[Birdtalk] Review Committee summary

[Ryan O'Donnell]

In addition to the public responses, I received several private
responses to my email about the Utah Bird Records Committee last week.
I will assume that each private response was intended to be
confidential, but I think it is worthwhile and fair to provide some
degree of anonymous summary of those responses to the list.  
 
First, it was clear that my frustrations were not unique.  I received
several off-list comments that expressed frustration with the committee,
and some comments from committee members that indicated that they knew
of and acknowledged those frustrations.  Second, I did not get the
impression that any one person was responsible for the delays.  I think
this is an important point.  At least four people apologized for the
delays and three people claimed personal responsibility for them.  I
learned that this is not a new problem and not a problem with only one
or two members.  It seems that there must be some way to minimize these
delays that is fair to everyone involved.  How do other states operate
their review committees?  Do they face the same challenges?
 
Sincerely,
Ryan
 
Ryan P. O'Donnell
Department of Biology and the Ecology Center
Utah State University
5305 Old Main Hill
Logan, UT 84322-5305
 
http://200birds.blogspot.com