The AVMA Executive Board transacted an agenda comprising more than 150 line items at its May 1-4 meeting at AVMA headquarters in Schaumburg, Ill. Dr. James H. Brandt, Nokomis, Fla., presided.

The board funded one item from the fund balance, which requires a three-fourths majority vote. It was a $100,000 allocation recommended by the Council on Research for the AVMA to co-sponsor a study titled "National Needs for Research in Veterinary Science" (see story, this issue), to be conducted by the Board on Agriculture and Natural Resources of the National Academies. Many other recommendations, such as positions on animal welfare and other issues, did not carry a cost, but for the initiatives that did, the board authorized $37,958 from the $200,000 in contingency funds budgeted for 2003.

Board recommendations to the House of Delegates on the proposed AVMA member dues increase, proposed amendments to the AVMA Constitution and Bylaws, and AVMA resolutions were published June 15 (the HOD will act on those items July 19 in Denver). Numerous other board actions are reported on the following pages.