Kentucky Association of Mapping Professionals
Association and Executive Board Meetings
9 November 2007

The Kentucky Association of Mapping Professionals (KAMP), meeting at the Clark County Cooperative Extension Service in Winchester, Kentucky, was called to order by President Michelle Ellington at 10:10 am. Attendees were welcomed by Stephen Berry, KAMP President-Elect and Clark County GIS Coordinator. The agenda consisted of an Association meeting featuring several presentations followed by an open meeting of the KAMP Executive Board.

ATTENDEES

Mike Anderson, FMSM Engineers
Lori J. Bayless, Fischer Homes
Stephen Berry, KAMP President-Elect, Clark County GIS
Andrew Blues, University of Kentucky, Physical Plant Division
Trisha Brush, KAMP President Emerita, Northern Kentucky Area Planning Commission
Michelle Ellington, KAMP President, University of Kentucky, Physical Plant Division
Michael Greene, FMSM Engineers
Ben Koostra, University of Kentucky
Katherine Loving, University of Kentucky
Amy Murphy, PhotoScience, Inc
Marc Pearson, KAMP Treasurer, FMSM Engineers
Kenny Ratliff, KAMP Director, Commonwealth of Kentucky, Division of Geographic Information
Angela Scott, Lockheed Martin
Earl Smith, KAMP Director, Georgetown-Scott County Planning Commission
Michelle Uptain, FMSM Engineers
Paul Vidal, KAMP web administrator, FMSM Engineers
Mark Wiljanen, KAMP Secretary, Commonwealth of Kentucky, Council on Postsecondary Education

ASSOCIATION MEETING PRESENTATIONS

Carol D. Hanley and Brian Radcliffe, of the Tracy Farmer Center for the Environment at the University of Kentucky, reported on ?Integrated Community-Based Science Using GIS to Study Natural Resources?. These classes and workshops for middle and high school students and teachers, sponsored by the Tracy Farmer Center, promote an increased awareness of GIS, GPS, and geospatial analysis. Dr. Hanley also announced the receipt of a $1.2 million NSF grant for the development of teacher education workshops and student exercises focusing on geospatial data collection and 3D modeling.

Shannon Gilkey, of Doss High School in Louisville, Ky, presented an overview of the ?GIS Magnet Program at Doss High School?. The structure, curriculum, and goals of the program were reviewed, and several projects conducted by students in the program were highlighted.

Lunch was generously provided by KAMP corporate member, FMSM Engineers, enlivened by a presentation covering the professional expansion and recent projects at FMSM Engineers.

After lunch, a panel consisting of Heather Cassill (Clark County 4-H), Greg Henson (McLean County Extension Service), Ben Koostra (University of Kentucky, College of Agriculture), and Earl Smith (Georgetown-Scott County Planning Commission) discussed the ?State of GIS in 4-H Programs in Kentucky?.

EXECUTIVE BOARD MEETING

The open meeting of the KAMP Executive Board commenced at 1:10 pm. President Ellington expressed the Association’s appreciation to FMSM Engineers for their sponsorship of this meeting through the provision of lunch. Stephen Berry moved that the minutes of the 7 September Executive Board meeting be approved, seconded by Marc Pearson. The motion passed.

CORPORATE MEMBERSHIPS

President Ellington initiated a discussion of corporate memberships. KAMP corporate members have customarily been allotted three regular memberships. These regular memberships granted via corporate memberships have been difficult to track, raising questions of how often and how easily these regular memberships may be reassigned by the corporate members and whether such reassignments need to be reported to the KAMP Treasurer. The KAMP Constitution and By-Laws offer no guidance on these issues, but it was noted that the Constitution (Art II, Sec 4) states, ?Each corporate member shall be entitled to designate one representative to attend functions of the Association,? contrary to the customary allocation of three memberships. Several potential resolutions to this discrepancy were discussed, including amendment of the Constitution, creation of multiple levels of corporate membership, and establishment of an additional seat on the Executive Board reserved for a corporate member.

CERTIFICATION COMMITTEE

A report from the KAMP Certification Committee was delivered by Trisha Brush, KAMP President Emerita. The Certification Committee met on 3 December 2007 in Louisville, Ky, to discuss rationales for the establishment of a skill-based certification procedure for Kentucky GIS professionals and to explore various skill-based certification procedures. This was the first committee meeting on this subject, and its emphasis was on identifying issues and approaches. Among the questions raised in the committee meeting were: Who would be eligible for certification? Who would be served by certification? Is there a need for statutory recognition of the certification process? If so, at what level, state or federal? Opinions on these or related subjects should be addressed to the discussion forum on the KAMP website.

KAMP WEBSITE

A new prototype for the KAMP website was developed and presented by Paul Vidal. A significant advantage of the new design is its ability to provide an operational integration with the membership database. Membership response to the new design was very positive, but Paul explained that implementation of the new design may force the Association to find a new web host.

Stephen Berry moved that President Ellington and Paul Vidal be granted the power to approve of new web hosting arrangements to be binding on the Association with an obligation to report back to the Executive Board concerning the specific capabilities, services provided, and costs involved in the new arrangements. The motion, seconded by Marc Pearson, passed.

MEETINGS AND MEMBERSHIPS

The NIMS Support Center offered to give a presentation on their virtual model community at a future meeting.

President Ellington announced the next Association meeting scheduled for sometime in February in Louisville. The topic is ?Trains, Planes, and Automobiles? with possible presentations on fire trucks, railroad operations, and UPS air traffic management. All members are urged to attend this meeting, sponsored by Pictometry.

President Ellington noted that memberships expire on 31 December, according to By-Law III, and that all dues paid between the annual meeting and 31 December are applied to the following year. All KAMP members are encouraged to renew their memberships, if they have not already done so.

The meeting of the Kentucky Association of Mapping Professionals was adjourned at 2:10 pm.

Mark Wiljanen
KAMP Secretary
Council on Postsecondary Education