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The meeting was called to order by Frank Townsend,
President, at 8:30 a.m., who passed the
presiding role to President Elect, Tom Zimmie.
Board members present were:
Tuncer Edil - Past President, Frank Townsend -
President, Tom Zimmie - President Elect, Mehmet Tumay - Treasurer,
Sandra Houston - Secretary, Loren Anderson, Richard Finno, Hom Yin Ko, Paul Mayne
Tom Zimmie briefly reviewed the agenda for the meeting. Introductions were made, and new board members, Richard Finno and Paul Mayne, were welcomed.
Elections for new officers were held. Mehmet Tumay was elected to the
position of President Elect, Rich Finno to the position of Treasurer, and
Paul Mayne to Secretary.
Mehmet Tumay gave the treasurers report. He reported that we now have 74 members, with 40 universities current on dues. Of these 40 universities, 7 are new members to USUCGER. Thus, the yearly accumulations in dues is only a few thousand dollars. As of April 1, 1996, there is $9,357.33 in the NSF account in Wisconsin, and $18,383.23 in a CD at the credit union at LSU.
The NSF grant ends this summer, and the Board agreed that we should
request a continuation in the very near future. Mehmet Tumay will
transfer the funds from LSU to Rich Finno on May 13, 1996, including
the CD (Action Item 1). Rich Finno will develop a proposal to submit
to NSF asking for $15 K/year for USUCGER support for the next 3
years. He also agreed to ask FHWA and DOE to cost-share with NSF on
this core funding. Tuncer Edil and Mehmet Tumay agreed to work with
Rich Finno on this task (Action Item 2).
As a starting point, Tuncer will outline USUCGER activities and USUCGER-related events over the past 5 years (Action Item 3). This information will be useful for development of a strategic plan. Tuncer Edil
suggested that a strategic plan was needed for development of a proposal
requesting funding for the organization.
Future USUCGER activities considered by the board included organization
of another workshop similar to that held in Houston, and development
of a world wide web page, development of a newsletter or article for
geotechnical news recounting the history, present, and future of
USUCGER and how USUCGER fits within the framework of the new
Geocouncil. Hom Yin Ko suggested providing services for the
membership.
It was agreed that Paul Mayne would work on a newsletter together with
Sandra Houston (Action Item 4). The newsletter will be sent out to USUCGER
membership and other potentially-interested academicians by May 1, 1996. It
is hoped that increased awareness of USUCGER to the Geo-academic community
will help add to membership and build a stronger USUCGER organization.
It was moved and seconded that the Board authorize $3000 for development of the WWW page for USUCGER from the Wisconsin NSF account. Because of his past activities in maintaining the USUCGER e-mail list, Roman will be asked first if he wants to prepare the WWW page. Frank agreed to contact Roman about development of the WWW page (Action Item 5). The Board also agreed to sponsor a USUCGER logo competition, with the winner receiving $300. The new logo design would be placed on the WWW page. The logo competition will be advertised in the newsletter by May 1, 1996 (Action Item 6). Submissions will be sent to Tom Zimmie by June 15, 1996, and then he will circulate the entries to other Board members for selection of the winner (Action Item 7).
Frank Townsend will submit the paperwork and pay the $50 fee for registration of the USUCGER acronym (Action Item 8).
Mehmet Tumay discussed USUCGER's role in the newly-formed Geocouncil. The Board had previously taken action to become a member of the Geocouncil. Tuncer and Mehmet have been involved in the original formation of and development of by-laws for the Geocouncil. USUCGER membership in the Geocouncil will be $500/year. A motion to set aside $500 from the Wisconsin NSF account for the first Geocouncil dues, probably to be paid in 1996. In addition, the Board agreed to pay, from the NSF account, for travel for Tuncer Edil and Mehmet Tumay, if needed, for the next Geocouncil meeting.
The Board selected Mehmet Tumay as the official USUCGER representative to the Geocouncil, with Tuncer Edil serving as an alternate.
Several possibilities for USUCGER involvement at the upcoming Madison
Conference, Aug. 1 - 3, 1996, were discussed. The Board decided to sponsor a 1-hour lecture, preferably during lunch. The topic of the lecture is to be "The role of research in the year 2000 --- university, government,
private sector, etc. responsibilities." Rich Finno agreed to contact
David Schultz (from Northwestern) as a potential speaker, and Tuncer
Edil said he would try to locate a 1-hour time slot for USUCGER in
the conference schedule. Loren Anderson will locate a different
speaker if David Schultz cannot participate (Action Item 9). Rich
Finno will report back to the Board by April 2, 1996.
USUCGER plans were discussed for the first Geo-Institute Conference to
be held June, 1997, in Logan, Utah. Frank Townsend submitted a
proposal to the Logan Conference organizing committee on behalf of
USUCGER to sponsor sessions on "Research Responsibility -
Government, Federal, State, Industry....... Who?" The agreed-to
format to be requested for the Logan sessions is as follows. (1)
There will be a plenary session in the morning. The plenary session
is expected to include (a) A presentation from Governor Levett of
Utah on responsibilities of the States. Loren Anderson agreed to make
a request to Governor Levett for this presentation (Action Item 10). (b)
A presentation from Wayne Clough, discussion the role of the university (he will also be asked to touch on his knowledge of "foreign" models.
Paul Mayne will contact Wayne Clough about his participation (Action
Item 11). (c) A presentation by the owner of a company, such as Mr.
Panoni, former ASCE president, discussing the industry side of the
issue. (d) A presentation by, perhaps, a Commisioner of
Transportation. Laurinda Bedingfield, from Massachusetts, was
suggested. Alternate possibilities include General Williams of the
Corp, Bill Moore, the head of NIST, .... (2) Two afternoon sessions
for workshops to further discuss responsibilities, benefits, and
incentives. Potential chairs for the workshops included: Joe Welsh, Gene Figs, Director of
UDOT, Director of CALTRANS, Neil Williams, ..... Frank Townsend
agreed to chair the subcommittee for organizing the sessions in
Utah. He will be assisted by Paul Mayne, Loren Anderson, and Sandra
Houston (Action Item 12).
Frank Townsend presented the draft report on the recent survey of
geotechnical faculty research and academic programs. He asked the Board to
review the report and to provide comments to him as soon as possible.
Additional discussions on operational issues were addressed by Tuncer
Edil. Procedures for election of board members was reviewed. The
Board decided, for now, to append the addendum to cover election
procedures by e-mail to the original by-laws. It was agreed that a
budget for USUCGER would be developed. Rich Finno will write a
proposed budget, assuming fiscal year October 1 to October 1,
starting October 1, 1996 (Action Item 13).
Tom Zimmie announced that the next official meeting of the USUCGER Board
and general USUCGER meeting will be November, 1997, in Washington,
D.C.
The meeting was adjourned at 5:05 p.m.