H. Moore, President of the Society.

Session I

Introductory Remarks by the President

Dr. Moore welcomed delegates, spouses, and friends to the ninety-ninth Annual Meeting of Sigma Xi and introduced Dr. Peter Blair, the Society's Executive Director, Dr. Robert Frosch, Immediate Past President of Sigma Xi who would present the governance proposal of the Board of Directors to the Assembly, and Ms. Ann Gilton, the Society's Parliamentarian, to the Assembly. He expressed the hope that many delegates had the opportunity to participate in the excellent forum that had just concluded and asked the Assembly to recognize the Sigma Xi staff, particularly the Executive Director and the Director of Meetings and Management, for their efforts in arranging such an outstanding forum.
Continuing, the President indicated that, in his view, these are exciting times for Sigma Xi and that the Society is fortunate to have leadership in the presence of Dr. Blair, the Society's Executive Director, who is dynamic, energetic, committed, engaged, and resourceful. New programs being developed by the Society are outlined in the Report of the Executive Director and he urged delegates to read that report. Also, new capabilities are being developed, particularly electronic capabilities, that are bringing the Society together through the Web site and other avenues. In addition, the Sigma Xi Center is coming close to fruition. The Center will not only address issues of importance to science and engineering but also engage the membership in new and exciting ways. In his view, Sigma Xi is changing in a very desirable direction; a direction that is much more active and much more engaged in issues of science and science policy. The result will be a Society in which all members can participate and take pride in its accomplishments. Dr. Moore noted that part of the Society's transformation is the governance proposal from the Board of Directors that will be presented to, and decided upon, by this Assembly of Delegates.
At the request of Dr. Moore, the Executive Director then explained the voting procedures to be used by delegates to select a President-elect, Directors-at-Large, and for any written ballots in the Assembly of Delegates. To cast a vote, delegates were to affix a bar code label from the sheet of labels that they received in their registration packets to the top of each ballot; they were then to indicate their selections on the ballots in the spaces indicated. Ballots for election of the President-elect and Directors-at-Large were to be placed in the ballot box in the registration area by 4:30 p.m. Saturday in order to be counted. Any ballots taken in the Assembly would be collected by the Tellers. All ballots would be scanned electronically and the results reported to the Assembly. There were no questions concerning the balloting procedure.
Continuing, Dr. Moore reminded the Assembly that there were two recommendations from the Board of Directors and two resolutions from the Ottawa Chapter to be considered by the Assembly. The Board's recommendations were the eight-point motion on annual dues for the year beginning July 1, 1999 and a complex, integrated major proposal concerning the Society's governance that involves extensive and interrelated proposed changes in the Society's Constitution and Bylaws. In addition, there were two substantive resolutions from the Ottawa Chapter that require consideration and action by this Assembly. He added that there was only one hour in this first Assembly but there would be additional Assemblies on Saturday afternoon and Sunday morning. Therefore, during this first Assembly, agenda items #1-7 would be taken up, including the recommendations of the Board to the Assembly and the proposed resolutions and answer any questions for clarification in regard to these issues. Thus, the business of the Society would be placed before the Assembly in this first session. Discussion of these issues would then take place in the three Regional Assemblies of Delegates and in the second and third Assemblies of Delegates. Voting on these issues would take place in the final Assembly on Sunday morning. This process should provide ample time for discussion of the issues before voting on them on Sunday morning. Finally, the President advised delegates that agenda item #11 (Election of Regional Directors) and agenda item #12 (Election of regional members of the Committee on Nominations) will take place in the Regional Assemblies of Delegates with the results of these elections reported in the final Assembly on Sunday morning.

Approval of the Agenda of the Assembly of Delegates of the 99th Annual Meeting

The President reminded delegates that the proposed agenda for the Assembly was contained on the first pages of the book, Agenda and Reports of Officers and Chairs of Standing Committees, that was circulated to delegates in advance of the meeting. Without objection, the agenda for the Assembly of Delegates of the 99th Annual Meeting was adopted.

Approval of the Proceedings of the 98th Annual Meeting

7. The proceedings of the Assembly of Delegates, held during the November 1997 Annual Meeting at the Hyatt Regency Crystal City Hotel in Arlington, Virginia from November 20-23, 1997, were then approved.

Report of the President

Dr. Moore reminded delegates that the Report of the President for the year ending June 30, 1998 had been circulated to delegates in advance of the meeting. There were no additions made, nor questions asked, concerning the Report of the President.

Report of the Treasurer

The President reminded delegates that the Report of the Treasurer was contained in the booklet, 1998 Financial Booklet, that was distributed to delegates at registration. He added that, in the absence of the Society's Treasurer, the report would be presented by Sigma Xi's Executive Director, Dr. Blair. In response to a question from Dr. Moore, the Executive Director indicated that he had no additions to this report but he would combine comments on this report with those of the Report of the Executive Director. There were no questions concerning the Report of the Treasurer at this time.

Report of the Executive Director

At the invitation of Dr. Moore, the Executive Director provided additional remarks to his report that was circulated to delegates in advance of the meeting. Dr. Blair indicated that his remarks would combine aspects of both the Report of the Treasurer and the Report of the Executive Director. First, in regard to the Report of the Treasurer and the Society's finances, Sigma Xi remains in very good financial health with a growth in its net worth of 10 ½ percent in the last fiscal year, even with a very disappointing performance in the stock market during spring 1998. While this growth does not approach last year's income of 24 percent, the Society's net worth grew respectably in spite of difficult circumstances. This growth in net worth allowed Sigma Xi to proceed with a balanced operating budget this fiscal year for the first time in quite a while, despite the continuing decline in the Society's membership. Sigma Xi was, in fact, able to undertake a balanced operating budget this year for several reasons: First, because of the important efficiency improvements at the Society's headquarters; secondly, because of the Society's aggressive cost containment efforts in the past several years; thirdly, because of a more diverse portfolio of income sources for Sigma Xi, including new external funding sources for some programs, especially new programs; and finally, because of a very good performance by the Society's investments.
Continuing, Dr. Blair indicated that the sources of the Society's total income are shifting away from a reliance on member dues and fees and towards other sources of income. In fact, income from other operations within Sigma Xi are now subsidizing the membership administrative operations, since the income from member dues and fees has fallen from 60 percent of the total income in 1988 to less than 40 percent this year. On the one hand, this diversification of income allows Sigma Xi to keep annual dues at a low level and the Society has been able to initiate new programs without requesting an increase in annual dues. On the other hand, new programs must be supported by external funding or new sources of income. This limits new programs in some sense to those for which funding can be obtained, but Sigma Xi does bring a lot of strengths to the table when seeking external funding.
The Executive Director then indicated the he found it helpful to compare Sigma Xi's operations with other scientific and engineering societies as compiled in a recent survey by the Council of Engineering and Scientific Society Executives (CESSE). A series of overhead transparencies indicated that, compared to other scientific and engineering societies, Sigma Xi:
- has a relatively small operating budget primarily because the Society has in the past sponsored a small portfolio of programs and because a large number of the Society's activities are carried out within its local chapters
- is among the lowest in program costs relative to the size of its membership
- has one of the smallest headquarters staffs in terms of absolute number of staff and the absolute smallest staff relative to the size of its membership
- has among the lowest annual dues, which is not surprising since Sigma Xi is not a member's primary professional society and the Society therefore seems fairly "price sensitive" to increases in annual dues. This has prompted Sigma Xi to increase annual dues only at the rate of inflation for the past two years.
- is still a sizable Society and clearly one of most important interdisciplinary societies with many assets to draw upon in its operations and activities
Relating finances to membership, the Executive Director indicated that annual dues income is still a major part of Sigma Xi's total income and therefore is sensitive to the level of the Society's total active membership. He reminded the Assembly that Sigma Xi's membership has been steadily declining for the past decade, not unlike many other societies; the Society's recent decline has averaged about 3,000 members lost per year, although this decline was somewhat less in the year ending June 30, 1998. In his view, the membership decline has two components: The first is the lower number of initiates each year which means that Sigma Xi, and particularly its chapters, are bringing fewer new members into the Society each year. He added that the Committee on Qualifications and Membership is working on ways to make initiating new members easier for chapters but the chapters must still bear the responsibility for generating enthusiasm for Sigma Xi, and for becoming a member of the Society, at the local level. Likewise, the Committee on Long-Range Planning, and other committees, are wrestling with how to make membership in Sigma Xi more meaningful to potential and existing members of the Society. The second dimension of the membership problem is the retention of new members. If Sigma Xi can find programs that add value to its membership, the Society should be able to retain new members for a longer period of time. Dr. Blair added that the rate of decline of the Society's membership slowed during the last year which may be a positive sign for the Society.
Turning to the program side of Sigma Xi, the Executive Director indicated that this year the development of the Society's infrastructure for facilitating communications among its chapters and members has begun to bear fruit, suggesting success for the Society's efforts to marshal the energies and involvement of the Society's chapters in new programs. Thus, for example, Sigma Xi now has more than 50,000 members on e-mail who can receive and send information to the Society's headquarters. Also, the Society's Web site is now well-developed with over 10,000 "hits" per day. Several thousand e-mail messages are received each day at the Society's headquarters. Dr. Blair added that there are several new features in Sigma Xi that result from this new electronic infrastructure. These include:
- The American Scientist Forum where a current article from the magazine is put into an on-line discussion group for discussion about the article;
- A wide variety of list serves that are maintained at headquarters connecting committees, regions, some topical groups, and chapters;
- "Science in the News," a new feature where daily e-mails are sent to Sigma Xi members who subscribe to the service, informing them of news-breaking science stories being carried in the media; and
- The ability for Sigma Xi to collect and analyze many reports from chapters and for Sigma Xi to visit many local chapter Web sites.
Continuing, Dr. Blair explained that this latter capability has enabled Sigma Xi to become much more aware of the rich and varied portfolio of chapter activities and also has enabled the Society to coordinate its activities with chapters better, to transfer experiences between chapters better, and to facilitate new programs that will match chapter interest and promote Sigma Xi's mission. For example, with the production of the Society's membership directory in spring 1998, about 29,000 members expressed an interest in participating in mentorship programs; Sigma Xi is now trying to fashion mentorship programs to operate through its chapters for these members. Also, it was through its enhanced communication with chapters that Sigma Xi became aware of the Michigan chapters' science advocacy program, where Sigma Xi members visit Congressional representatives from Michigan in their home offices; hopefully, the Society may get similar programs operating in other states.
Dr. Blair also advised the Assembly that learning about the interests of chapters and members has led to much better advance planning for projects such as the Sigma Xi forums. In fact, the Society has already begun to schedule and plan its next three forums: 1999 in Minneapolis on undergraduate education reform; 2000 in Albuquerque on ethics and research integrity; and for 2001 in Raleigh on science, the arts, and the humanities. He added that the 2001 meeting will coincide with the dedication of the new Sigma Xi Center, which in the past year has taken shape both in character and in substantive programs. The new Center will build on the missions of Sigma Xi and provide a building for housing the four programs that will comprise the central core of the mission of the Center: science education, ethics and research integrity, the public understanding of science, and assessing the health of the research enterprise. These four areas were identified because of their interest to Sigma Xi chapters and members, and because initial discussions have indicated that they can be funded with new income resources. Dr. Blair then expressed his personal excitement about the progress of the Center in the last year and invited delegates to view the model of the Center, and discuss the design and programs of the Center, with Dr. Raymond Lutz, Chair of the Society's Capital Campaign, on Saturday in the registration area.
The Executive Director then closed his remarks with the view that the programs and activities described in his report build on Sigma Xi's traditional missions, yet represent, in many cases, an expansion of the Society's goals. In addition, the Society's ability to build on, and draw upon, local chapter perspectives and energies, however, is crucial to the Society's future. In response to a question from the delegate from the University of New Mexico Chapter, Dr. Blair indicated that the Society's former headquarters in New Haven, Connecticut had not as yet been sold but Sigma Xi is working hard to turn the building into an investment-grade facility to be sold, the income from which would work for Sigma Xi in its Center activities. The delegate then thanked Dr. Blair for his continued, aggressive contributions toward improving efficiency within the Society and maintaining cost reductions for Sigma Xi.

Appointment of the Credentials Committee and Tellers and Announcement of the Committee on Resolutions

The President announced that the following individuals had been appointed to the Committee on Resolutions for the November 1998 Assembly of Delegates:
Dr. Moore then announced the appointments of the following individuals to constitute the Credentials Committee for the November 1998 Assembly of Delegates:
The following delegates, two from each region, were then announced by Dr. Moore to serve as Tellers in both the Assembly of Delegates and the respective Regional Assemblies of Delegates:

Reports and Recommendations from the Board of Directors

The President reminded the Assembly that two motions from the Board of Directors would be presented this evening and questions answered for clarification of the motions. Discussion on the motions would take place in the remaining two Assemblies of Delegates and the Regional Assemblies of Delegates. The motions would be voted upon during the final Assembly on Sunday morning. He also reminded delegates that these recommendations were circulated to delegates and chapter presidents in advance of the meeting. Dr. Moore then invited the Society's Executive Director to introduce the eight-point motion on annual dues and fees for the year ending June 30, 2000 (FY2000) on behalf of the Board of Directors.
Annual Dues for 1999-2000 (FY2000). The Executive Director explained that this motion, which includes eight parts or points, sets all the dues and fees for Sigma Xi for the year indicated in one motion and one vote by the Assembly. The basic core of this recommendation is to continue the recent practice of tying annual dues to the cost of inflation each year, as expressed by the consumer price index (CPI). If approved, this motion would: increase annual dues for regular members of Sigma Xi by US$1.00 to US$49; leave student dues unchanged; increase Local Support to chapters from US$7.57 to US$7.73 per affiliated member; and increase the Life membership fee from US$1,025 to US$1,050. On behalf of the Society's Treasurer, Dr. Blair then moved the adoption of the eight-point motion on annual dues for 1999-2000. There were no questions concerning the motion.
Governance Constitution and Bylaw Changes. In introducing this proposal, the President explained that this recommendation from the Board of Directors was a complex proposal that resulted from extensive discussions in the Society's Executive Committee during 1997 and in 1998; a summary of those discussions is contained in the booklet that delegates received in advance of the meeting. In addition, there was further extensive discussion of the proposal during a special meeting of the Board of Directors in June 1998. A summary of those deliberations also is contained in the booklet that delegates received prior to the meeting. During the June 1998 meeting, the Board of Directors approved the proposed changes in principle and approved the formal language of the proposal in an e-mail ballot on June 26, 1998; the Board's vote was 26 in favor, 4 opposed, and 2 not voting. A subsequent e-mail ballot on 5 August 1998 approved the proposed changes to make the Constitution and Bylaws gender neutral documents with 21 in favor, 3 opposed, 1 abstention, and 4 not voting. The results of these deliberations and votes is the proposal before the Assembly. He added that Dr. Frosch, Immediate Past President of Sigma Xi, would present the proposal to the Assembly, on behalf of the Board of Directors, during this session of the Assembly. The proposal was to be discussed in the Regional Assemblies of Delegates and in the second Assembly of Delegates, and voted on during the final Assembly on Sunday morning.
Continuing, Dr. Moore explained that this proposal represents a major change in the Society's governance structure and was carefully crafted and balanced as a result of the extensive discussions in the Executive Committee and the Board. Thus, any significant changes to any part of the proposal would upset that balance and require the Board to start over again. Furthermore, the Society's Bylaws indicate that any substantive changes to the Bylaws require consideration and action by the Board of Directors and the Board's action must be sent to all Sigma Xi chapters for any objections to the Board's action. This process is complicated further with this proposal because the proposed Bylaw changes result from proposed changes in the Society's Constitution, which makes the entire process for amending the Bylaws much more complex and much more difficult. In view of this, it seemed that the best course of action in considering this proposal would be for the Assembly to approve or disapprove the entire package as presented by the Board of Directors. Therefore, in considering this proposal, the Assembly would be asked to vote on all the proposed changes in a single vote, with a 2/3 vote required for approval.
Dr. Moore then explained two additional points concerning the proposal. First, the approval of this proposal would not preclude subsequent modifications to the Bylaws; any needed fine tuning to the proposal, once adopted, could easily be accomplished by amending the Society's Bylaws under current procedures. Secondly, the booklet that delegates received in advance of the meeting on this proposal contains a proposed transition plan on page 13 to implement this proposal, if approved. While the transition plan is not legally a part of the proposal, it does represent a plausible transition schedule to reduce the Board to 16 members. The essential idea of this plan is that, except for chairs of standing committees who would leave the Board on July 1, 1999, the rest of the Board would serve out their elected terms. He asked delegates to remember that, if there are any problems with the transition plan, they would be separate from the proposal itself and the Board could deal with the transition plan independently of the proposal itself, if necessary. Dr. Moore then closed his remarks by indicating that, in his view, this is an important proposal for Sigma Xi because it streamlines the Society's governance, increases chapter representation on the Board, creates a method for the interests of particular groupings of institutions to be heard on the Board, and greatly enhances Sigma Xi's flexibility in doing its business.
At the request of the President, Dr. Robert A. Frosch then presented the Board's proposed changes in the Society's governance to the Assembly, using overhead transparencies to accent certain points in his presentation. He began with an editorial note by advising the Assembly that, in the booklet they received on the governance proposal, on page 23 (Article VII of the Constitution) the last sentence was missing. He advised delegates that this was an editorial oversight and the final sentence should read "… the Constitution, in the manner prescribed in Article VI," which is unchanged from the current text of the Constitution. In introducing the proposed changes in the Society's governance, Dr. Frosch summarized why the Board felt that Sigma Xi's governance should be changed by indicating that it had been observed for some time that Sigma Xi had a Board of Directors of 32 members that was very large, cumbersome, and very expensive to convene for in-person meetings. In addition, the election procedures for Board members are inconsistent and complex. Thus, under the current system, Directors-at-Large, are elected by delegates, yet represent the entire membership; there are no election procedures at all for the 8,500 members-at-large; and about one-third of the Board members, the chairs of standing committees, are not elected by chapters or members but are, in effect, de facto appointments of the President with consent of the Board. Finally, representation of chapters by geographic regions doesn't seem to capture all the relevant constituencies within Sigma Xi.
Continuing, Dr. Frosch then reviewed briefly the several deliberations of the Executive Committee and the Board of Directors, and the votes of the Board, that brought this proposal to the 1998 Assembly of Delegates. In his view, during these deliberations, just about every possibility for changing the Society's governance was brought forth and discussed. The result of this lengthy exercise was a rather complex, integrated proposal that was carefully crafted and balanced, and that affects the entire Society and how it is governed by the Board of Directors. He emphasized that this proposal is a compromise proposal in that not every problem that existed may be solved perfectly, nor did every member of the Executive Committee and the Board have the final proposal come out exactly as they might have liked. Thus, for example, there were discussions of reviving the proposal for direct election of Board members by the entire membership and not by delegates. In the end, the Board felt that it was clear from the Society's recent history that chapters and members did not want this, so the Board chose to go in the direction of maintaining the strength of chapters in electing members to the Board. Ultimately, the Board felt that this was the best proposal for the next era of the Society and the proposal can be changed after its adoption with minimal effort, if necessary. Dr. Frosch added that it is true that, in this proposal, certain items have been moved from the Constitution to the Bylaws, but the proposal does keep the essential elements of the Society's governance in the Constitution. The main emphasis of this proposal, therefore, is to reduce the size of the Board of Directors, make it more representative of the Society's chapters, and make the Board more directly responsive to the Assembly of Delegates.
Dr. Frosch then outlined the proposed changes in the Society's Board of Directors:
- There would be four officers of the Society, elected by delegates to the annual meeting, as at present;
- The number of Regional Directors would be reduced from 2 per region (total of 12) to 1 per region (total of 6);
- The 6 Directors-at-Large would be eliminated as members of the Board;
- Committee Chairs (currently numbering 9-11) would not be members of the Board by virtue of their position as chair of a standing committee;
- 6 constituency groups would be introduced, each of which would elect a Director to the Board. Five of these Directors would be elected by chapter delegates and one by the entire membership-at-large
Frosch admitted that, in this proposal, there would be only one Director for a geographic region, instead of the current two Directors per region. However, chapters would be represented on the board by 2 Directors as at present: one from a geographic region and one from a constituency group. He added that this proposal does contain provisions allowing geographic regions and constituency groups, at their discretion, to elect Associate Directors who would work with the Directors and who could attend meetings of the Board, and vote, in the absence of the Directors.
In regard to the constituency groups, Dr. Frosch explained that, except for the membership-at-large, these represent groupings of chapters with similar interests, other than geography. In order to start the idea of constituency groups, which groupings could be easily changed in the future, the academic chapters in the United States and its territories would be grouped according to A Classification of Institutions of Higher Education (Princeton, NJ: The Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching, 1994). Thus, at least originally, chapters would be grouped in one of the following constituency groups:
- research & doctoral universities;
- comprehensive colleges & universities;
- baccalaureate colleges;
- area groups, industries, state and federal laboratories;
- Canadian/International chapters
- membership-at-large
Dr. Frosch added that it has been a vexing and difficult issue recently within Sigma Xi as to how to represent chapters outside the United States on the Board of Directors. For the moment, a reasonable compromise seemed to be to establish a constituency group for those chapters outside the U.S. and its territories, which would give the 10 Canadian chapters a representative on the Board, as well as the 7 chapters outside North America for which there are not enough chapters to constitute a geographic region or a separate constituency group. The final constituency group would be for the membership-at-large, who would elect their own Director to the Board. Dr. Frosch advised delegates that this proposal contains provisions for a chapter to change its constituency group on petition to the Board and that the Board would be required to act on such requests. Also, this provision means that the groupings can be changed entirely if a group of chapters wished to petition the Board to establish a new constituency group.
In reviewing this proposal, Dr. Frosch indicated that, in his view, this proposal has the following advantages over the current system in Sigma Xi:
- A smaller Board of Directors means that the Board can be more nimble in addressing issues before it and it would be less costly to convene the Board;
- The new Board would be more representative of the Society, since no members of the Board would, in effect, be de facto appointments of the President;
- Because of the cost factors of a smaller Board, the Board could be convened in-person twice each year, rather than the current once each year, without increased costs to the Society;
- All Directors, except the Director for the membership-at-large, would be elected by chapter delegates;
- Chapters would retain having 2 Directors represent them on the Board - a geographic Director and a constituency Director on the new Board;
- This proposal permits subsequent changes, if needed, by amendments to the Society's Bylaws.
Dr. Frosch added that delegates might think of this new structure as a matrix arrangement where chapters are in a geographic region and a constituency group but can change their position in the matrix by petitioning the Board of Directors to do so. He added that he feels that this proposal represents a transfer of power from the President and some appointed members of the Board back to the chapters. Also, when he became President of Sigma Xi he found to his dismay that there was no quorum requirement for meetings of the Board of Directors, that about 1/3 of the Board essentially were appointments by the President, and this seemed to be outside of the normal chapter delegate voting process within the Society. This proposal returns the system back to the chapters and also sets a quorum requirement of 11 members of the Board for a meeting of the Board.
A set of other proposed changes to the Constitution and Bylaws were then reviewed by Dr. Frosch, who explained that these changes were ones that the Executive Committee and the Board felt should also be done at the same time as major changes were proposed to the Constitution and Bylaws concerning the Society's governance. The proposed changes were:
- That the Constitution and Bylaws be made gender neutral in language;
- That the Committee on Nominations be expanded to include representatives of constituency groups;
- That the business of the Assembly be streamlined so the annual meeting might focus more on science;
- That committee definitions be removed from the Society's Bylaws.
Dr. Frosch explained that the final recommendation does not mean that committees will no longer exist in Sigma Xi, but only that three required committees (Audit Review, Nominations, and Finances) would specifically be defined in the Bylaws. The other standing committees most likely will continue to exist but the Board would have the flexibility to reassign committees and their responsibilities without Bylaw changes. In addition, the proposed changes enable the Board to make it difficult to dissolve a committee by requiring a 2/3 vote of the Board to do so. It is visualized that the relationship between the Board and its standing committees would be as in most organizations where members of the Board serve as chairs of committees. If this is not feasible, then a member of the Board would serve as a member of a standing committee, but not as chair. Also, there is a mechanism in this proposal that enables committee chairs who are not already members of the Board to attend meetings of the Board on issues that directly affect their committee responsibilities.
In summary, Dr. Frosch added the following observations concerning the proposed changes in the Society's governance:
- This is a carefully constructed, extensive package incorporating compromises and many interrelated Bylaw and Constitution changes;
- The Board would be reduced from 31-33 members to 16 members;
- There would be direct representation on the Board for Canadian/International chapters and for the membership-at-large;
- Future changes to the proposal, if needed, can easily be implemented thorough changes in the Society's Bylaws; and
- This proposal is the first step in a continuing evolution of the Society's governance so that Sigma Xi can focus on issues of importance to its members, chapters, and to science.
On behalf of the Board of Directors, Dr. Frosch then moved the adoption of the proposed changes in the Society's governance.
Questions concerning the proposal were answered by Dr. Frosch as follows:
1. The issue of how chapter concerns are brought to the Board is not, and has not, properly been a matter of Constitution and Bylaw requirements, but is a matter of agenda setting for the Board and by the Board. In this proposal, chapters would have two different mechanisms to bring their concerns to the Board - one via the geographic Director and the other via the constituency Director;
2. Constituency groups, as proposed initially, will not have the same number of chapters. The initial composition would be as follows:
  - research & doctoral universities - 220 chapters
  - comprehensive colleges & universities - 126 chapters
  - baccalaureate colleges - 50 chapters
  - area groups, industries, state and federal laboratories - 118 chapters
  - Canadian/International - 17 chapters
3. Associate Directors would not be voting Directors on the Board because the proposed changes are specifically written to define the membership of the Board, which does not include Associate Directors;
4. The term "Associate Director" is the one proposed in the changes to the Constitution and Bylaws and any references to the term "Alternate Director" is an editorial mistake from earlier drafts of the documents;
5. The Director for the membership-at-large would be elected by all the members-at-large, probably by mail or eventually electronically. The Board did not want to describe a precise mechanism for this election in the Bylaws, then be forced to amend the Bylaws continually as new technology develops to conduct the election;
6. The use of the term "Regional Director" in line 503 of the proposed Bylaw changes is an editorial error and will be changed to "Director";
7. Constituency groups will have their own nominating committees to select nominees for Director and Associate Director exactly as is done in geographic regions;
8. The arrangements for constituency group meetings and geographic regional meetings during the annual meeting still needs to be resolved in detail;
9. The "institutional memory" problem can be solved with only one Director per region or constituency group, if the terms of the Director and Associate Director are staggered so that their terms are not coincidental;
10. There are no job descriptions in the Bylaws for the new positions being proposed because, while this should be done, they do not need to be defined in the Constitution or Bylaws.

Report of the Committee on Resolutions

The President reminded delegates that two resolutions were submitted by the Ottawa Chapter for consideration and action by the 1998 Assembly of Delegates. He explained that each resolution will be presented by the Chair of the Committee on Resolutions to the Assembly. Following each presentation, the President of the Ottawa Chapter would be given the opportunity to explain the rationale and intent of each resolution to the Assembly and to answer any questions for clarification about the resolution.
Resolution #1 (American Scientist). At the invitation of the President, Dr. Knesel, Chair of the Committee on Resolutions, presented the following resolution from the Ottawa Chapter to the Assembly:
Dr. Heather Marshall, President of the Ottawa Chapter, then explained that the chapter wished to alter the wording of the resolution in order to make it clear that direction from the Board of Directors would be necessary to change the scope and thrust, or the intended audience, of the magazine. Dr. Marshall indicated that the reason the chapter submitted the resolution was to make it clear with the Assembly that the chapter feels that American Scientist is a fabulous magazine the way it is and the chapter had heard rumors that the magazine might be changed. She explained that the chapter did not object to changing the magazine, merely that, if there are changes in the publication, they be made consciously and by the Assembly. Thus, if the Assembly chose to accept that changes should be made in the magazine, that would be the role of the Assembly. The chapter would have no comment on what changes should, or should not, be made in the magazine. The chapter, however, does want to ensure that any changes in American Scientist be made by the appropriate body in Sigma Xi, which in the chapter's view is the Assembly of Delegates. There were no questions concerning the resolution.
Resolution #2 (Annual Meeting). The Chair of the Committee on Resolutions then introduced the second resolution from the Ottawa Chapter to the Assembly:
In explaining the resolution, Dr. Marshall indicated that the intent of the resolution was to make Sigma Xi's Annual Meeting more interesting and more fun for delegates to attend. The chapter noted that it is a requirement for good standing in Sigma Xi that a chapter delegate attend the Annual Meeting once every three years, but oddly enough only about one-third of the chapters attend each year. This suggested to the chapter that people came to the Annual Meeting more out of a sense of duty and little else. The November 1997 meeting compounded this problem because the Forum and Annual Meeting overlapped, which made the Annual Meeting a day longer and more expensive to chapters. The basic idea behind this resolution was that the Annual Meeting should be self-contained, it could be adjacent to other events so that delegates could attend both if they wished to do so, but the Annual meeting should stand on its own.
Continuing, Dr. Marshall explained that an additional concern of the chapter was that Sigma Xi's Annual Meeting ought to be something that chapter delegates want to attend. Looking at the annual meetings of scientific discipline societies, it seemed that these organizations have a lot of science in their meetings and also have their business meetings. However, the Annual Meeting of Sigma Xi tends to have a great deal of business, little science, not much fun for delegates, and has little that delegates can get enthusiastic about as scientists. It seemed to the chapter that the whole point of Sigma Xi was to get enthusiastic about science and this was the reason for the resolution being submitted. Dr. Marshall added that the four-year period in the resolution was included because chapters tend to send delegates to the meeting once every three years and this period should be long enough so that everyone can experience the new format and evaluate it. Questions concerning the resolution were answered by Dr. Marshall as follows:
1. This resolution was written in June 1998 in response to the November 1997 Annual Meeting, where there wasn't much science in the meeting and delegates seemed to complain a great deal about the meeting, its format, and in not having any fun at the meeting;
2. Concerning the amount of time allocated to various elements of the meeting in the resolution, the chapter was only attempting to estimate a rough approximation as to how various elements of the meeting might be allocated.

The President then adjourned the Assembly until Saturday afternoon.

Session II

The President reminded the Assembly that, during the first session of the Assembly yesterday evening, he had announced a plan for considering the business before the Assembly that was intended to carry through until noon of the final session on Sunday morning. Since that time, he had become aware that, due to flight departures from Vancouver, many delegates must leave on Sunday morning before, or early in, the final session of the Assembly and therefore may not be present at the final Assembly to vote on the issues. He reminded the Assembly that it had several important items before it, such as the governance proposal, the eight-point motion on annual dues, and the resolutions from the Ottawa Chapter and he would like to have as much input from delegates on these issues as possible. Dr. Moore then proposed to the Assembly that it take up these legislative matters in this session for discussion and voting so that as many delegates as possible may participate in the resolution of these issues. Therefore, the Assembly would begin this session with the governance proposal, then go as far as possible in the time allotted with the other issues before the Assembly. He stressed that, in his view, it was very important to resolve these issues while as many delegates as possible were present at the Assembly. The President then asked if there were any objections to this proposal concerning the discussion and voting on the issues before the Assembly during this second session; there were no objections.

Reports and Recommendations from the Board of Directors (resumed)

Governance Constitution and Bylaw Changes (resumed). Dr. Moore reminded delegates that the proposed changes in the Society's governance had been circulated in a booklet to them on September 14, 1998 and also were available for review prior to that date on the Society's Web site. He also reminded delegates that on page 13 of that booklet was a proposed transition plan to implement the proposed changes in the Board of Directors, if the proposal was approved by the Assembly. Technically, this transition plan was not part of the proposed changes in the Society's Constitution and Bylaws and therefore was not legally binding if the changes were approved by the Assembly. However, the Assembly was asked to consider this proposed transition plan as part of the motion to approve the proposed changes in the Society's governance because, if this is not done, then the proposed changes in the Constitution and Bylaws, if approved, would become effective immediately without any transition plan at all. This, in turn, would mean that the new Board of Directors would be constituted as proposed immediately on approval of the motion and, in his view, Sigma Xi needs to avoid that situation and allow for a "phasing in" of the new Board, if the proposed changes are approved. The President added that if delegates had problems with the proposed transition plan, the Board could address these efficiently and would have the time to do so before the plan would become effective. Therefore, he hoped that the Assembly would not debate the details of the proposed transition plan but instead would focus on the proposed changes in the Constitution and Bylaws.
Continuing, the President reminded delegates that the Assembly had a great deal of business before it and a short amount of time in which to resolve these issues. He therefore asked that the Assembly observe the following rules for debating the proposed governance changes:
- that remarks concerning the proposal be limited to two minutes each;
- that second remarks wait until everyone had the opportunity to speak for the first time on the issue;
- that those arguing against the motion use the front microphones and those arguing in favor of the motion use the microphones at the rear of the room;
- that he would try to alternate between those in favor and those opposed to the motion;
- that the initial debate be limited to thirty minutes.
Dr. Moore added that he was aware that there might be some minor editorial changes to the proposed changes in the Constitution and Bylaws; if so, these should be given to him or the Society's Executive Director for incorporation into the final documents, if the motion is approved. He also added if there were more substantive, but minor, changes in the proposed Bylaws that might be proposed, these could be handled by the Board of Directors in the normal manner with consideration by the Board followed by notification to chapters for any objections. The President closed his introductory remarks by urging delegates to focus the debate on the governance issue to the major issues because the minor issues could be handled effectively outside the debate by the Board of Directors.
Dr. Moore then opened the floor for discussion of the proposed changes in the Society's Constitution and Bylaws concerning the governance of the Society. In response, the delegate from the New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology suggested that the use of the term "constituency group" might be changed because "constituency" was such a broad term and another designation might be more appropriate. Dr. Moore indicated that perhaps this suggestion was a matter of clarification and one that could be addressed by the Board of Directors in its deliberations. The delegate from the University of Alabama at Huntsville then indicated that, in his view, the proposal appeared to increase the voting power of the committee chairs and decrease the voting power of the elected members of the Board in contradiction to the November 1997 Assembly resolution that committee chairs not be members of the Board of Directors. In response, the President explained that in the existing structure of the Board the chairs of standing committees are indeed voting members of the Board but in this proposal they would not be members of the Board at all. This proposal, therefore, seems in accordance with the resolution of the November 1997 Assembly that committee chairs not be members of the Board of Directors.
The delegate from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Chapter then explained that in the Southeast Region there appeared to be some confusion over exactly what is being proposed in this motion and requested a brief presentation on exactly what the proposed changes would do in regard to the Society's governance. Specifically, the Southeast Region agreed with removing committee chairs and Directors-at-Large from the Board but seemed concerned over reducing the number of Regional Directors from 12 to 6 and in keeping the "institutional memory" within the regions with only a single director per region. In addition, it did not seem clear to the region on how constituency groups were designed, who they would represent, and a concern that all constituency directors might be elected from the same geographic region. In response, Dr. Moore explained that reducing the number of Regional Directors from 12 to 6 was part of the effort to reduce the current size of the Board of Directors, while creation of the constituency groups was done to provide a mechanism for chapters with common interests to meet, discuss issues of concern to them, and to provide a mechanism for these concerns to be expressed to the Board. He added that the proposal does provide a mechanism for an Associate Director to be elected by each geographic region and constituency group, whose terms might overlap with those of the appropriate director and provide institutional memory for the group.
Dr. Frosch then added that, in his view, the most important element of this proposal was that chapters will continue to be represented on the Board by two Directors; instead of being represented by two Regional Directors, as is the current situation, chapters will be represented by a Director from a geographic region and a Director from a constituency group. He explained that constituency groups were constructed as follows:
- Designating academic chapters in the United States and its territories into three constituency groups according to A Classification of Institutions of Higher Education (Princeton, NJ: The Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching, 1994) which created groups for research and doctoral universities, comprehensive colleges and universities, and baccalaureate colleges;
- Creating a group for non-academic chapters in the United States and its territories comprised of area chapters, industrial chapters, and chapters at state and federal laboratories;
- Establishing a 5th group for the Canadian and International chapters; and
- Creating a 6th group for the membership-at-large.
Dr. Frosch added that it is conceivable, but highly unlikely from a statistical point of view, that all of the constituency Directors might be elected from the same geographic region. He concluded his remarks by reminding the Assembly that, if this proposal is approved, the new Board of Directors would be composed of the 4 officers, as is currently the case, 6 Directors from geographic regions, and 6 Directors from constituency groups; there would be no chairs of standing committees or Directors-at-Large on the Board of Directors.
The delegate from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention responded with the view that the Southeast Region was still concerned that the proposal was presented to the Assembly for approval in an "unfinished form" essentially, with the view that many of the details could be worked out later. There was, however, no consensus in the region on what needed to be done to put the proposal in final form. Dr. Weiler, Northwest Regional Director and Chair of the Committee on Regions, then added that the Committee on Regions had discussed the "institutional memory" problem and concluded that this problem could be solved by ensuring that the terms of the Directors and Associate Directors overlapped, and with tutoring for new directors by former directors of geographic regions; if the problem was not solved, then it would be because the Committee on Regions was not doing its job!
The Towson Chapter delegate then asked whether the Assembly might be advised of a proposed friendly amendment to the Bylaws by the Mid-Atlantic Region concerning vacancies of directors and how their replacements would be selected. In response, Dr. Moore indicated that the friendly amendments had been discussed with representatives of the region and everyone agreed that a change of this nature, that did not involve consequential changes to the Constitution, should be considered by the Board in the usual manner and circulated to chapters for any objections. The delegate from the McGill University Chapter then indicated his strong support for the proposal because, in his view, it gives all chapters in Sigma Xi a two-edged sword: a voice within a constituency group for specific concerns, and a geographic region for the cross-fertilization of ideas. For the Canadians, this proposal means that Canadian chapters would be tied to the main body of Sigma Xi through the geographic regions and yet would have an independent voice to the Board through the Canadian/International constituency group. In his view, this proposal would allow for the cross-fertilization between regions and constituencies for ideas to emerge and spread throughout Sigma Xi, which can only benefit the chapters and the Society. The discussion closed with a view from the DuPont Chapter delegate that a benefit of this proposal is that it provided for the first time an opportunity for industrial chapters and for chapters at state and federal laboratories to discuss their special needs in a separate caucus at the Annual Meeting.
With no other comments forthcoming, the President suggested, and the Assembly agreed, that it was time to vote on the proposed governance proposal that was before the Assembly. He reminded delegates that a "yes" vote would be a vote in favor of the proposed changes to the Constitution and Bylaws as contained in the 14 September 1998 booklet that was circulated to delegates in advance of the meeting, along with the proposed transition plan that was contained on page 13 of the booklet. He also advised the Assembly that they would vote on all the proposed changes to the Constitution and Bylaws at once and therefore a two-thirds vote in favor would be needed for approval of the proposed changes. With delegates standing either in favor or opposed to the proposed changes, the President announced that the proposed changes clearly had been approved by the Assembly.
Annual Dues for 1999-2000 (FY2000) (resumed). In a point of clarification, the President explained that the motion was phrased in dollars and those dollars refer to U.S. dollars. Without discussion, and with one objection, the eight-point motion on annual dues for 1999-2000 (FY2000) was approved.
Resolution #1 (American Scientist) (resumed). To begin the discussion of the resolution, Dr. Marshall, President of the Ottawa Chapter and on behalf of the Chapter, proposed a substitute motion concerning American Scientist to replace the motion introduced in the first Assembly:
The substitute motion was seconded. Questions concerning the motion were answered by Dr. Marshall as follows:
1. The phrase "intended audience" refers, for example, to change the magazine from a journal for active researchers to a magazine for the general public;
2. The motion was originally proposed because the Chapter was nervous about things that they thought might happen to the magazine and wanted to ensure that any substantial changes in the magazine would need the approval of the Assembly.
The delegate from the University of Texas at Dallas then commented that the Assembly, in fact, oversees the Society's operations with its elections to the Board of Directors and these resolutions would enable the Assembly to micro-manage both the magazine and the Annual Meeting. Also, these resolutions, if approved, would bog down the process of operating the magazine and the meeting, add unnecessary difficulties to the planning process, and would be a very inefficient way for Sigma Xi to operate. In his view, the Assembly should show its confidence in the new Board of Directors and its ability to manage the Society's affairs and not enable the Assembly to micro-manage the new Board of Directors.
After the President reminded delegates that they should discuss whether the substitute motion should replace the original motion, the delegate from the University of Maryland Chapter indicated that there appeared to be a great deal of confusion in the Assembly about both of these motions, particularly for delegates attending their first Annual Meeting. He then moved that both motions be referred to the Committee on Publications for consideration and reporting back to the Board and the next Assembly on how changes are undertaken in the magazine and the Society's other publications. The motion was seconded. The delegate from the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory Chapter then spoke in favor of referring the resolutions to the Committee on Publications because the wording of the two motions from the Ottawa Chapter were subtly but distinctively different; i.e., the original motion dealt with changing the content of the magazine, while the substitute motion dealt with changing the audience for the magazine. For this reason, both resolutions should be referred to the Committee on Publications for the Committee to revisit the entire question of changing the magazine's content and/or audience. Without further questions or comments, the Assembly approved the motion to refer the resolutions concerning American Scientist from the Ottawa Chapter to the Committee on Publications.
Resolution # 2 (Annual Meeting) (resumed). The President re-read the original resolution from the Ottawa Chapter for delegates, after which a motion was made, and seconded, to separate the resolution into two parts: The first dealing with the separation of the Forum and Annual Meeting, and the second dealing with the scheduling of items within the Annual Meeting. There were no objections to separating the original resolution into two separate motions. The delegate from the SUNY Health Science Center at Brooklyn then suggested that the portion of the original resolution that dealt with a four-year evaluation of the schedule should be included in both new motions because the intent of this portion of the original resolution was to allow all chapters to experience the format and to comment upon it; there were no objections to adding the final sentence of the original resolution to each of the two motions now before the Assembly.
Dr. Susan Weiler, Northwest Regional Director, then informed the Assembly that the region had discussed this resolution and felt that the issues involved were very complex, that the Society already had a Committee on Meetings that oversaw the Forum and Annual Meeting, and that Sigma Xi tabulates the evaluations each year from delegates on their views of the Forum and Annual Meeting, including the scheduling of each. She then moved that the first motion dealing with the scheduling of the Forum and the Annual Meeting be referred to the Committee on Meetings; the motion was seconded. Dr. Marshall expressed her disagreement with referring this motion to the Committee on Meetings because, in her view, the Assembly is the supreme authority in Sigma Xi and this motion deals with how the Assembly wants to schedule its meetings. Therefore, this Assembly should be able to vote on how it wants to schedule its meetings. Conversely, the delegate from the McGill University Chapter spoke in favor of referring the motion to the Committee on Meetings because, in his view, the Assembly shouldn't be dealing with each and every piece of the Forum and Annual Meeting. He agreed that there are problems with the meeting but the Assembly should let the appropriate committee address these issues, since, in his view, this committee has already clearly gotten the message of what delegates want at their meetings and this has been reflected in the changes that have occurred in the meeting.
Dr. Moore then explained that the motion before the Assembly was to refer the following resolution to the Committee on Meetings:
Without further discussion or comment, and with delegates standing either in favour or opposed to the motion, the Assembly approved the motion that the first part of the original resolution be referred to the Committee on Meetings.
The President then read the second motion from the original resolution that now was before the Assembly for action:
A motion was immediately made, and seconded, that this part of the original resolution be referred to the Society's Committee on Meetings. Without discussion, the Assembly approved the motion that this part of the original resolution from the Ottawa Chapter be referred to the Society's Committee on Meetings.

Special Motion for Dr. Frosch

With permission from the President, the delegate from the University of New Mexico Chapter proposed a motion of special appreciation for Dr. Robert A. Frosch, Immediate Past President of Sigma Xi, for his skillful efforts as President of the Society to bring the governance proposal to fruition in this Assembly and in being able to accomplish all this and yet keep everyone happy and working together in Sigma Xi. The Assembly approved the proposed motion by unanimous consent and with a round of applause.

Reports of the Chairs of Standing Committees

The President advised the Assembly that he would ask for unanimous consent to consider the Reports of the Chairs of Standing Committees en bloc. Even though these reports would be considered en bloc, chairs of the committees would be given the opportunity to add to their reports, and delegates would be able to ask questions concerning these reports. He reminded delegates that these reports for the year ending 30 June 1998 were circulated to delegates in advance of the meeting. Dr. Moore then requested, and received, unanimous consent from the Assembly to consider the Reports of the Chairs of Standing Committees en bloc.
There were no additions made, nor questions asked, concerning the following reports:

Presentation of Certificates of Recognition for Outstanding Membership Elections

Dr. Penelope Padgett, Chair of the Committee on Qualifications and Membership, reminded delegates that each year the Committee recognizes the 15 chapters in Sigma Xi that initiated the most new members during the Society's fiscal year; this year for the year ending June 30, 1998. Dr. Padgett also explained that the certificates for these chapters were, unfortunately, lost in transit to Vancouver but asked that delegates from the following chapters stand and be recognized by the Assembly: Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Brown University, Smith College, Carleton College, Swarthmore College, Union College, University of Missouri at Columbia, Mount Holyoke College, Claremont Colleges, McGill University, Oberlin College, Columbia University, Princeton University, Southern Maine, and Williams College.

Presentation of Certificates of Excellence

Dr. Padgett then advised the Assembly that Certificates of Excellence are awarded each year by the Committee on Qualifications and Membership to chapters for their outstanding program and membership activities. In selecting these chapters, the Regional Directors reviewed the annual reports from chapters in their regions and made recommendations to the Committee who made the final selections from the list of recommended chapters submitted by each region. She then asked that the Assembly recognize the following chapters who were recommended for, but not awarded, a Certificate of Excellence: University of Denver Chapter, Colorado State University Chapter, South Dakota State University Chapter, Washington State University Chapter, University of Calgary Chapter, San Francisco State University Chapter, University of New Mexico Chapter, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory Chapter, San Joaquin Chapter, Towson Chapter, Princeton Chapter, University of Maryland Chapter, Tidewater Virginia Chapter, National Institute of Standards and Technology Chapter, Abbott Laboratories Chapter, Michigan State University Chapter, General Motors Research and Development Center Chapter, University of Miami Chapter, Woods Hole Chapter, Hunter College Chapter, McGill University Chapter, Vassar College Chapter, and the Alfred University Chapter.
With assistance from Ms. Pam Blondin, Sigma Xi's Director of Membership and Meetings, the President then presented Certificates of Excellence to delegates from the following chapters who were in attendance at the meeting: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Chapter, Clemson University Chapter, Howard University Chapter, Mississippi State University Chapter, Southern Illinois University at Carbondale Chapter, Texas A & M University Chapter, Tifton Chapter, and the Vermont Chapter. Certificates of Excellence will be sent to the Ford Motor Company and the South Dakota State University Chapters who were not represented at the meeting.

Closing Remarks by the President

Dr. Moore thanked the delegates for their attendance and participation in this most important session of the Assembly of Delegates and declared the second session of the 1998 Assembly of Delegates concluded.

Session III

Election of Regional Directors by the Regional Assemblies of Delegates

The President reported that the following individuals had been elected by their respective Regional Assemblies of Delegates to serve as Regional Directors from July 1, 1999 to June 30, 2002:

Election of Regional Members of the Committee on Nominations

Dr. Moore then announced that the following individuals had been elected or re-elected by their respective Regional Assemblies to serve on the Committee on Nominations for three years from November 15, 1998:
Similarly, the following individuals had been elected by their respective Regional Assemblies to serve on the Committee on Nominations for two years from November 15, 1998:

Election of Officers and Directors-at-Large

Dr. Moore then announced that the following individual had been elected by the Assembly of Delegates to serve as President-elect of the Society from July 1, 1999 to June 30, 2000:
The President also announced that the following individuals had been elected or re-elected to serve three-year terms on the Board of Directors as Directors-at-Large from July 1, 1999:

Report of the Committee on Resolutions

At the request of the President, Dr. Timothy Ng, a member of the Committee on Resolutions, moved the adoption of the following commemorative resolutions on behalf of the Committee:

The resolutions were adopted by acclamation by the Assembly.

Report of the Credentials Committee

The Chair of the Credentials Committee reported that 231 chapters were represented by 234 delegates and additional delegates at the November 1998 Annual Meeting. The membership-at-large was represented by 3 delegates. The Committee noted that delegates representing the Prague Institute of Advanced Studies, Swiss, Bangkok, and Hungarian Chapters were in attendance at the November 1998 Annual Meeting. Therefore, there were a total of 231 chapters represented at the November 1998 Annual Meeting and 241 delegates and additional delegates in attendance at the meeting.

Remarks by the President-elect

Dr. Hollingsworth opened her remarks by indicating that it is a great honor to have been elected President-elect of Sigma Xi by the November 1997 Assembly of delegates and to lead the Society into the new millennium. She indicated that to follow John Moore as President of Sigma Xi is an especially pleasant challenge, since Dr. Moore brought to the presidency of Sigma Xi a history of dedicated service to Sigma Xi. The President-elect acknowledged Dr. Moore's leadership as the former Chair of Sigma Xi's International Committee in preparing the Society for an expanded role in the international community of scientists and engineers and for his special interest and exceptional expertise that were highly instrumental in formulating the outstanding Forum that preceded this Annual Meeting. Dr. Hollingsworth expressed the hope that her long service to Sigma Xi as a chapter officer and delegate, as North Central Regional Director for six years, and as Chair of both the ad hoc and standing Committee on Diversity would serve her well in leading the Society, as Dr. Moore's previous service had served him so well as President of Sigma Xi. She acknowledged and thanked the headquarters staff for facilitating her work in Sigma Xi, and also thanked two Past Presidents, Dr. Thomas Malone and Dr. Frederick Robbins, who were particularly supportive and encouraging to her.
Continuing, the President-elect indicated that during the past decade, the Presidents of Sigma Xi, other dedicated leaders, and Peter Blair and the headquarters staff have prepared Sigma Xi well for the challenges that face the organization as a Society of scholars entering a new millennium. In her view, at this stage Sigma Xi is actively engaged in developing new programs particularly in the areas of science education reform, expansion and modernization of the Society's communication capabilities, and the construction of the Sigma Xi Center as a site for fostering the exchange of ideas among scholars and between the community of scholars and the leaders in government and industry. She acknowledged, however, that she is keenly aware that Sigma Xi faces considerable problems and cited two examples. First, the Society's membership needs to be re-built and Sigma Xi must increase its efforts to recruit scholars who have records of achievement, and students with the promise of scholarly potential, as members of the Society. Secondly, Sigma Xi must find ways to economize without imperiling its most valued programs, such as grants-in-aid of research, and the Society therefore needs to focus its attention and resources in the most promising and productive areas.
Dr. Hollingsworth then discussed briefly several questions that she personally would like Sigma Xi to address in the next year:
- First, how can Sigma Xi engage the membership more extensively in the Society's activities? In her view, the strength and future of Sigma Xi resides in its chapters and it is very clear that the chapters with stable or increasing memberships are those with highly extensive and visible programs at the local level. Therefore, Sigma Xi should make the building and sustaining of local chapters one of its highest priorities.
- Secondly, how can Sigma Xi reach out to new groups that are becoming a part of the community of scientists and engineers? She indicated that at her own institution for many years the majority of graduate students in many areas have been women, even though they are not proportionally represented in the ranks of faculty or upper level administrators. Also, rapid growth in our society overall of groups underrepresented in science and engineering presents similar problems for Sigma Xi, namely how can the Society increase their numbers within its ranks? Thus, Sigma Xi and society must develop and fully exploit the talents of all of its human resources.
- Thirdly, how can Sigma Xi further strengthen its presence in the international community of scientists and engineers? Unfortunately, while science is truly a world-wide endeavor, only a small fraction of Sigma Xi's membership resides outside the United States and Canada.
- Finally, how can Sigma Xi extend its efforts to increase the public understanding of science? There is a perception that society overall, and especially our youth, are to a great extent undereducated about, unaware of, and often unappreciative of the role of science and technology in our lives. This issue has long been a concern to Sigma Xi members and will form the basis of the Society's November 1999 Forum in Minneapolis.
In closing her remarks, Dr. Hollingsworth indicated that, in her view, Sigma Xi has made a start in all of these areas but now must intensify and refine its efforts in these areas. She then thanked the delegates once again for entrusting her with the leadership of Sigma Xi, indicating that for her it is a great honor and a great challenge.

Closing Remarks by the President

The President thanked Dr. Hollingsworth for her remarks and indicated that, in his view, the experience that she brings, and her commitment to the objectives and ideals of Sigma Xi, will provide the Society with effective leadership during her tenure as President. Dr. Moore then indicated that he would like to close the Assembly with his own personal remarks about this meeting and about the Society. He then indicated that this Assembly of Delegates was really an historic occasion for Sigma Xi, if for no other reason than the successful revision of the Society's Constitution and Bylaws in regard to Sigma Xi's governance. In his view, any time an organization undertakes such major revisions to its governing documents, as was done at this meeting, one has to regard that as a truly historic meeting. Also, in his view, these revisions are one of the elements that will set the stage for exciting developments in Sigma Xi for many years to come because the new governance structure provides for wonderful cross-fertilization of ideas and activities within the Society.
Continuing, Dr. Moore expressed the view that so much is going on within Sigma Xi right now that one can't help but be excited for the future of the Society. He cited, for example, the new uses of Sigma Xi's electronic infrastructure, such as "Science in the News," that among many other things is really bringing the Society's chapters and members closer together, which is important to Sigma Xi's future. Many new programs, such as the science advocacy program, the Young Investigator Award, and new member benefits hold great promise for the Society's future. Sigma Xi also is proceeding with the globalization of the Society and there may be dramatic developments in this area in the future. Finally, the Sigma Xi Center will greatly benefit the Society in two ways. First, the programmatic element of the Center. Many programs already are underway and are beginning already to show real progress in engaging chapters and members in their activities. One example is the science education program that will rely heavily on chapters and members. Secondly, the facility itself will give the Society a sense of permanence in Research Triangle Park, will bring people together for discussion of important issues, and will also instill a great sense of pride in our Society.
The President closed his remarks with the view that Sigma Xi is in the process of a great transformation and the governance reforms enacted in this meeting are essential to that transformation. In his view, this Assembly laid the governance framework that is needed to really make programs work in the future and these programs will, among other things, help solve the membership problem that is still before us.

Adjournment

Dr. Moore then thanked the headquarters staff for organizing such a wonderful Forum and efficient Annual Meeting, and delegates for their attendance, and participation in, this historic meeting of the Society. He then declared the 99th Annual Meeting of Sigma Xi, The Scientific Research Society adjourned.