Received this from Keith Wheeland, the NSS board's Internal Organization
(us) liason. Jacqui
Sent: Wednesday, January 05, 2011 1:19 PM
Subject: NSS IO INFO January 2011
Hi IO member,
Happy New Year from the IO Committee.
You are receiving this message because you are one the Contacts for your
IO. Please make sure this message reaches the correct persons in your IO.
Or distribute it to all members of your IO. This newsletter is a vital
link in the communications chain within the NSS. This email is also being
sent to those who are on the supplemental mailing list maintained by the
IO Committee.
I've reprinted the COG message from the NSS President.
There are five items in this copy of the IO INFO.
1) Nominating Committee Seeks Director Candidates for Board
2) Karst Education Researcher needs Input
3) COG message from NSS president
4) IO annual Report reminder (Due during January for the calendar year
2010)
5) Notes from the NSS Membership Committee.
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*1>>>>>Nominating Committee Seeks Director Candidates for Board *
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The NSS Nominating Committee is looking for NSS members in good standing
as director candidates for the 2011 Board of Governors election. In
accordance with the NSS Bylaws, associate, family associate, and
institutional members are exempt from the right to serve on the Board, as
is any incumbent completing two contiguous full terms as director.
NSS members possessing professional experience in business management,
budget analysis and development, advertising and marketing, fund raising,
and strategic planning are valuable in the business operations of the
Society. Elected directors should have good interpersonal skills and
welcome the opportunity for interaction with their fellow members
regarding current NSS issues and upcoming Board votes.
In 2011 the NSS director election will fill four board seats, each for a
three-year term. Elected persons will take office Monday, July 18, 2011,
at the NSS Convention in Glenwood Springs, Colorado.
In addition to a photo, nominees are required to submit a summary of
biographical information and a platform statement. Detailed requirements
for photo and platform submission will be sent at the time a candidate’s
eligibility is verified and one is approved as a nominee. Candidate photos
and ballot statements will be published on the Nominating Committee Web
page linked from the NSS Web site as well as on the official election
mailing or e-mail. Receipt deadline for nominee ballot submissions is
February 1, 2011.
The members of the NSS Nominating Committee are:
Allan Weberg, 703-490-4882, aweb...@me.com <mailto:?subject=> (Chairman)
Sarah Richards, 703-201-6909, srichs...@gmail.com
<mailto:srichs...@gmail.com?subject=NSS%20Director%20Candidates>
<mailto:srichs...@gmail.com?subject=NSS%20Director%20Candidates>
Susi Weston, 703-901-9667, susiwes...@gmail.com
<mailto:susiwes...@gmail.com?subject=NSS%20Director%20Candidates>
----------------------------------------------------------
2>>>>Karst Education Researcher needs Input
-----------------------------------------------------------
My name is Leslie North and I am working on my dissertation at the
University of South Florida focusing on karst education across the globe.
The focus of my research in gaining an understanding of /informal/ karst
education, which is education that occurs outside of formal school
settings. Thus, my purpose for emailing is to ask for your assistance in
understanding all of the cave and karst education opportunities geared
towards the general public (show cave tour content, exhibits, programs,
signs, talks, brochures, festivals, scout activities, etc.) that you may
be aware. Any specific information you could provide would be so greatly
appreciated. I am very interested to learn about all of the educational
opportunities in an effort to fully explain karst education in the U.S.,
its challenges and successes. If you have information about this subject
from abroad I would also be interested in hearing of it. If you know of
somebody else I should contact please forward this email or pass along his
or her email address to me, I would like to gather as much information as
possible.
Specifically, I'm interested in efforts that your IO has pursued recently
and/or any data that may have been collected as part of your positions. If
you know of any specific approach which may be used to gather this
information (survey, email, for example) please let me know.
Please do not hesitate to contact me with any questions. If you prefer to
also talk via telephone that will be fine as well.
Leslie North
352-551-8960
nor...@mail.usf.edu
University of South Florida
Department of Geography and Environmental Science and Policy, NES 107
4202 E. Fowler Ave.
USA, Tampa, FL 33620
-------------------------------------------------------------
3>>> COG message from the NSS president.
---------------------------------------------------------------
Hello all Members of the Congress of Grottos,
It is my sincere hope this communication finds all our NSS Members happy
and well in the New Year of 2011. I’m sure most of you heard "Auld Lang
Syne," at the stroke of midnight and celebrated the first few minutes of
this brand new year in the company of family and friends. Maybe you also
brought in the New Year by eating certain customary food items on New Year’s
Day. Consuming black-eyed peas are considered "good luck" by many. Eating
cabbage, which is representative of paper currency, is another good luck
vegetable in many cultures. Another important custom around this time of
year is the New Year's Resolution, which is a commitment
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Commitment> that someone makes to a project,
or the reforming of a habit
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Habit_%28psychology%29>, and often a
lifestyle <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lifestyle_%28sociology%29> change
that is generally interpreted as beneficial.
This 2011 New Year I’d like to propose a New Year's Resolution that will
prove beneficial for our organization. I believe the NSS has gotten into a
bad habit and we need to implement a lifestyle
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lifestyle_%28sociology%29> change to bring
about a beneficial change. There has been a noticeable decrease in the
participation of the individual Grottos of the Congress of Grottos in the
last few years. The Congress is a mere shell of itself and not the
influential, active, relevant, and respected body that it has been in
years past. Considering current events like the devastating White Nose
Syndrome (WNS), and the establishment of a new NSS Headquarters, it is
crucial that we achieve more involvement from all our members and
especially our Internal Organizations. I have described the problem that
needs to be resolved, and I hope to offer a solution, and that will
hopefully bring a desired outcome to fruition.
The solution to our dilemma is to turn apathy into activity. I propose we
turn things around this 2011 New Year and make the effort to take more of
an active part in our local NSS Internal Organizations. Let’s energize our
Grottos, Regions, Sections, and particularly the Congress of Grottos by
getting involved this year at home, and at the national level. I would
like to see the Congress in full swing and with maximum participation in
Colorado at Convention this year. You have an NSS President that has taken
great interest in your work and has made the effort to attend your
meetings and implement your proposed action items. The Board of Governors
is listening to the Congress and has become accustomed over the past few
years to addressing the issues presented by the Congress. And, I am
working with your new Congress Chairman Carol Jackson to implement
improvements we have both identified. With all the current cooperation
going on, there has never been a better time to be involved than right
now!
The outcome of our cooperative effort will be a strengthening and
improvement of our NSS organization at this critical time. We are working
on the Congress Webpage within the NSS Website to make valuable
information more readily available to everyone. A "front and center"
Webpage will help promote the COG, and will demonstrate the Society's
position that the Congress is an important entity that provides precious
feedback to the Board of Governors and the entire NSS. I have a motion
that will align the Congress under my President’s Department to better
facilitate communication with the Internal Organizations by providing
Congress agenda’s, minutes, motions and Board responses in my President’s
Reports. This method of officially achieving the essential Congress
documentation has never been available before. So, there are a lot of
improvements being implemented that will promote better communication.
Gordon Birkheimer, NSS President
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
4>>>IO Annual Report reminder (Due during January for the calendar year
2010)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Thanks to all of you who have submitted your IO Annual Report. It is
encouraging to see such a good early response. To see if your IO has
submitted its report, please visit the IO web site, specifically here.
http://www.caves.org/committee/i-o/All_IOs.shtml
To submit the report, log into www.nssio.org using your Serial number and
password. I encourage IOs to write down the password and keep it in the
grotto folder. The serial number can always be found on the IO web site.
If you forgot the password, just contact me.
After you have logged in, verify everything and make corrections. If you
have been updating the record as changes occur in your IO throughout the
year, it should be as essy as verifying the information and clicking on
SUBMIT.
***Please double check the email addresses that you provide.
***Please verify that all your officers and board members are current NSS
members by going to the NSS website, and clicking on SEARCH, then on the
next page, click on MEMBER SEARCH and follow instructions.
Keith Wheeland
kwheel...@psualum.com
-------------------------------------------------------------------
5>>>> Notes from the NSS Membership Committee.
---------------------------------------------------------------------
Has the Holiday Season brought out the generosity in you? Are you looking
for a way to make a difference? Then please consider becoming an NSS
Conservation Life Member. A Conservation Life Membership is a Regular Life
Membership plus an additional $1000 that is applied specifically to NSS
conservation and education programs and activities. And giving just got
easier. The NSS office now allows this $1000 payment to be paid over the
course of 5 years. Your extra contribution will go a long way towards
supporting our primary goal – preserving and protecting caves and karst,
and it is a great way for Regular Life Members to offer continued support.
Memberships make great gifts, too!
[ed. note] Please contact the NSS office to make arrangements for
Conservation Life membership.
Bonny Armstrong #43003RL
porcupinetrac...@yahoo.com
-------------------------------------------------------
--
Keith D. Wheeland, NSS 2878
NSS Director& IO Committee Chair
2191 Mt. View Ave
State College, PA 16801-7214
814-238-2057
NSS IO Website: caves.org/committee/i-o/
IO Annual Report and updates: nssio.org
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