Business Committees

The HGS Business Committees are responsible for the business operations of the Houston Geological Society.
If you are interested in volunteering or sponsoring one of these committees, see the summaries below and click on the committee page link.

HGS Executive Board - The HGS is governed by a twelve person Executive Board. There are six officers; President, President-Elect, Vice-President, Secretary, Treasurer, and Treasurer-Elect as well as an Editor and Editor-Elect for various HGS publications and four Board Directors. Each Spring the HGS Nominations Committee submits the list of candidates for the annual  Executive Board election. On the ballot each year, active members (only) can vote for; President-Elect, Vice-President, Secretary, Editor-Elect, and two of the four Board Director positions. In addition, the HGS has 52 committees managed by various board members. These committees are in charge of organizing social events, monthly meetings, continuing education programs, community outreach, conferences, and the maintenance and growth of the society. 

Advertising Committee - The Advertising Committee solicits, coordinates and manages the business card and commercial advertisements in the monthly HGS Bulletin, the annual Membership Directory, and the HSG Website. This committee makes annual budget estimates and reports on prior year income. The Committee endeavors to obtain income in order to offset Bulletin publishing costs.

Awards Committee - The Awards Committee recommends candidates and chooses recipients for all awards established by the Executive Board. These HGS awards are Honorary Life Membership, Distinguished Service and President's Awards, Earth Science Teacher Award, Outstanding Student Awards, Best Paper Award, and Student Poster Awards. The Awards Committee is also responsible for nominating qualified candidates to the Executive Board for various GCAGS and MPG awards. The Awards Committee chairman is a member of the HGS Foundation which grants scholarships to undergraduate students. The Committee is also responsible for supplying appropriate mementos of appreciation to speakers at Society meetings. In addition, the Awards Committee provides judges for non-HGS events such as the Science and Engineering Fair of Houston and the Science Olympiad.

Ballot Committee - The Ballot Committee is responsible for getting the ballots printed, collated, and mailed to the entire membership by April 20 and returned by May 10. This committee counts the ballots and reports the results to the HGS president as soon as possible.

Finance Committee - The Finance Committee is responsible for coordinating the HGS budget process and preparing the annual budget for presentation to the HGS Board.  The Finance Committee also assists with managing the HGS investment funds.

Membership Committee - The Membership Committee is responsible for encouraging qualified geoscientists to join the HGS, checking and verifying applications, and conveying new member applications (with recommendations) to the Secretary prior to the monthly Board meeting. In addition, the Committee initiates the mailing of the dues.

Office Management Committee -  The purpose of the Office Management Committee is to give guidance and support to the HGS Office Manager, to administer the salary and benefits of the Office Manager and other HGS employees and to oversee the operations of the business office.

Officer Nominations Committee - Officers nomination committee is responsible for officer nominations.

Vendor Corner Committee - This committee works with the Chairmen of the Technical Program committees (General, International, and North American Explorationists), to solicit vendors to come to the meetings and display technology and services related to the presented topic. The funds that Vendors pay to host the Vendor Corners are directed 100% to HGS student scholarships.

Volunteer Coordinator Committee - HGS is fortunate to have volunteers step forward and help when needed. In the past, though, we haven’t always put the right volunteer to work in the right job, or even called on all the people who have volunteered, and some work has been left undone. The Board of Directors recognized this as a problem area and decided to appoint not a committee, but a volunteer coordinator to better manage this effort.

Website Committee - The Houston Geological Society is a non-profit organization that depends on volunteers who run for offices, make up our committees, and maintains our Web page. We thank all our volunteers and, on behalf of the Website Committee, especially want to express appreciation to those involved in the continuing effort to keep the HGS Web pages current and to make them a valuable place to visit.