Present: Abe Akresh (incoming VP-Practice), Mike Bamber (incoming VP-Academic), Mark Beasley (Treasurer), Jean C. Bedard (Secretary), Tim Bell (Past President), Stan Biggs (VP-Academic), Audrey Gramling (incoming Secretary), Karen Pincus (President). 
Guests: Linda McDaniel (Chair, Midyear Meeting 2001 Committee), Arnie Wright (Editor, AJPT), Tom Powell (Chair, Practice Advisory Council)

The meeting was called to order at 7:30 by Karen Pincus, President. Karen welcomed the incoming officers, who were present as observers. Jean Bedard presented the minutes of the January 13, 2000, Executive Committee Meeting and the January 15, 2000, Business Meeting, which took place at the 2000 Midyear Meeting at Newport Beach, California. Mark Beasley moved and Stan Biggs seconded a motion that the minutes be approved as presented. The motion passed unanimously.

Report on  AJPT (Arnie Wright, Editor)

Arnie reported that numbers of submissions and acceptance rates are keeping up with prior years. There will be 10 papers in Fall issue, and he is currently working on the Spring issue. There will be practice summaries in each article appearing in the Journal of Accountancy. Arnie also reported that electronic submission of papers has worked very well. The review time averages about 44 days, plus about one week for the Editor's letter. Also, the Associate Editor system is functioning well.
Arnie brought forward several issues for consideration. The first is the need for a policy statement for transition of Editors, to avoid an empty pipeline for the incoming Editor. As a possible model, he suggested that used by Contemporary Accounting Research. In CAR, the accepting Editor or Associate Editor is noted on published articles. Using this model, some transition issues could have articles accepted by both the outgoing and incoming Editors. The second issue he noted is the long delay in publishing at AAA. To address this issue, he suggested using a system in which electronic access is available to an article once it is accepted. The Executive Committee also discussed whether identifying a specific publication month rather than the current approach of identifying a season (e.g., Fall, Spring)  for journal issues  might speed publication. Karen Pincus moved and Jean Bedard seconded that the Editor be authorized to investigate this possibility, and to change from Fall/Spring to September/March or other specific months, beginning 2001, if feasible. The vote was unanimous in favor of the motion.

Arnie also reported that the International Symposium on Auditing Research at Maastricht in July 2000, co-sponsored by the Auditing Section, went very well. In addition to the articles derived from papers presented at the meeting, papers from two of the plenary sessions were commissioned for the journal. The sponsoring universities have provided funds for the Supplement from the Symposium. Authors of papers presented at the meeting, which were journal submissions, have opportunity to revise their papers on the basis of comments received there and reviewer reports. 

Also regarding AJPT, Mark Beasley reported that the proposed change to a two-column format, discussed by the Executive Committee at the 2000 Midyear Meeting, would yield insignificant savings.

Action
Biggs, Akresh
The Committee discussed the policy of providing courtesy memberships to influential leaders in audit practice. Last year, the Membership Committee, with the help of Jerry Sullivan, identified 100 key practice leaders to receive these memberships. This list needs to be updated annually.

Publication Outlets for Committee Reports

The Auditing Standards Committee has requested that their responses to Exposure Drafts be published in AJPT. In discussing this request, the Executive Committee considered the general issue of how best to disseminate committee reports to committee for the effort spent in writing their reports. An important argument against publication of reports in AJPT is that the main mission of the journal is research. Also, with regard to the Auditing Standards Committee in particular, reports published in AJPT would appear long after the closing date for Exposure Draft comments. The Executive committee decided against use of AJPT for this purpose, but discussed other possible solutions, including use of the Section's web site and/or The Auditor's Report. Greater use of task forces for specific Exposure Drafts was also considered as a means of spreading the workload. To improve response time, an email might be sent to the membership when an Exposure Draft is issued, noting the topic and end date for receipt of comments.

Action 
Biggs
The Executive Committee should further consider the Sections' committee structure at the Executive Committee Midyear Meeting in January, 2001. Stan Biggs will survey outgoing and current experienced committee chairs on suggestions for improving the volunteer process. 

Pincus
Karen will investigate the AICPA's model of forming task forces for activities rather than having standing committees.

Akresh
Abe will investigate the concept of a sunset review for committees. 

Gramling
Audrey will check with Mark Taylor and Glen Gray about the possibility of special sections for committee reports.

Beasley
Mark will review committee structures of other sections.

The information from these searches should be exchanged by October 15, 2000. From the information gathered, Mike, Karen and Stan will generate some possibilities for reordering the Section's committee structure that can be discussed at the Midyear Executive Committee Meeting.

Midyear Meeting 2001 Progress Report and Budget Request (Linda McDaniel)

Linda presented preliminary plans and a budget for the upcoming Midyear Meeting. The first plenary session will be presented by Rick Causey, CEO of Enron Corporation, who will discuss how Enron's strategy shapes the company and provides shareholder value. The second will be presented by Bob Elliott of KPMG. In addition to paper sessions, five panels are scheduled. A Friday night dinner will honor Past Presidents of the Section. 

Action
Biggs, Bell, Beasley
Stan will draft a letter for the KPMG Foundation requesting that we receive the Foundation's contribution for both the Midyear Meeting and the Doctoral Consortium in a lump sum.

Karen moved and Jean seconded a motion that the registration fee for the 25th Anniversary Midyear Meeting be $135, with a late fee of $20. Guest tickets to the lunches and dinners will be priced at cost. The motion was passed unanimously. 

The Executive Committee then discussed coverage of expenses of attending meetings for two individuals with unusual circumstances. In keeping with the Section's current practice, Karen moved and Jean seconded that we reimburse Tom Powell, the Practice Advisory Council Chair, for his expenses in attending the Annual Meeting, and Jim Leisenring, who will serve on a panel at the Midyear Meeting panel, for actual expenses up to a maximum of $1300 each. The vote on the motion was unanimous in favor. 
For future meetings (effective with the Annual Meeting in 2001), the Executive Committee discussed expense reimbursement for Annual and Midyear Meeting speakers and reaffirmed that the XC will no longer consider expense reimbursement for concurrent session speakers. Requests for reimbursement for plenary and luncheon speakers may be made, but must be brought to the XC for approval. Actual costs will be reimbursed if approved, although a cap may be applied and airfare reimbursement will be limited to coach rates.

Action
Bedard, McDaniel
Jean and Linda will draft guidance for future Midyear Meeting planners. Included in the guidance will be the policy on expense reimbursement of should include. The charge for the Midyear Meeting Planning Committee should include direction that the guidance be maintained and passed on to successive Planning Committees.

Treasurer's Report (Mark Beasley)

Mark reported that the Section's financial picture is consistent with last year at this point. Journal costs are likely to be higher, but revenues will be increased due to change in dues enacted for the current year. Mark will investigate whether we can track the timing and amount of revenues received from the Copyright Clearance Center. 

Annual Meeting Committee (Karen Pincus, liaison)

Karen reported that the Annual Meeting Planning Committee did a great job this year. There is an excellent program, and paid attendance at the Section's lunch is about 170. The luncheon speaker is Burks Oakley, of the University of Illinois, who will speak about internet education.

Regional Coordinators (Stan Biggs, liaison)

Stan distributed copies of reports by the Regional Coordinators. The role of the Coordinators varies across regions, and with the Regional Meeting's host school. We may want to consider only appointing Coordinators in those Regions in which they will be used.

Action
Biggs
Stan will investigate the roles of Regional Coordinators in other AAA sections.

Research Committee (Tim Bell, liaison)

Tim reported that the Research Committee has put together a compilation of auditing articles classified by research method and date. The Committee will seek information on how to put the database up on the web site, and anticipates completing this project prior to the Midyear Meeting. Ken Trotman, the Chair of the Research Committee, has negotiated with the International Journal of Auditing to be a Guest Editor for an issue on research methods used in audit judgment research. 

Webmaster (Jean Bedard, liaison)

The Executive Committee discussed guidelines for posting Section material on the web site. The decision was that the Webmaster can add the minutes, the directory, meeting announcements, meeting programs, and the newsletter without authorization. In addition, each Committee liaison is authorized to approve posting Committee reports on the web. For other items, the Webmaster should consult the President or the Secretary.

Practice Advisory Council (Tom Powell)

The PAC is sponsoring a panel at the Annual Meeting on how four of its members deal with risk in their respective positions. As Tom will not be continuing, the PAC will be choosing a new Chair at this meeting. The VP-Practice is now a member of the PAC in addition to being the Council's liaison. Tom requests the XC to consider what the mission of the PAC should be going forward.

One of the main roles of the PAC is to plan a panel at the Annual Meeting, for which they have first right of refusal for a Section panel slot. Given scheduling problems this year, the AAA is now allowing limited advance scheduling of practitioner panels at the Annual Meeting.

Notable Contributions Award (Tim Bell, liaison)

Tim reported that few nominations are made, as was the case last year. The XC discussed how to improve the process.

Action 
Biggs
Stan will contact Vicky Hoffman, chair of the Notable Contributions Committee, to see whether the policies or guidance to the Committee should be changed.

Communications Committee (Jean Bedard, liaison)

Jean communicated Ted Mock's memo regarding the Committee's upcoming meeting on Tuesday, including its plans for web-based communication.  

CPE Committee (Mark Beasley, liaison)

At the 2001 Midyear Meeting, Dan Doheny from KPMG Audit Committee Institute will be presenting the afternoon CPE. The session will concern current issues facing audit committee members. 

Education Committee (Mark Beasley, liaison)

This Committee is in the process of collecting current syllabi for auditing courses. Mark will check on its progress.

Bylaws Revision Plans (Karen Pincus)

Karen reported on the updating of the by-laws. The first step was to bring the by-laws into consistency with current practice, which was to have been done at the 2000 Midyear Meeting. Due to the fact that the entire announcement was not printed in The Auditor's Report, the proposed changes to the by-laws were discussed at that Meeting but not voted upon. In that discussion, several new issues arose. One of these was expansion of the offices from which Nominating Committee membership may be drawn from the current group of Regional Coordinators, to include committee chairs.

Karen moved and Mark seconded that the by-laws be amended to expand those eligible to serve on the Nominating Committee as follows: 
"The Nominating Committee of the Section is comprised of the most recent Past President of the Section and two people who served as either immediate past committee or Regional Chairs. The current year's Nominating Committee appoints the two committee or Regional Chairs to serve on the following year's Nominating Committee." The vote was unanimous in favor of the motion.

At the 2000 Midyear Meeting, members also expressed an interest in allowing electronic voting for election of officers. The XC discussed how an electronic vote might be taken, and what issues would be involved in implementing such a system. Karen moved and Stan seconded that the XC support changing the election of officers from the annual Business Meeting to an election by mail, or email. As a substitute mechanism for floor nominations, any submissions of nominees to the Nominations Committee signed by 100 members, and accompanied by a statement from the nominee indicating willingness to serve if elected, would automatically be included on the slate. The exact wording of the proposed amendment to the by-laws will be developed prior to September 1. The vote was four in favor, and one against.

The meeting was adjourned at 3:30 PM.

Submitted by Jean C. Bedard, Northeastern University
Secretary