Minutes of the Councilors Meeting
Michigan Chapter, Society for Neuroscience
Michigan State University, East Lansing
Friday 11 February 2000

Present: Lisa Baker, Mike Bannon, Peter Cobbett, Sean Donevan, Gary Dunbar, Verne Hulce, Keith Lookingland, Laura Smale, Brandi Soldo, Audrey Seasholtz, Paul Walker

Absent: Amy Goodwin, Kristi Haik-Creguer, Kalpana Merchant

1. Brief reports from Lookingland (Treasurer), Cobbett (Secretary) and Dunbar (President). In addition there was some discussion concerning membership of MISFN. Soldo described efforts to identify and contact Michigan neuroscientists who are not currently MISFN members and to bring these individuals into MISFN. These efforts have identified over 350 individuals in Michigan who are current or likely members of MISFN. These efforts are continuing.

3. Plans for Annual Meeting
Soldo and Donevan, meeting co-organizers, presented their plans for the Annual Meeting of MISFN to be held 5/5/2000 at the Marriott Hotel, Ypsilanti. They confirmed dates for submission of abstracts for posters and poster competitions (4/21/00) and for submission of materials for the student Duncan McCarthy and Chapter Awards (4/7/00). Soldo and Donevan confirmed the plan for a mini-symposium at the Annual Meeting with three speakers (to take the place of a presentation by a single speaker) and presented a schedule for the meeting. Considerable discussion followed. This discussion focussed on the idea that the symposium be held in the morning session rather than in the afternoon session. (This idea was originally discussed at the last council meeting, 10/99). This idea was approved: the symposium will be held in the morning session and the poster session will be moved to the afternoon session. (The business meeting will be held at lunch and the Duncan McCarthy and Chapter Award recipients will make their presentations in the afternoon session, as at recent meetings.) This schedule is intended make the whole day more attractive to all attendees (and reduce the loss of attendees after lunch). It is also intended to increase the interaction between the featured speakers and attendees.
It was confirmed that most of the details concerning the 2000 Annual Meeting are already available on the Chapter website. Letters giving information on the Annual Meeting to MISFN members are in the mail.

3. Plans for Brain Awareness Week.
Brief outlines of institutional activities for this year’s BAW activities were given. It was confirmed that there will be a posterboard for each institution to illustrate its BAW activities. There was discussion of the possibility of a semi-professionally produced videotape of BAW activity in Michigan for presentation at the annual SFN meeting and for broadcast on local cable television.

4. Student Travel Award.
Dunbar informed Council of the new travel awards to be given by the SFN to graduate students attending the annual SFN meeting. These are competitive awards requiring selection of an appropriate student within MISFN (by late May for the 2000 award) who will be nominated to SFN to receive the award. Each student entering the competition must submit an abstract for the (current year’s) annual SFN meeting and letters of recommendation from research advisors and faculty. It was agreed that this Travel Award will be brought to the attention of MISFN members at the annual meeting (5/5/00) and that entries must be submitted by 5/15/2000 to Walker who will coordinate selection of a Michigan nominee to SFN.

4. Miscellaneous Items.
Hulce described efforts by his institute to fund/organize symposia related to neuroscience. He described, as an example, plans for a meeting to be held in Fall 2000 at Mackinac Island on spinal injury with the actor Christopher Reeve as special guest speaker. Dunbar raised the issue of renaming the Chapter Award (as discussed originally at 10/99 Council meeting). It was agreed that if Pharmacia-Upjohn will fund the award, then the Chapter Award will be renamed the Montford F Piercey Award. Dunbar reminded Council that Council elections will occur at the Annual Meeting. Nominees for the open positions must be found!!

5. Meeting Adjournment.