PENNSYLVANIA SOCIETY FOR CLINICAL LABORATORY SCIENCE

HOUSE OF DELEGATES MEETING MINUTES

APRIL 13, 2004 SCANTICON CONFERENCE CENTER

VALLEY FORGE, PA
 

To be approved at the 2005 House of Delegates

 

PRESENT:  Charles Wilson, President; Barbara Snyderman, President –elect; Katie Franz, Past President; Patsy Bering, Parliamentarian, Con Ed Assistantship; Sharon Strauss, Board; Mary Ann McLane, Region II Director; Carolyn Snyder, By Laws; Sandy Toloczko, PACE Administrator; Eileen Molecavage, Board;

Elissa Passiment, ASCLS, guest; Judy Hoover, Susquehanna Chapter Delegate; Regina Halbinger, DVC Member; Darlene Point, Board; William Hunt, Board; Scott Aikey, Finance; Brooke Slick Speidel, Board

 

President Wilson calls the meeting to order at 4:48 p.m. McLane explained the voting procedure.

 

Wilson appointed Hoover Speaker of the House and Bering Parliamentarian.

 

Agenda approval.  Amendments made, delete Line 6 “approval of Agenda” Line 14 change to “2004”.  Addition to New Business; d.  2005 Meeting.

 

MOTION 1: Hunt moved that the PSCLS House of Delegates approve the agenda as amended.  Second:  Snyderman.  Motion carried. 

 

Credentials report.  Speidel reported 16 Delegates, Quorum 11.  One guest was present in the House.

 

MOTION 2:  Snyderman moved that the guest Elissa Passiment be granted permission to join the House of Delegates.  Second: McLane. Motion carried.

 

PRESIDENT’S REPORT: President Wilson’s submitted a written report reviewing objectives for the year and summarizing his activities.  He thanked all present for their support though the year.  Contacts were developed for all the chapters in the state including those that have been inactive.  Special mention was made for the efforts of the Susquehanna and Northeast chapters.  President Wilson also made note that the newsletter fell short of his expectations and that it is PSCLS’s best way to communicate with our members.

 

A discussion regarding a two-year term for the office of President took place.  The role of the Past President was discussed.  Snyderman pointed out that the By Laws make no mention of the duties of Past President.  It was mentioned that duties of the Past President are listed in the handbook.  A suggestion was made that Leadership Development may want to explore further defining the role of Past President.

 

SECRETARY’S REPORT:  President Wilson asked Katie Franz to act as Secretary for this meeting.  The minutes from 2003 House of Delegates were presented.  A correction was made in item #12 with the name “Jody” changed to “Judy”.  Under Motion #8 the name “Frantz “ is changed to “Franz”

 

MOTION 3: McLane moved that the minutes of the 2003 PSCLS House of Delegates dated 5/5/2003 be approved as corrected. Second: Snyder.  Motion carried.

 

TREASURER’S REPORT:  In the absence of the Treasurer, Finance Committee Chair Scott Aikey presented the written reports.  Aikey informed the house that $4,600 was charged by credit cards at the 2003 annual meeting.  This income was not in the bank by the close of the fiscal year due to the charges on the cards not being submitted until August of last year.  Close to $1,000 of income was either never charged or the charges were declined by the credit card company.  The result of this is that some corrections need to be made to the Treasurer’s report.

 

MOTION 4:  Franz moved that the PSCLS House of Delegates direct the finance committee to correct the Treasurer’s report dated 8/31/03 and present it to the Board at the summer Board meeting.  Second: Strauss. Motion carried.

 

REGION II UPDATE: Mary Ann McLane, Region II Director announced that the next Region II meeting will take place April 17 in Baltimore.  McLane reported that she was challenging the states of the Region to be the face of Clinical Laboratory Science.  She also reported on some of the issues that will be brought before the ASCLS House of Delegates at the July meeting in Los Angeles.  These include a position paper on Direct Access Testing and increasing the ASCLS Board by one member to include a First Year Professional member.  McLane encouraged anyone with concerns over these issues to contact her. There was some discussion of the new board position. 

 

A break for dinner was announced at 6:00 p.m.  The meeting reconvened at 7:56 p.m.

 

The discussion about the new ASCLS Board position was resumed.  There was also discussion about Leadership Development’s role at the national level.  In addition it was noted that Educational and Research money is available for students to attend Legislative Day.

 

STUDENT FORUM REPORT:  Ruth Negley reported that the students are holding a daylong student review session on June 7 at Harrisburg Area Community College (HACC).  All of the speakers are lined up and the Student Forum has not had to pay anything for the site or the speakers.  Negley and students Laura Weand and Jamie Zeiders were commended for the work on the review session.  Discussion followed relative to sponsoring the student’s attendance at the ASCLS meeting in Los Angeles.  The budget was reviewed to see if there were sufficient funds to cover costs.

 

MOTION 5: Hunt moved that the PSCLS House of Delegates reallocate $500.00 from the Publications line item to the Student Forum line item.  Second: Snyder.  Motion carried.

 

MOTION 6:  Hunt moved that the PSCLS House of Delegates fund air fare, hotel, and registration for the two PSCLS student representatives not to exceed $2,000.00 total for the 2004 ASCLS Annual Meeting in Los Angeles.  Second: Snyderman.  Motion carried.

 

NOMINATIONS AND ELECTIONS:  Ruth Negley was nominated for President Elect. She accepted the nomination.

 

MOTION 7: Point moved that the PSCLS nominations be closed for President Elect. Second: Franz. Motion carried.

 

Sandra Neiman was nominated for Secretary. Wilson indicated that Sandy accepted the nomination by telephone.

 

MOTION 8: Strauss moved that the PSCLS nominations be closed for Secretary. Second: Snyder. Motion carried.

 

Judy Hoover was nominated for Treasurer. She accepted.

 

MOTION 9:  Snyderman moved that the PSCLS nominations be closed for Treasurer. Second: McLane. Motion carried.

 

Katie Franz and Eileen Molecavage were nominated for By Laws.  They accepted.

 

 

MOTION 10:  Negley moved that the PSCLS nominations be closed for By Laws. Second: Snyderman. Motion carried.

 

Ronnie Aurello, Regina Halbinger and Rita Walker were nominated for Board of Directors.  They accepted.

 

MOTION 11:  McLane moved that the PSCLS nominations be closed for Board of Directors. Second: Snyder. Motion carried.

 

Pennsylvania Delegates to the ASCLS House of Delegates:  The state will be able to send 6 or 7 Delegates to the ASCLS House.  Four members indicated that they would serve as delegates.  They were Bill Hunt, Judy Hoover, Carolyn Snyder, and Sharon Strauss.  There was discussion of filling the other delegate slots.

 

MOTION 12:  Franz moved that the PSCLS House of Delegates elect 4 delegates to the ASCLS House of Delegates.  The President can appoint additional delegates to fill the delegation.  Second: Hunt.  Motion carried.

 

REPORT OF THE ELECTION FOR PSCLS BOARD OF DIRECTORS:  Rita Walker and Ronnie Aurello were elected to fill the full term Board of Director positions.  Regina Halbinger will fill the rest of Ruth Negley’s term. 

 

2004 ANNUAL MEETING:  The meeting was well attended.  McLane provided the numbers. Final numbers were 170 members, 276 non-members, 7 student members, 14 student non-members, 67 speakers and vendors.  Total = 534. Snyder reported that the vendors’ contributions were all monetary totaling $9400.00 and she provided a list of vendors that contributed.

 

MOTION 13: Snyderman moved that the PSCLS House of Delegates commend Mary Ann McLane and Carolyn Snyder and the 2004 Annual Meeting Committee for another fabulous meeting.  Second: Franz.  Motion carried.

 

AWARDS:  Gregg Palastro submitted a written report.  There were no action items.

 

BY LAWS: Aikey referred the House to the report of the Finance Committee, which recommended changes to the Treasurer and Finance Committee sections of the PSCLS Handbook.

 

MOTION 14: Speidel moved that the changes to the finance and treasurer sections of the PSCLS handbook be accepted.  Second: McLane.  Motion carried.

 

CAREER RECRUITMENT: No report.

 

CON ED ASSISTANTSHIP: Patsy Bering submitted a written report. She reported that we are over budget for the Keener Award.  Of the 49 applications received, 12 were not funded due to lack of funds.  Bering made a recommendation to continue the Keener awards until the fund is depleted.

 

MOTION 15: Hunt moved that the PSCLS Handbook be changed to read “ proof of successful completion at workshops, attendance and conferences or courses is required, or the funds must be returned or future awards will be denied.”  Second: Snyderman.  Motion carried.

 

MOTION 16:  Strauss moved that the PSCLS House of Delegates approve the funding of Mercedes Cole Scholarships, for $1,000.00 for 2005, the Dolby Scholarship for $3,000 for 2005, and to fund the people denied the Keener Scholarship but paid registration for the PSCLS meeting to be paid in the order the applications were received.  Any remaining funds in Keener Scholarship are to be used next year until the funds are depleted.  Second: Franz.  Motion carried.

 

EDUCATION SCIENTIFIC ASSEMBLY: No report.

 

FEDERAL GOVERNMENT LIASON/PAC: Wilson reported that Regina Halbinger would run the PAC booth on Wednesday, April 14.

 

FILE CUSTODIAN: Hunt reported that the files are in his attic.

 

LEADERSHIP DEVELOPMENT: No report.

 

MEMBERSHIP DEVELOPMENT: A written report was submitted by Darlene Point.  We have gotten 8 new members since the November meeting and there are 35 lapsed members.  A recommendation was made that the lapsed member list be divided and called by members present.

 

NEWLETTER:   A suggestion was made that a template should be developed for the newsletter so that each issue is standardized and contains all the information that needs to be communicated to the members throughout the year.  It is felt that it should not be the President’s job to coordinate the newsletter.  A newsletter editor should take this responsibility.  Negley volunteered to work on the newsletter.  The Bylaws committee will add the template to the handbook.

 

PACE:  Sandy Toloczko submitted a written report.  To date, 64 pace credit numbers have been granted for this year.

 

WEBMASTER: Mary Ann McLane submitted a report.  She stated that she needs to give up the Webmaster hat and is looking for a new person to take on this responsibility.  Aikey reminded everyone that the job entails just basic word processing.  It was also noted that Mike Bristol designed the template for Web registration that we can use for any kind of registration.

 

LISCENSURE TASK FORCE: A written report was submitted.  Wilson reviewed the meeting of the Task Force.  Representatives have been obtained from PSCLS, PSSAMT, CLMA, AACC, and ASM.  Four of these groups were represented at the meeting held on March 11.  The group decided to take several steps before their next meeting including polling their organizations’ members on the level of interest in licensure, increase awareness in the state through organizational newsletters and distribute a licensure fact sheet to laboratorians.  It was noted that ASCP has not been contacted in this effort.

 

FINANCE COMMITTEE ACTION ITEMS:  $10,000 needs to be moved into the scholarship fund.  A discussion followed as to where the money should come from.

 

MOTION 17: Hunt moved that the PSCLS House of Delegates direct the Treasurer to move $10,000 from the PSCLS General Fund to the scholarship fund as soon as the checks and credit card charges for the 2004 PSCLS meeting are deposited or transferred to the PSCLS Merrill Lynch checking account.  Second: Snyderman.  Motion carried.

 

There was a discussion concerning the bank accounts.  Mary Ann McLane stated that to increase our revenue we need to increase membership and run profitable annual meetings. 

 

MOTION 18:  Aikey moved that the PSCLS House of Delegates approve a change in PSCLS policy whereby the authorized signatures on PSCLS Bank Accounts will be the PSCLS Secretary, PSCLS Treasurer, and the PSCLS Finance Chair.  Be it noted: New signature cards will be completed and sent to all financial institutions in the next 30 days.  Second: Franz.  Motion carried.

 

CHAPTER UPDATES: 

Delaware Valley: No report.

 

Lehigh Valley: One meeting was held. No written report.

 

Northeast: Sandy Toloczko and Eileen Molecavage submitted a written report. A PACE approved educational dinner meeting was held on March 15, and another one is scheduled for April 20.  A meeting is also being planned for May.

 

Southeast:  No written report.  A lunch meeting is planned.

 

Susquehanna: No report.

 

Northwest: No report.

 

Southcentral: No report.

 

Northcentral:  No report.

ASCLS REPORT:  Elissa Passiment presented the report which began with a review of the concerns of ASCLS relative to the constituent state societies who have not been active in the society.  Efforts are being made to establish contacts with the aim of reactivating these states.  Position papers will be coming out in the areas of laboratory career ladders and the Entry level Master’s Degree.  Elissa also informed the House that the estimated profits of the 2003 ASCLS meeting in Philadelphia are $40,000.  ASCLS is in better financial shape than 2 years ago.  The current membership is around 9,500.  The virtual office is helping to keep costs down and members who contact the office are obtaining services in a more timely manner.  The PACE and educational programs are also doing well.

 

BUDGET:  In the absence of the Treasurer, Scott Aikey reviewed the budget.

 

MOTION 19: Hunt moved that the Proposed budget for the 2004-2005 fiscal year be approved as presented.  Second: Strauss.  Motion carried.

 

MOTION 20: Aikey moved that the PSCLS House of Delegates approve moving $7,000 from the remaining operating funds from FY 02-03 to the contingency fund.  Second: Hunt.  Motion carried.

 

2005 ANNUAL MEETING: Judy Hoover is working on a budget for the meeting to be held in Harrisburg.  She is also working on securing a site for the meeting and is looking for volunteers to work on the meeting committees.

 

2006 Annual Meeting: Mary Ann McLane asked if the group was interested in returning to the Scanticon for the 2006 meeting.  Those present requested Mary Ann to explore the possibility and see what kind of package the Scanticon would be willing to provide if we commit to meeting dates now.

 

E&R SILENT AUCTION: The members discussed what kind of items to donate to the silent auction.  Toloczko will look into a gift from the PA coal country and Wilson and Franz will look into items from the Philadelphia area.

 

MOTION 21: Aikey moved that the PSCLS House of Delegates approve the purchase of 2 $50.00 gifts for the E&R Silent auction in 2004.  Second: Hunt.  Motion carried.

 

President Wilson conducted the Installation of the new officers.

 

MOTION 22: Speidel moved that the PSCLS House of Delegates adjourn “sine dine”.  Second: Snyder.  Motion carried.

 

Respectfully submitted,

 

Katie Franz

Acting Secretary