ASA Past-President Sastry Pantula led the final board meeting of 2010 from November 19–20 at the ASA office in Alexandria, Virginia. Board members were joined by incoming members for 2011 as part of the annual transition process. Here are the highlights:

• The board approved a change to Article IX of the ASA bylaws requiring that, with certain exceptions, all members of ASA committees who are appointed by the ASA shall be full members of the association during the term of their appointment. The change takes effect on January 1, 2012.

• The board approved changes to the charges and/or compositions of the Committee on Privacy and Confidentiality, Committee on Scientific Freedom and Human Rights, and Excellence in Statistical Reporting Award Committee.

• The board also eliminated the Membership Surveys Committee (at its request and after considerable review) and increased the size of the Survey Review Committee.

• The board created permanent committees to plan and organize the annual ASA Conference on Statistical Practice, to begin in early 2012.

• The board approved a petition to form an outreach group called “The Friends of Australasia.” This group joins three other such groups: the Caucus of Academic Representatives (formed in 2007), Isolated Statisticians (formed in 2009), and Statistics Without Borders (formed in 2010).

• The board heard a report on the Royal Statistical Society’s (RSS) “getstats” program for statistical literacy in the United Kingdom. RSS Executive Director Martin Dougherty joined the board meeting by phone to review the program, which has as its mission “A society in which our lives and choices are enriched by an understanding of statistics.”

• The board enjoyed a creative session to address three matters of interest to the ASA: (1) identifying a theme for the 2012 Mathematics Awareness Month, which will be hosted by the ASA; (2) improving attendee and participant experience at the Tuesday night President’s Awards and Address session at JSM; and (3) planning for the 175th anniversary of the association. The discussions were summarized, and the summaries will be used in future planning.

• The board heard the annual report of the Education Council from ASA Vice President and Education Council Chair Rod Little and Education Council Vice Chair Roxy Peck.

• As at every meeting, the board heard the treasurer’s report, reports from the councils of sections and chapters, and a report on the ASA’s science policy activities.

• The board conducted its annual walk-through of the ASA financial statements. This discussion, led by the ASA’s auditor, helps current and incoming board members better understand the ASA’s financial situation and how to interpret a financial statement from a nonprofit entity.

• The board heard a presentation by President-elect Bob Rodriguez about the rise of an area of practice known commonly as “analytics,” and discussed the role the ASA should play in this area.

• The board received the annual report of the Strategic Plan Review Committee and heard progress reports from the strategic initiative workgroups for 2011.

• The board received the recommendations from the 2010 Education Workgroup, the last report of the four strategic initiative workgroups appointed by 2010 President Sastry Pantula. Action on these recommendations will follow in the coming months.

• The board approved a recommendation to enter into final negotiations with a publisher, which will collaborate with the ASA to publish the Journal of the American Statistical Association, The American Statistician, Journal of Business & Economic Statistics, Statistics in Biopharmaceutical Research, Journal of Computational and Graphical Statistics, and Technometrics. Pending final negotiations, the transition to the new publisher will take place during 2011 and start officially in 2012.

The board next meets April 8–9 in Alexandria.