Minutes of the Annual General Meeting held at Cintra House, Cambridge on 25th January 2003 starting at 13:35

1. Chair's Welcome
Paul Ruffle welcomed those present.

2. Minutes
Frank Hollis volunteered to take the minutes.

3. Introductions
Present: Paul Ruffle, Norrette Moore, Christine Seaman, Robert Wilby, Steve Sutcliffe, John Robinson, Ray Ash, Digby Tarvin, Brian Steadman, Frank Hollis, Eleanor Cowan, Sally Jordan, Pam Budd, Peter Fletcher, Reinault Vaughan-Williams, Jim Grozier, John Pollard, Bob Lambourne.

4. Apologies for Absence
Tina Heaton, Rosemary Twidale, Sally Griffin.

5. Matters Arising from the Minutes of the 2002 AGM
The 'Ask a Boffin' and 'Department News' features had been included in the Newsletter.
The New MSc profile may include an astronomy course.

6. Officers' Reports
Paul Ruffle made a plea for new faces on the committee.

a) Treasurer (Norrette Moore)
Income: £2,737.64
Expenditure: £2,031.43
Net Income: £706.21
Net Funds: £1,560.50

Two qualified accountants present at the AGM volunteered to audit the accounts. The society had been awarded £100 from Nexus for the best Newsletter. Discussion followed on the best way to use the award. Consensus was that either a colour issue of the Newsletter, or a full-colour poster sent to all members were both appropriate ways to celebrate the award.

b) Membership (Jim Grozier)
Currently have 391 members. 27% are female, 75% are IOP members, 26 are members of the Physics Department. All physics Associate Lecturers get the Newsletter. 27 have joined the society. Renewal rate is 64%. Almost all are opting for 3 year membership. Best recruitment seems to be from inserts in course mailings, although no hard data is available. (A "Where did you hear about Fusion?" section should be added to membership forms). An information leaflet, produced with OUGS, OUCS and OUSAPS will be included in S103 mailings (when contributions from the other societies arrive). A presence at S207 Summer Schools would provide more publicity. A request was made for those present to act as ad hoc representatives at their own Summer Schools.

c) Newsletter (Paul Ruffle)
While past and current issues have had sufficient material, the store of suitable articles is being depleted. A request was made to members for contributions - Physics Puzzles and Book Reviews were given as examples.

d) Events (Eleanor Cowan)
Seven trips had been organised in 2002. Attendance varied from 4 to 24 people. It was requested for those present to consider what trips they could possibly organise themselves - with assistance from the Events officer. Sally suggested that Science Staff Tutors would be willing to forward events announcements to physics students in their regions. It was suggested that a weekend event could be arranged around the AGM - to include several talks and a visit. The 2003 AGM will be held in Manchester. Possible trips for 2003 were - The Nexus visit to DESY, The Met Office (although they are transferring), Goonhilly, ARA. The S381 advertising material had just been despatched. No indications as to its popularity were yet available.

e) Merchandise (John Pollard)
It was decided that a new T-shirt design (possibly Shroedinger's Cat) would be introduced. Further stocks of the 'Maxwell' design (in colours other than black) would be ordered.

f) Website (Paul Ruffle)
The PDF version of the Newsletter would be posted simultaneously with the printed version. The Website continues to receive a steady rate of hits.

g) OUSA Conference Delegate (Norrette Moore)
Due to the inconsistency of OUSA policy regarding travel expenses of delegates, whereby all units have their expenses paid by OUSA except societies - where the membership pays, it was decided not to send a delegate for 2003.

h) OUSA Societies Standing Committee (SSC) Delegate (Jim Grozier)
At the last SSC meeting Jim Grozier had proposed a motion to rectify the disparity regarding travel expenses for Conference (see 6g above). The Committee decided not to support the motion. It was suggested that members with alternative OUSA contacts might consider proposing a similar motion.

i) Nexus Rep (Paul Ruffle)
Nexus continues to provide many benefits to Fusion members.

7. Election of Officers, Committee Members and Delegates:

a) Statutory Officers (all three posts were voted en-bloc).
Chair: Eleanor Cowan
Secretary: Jim Grozier
Treasurer: Norrette Moore
Proposed: Frank Hollis.
Seconded: John Pollard.
Voted unanimously in favour - none against.

b) Functional Officers
Events: Jim Grozier, Proposed: John Pollard, Seconded: Eleanor Cowan, Voted unanimously in favour - none against.
Membership: Rob Wilby, Proposed: Jim Grozier, Seconded: Norrette Moore, Voted unanimously in favour - none against.
Merchandise: John Pollard, Proposed: Norrette Moore, Seconded: Digby Tarvin, Voted unanimously in favour - none against.
Newsletter: Paul Ruffle, Proposed: Digby Tarvin, Seconded: Norrette Moore, Voted unanimously in favour - none against.
Website: Digby Tarvin, Proposed: John Pollard, Seconded: Paul Ruffle, Voted unanimously in favour - none against.
Steve Sutcliffe was also voted onto the Committee.

c) Delegates
Socities Standing Committee (SSC): Norrette Moore.
OUSA Conference Rep: None.
Nexus Student Rep: Paul Ruffle.

8. Motion to change the membership fees
The motion was put to introduce three levels of membership fees:
Bronze (1 Year): £6 (Fusion Only), £14 (including 1 year's membership of the IoP).
Silver (3 Years): £15 (Fusion Only), £23 (including 1 year's membership of the IoP).
Gold (5 years): £20 (Fusion Only), £28 (including 1 year's membership of the IoP).
Proposed: Jim Grozier, Seconded: Paul Ruffle, Voted unanimously in favour - none against.

9. Motion to change the Constitution
Clause 6(ii) of the constitution currently reads:
"The Society shall levy subscriptions on its members. Such subscriptions shall fall due on the anniversary of their joining date and shall be determined by the immediately preceding AGM."
The motion was put to replace the word "AGM" in clause 6(ii) with the words "General Meeting". This would enable future membership fee amendments to be made at an additional General Meeting to be held in the Autumn.
Proposed: Jim Grozier, Seconded: Eleanor Cowan, Voted unanimously in favour - none against.

10. Dates of future committee meetings
To be discussed by the new committee after the AGM.

11. AOB
None.

The meeting concluded at 16:45.