Present: Judith Goldberg (President), Joel Greenhouse (President-Elect), Linda Young (Treasurer), Tim Gregoire (RAB Chair), Kathy Hoskins (Exec. Director), Robert Scheer, Beth Gladen, Tom Louis, Frank Shen, Susan Ellenberg, Jonas Ellenberg, Peter Lachenbruch, Peter Imrey, Sam Greenhouse, Anne Cross, Judy O'Fallon, Mike O'Fallon, George Williams, Gerry Beck, Roslyn Stone

Absent: Jane Pendergast (Secretary)

1. Introduction (Judith Goldberg)

   ENAR President, Judy Goldberg, opened the meeting at 5:30 p.m. and introduced Kathy Hoskins, Executive Director of ENAR (Drohan Management Group). A special note of recognition and appreciation was given to Anne Cross by Judy for all her work as the ENAR Program Chair at this JSM in Annaheim.

2. Minutes of March, 1997 Business Meeting in Memphis

   The minutes of the March 1997 Business Meeting in Memphis were distributed by Kathy Hoskins. A motion to approve the minutes was passed, subject to the following corrections (1) correct the spelling of the Van Ryzen award; (2) strike the phrase "suboptimal location" (in reference to Anaheim); and (3) correct the spelling of Peter Imrey's name.

3. Treasurer's Report (Linda Young)

   Linda Young distributed copies of the Treasurer's Report to all members present. She noted that the budget for the upcoming year reflects the RECOM-approved increase in membership dues announced earlier by Judy Goldberg. (See item IV A below.) She also noted that the registration, short course, and tutorial fees at the 1998 Spring Meeting in Pittsburgh will likely have to be increased to avoid a deficit.

4. Information Items (Judith Goldberg)

   The following information items were presented by Judy Goldberg, unless otherwise noted:

   1. Dues Increase. The IBS has raised the student and associate dues by $2.00 and the regular member dues by $5.00. RECOM voted to increase our dues to cover these increases. The regular member dues will be raised from $65.00 to $70.00 and the student dues will be raised from $17.00 to $20.00 (which is one dollar higher than required by the IBS increase).

   2. Nomination Process. The Executive Committee approved a change in the nomination process for ENAR officers and RECOM members. Rather than ask all of RAB to serve on the Nominations Committee, as had effectively been the practice in the past, the President will make appointments to a smaller Nominations Committee. Input from RAB members will still be sought, but RAB members will not formally be members of the Nomination Committee (unless appointed by the President). This change was deemed useful in that potential candidates might easily be current RAB members and placed into an unnecessary position of a potential conflict of interest. It is understood that by accepting the appointment to the nomination committee, the member is agreeing to be ineligible for any elected office during his/her term on the Nominations Committee.

   3. 1997 Spring Meeting in Memphis. The Memphis meeting was very successful. We experienced a record number of registrations for the meetings (754) along with a high level of participation in the short courses (182 registrants) and tutorials (107 registrants).

   4. 1997 JSM.

   5. 1998 Student Awards and Case Studies Competition. Student Award and Case Studies Competition flyers have been mailed and will be mailed out again. Note the submission date has been moved up to November 1.

   6. 1998 JSM. Marie Davidian is the ENAR Program Chair for the Joint Statistical Meetings in Dallas. There are still openings for our allotted invited sessions, and she would welcome suggestions.

   7. 1999 Spring Meeting. The 1999 Spring Meeting will be held in Atlanta, Georgia at the downtown Hilton. Lynne Billard is working on setting up a local arrangements committee. Anne Cross was recognized and thanked by Judy for all of her work as the ENAR Program Chair at this JSM in Anaheim.

   8. 2000 Spring Meeting. We are in the process of determining whether it will be fiscally feasible and mutually agreeable to hold annual meeting in the year 2000 jointly with WNAR. Both organizations are interested. Investigation into possible locations and the potential fiscal impact on ENAR is still underway.

   9. COPSS. COPSS held their meeting early today. The National Institute of Statistical Sciences (NISS) building in North Carolina will be dedicated on November 7. It was reported that there are substantial funding opportunities for interdisciplinary and statistical research through the Division of Mathematical Sciences at the NSF.

   10. Electronic Directory. Tim Gregoire reported that we are aiming to have an electronic directory in place by year's end. Judy Goldberg followed up by saying that ENAR is soliciting names for successors to Tim Gregoire as Web Supervisor for ENAR.

   11. ENAR Business Meeting at the JSM. Tom Louis asked why the Business Meeting at the JSM is perpetuated, in view of the low membership turnout for it. A lively discussion by most of those assembled followed. A suggestion was made to call it a "membership" meeting rather than a business meeting. Another suggestion was to call it an "open" meeting (e.g., the "Open Business Meeting" or "Open Membership Meeting"). Both Judy Goldberg and Sam Greenhouse observed that the Business Meetings were well-attended and lively events in the past. A suggestion was made to put a special announcement about the Business Meeting in with Spring Meeting mailings to encourage attendance.