Draft Minutes of the
UCGIS Council Meeting
February 9, 2001
Capitol Hill Club
300 First St. S.E., Washington, DC
Attendance: Representatives from the following member institutions: Clark University, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Michigan State University, Ohio State University, Oregon State University, Rutgers University, San Diego State University, State University of New York at Buffalo, University of California-Santa Barbara, University of Delaware, University of Georgia, University of Iowa, University of Kentucky, University of Maine, University of Michigan, University of Minnesota, University of Pittsburgh, University of Utah, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, University of Wyoming, West Virginia University, American Society for Photogrammetry and Remote Sensing, Association of American Geographers, ESRI, Inc., Intergraph Corporation, US Geological Survey. (Three new members were admitted as the first order of business (see #1 below).)
The meeting was called to order by UCGIS President Bill
Huxhold at 3:30pm.
1.
Admission of New Members and Membership Committee Report
(Merry)
The Membership Committee presented two regular membership applicants (University of Illinois, Chicago; Southwest Texas University) and one government affiliate applicant (Department of Transportation Bureau of Transportation Statistics) for admission by Council vote. All three institutions were accepted as new members by unanimous vote of the 23 voting members present.
Merry presented the
Membership Committee report; highlights included the following:
ü
Since the last Summer
Assembly, 16 of the original members completed the mandatory 5-year update of
their web-based membership portfolio. Five of the original members have yet to
complete this task.
Motion to accept the
5-year renewals: Moellering; second by Craig. Approved.
ü
Geographic gaps in
membership representation have been identified by the committee, which will be
soliciting assistance from delegates in making personal contact with potential
member institutions in these states.
ü
The committee will
again be requesting that affiliate members make an attempt to provide a
UCGIS-specific link on their web pages, or at a minimum, a direct link to their
home page.
In 2001, the five
member institutions admitted in 1996 are scheduled for their 5-year portfolio
updates. They include: Texas A&M
University - Corpus Christi, University of Arizona, University of Delaware,
University of Michigan, and the American Congress on Surveying & Mapping
(ACSM).
2.
Agenda Revisions and Additions (Huxhold)
No changes.
3.
Approval of Minutes of June 26, 2000 Council meeting
(Welches, OR) (Hamerlinck)
No changes. Motion to accept: Onsrud; second by Harvey.
Approved.
4.
Executive Report (Huxhold)
Highlights of the
last calendar year included the following:
ü
GIScience 2000
Conference: co-sponsored by UCGIS, AAG and NCGIA; held in Savannah, GA in late
October; more than 250 abstracts received for 120 slots; 30-40 posters; six
papers selected as plenary talks with six invited speakers; representation from
20 countries in North and South America and Europe. Second conference scheduled for late September 2002 in Quebec
City, Quebec; potential 2004 meeting in Europe.
ü
Colloquium on
GIScience and Vector-Borne Diseases: co-sponsored by UCGIS and USGS in
cooperation with the Center for Pacific Rim Health Studies; held at the Scripps
Institute, La Jolla, Ca, January 3-5, 2001; over 35 participants from USGS,
CDC, EPA, and UCGIS member institutions; second colloquium being planned for
May 22-24, 2001.
ü
GIScience Education
Issues: work moving forward on model curriculum effort; consortium members
continue to be involved in the certification and accreditation debate.
ü
UCGIS / AGILE
Relationships: slowly evolving; funding has tentatively been secured for a “GIScience
and Society” meeting scheduled for Rome, Italy in September 2001; requests for
abstracts will be forthcoming.
ü
Grants:
UCGIS-brokered awards to member institutions continue to grow; FGDC, USGS, and
HUD have been primary sponsors.
5.
Summer Assembly 2000 Report (Usery, R. Wright)
Usery reported on
research program:
ü
Student posters and
papers: 30 selected from 42 applications; 28 participated; 6 selected for oral
presentations. $250 awarded to best
paper (2-way tie); $250 awarded to best poster.
ü
Emerging Themes
Session: Five themes were selected for white paper development. Details of the selection process may be
found in the 22 June 2000 Council Meeting minutes. (See item #11 below for Council action on white papers.)
No report available
on the education program (R. Wright absent).
6.
Financial Report (Jampoler for Abler)
Balance sheet
presented portraying assets and liabilities & equity as of 31 December
2000:
·
Current Assets:
$328,937.38
·
Current Liabilities:
$135,998.84
·
Total Equity:
$192,938.54
·
Loss of approx.
$16,000 on Congressional Event and Summer Assembly meetings in 2000.
UCGIS is in good
shape financially; now contracting with an outside accounting service.
Currently in the third year of a voluntary audit which has shown our accounting
practices to be sound and credible.
7.
Committee Reports
A.
Policy and Legislation (Mark)
Co-chaired with Will Craig; primary focus has been on congressional breakfast and application demonstrations held yesterday morning:
On Wednesday, February 7th, the committee hosted
two pre-meeting workshops on “NSF Policies Regarding Lobbying” and
“Guidelines for Visiting Members of Congress”. With NSF (or other potential federal
funding sponsors), the main issue is not to use federal dollars in any way to
seek more federal money. Relative to working with Congress, it is very
important to build good relationships with staffers.
B. Research Committee (Usery)
Will be meeting tomorrow to discuss the following: GIScience Research Award; structure of emerging themes specialist sessions at summer assembly; student participation at summer assembly (42 abstracts received, currently under review)
C.
Education Committee (Kemp for R. Wright)
ü
Information flyer
distributed on GeoSpatial Workforce Development Center, a NASA-funded
initiative underway at the University of Southern Mississippi. Goal of effort
is to conduct a ‘gap’ analysis between the geospatial skills being demanded in
the work place and the education and training opportunities currently
available. UCGIS represented by Kemp, Huxhold, and Johnson in a recent GeoWDC
workshop.
ü
Current issues
related to GIScience certification may be tracked through Kemp’s web page at
http://cem.uor.edu/users/kemp/certification/
ü
ISO TC211 activities
moving forward (28 participating countries)
ü
Model Curriculum
Update: UCGIS Education Committee sub-group is currently developing a proposal
for a June 2001 NSF solicitation to fund activities to define the scope and
content of such a curriculum; interim funding has been provided by ESRI,
Intergraph, SmallWorld, and ESRI (again) to keep effort moving forward.
ü
Reminder to nominate
for GIScience Educator Award (deadline is 1 March)
D.
Membership Committee (Merry)
Presented
during admission of new members (see #1 above).
E.
Communications Committee (D. Wright)
UCGIS
web site and email lists continue to be maintained at Oregon State University.
F.
Research Projects (Egenhofer)
8.
Announcement of Intergraph Software Grant (Nolen)
In support of the UCGIS Model Curriculum effort, Intergraph Corporation’s Mapping and GIS Solutions Group is donating to all UCGIS member schools a campus-wide site license for both desktop and web-based GeoMedia application software with three years of technical support, upgrades, and access to free product training courses. Software will be sent to lead UCGIS delegates at each school. For more information, see:
http://www.intergraph.com/gis/newsroom/press01/UCGIS_rlsf.asp
9.
Election of Officers (Mark)
of candidates for
election to office and the board:
President-Elect: Art Getis, San Diego State University
Lyna Wiggins, Rutgers University
Board (2 openings):
Carolyn Merry, Ohio State University
Zorica Nedovic-Budic, University of Illinois,
Urbana-Champaign
Timothy Nyerges, University of Washington
Dawn Wright, Oregon State University
The following persons
were elected by anonymous vote of the member institutions present:
President-elect = Art
Getis
Board members =
Carolyn Merry, Dawn Wright
10. Recognition of Outgoing Officers and Board
Members (Onsrud)
A special thanks was
extended to Greg Elmes, Past President, and board members Stephen Hirtle and
Art Getis for their contributions to the organization.
11. Discussion and Vote on Emerging Research
Themes (Usery)
A summary of each of
the five emerging research theme white papers was presented in a session
immediately preceding the Council Meeting. The purpose of the scheduled vote
was to determine which of the five themes will be advanced to “specialist
session” status at the 2001 Summer Assembly.
The format and desired outcome of the specialist sessions has yet to be
defined, and will be a topic of discussion at tomorrow’s Research Committee
meeting.
The following is the
result of the anonymous vote of the member institutions present:
ü
Geospatial Data
Mining and Knowledge Discovery (44 yes, 0 no)
ü
Ontological
Foundations for Geographic Information Science (39 yes, 5 no)
ü
Geographic
Visualization as an Emerging Research Theme in GIScience (46 yes, 1 no)
ü
Analytical
Cartography (30 yes, 13 no)
ü
Remotely-Acquired
data and Information in GIScience (37 yes, 9 no)
Consequently, all five emerging themes will be addressed in specialist sessions at the 2001 Summer Assembly.
12. Discussion of Potential Establishment of
“Sponsored Projects” Standing Committee (Onsrud)
A need exists to establish a committee to handle external funds other than sponsored research. Onsrud and Mark will present draft language at the next Board meeting. Following by-law procedure, the proposed amendment will be distributed to Council delegates at least 30 days prior to the Summer Assembly Council Meeting.
13. Goals and Format, 2001 Summer Assembly,
Buffalo, NY (Mark)
Dates have been set for June 22-24 (Thursday – Saturday); in addition to board, council and committee meetings, the agenda tentatively will include emerging research theme sessions, education sessions on the model curriculum and distance learning, student paper and poster sessions, and a panel discussion on research-based graduate education.
14. Other Business (Jampoler)
Research and
Education Committees will meet tomorrow from 9am – 12nn. Board meeting will
begin at 12nn.
No other business.
Motion to adjourn: Onsrud; second by Hamerlinck. Meeting adjourned at 6pm.