Biggs welcomed members to the 2001 Midyear Meeting, and introduced the Section's current officers: Mike Bamber (Vice President-Academic), Abe Akresh (Vice President - Practice), Mark Beasley (Treasurer), Jack Robertson (Historian), Karen Pincus (Past President), Audrey Gramling (Secretary).

Biggs made announcements about the following issues:

By-law changes vote and implementation:  Biggs noted that the proposed by-law changes had overwhelmingly passed by a vote of the membership and that the executive committee would work on implementing the changes, especially changes in the voting procedures.

Education Committee Survey:  Biggs discussed the survey of auditing courses recently completed by the Education Committee.

Presentation of Nominations for Office (Karen Pincus)

Pincus announced the candidates for election to office. For Vice President-Academic (President-Elect), the nominees are Joe Carcello and Morley Lemon. For Treasurer, the nominees are Steve Asare and Rick Tubbs. Ballots were distributed to members and counted by Abe Akresh and Audrey Gramling.

Treasurer's Report (Mark Beasley)

Mark Beasley distributed the Treasurer's Report and provided an analysis of the deficit for the year ended August 31, 2000, which includes an increase in AJPT costs (printing, distribution and AAA support), and an increase in annual meeting costs, and council fees.  He also reported that the Executive Committee would continue to closely monitor receipts and disbursements throughout 2001 to assess the effects of the recent section dues increase effective August 2000 relative to the increased costs.

AJPT Editor's Report (Arnie Wright)

Arnie Wright provided information on submissions.  From July 1, 2000 through December 31, 2000 there have been 22 new submissions, of which 11 are accepted. Electronic submissions/review has reduced the review time to an average of 36 days, and the average turnaround time to 79 days. Articles published during Arnie's term include practice summaries that are published in Journal of Accountancy.

Announcement of New Editor of AJPT

Biggs announced that Bill Messier would serve as the editor of AJPT beginning July 2002.

Announcement of Election Winners (Karen Pincus)

Pincus announced the results of the election.

Joe Carcello was elected as the Academic Vice President:  August 2001-August 2002 (President: August 2002-August 2003; Past President: August 2003-August 2004).

Rick Tubbs was elected as Treasurer:  August 2001-August 2003

Report of Research Committee Project (Ken Trotman)

The Research Committee, under the direction of Ken Trotman, prepared a database of auditing research published over the last 25-year period.  The database is currently included on the section's website. 

Report of the President-Elect (Mike Bamber)

Bamber, President-Elect, reported on possible changes to the section's committee structure.  Bamber will put out a call for committee members in the near future.

Bamber asked the section members to provide him with assistance during his upcoming term to meet the changing needs of the profession.

Report of the Chair of the 2002 Midyear Meeting Program Committee (Jeff Cohen)

Jeff Cohen, Chair, reported on planning for the next Midyear Meeting. The meeting will be held in Orlando, FL, on January 17-19.  Cohen asked for membership help for the MYM. 

Other Business:

Biggs called for other business from the attendees.  Issues discussed included:

Responding to a member question, Arnie Wright indicated that he could not publish a full paper on the section website although it had been accepted, until it had been through editorial processing at the AAA.

Biggs recognized Kay Tatum for her efforts on the Auditing Standards Committee.  Kay and her committee wrote a fraud literature review that she presented to the ASB Fraud Task Force.

The meeting was adjourned at approximately 2:05 PM.

Submitted by Audrey A. Gramling, Georgia State University

Secretary