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National Committees
NATIONAL COMMITTEES President Dave Clark has requested all National Committees throughout the year to submit items for publication in the Journal, outlining their activities to the Membership. With this issue, we present the first two of these, from the National Conferences Committee and Student Affairs Committee.
NATIONAL CONFERENCES At the direction of National Council, two years ago, the National Conference Committee began a detailed study aimed at producing recommendations covering the future planning and handling of our National Conferences. It was the decision of Council that the Office of President and the Location of the National Conference should be separated: i.e., each Section is now free to nominate someone for the position of Vice-President (which person ultimately becomes President) each year. If more than one nomination is received, the normal democratic procedure of election by membership ballot will be followed. At the same time, the National Conferences Committee was charged with selecting future Conference sites, future Conference Chairmen and establish an overall pattern for future Conferences. There are many reasons for the above changes, a few of which are: I) The choice of capable, desirable individuals for the most important of offices, National President, should not depend in any way upon a local Section hosting or not hosting a National Conference. Conversely, the very important selection of the Conference Chairman should not depend on the physical location of the National President. 2) There are only a certain number of locations in Canada that can handle the size of Conference that our National Conference has become. At the same time, it has become obvious to those of us who have served as Conference Chairman that experienced Conference Centres, once given a format, can carry out the physical arrangements and plans with a minimum of review by the Conference Committee. 3) The vast majority of Associations, both national and international, have functioned smoothly for many years with no correlation between the physical location of their annual Conferences and that of their National or International Presidents. Ideally, an Association Executive-Secretary handles all the repetitive work associated with National Conferences: publicity, hotel arrangements, registrations, printing. etc. Until such time as our Institute can afford a full time Executive-Secretary, the National Conferences Committee must assume some of the responsibilities. In choosing Conference sites the Committee first tabulated all Conference Centres in Canada capable of handling a Conference of more than 500 people. They then considered costs, availability to good transportation, convenience for the majority of the members and opportunity of expanding the trip for business or pleasure. Locations in Ontario/Quebec offer the greatest convenience and ease of transportation for a large majority of our members. For members outside of Ontario and Quebec, it certainly offers the greatest opportunity to expand their trip on a business basis. These factors. for the majority of members, offset the higher hotel costs in this area (as witness the high attendance at Conferences in Montreal, Ottawa and Toronto). In the case of locations outside of Ontario and Quebec. it would appear those which afford the opportunity to expand a trip on a social basis are the greatest drawing cards to attracting the large membership resident in Ontario and Quebec (as witness the high attendance at Conferences in Vancouver, Banff and this year in Halifax - in spite of the economic recession). . The first site and first Conference Chairman to be chosen by the Nalional Conferences Committee under the new procedure is for 1979: May 27-31 - Chateau Frontenac - Quebec City CHAIRMAN: Mr. R. Marcoux, Vachon Inc Mr. Marcoux will be free to select his Committee from the entire C.I.F.S.T. Membership. In establishing an overall pattern for Conferences, the Committee wascognizant that, although our recent Conferences have been following a fairly Similar pattern, there have been indications that all of our members are not satisfied with this pattern (or conversely, their needs are not being met). Complaints and/or problems voiced in recent years have been as diverse as our membership: I) Industry complains that too much time is spent on "hard core" research papers with no practical application. 2) Academics complain that registration costs are too high.
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3) Student complaint that they have little or no "voice" in Institut affairs. e 4) Subject Interest Groups want more time. 5) Management/Administrators of Research & Development com. plain of too little relating to their fields. The Committee believes that the quality and content of our futur Conferences must be even more seriously considered than in the past. I~ future Conferences are to be truly successful, we firmly believe that management people are going to have to 'be given greater consideration - to make it worth their time and money to attend and to recommend the at. tendance of their staff members. Industry must be convinced of the relevance of our Institute in today's challenging times. This does not mean to imply that the food industry is unaware of the significance of Food Sci. ence & Technology, but rather it is hard pressed to establish priorities for their staff and financial resources. The Conference must also attempt to provide a forum for the Cana. dian graduate student. By allowing one complete day for Subject Interest Groups (by 1979 these will probably number six) it is expected that many of the specialized research papers will be presented on this day to au. diencesthat will truly appreciate their content. The Chairpersons of the Subject Interest Groups will therefore be on the Technical Programme Committee for each Conference, helping to select those papers which should appear on their Subject Interest Group programmes. With further reference to the Subject Interest Groups, the Committee believes a function of the Subject Interest Groups should be to make recommendations, or develop guidelines, to the general membership in their particular fields; i.e., the Dairy Group might develop guidelines for the storage and handling of dairy products used by the food industry to manufacture other food products. With a membership as varied and divergent in disciplines, occupations. and interests as we are, it would be impossible to have a Conference that suited all of our members perfectly. It was the aim of the Committee to develop a programme that will offer something concrete and worthwhile to as many of our members as possible. The National Conferences Committee during the past 2 years have included the following: E. N. Harper - Chairman D. H. Barbour K. C. Chappell W. E. MacLennan E. Somers. As retiring Chairman, I should like to express my appreciation to the members of the Committee and extend my best wishes to the new Chairman, Ken Chappell. As the first Committee to thus report to the general membership, we hope that the practice will increase participation and interest by the members in the affairs of your Institute. Your comments will be appreciated, be they via your Section Chairmen, letters to the Journal Editor, or directly to members of the Council. E. N. Harper Past Chairperson National Conferences Committee
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STUDENT AFFAIRS The Student Affairs Committee has just entered its second year of existence and now has the benefit of one year of experience. Our outgoing chairman, Dr. Dan Cumming, did much to lay the groundwork for the Committee's operation and has worked hard to stimulate interest in student's affairs. Although he will no longer be a member of the Committee. he plans on maintaining a great deal of interest in its progress. I would like to extend my thanks to Dan, not only for the help that he has given me, but also on behalf of aU student members of CIFST. Another person who has provided strong support to the Committee is Dr. Jim Richards. Due to other commitments he has been replaced as the professional member of the Committee but I hope that he, too, will continue to support our activities. The student's program at the CIFST Annual Conference in Halifax was successful and well attended. A total.of forty students registered for the conference out of approximately 230 student members of CIFST. Special arrangements for the students included full registration at about one-half the cost required for professional members. living accommodation at very moderate rates. a booth for displays from various universities and technical schools, a separate meeting for students and other interested persons for information and discussion, and a luncheon for which the program was organized by student members. Dr. E. G. Bli?,h, .I. Inst. Can. Sci. Technol. Aliment. Vol. 8. No.3. 1975
NATIONAL CONFERENCES At the direction of National Council, two years ago, the National Conference Committee began a detailed study aimed at producing recommendations covering the future planning and handling of our National Conferences. It was the decision of Council that the Office of President and the Location of the National Conference should be separated: i.e., each Section is now free to nominate someone for the position of Vice-President (which person ultimately becomes President) each year. If more than one nomination is received, the normal democratic procedure of election by membership ballot will be followed. At the same time, the National Conferences Committee was charged with selecting future Conference sites, future Conference Chairmen and establish an overall pattern for future Conferences. There are many reasons for the above changes, a few of which are: I) The choice of capable, desirable individuals for the most important of offices, National President, should not depend in any way upon a local Section hosting or not hosting a National Conference. Conversely, the very important selection of the Conference Chairman should not depend on the physical location of the National President. 2) There are only a certain number of locations in Canada that can handle the size of Conference that our National Conference has become. At the same time, it has become obvious to those of us who have served as Conference Chairman that experienced Conference Centres, once given a format, can carry out the physical arrangements and plans with a minimum of review by the Conference Committee. 3) The vast majority of Associations, both national and international, have functioned smoothly for many years with no correlation between the physical location of their annual Conferences and that of their National or International Presidents. Ideally, an Association Executive-Secretary handles all the repetitive work associated with National Conferences: publicity, hotel arrangements, registrations, printing. etc. Until such time as our Institute can afford a full time Executive-Secretary, the National Conferences Committee must assume some of the responsibilities. In choosing Conference sites the Committee first tabulated all Conference Centres in Canada capable of handling a Conference of more than 500 people. They then considered costs, availability to good transportation, convenience for the majority of the members and opportunity of expanding the trip for business or pleasure. Locations in Ontario/Quebec offer the greatest convenience and ease of transportation for a large majority of our members. For members outside of Ontario and Quebec, it certainly offers the greatest opportunity to expand their trip on a business basis. These factors. for the majority of members, offset the higher hotel costs in this area (as witness the high attendance at Conferences in Montreal, Ottawa and Toronto). In the case of locations outside of Ontario and Quebec. it would appear those which afford the opportunity to expand a trip on a social basis are the greatest drawing cards to attracting the large membership resident in Ontario and Quebec (as witness the high attendance at Conferences in Vancouver, Banff and this year in Halifax - in spite of the economic recession). . The first site and first Conference Chairman to be chosen by the Nalional Conferences Committee under the new procedure is for 1979: May 27-31 - Chateau Frontenac - Quebec City CHAIRMAN: Mr. R. Marcoux, Vachon Inc Mr. Marcoux will be free to select his Committee from the entire C.I.F.S.T. Membership. In establishing an overall pattern for Conferences, the Committee wascognizant that, although our recent Conferences have been following a fairly Similar pattern, there have been indications that all of our members are not satisfied with this pattern (or conversely, their needs are not being met). Complaints and/or problems voiced in recent years have been as diverse as our membership: I) Industry complains that too much time is spent on "hard core" research papers with no practical application. 2) Academics complain that registration costs are too high.
A49
3) Student complaint that they have little or no "voice" in Institut affairs. e 4) Subject Interest Groups want more time. 5) Management/Administrators of Research & Development com. plain of too little relating to their fields. The Committee believes that the quality and content of our futur Conferences must be even more seriously considered than in the past. I~ future Conferences are to be truly successful, we firmly believe that management people are going to have to 'be given greater consideration - to make it worth their time and money to attend and to recommend the at. tendance of their staff members. Industry must be convinced of the relevance of our Institute in today's challenging times. This does not mean to imply that the food industry is unaware of the significance of Food Sci. ence & Technology, but rather it is hard pressed to establish priorities for their staff and financial resources. The Conference must also attempt to provide a forum for the Cana. dian graduate student. By allowing one complete day for Subject Interest Groups (by 1979 these will probably number six) it is expected that many of the specialized research papers will be presented on this day to au. diencesthat will truly appreciate their content. The Chairpersons of the Subject Interest Groups will therefore be on the Technical Programme Committee for each Conference, helping to select those papers which should appear on their Subject Interest Group programmes. With further reference to the Subject Interest Groups, the Committee believes a function of the Subject Interest Groups should be to make recommendations, or develop guidelines, to the general membership in their particular fields; i.e., the Dairy Group might develop guidelines for the storage and handling of dairy products used by the food industry to manufacture other food products. With a membership as varied and divergent in disciplines, occupations. and interests as we are, it would be impossible to have a Conference that suited all of our members perfectly. It was the aim of the Committee to develop a programme that will offer something concrete and worthwhile to as many of our members as possible. The National Conferences Committee during the past 2 years have included the following: E. N. Harper - Chairman D. H. Barbour K. C. Chappell W. E. MacLennan E. Somers. As retiring Chairman, I should like to express my appreciation to the members of the Committee and extend my best wishes to the new Chairman, Ken Chappell. As the first Committee to thus report to the general membership, we hope that the practice will increase participation and interest by the members in the affairs of your Institute. Your comments will be appreciated, be they via your Section Chairmen, letters to the Journal Editor, or directly to members of the Council. E. N. Harper Past Chairperson National Conferences Committee
t
STUDENT AFFAIRS The Student Affairs Committee has just entered its second year of existence and now has the benefit of one year of experience. Our outgoing chairman, Dr. Dan Cumming, did much to lay the groundwork for the Committee's operation and has worked hard to stimulate interest in student's affairs. Although he will no longer be a member of the Committee. he plans on maintaining a great deal of interest in its progress. I would like to extend my thanks to Dan, not only for the help that he has given me, but also on behalf of aU student members of CIFST. Another person who has provided strong support to the Committee is Dr. Jim Richards. Due to other commitments he has been replaced as the professional member of the Committee but I hope that he, too, will continue to support our activities. The student's program at the CIFST Annual Conference in Halifax was successful and well attended. A total.of forty students registered for the conference out of approximately 230 student members of CIFST. Special arrangements for the students included full registration at about one-half the cost required for professional members. living accommodation at very moderate rates. a booth for displays from various universities and technical schools, a separate meeting for students and other interested persons for information and discussion, and a luncheon for which the program was organized by student members. Dr. E. G. Bli?,h, .I. Inst. Can. Sci. Technol. Aliment. Vol. 8. No.3. 1975