St. Louis, Missouri

Present: Steve Moeller, Jack Dekkers, Tom Rathje, Maynard Hogberg, Steve Price, Rodney Goodwin, Rick Pfortmiller, Dale Miller, Harold Hodson, Peter Simedrea, Ron Bates, Randy Bowman, Glen Conatser, and Ken Stalder.

President Moeller called the meeting to order. It was moved by Rodney Goodwin and 2^nd by Steve Price, and passed unanimously to accept the minutes of the December 7^th and 8^th Board of Directors Meeting and the June Board of Directors Conference call be accepted as written.

Old Business:

Max Rothschild sent word with Jack Dekkers that the Proceedings from 1976 through 1982 have been scanned and could be available electronically. Dr. Rothschild was concerned that the length of time to convert the Proceedings to an electronic format was not going to be acceptable to board members. It was the board’s feeling that sufficient progress had been made and that he should continue having materials scanned at his convenience. Maynard Hogberg suggested that Jack Dekkers work with Max Rothschild to investigate the possibility of having a work-study student assigned to the project and what the associated costs would be. Board members thought it should be possible for the organization financially support the assistance of a work-study student. Jack Dekkers said he and Max Rothschild would check into the availability and costs of a work-study student and report back to the board and/or its officers.

The subject of binding past Proceedings was discussed. Charles Christains was assigned to check into this possibility at the 2000 Annual Meeting & Conference. He was not present to discuss progress. Dale Miller suggested we utilize a bindery in Missouri that has done work for the National Hog Farmer would be a reasonable alternative for the organization to use. Miller suggested that we could bring previous Proceedings to him to ship to the bindery. It discussed that two bound copies of the Proceedings be purchased and the organization leave an official copy at the National Swine Research Center in Ames, IA. A second copy should remain with the current Secretary – Treasurer of the Organization. Dale Miller said he would check with Charles Christains to determine what progress has been made on the subject and move forward with the project.

New Business:

Dr. Harvey Blackburn of the USDA – ARS provided the Board of Directors an Update on the National Animal Germplasm preservation update. He stated that the primary method of preserving germplasm is through frozen semen. The main storage of frozen semen is at Fort Collins, Colorado and that an additional storage site at an ARS facility will occur.

Several web site issues were discussed. Dale Miller suggested that it might be difficult for some to find our web site because the Organizations domain name is not obvious. Miller suggested that we might want to look at a domain name like NSIF.org for our Organization. He thought it might cost as little as $35/year to reserve a domain name. Rick Pfortmiller thought costs might be more like $35.40/month. The topic was tabled until the December 7, 2001 Board of Directors meeting. Pfortmiller will do some checking on the domain price structure before that meeting.

Ken Stalder reported that he had taken the liberty to hire Karen Hoover to assist with the mailings, registration, brochure development, and meeting assistance. He stated that Hoover was his previous secretary and that she had taken a different position. He indicated that he was without a secretary until a few weeks prior to the conference. It was necessary to hire an assistant to work with him to get materials prepared and mailed out for the 2001 Conference. He said that Hoover handled development of program brochure, copying and mailing of all Conference materials. He indicated that he agreed to pay Hoover’s expenses (postage, copying, supplies, etc) and mileage to the conference plus compensation for time spent working on the project. Stalder stated that he provided Hoover the complimentary room at the Conference that the Organization received at no expense by booking rooms. It was agreed that $500 could be used to pay for Hoover’s time spent on the project.

Committee Reports:

Fact Sheet: Dr. Ron Bates stated that there are only three fact sheets that have not yet been completed. He expects the remaining fact sheets to be complete by January. Bates suggested that there are several ways to proceed with distribution of fact sheets. Purdue University completes the layout of each fact sheet and Bates receives a set of galley proofs before printing occurs. The fact sheets are available on Purdue’s web page and on the NSIF homepage in a PDF format and can be printed from there. Purdue will put the fact sheets on a CD at very little cost. However, the CD will have the fact sheet only on it with no table of contents or nice lead in graphics. Additionally, a paper set of fact sheets could be purchase for approximately $12 per set. Charges for either item to NSIF clientele were discussed. Stalder suggested that NSIF Members should receive a complimentary copy as a benefit of being a member of the NSIF. Stalder indicated that the Organization has sufficient funds that we could make several hard copies and CD duplicates if desired. Additionally, he stated that the organization still has approximately 200 binders remaining from the first edition of the fact sheets.

These could be used to bind hard copies of the fact sheets at no cost. Additionally, Rodney Goodwin suggested that the Genetics of Swine (NC-103) be included with electronic duplication of fact sheets on CD. Ron Bates suggested that the Crossbreeding – Heterosis publication written by Rodger Johnson also be included on the CD with the fact sheets. It was mentioned that both of these publications were produced by USDA and that we will likely need to get permission to duplicate and seek and electronic original from them. Stalder said he would discuss the issues with Dick Frahm, USDA representative to NSIF.

Membership: Dr. Ken Stalder brought copies of the new member outreach letter and draft of the new NSIF brochure for Board review. Discussion was tabled until the board meeting December 7, 2001.

Awards: President Moeller commended Conatser for doing an excellent job shortening the nomination forms for the NSIF distinguished service and graduate student awards. Conatser stated that nominations for both awards increased this year to five graduate students and three distinguished service nominations. He indicated that all the nominees were excellent and well qualified. Conatser suggested that we need to find ways to continue to broaden the scope of those receiving the call for nominations, particularly in Canada. Jack Dekkers said he could provide Conatser with a list of Canadian Universities and department heads to send nomination materials.

Maynard Hogberg said he could provide Conatser with a list serve of U.S. Animal Science department heads.

Remainder of Committee Reports were tabled until the December 7^th, 2001 Board of Directors meeting due to time constraints.

Board Member Elections and Caucus:

A review of board members whose terms expire in 2001 occurred. Those terms expiring, but only served 1 term included: Steve Moeller (At - Large), Russ Nugent (At – Large), and Rick Pfortmiller (Swine Breed Associations). Those serving the maximum two terms included Dean Compart (Swine Breed Associations). Those serving only one term agreed to serve their second two-year term. Rick Pfortmiller nominated Doug Stewart to serve as a Swine Breed Association representative. Since Stewart was not present, Pfortmiller said he would check with him concerning acceptance of the nomination.

President Moeller stated that he had served his maximum 2-year term as Board president and that new persons were needed to fill the Vice President and Presidents positions for the upcoming year. Moeller nominated Jack Dekkers for vice president, Bates seconded. Dekkers ran unopposed and was elected unanimously. Moeller nominated Gordon Jones for President, Stalder seconded. Jones ran unopposed and was elected unanimously. Since, Jones was not present at this year’s Conference, Moeller will serve the remainder of the meetings as President.

2002 Conference Site:

Glenn Conatser and Ken Stalder volunteered to host the 2002 Annual meeting and Conference in Tennessee, Nashville and Memphis were offered as conference locations. The board decided that they would accept the Tennessee offer and that the majority preferred the Nashville site. The dates of December 5 and 6, 2002, were selected as the dates for the conference and annual meeting.

Steve Price moved and Rick Pfortmiller seconded and it was unanimously approved to adjourn.

Respectfully Submitted,

Ken Stalder

Secretary - Treasurer