Calling all interested and past Hutton Mentors! Are you interested in applying to be a Hutton Mentor but not sure the responsibilities of hosting a high school student for the summer? Have you been a Hutton Mentor and looking to learn from other past Hutton Mentors about the opportunities they set up for their Hutton Scholar? Tune in for a panel of three past Hutton Mentors to learn about and share best practices for student internships. Join us Friday, May 1st from 12-1pm EDT for the webinar: Becoming a Hutton Scholar Mentor – Inspiring, Rewarding, and Surprisingly Easy! Register by following this link: https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/register/8262334408948075533
October 2019 Message from Georgia AFS President Jim Page
It’s hard to believe how the year has flown, but Fall is officially here! With the arrival of cooler temps and changing leaves also comes the realization that we aren’t too far away from our annual meeting! As a reminder, mark your calendars to join us in Augusta at the Doubletree on January 28-30. Our theme for this year’s meeting is “Managing Our Aquatic Resources for People, the Economy, and Nature”, and we are scheduled to have a symposia on “Georgia’s Public Fishing Areas”. This symposium will be an excellent opportunity to learn about some of the many public fishing areas Georgia has to offer, and provide attendees with the chance to meet many of the folks who manage these wonderful resources. Several of these folks are county, state, and federal employees, and thus students and those considering pursuing fisheries work should hopefully find this opportunity as a good chance to learn about and learn from those in their future career field. In addition to learning about public fishing areas, we are excited about the professional and student talks as well. In that realm, I encourage each of you to strongly consider giving a presentation and informing us on some of the work you are engaged in. Remember, if you are interested in being a presenter, you’ll want to sign up before December 1 with Carolyn Belcher (Carolyn.Belcher@dnr.ga.gov) to ensure you have a spot.
As we draw closer to the meeting and wrap up the calendar year, I want to extend my utmost appreciation to everyone who has helped further the GA AFS mission over the last several months. Whether it be those who helped facilitate the successful fish disease/biosecurity workshop we had in July; the team that represented GA AFS at our CoastFest booth this year where over 10,000 people visited; the work of the many committees in the Chapter trying to help grow our members and strengthen our Chapter; the efforts of those who helped update our bylaws for the first time since 2000 (which I’m happy to report were approved); or the work of those diligently preparing and tackling all of the tasks necessary to conduct the annual meeting we have forthcoming in January, each of you are equally important, needed, and appreciated for what you contribute!
In closing, as we wind down this year and stare at 2020, I strongly encourage each of you, particularly for those not currently serving, to become actively involved in our Chapter. Many of our committees can certainly use your help, and our success as a Chapter cannot be fully achieved without people stepping up and helping out.
I hope to see you in Augusta on January 28-30 for some good times, great fellowship, and a wonderful time of learning about much of the hard work you do and wonderful opportunities awaiting all of us in the public waters of our beautiful state!
Jim Page
(Jim.Page@dnr.ga.gov)
Chapter President
Congratulations 2019 AFS Fellow Cecil Jennings
Congratulations to Cecil Jennings for becoming an AFS Fellow. AFS designates as Fellows of the Society certain members who have made outstanding or meritorious contributions to the diversity of fields that are included in the American Fisheries Society. Contributions can include, but are not restricted to, efforts in leadership, research, teaching and mentoring, resource management and/or conservation, and outreach/interaction with the public.
Proposed Chapter Bylaw Changes
Greetings Georgia Chapter American Fisheries Society Members!
Message from Georgia AFS President Jim Page:
In recent years, the American Fisheries Society has tasked all Chapters with evaluating and updating the bylaws of each Chapter. In an effort to fulfill this request, Executive Committee (EXCOMM) members of the Georgia Chapter have recently evaluated, updated, and otherwise modified our bylaws, which were last amended in 2000. These proposed modifications brings our bylaws up-to-date, provides a way to formally establish many of our previous practices, and puts our Chapter into compliance with AFS standards. Below you will find some of the highlights of these newest proposed updates.
Highlights of updated proposed bylaws include:
- Addition of an Executive Secretary-Treasurer, which shall be appointed by the President and is currently held by Rebecca Brown.
- Modification of Secretary-Treasurer to now read “Recording Secretary-Treasurer”. This position will be elected and will work closely with the Executive Sec-Treasurer.
- More clearly defined expectations of each officer.
- Per AFS Constitution, requirement that committee Chairs must be AFS members. In the event that no committee member having AFS membership agrees to serve as Chair, the President may appoint a Chair member to serve as Director of a committee until such time a Chair can be appointed.
- Added several new standing committees to bylaws (e.g. Ballot, Fundraising, Arrangements, Training, Scholarship, Communications, etc.) and more clearly defined the duties of each standing committee. Many of these committees have been used but were never formally established in our bylaws.
- Per AFS Constitution, requirement that only AFS members can vote on Chapter business.
- Defined quorums for meetings and ballots and established the use of electronic ballots.
- Added multiple new Sections to bylaws (Rules/Procedures, Sub-Units, Student Opportunity Fund, Lobbying, Resolutions)….Many of these were already being practiced but have not been formally established in our bylaws.
Please note that the EXCOMM will be placing these proposed bylaws on our website (www.gaafs.org), along with posting them via other media outlets (Facebook, etc.). Proposed bylaws will be made available for viewing for the mandatory 30-day period prior to a vote occurring on potential adoption of these updated bylaws. At the completion of the 30-day review period, ballots will be sent to voting members. Voting members, as identified by the AFS Constitution, shall consist of those individuals having AFS membership. Should you have questions, please don’t hesitate to reach out to any of the following EXCOMM members (President: Jim Page; President-Elect: Jamie Roberts; Executive Sec-Treasurer: Rebecca Brown).
Jim Page
President – Georgia AFS
2019 Proposed Bylaws: GA CHAPTER BYLAWS 2019 FINAL DRAFT
Reminder – only Chapter members who are also members of AFS are allowed to vote on Chapter business as required by American Fisheries Society Constitution. We value the voice of ALL of our Chapter members. Although you may not vote on the proposed bylaw update/changes, your opinion counts. You can always contact one of the members of EXCOM to voice your concerns. We will send out ballots for voting on the amended Chapter bylaws in 30 days.
It is important we have an updated list of all of our members who are members of AFS. You need to complete the 2019 membership form. The membership form is a fillable pdf which you can complete and email back to the Chapter (it will help if the file name of the pdf you submit is your name).
2019 Membership Form: 2019 membership form
Update your Chapter Membership Information
We are asking everyone to update their Georgia AFS Chapter membership information. And if you are not a member of the Chapter you can complete the form and mail your membership check to the address provided on the form. Complete the form and email it to georgiaafs@gmail.com. Be sure the copy you email to us has a file name which is your first and last name.
Georgia Chapter American Fisheries Society 