IXS Executive Committee Meeting
August 29, 1996

Minutes

Present: K. Baberschke, B. Bunker, D. Crozier, A. Fontaine, K. Garg, J. Goulon, S. Heald, B. Hedman, D. Konigsberg, S. Mobilio, N. Natoli, T. Ohta, T. Murata, J. Penner-Hahn, D. Sayers, E. Stern. Visitors: S. Yoshida, T. Morrison

This meeting was a continuation of the August 27 Executive Committee meeting.

• The motion concerning changing the IXS bylaws to allow for dues was brought up for further consideration. In the last meeting, a motion was by D. Sayers and seconded by A. Hitchcock. A written version of this motion (appended below) was introduced here to poll the general IXS membership to allow for the EC to determine dues. After some discussion, N. Natoli moved to amend the motion to directly poll the IXS about a particular proposal concerning dues. This was seconded by D. Crozier. The amendment passed 10-1, the amended motion passed 11-0.
• The issue of changing the XAFS conference to a three-year cycle was next addressed. The major reason for this change is to synchronize with the IUCr Congresses and the SRI conferences. This would best change after the 1998 XAFS conference. After much discussion, S. Heald moved that after the next conference, the XAFS conference be held in five years (2001). N. Natoli seconded the motion, it passed 8-2, with one abstention.
• K. Baberschke brought up some responsibilities of the IXS, in particular, that
  • The International Advisory Committee for the International XAFS Conference should now be the same is the IXS Executive Committee
  • The election of IXS officers should take place at the XAFS Conference
  • An annual report of the IXS budget should be presented to the Executive Committee

E. Stern pointed out that for the next conference, the Executive Committee would indeed replace the older International Advisory Committee. He agreed with the election and budget arguments, and apologized for getting behind in schedule.

• XAFS XI: The EC received proposals for the meeting from Spain (J. Garcia, ICMA-CSIC, Zaragoza) and Japan (S. Yoshida, Kyoto University). After some discussion, where it was pointed out that the timing in Japan was perfect for SPRing8 being operational, Japan was chosen by a vote of 9-2 for the 2001 XAFS 11 Conference..
• XAFS X: Tim Morrison presented the status of the XAFS X conference, to be held in Chicago in 1998. Steve Heald and Bruce Bunker have agreed to be co-chairs of the conference. The conference will be held in downtown Chicago, tentatively at the Midland Hotel. There are a number of hotels available for housing, and low-cost dormitories will be available at the Illinois Institute of Technology. IIT will handle the fund raising, and has $50,000 as a target number. After working through budgets, Prof. Morrison estimated registration cost to be in the $320-$370 range. He also presented a detailed time line for the mailing of various circulars, contacting publishers, etc.
• XAFS IX: Jose Goulon present some information about the Grenoble conference. Approximately 600 people registered for the conference. Of those preregistered, 325 were from Europe, 91 Japan, 72 US, 2 Brazil, 11 Canada, 22 Russia, and a number from other Asian countries. It turns out that a 20% VAT was levied on conference registration, but the overall budget seems to still be acceptable. Proceedings are scheduled be distributed in March 1997.

Appendix: Motion to the IXS EC

It is moved that the Executive Committee of the IXS propose the following changes to the Bylaws of the IXS in accordance with its established procedures. The following sentences shall be added after the second sentence in Section VII, Funding and Budget. "The Executive Committee shall have the authority to set the level of annual dues for membership in the IXS. Any change of the amount of the dues must be approved by two-thirds of the voting members of the Executive Committee."

It is further moved that in presenting this change to the membership for their approval that the Chair of the EC also provide the following:

Motion to change "two-thirds" to "a majority" was made by R. Natoli and seconded by D. Crozier. This amendment passed 8-2. The entire amended motion passed 11-0.