Minutes for the BCA Annual General Meeting 2005
(Published in March 2006 issue 96 of
Crystallography News)
Minutes of the BCA Annual General Meeting 2005 held on Wednesday 6 April at the
Loughborough University at 16.30 p.m. with the President,
Chick Wilson, in the Chair. 92 voting members were present.
- The agenda was approved.
- An apology for absence had been received from Kate Crennell.
- The minutes of the previous AGM had been published
in the March 2005 issue of Crystallography News. They were approved as a
correct record of the meeting.
- President�s report: The president recorded the deaths of six members,
Sam Small, Mary Truter, Sue Bayliss, Francis Crick, Maurice Wilkins, and David
Blow. He asked that members reflect on their passing and celebrate their
achievements. Three new Honorary members have been elected, Paul Barnes,
Mike Glazer and George Sheldrick. Richard Catlow had been elected FRS.
The most important subject group meeting had been the memorial meeting for
David Blow, which had attracted about 240 attendees.
The president commented
on the membership figures, particularly the low number of students. He
asked for a flat rate fee of �20 over the three years of the Ph.D. to be
approved. A recruitment pack would be produced for the start of the next
academic year.
The main change on Council had been the addition of
Sheila Gover as BSG representative. The Education website had been relaunched.
No questions were raised.
- Secretary�s report: The secretary, Christine Cardin,
presented her report, which had been published in the March 2005 issue of
Crystallography News. She thanked Dave Taylor for
his extremely hard work as Treasurer.
- Northern Networking's report: This report was presented orally.
Gill Houston said that there were now 867 members on the database.
This breaks down as 558 Ordinary, 38 retired, 140 student, 5 unemployed
and 20 Life. By group, there are 297 BSG members, 259 CCG, 116 IG, and
118 PCG, with 77 recorded as unspecified. There are 13 companies as Corporate members.
Crystallography News has been able to increase the number of advertising pages.
Gill thanked Chick Wilson, Dave Taylor and John Finney for their major
inputs to the success of the meeting, and their exhibitors for their support,
without which the meeting could not be held. 78 posters had been presented; 31
students had applied for bursaries and all had been accepted.
- Treasurer�s report: David Taylor presented a detailed
report, subsequently published in Crystallography News. In summary, subscription
income was down, whereas advertising revenue from Crystallography
News was up. He suggested that we should all give away any spare
copies of Crystallography News to our colleagues, to encourage them
to join. Expenditure was very similar to the previous year.
Chick Wilson thanked David for his tireless work on behalf of members,
and Michael Glazer proposed that the accounts be accepted. This was seconded
by Paul Raithby. The reappointment of the accountant
was also approved. David Taylor recommended that
the Young Company be reappointed, seconded by
Chick Wilson.
- Election of Treasurer:
- Sheila Gould was nominated for the position of
Treasurer by Chick Wilson, seconded by Christine Cardin. There were no further
nominations, so Sheila Gould was duly declared elected.
- Appointment of Examining Accountant for 2005
(see 7 above)
.
- Under Any Other Business:
- Presentation of prizes: The Chairman announced that he proposed to present
the prizes at the Conference Dinner.
- Student membership fees: The meeting discussed the question of the student
membership fee. It was proposed that there should be a 4-year term for student
memberships, rather than the existing three terms. The meeting agreed unanimously
that there should be a three year fixed charge of �20; this three year term can
take place contiguously at any point in a PhD programme.
There being no further business the meeting closed at 17:20.
Christine Cardin (Hon. Secretary): March, 2006
