Delegates passed the Membership Simplification plan by the necessary two-thirds margin at the House of Delegates meeting in Long Beach, Calif., reducing the number of member classifications for the Association.
A second amendment proposal concerning Advisory Council notification to the chair of the House of the possible changes to the long-range plan or Bylaws failed by a 84 for, 93 against vote.
Of 218 total delegates, 188 received voting credentials at the April 22 meeting chaired by Jeff Lund at the Long Beach Convention and Entertainment Center.
The Membership Simplification proposal originated from the AAPG Membership Communications and Coordination Committee, and eliminates the word “Active” as an adjective for the member class.
The new amendment also moves Honorary and Emeritus to the designation of “Members,” rather than separate and distinct membership classes, Lund said.
There were 45 minutes of discussion on the issue, culminating in a 127-53 vote approving the change. The measure required 126 votes to pass.
With the vote of the House, AAPG now has three membership classifications – Member, Student and Associate.[PFItemLinkShortcode|id:1915|type:standard|anchorText:RELATED STORY |cssClass:|title:Simplification Plan A Step in Process|PFItemLinkShortcode]
Societies approved for affiliation are:
- Israel Geological Society (part of the Europe Region).
- Indian Association of Petroleum Geoscientists.
- Geological Society of Romania.
Delegates also elected new officers, with Larry Wickstrom, former state geologist and division chief, Ohio Geological Survey, voted as chair-elect and Karen Glaser as secretary/editor. She is geological adviser and director of curriculum for geoscience, Schlumberger, Houston.
Both will assume office July 1, and Wickstrom will chair the House in 2013-14.
Delegates also honored Larry Jones with the House’s Honorary Member Award; George Eynon, Jeannie Fisher Mallick and Vlasta Dvorakova received House Distinguished Member awards; Ed Dolly and Clint Moore received House Long Service Award; and outgoing officers Lund and secretary/editor David Cook received the Recognition of Service Award.