Membership Vote on Rules Changes

Membership votes to accompany the AFS officer elections

1. Establish a Science Communication Section of the American Fisheries Society

Background:  The purpose of the new section is to advance the Society’s promotion of scientific research and sustainable management of fisheries resources by expanding the science communication knowledge and skills of AFS members.  A Science Communication Section would benefit AFS members by:

1. Serving as a networking hub for those AFS members actively participating in fisheries science communication;
2. Providing training and resources for those members seeking to gain communication skills; and
3. Providing a structure for AFS members seeking professionals with science communication talents and skills needed for projects, jobs, etc.

The section will be open to all active members of AFS.  Establishment of a new section of the American Fisheries Society necessitates an amendment to the existing AFS Rules, which requires approval by a simple majority of AFS members.  The AFS Management Committee and AFS Governing Board have approved the proposed bylaws for the new section (attached), and AFS Headquarters has certified a petition of more than 100 signatures of AFS members in good standing.

Bylaws for the Science Communications Section can be found at: AFS SciCommSection BYLAWS Final_3

Vote Question:  Do you support the establishment of an AFS Science Communications Section (Y/N – please vote via the email ballot to be sent by May 15)

2. Amend the AFS Rules to establish the AFS Fellows Selection Committee as an AFS standing committee

Background:  The American Fisheries Society Fellows program was established by the American Fisheries Society in 2015 to honor AFS members who are recognized by their peers as distinguished for their outstanding and/or sustained contributions to the discipline, for helping to make outstanding AFS members more competitive for awards and honors when they are being compared with colleagues from other disciplines, and for supporting the advancement of AFS members to leadership positions in their own institutions and in the broader society.  For more information on the AFS Fellows Program please go to: https://fisheries.org/about/awards-recognition/call-for-award-nominations/afs-fellows-program/

When the program was established, a Fellows Selection Committee was simultaneously established to receive nomination packets and elect deserving nominees as new Fellows.  This committee was established as an AFS special committee.  Special committees are defined as committees that are temporary in nature and created to form a specific task; the special committee ceases to exist once the task is completed.  Given the anticipated permanence of the AFS Fellows program, the Fellows Selection Committee should be designated a standing committee.  To do so, an amendment to the AFS Rules is necessary, which requires approval by a simple majority of AFS members.  The AFS Management Committee and AFS Governing Board have recommended approval of this motion.

Vote Question:  Do you favor the establishment of the Fellow Selection Committee as a Standing Committee (Y/N – please vote via the email ballot to be sent by May 15)