The ASA Board, led by 2017 President Barry Nussbaum, met at the ASA headquarters in Alexandria, Virginia, for its final meeting of 2017. The board was joined by the incoming members elected to serve in 2018–2020. Highlights of the meeting follow.

Discussion Items

• Led by Paul Gallo, 2018 chair of the ASA Committee on Fellows, the board discussed aspects of the ASA Fellows program. The committee was interested in the board’s interpretation of portions of the requirements for ASA Fellow. No changes are planned for 2018, but further discussion is likely.
• The board conducted its annual review of the ASA Strategic Plan. Since the plan was thoroughly revised during 2016, no changes were recommended.

Action Items

• After hearing reports from Steve Pierson, ASA director of science policy; Jerry Reiter, chair of the ASA Scientific and Public Affairs Advisory Committee; and Jake Bournazian, chair of the ASA Privacy and Confidentiality Committee, the board formally endorsed the report of the Commission on Evidence-Based Policymaking, titled “The Promise of Evidence-Based Policymaking.”
• The board adopted a statement titled, “Drawing Voting Districts and Partisan Gerrymandering: Preparing for 2020.” The statement, which may be issued jointly with the American Mathematical Society, notes that existing requirements for districts generally do not prevent partisan gerrymandering; that it has become easier to design district plans that strongly favor a particular partisan outcome; and that modern mathematical, statistical, and computing methods can be used to identify district plans that give one of the parties an unfair advantage in elections. Reiter and Pierson were instrumental in the development of this paper.
• The board adopted in principle a position paper on appropriate ways of evaluating academic faculty in statistics and biostatistics in a collaborative working environment. The paper was developed by a large group of statisticians led by William Bridges and Bruce Craig. Small editorial changes were recommended, which, once made, will lead to the paper’s formal adoption by the Executive Committee of the Board.
• The board also agreed in principle (conditional on minor changes) to the creation of a new ASA award to recognize excellence in the statistical use of administrative records and alternative data sources in government statistics. The award is being created in honor of statisticians Connie Citro, Robert Groves, and Fritz Scheuren.
• The board formed a task force on sexual harassment and assault, to be chaired by Leslie A. McClure of Drexel University.
• The board allocated funds to engage a consultant to assist the board in collecting data and preparing for a discussion at its next meeting about how the ASA should position itself with respect to data science.

Reported Items

• Associate Executive Director and Director of Operations Steve Porzio updated the board on ASA financials for 2017. He said net revenue for 2017 is expected to be positive.
• ASA Treasurer Amarjot Kaur reported on the ASA’s investments. She said the market value of ASA investments was about $20 million as of September 20. She noted the Finance Committee had met with our investment advisers and that no change in investment policy was recommended at this time.
• Nancy Potok, chief statistician of the United States, updated the board on matters related to the federal statistical system and the report of the Commission on Evidence-Based Policymaking. She was a member of that commission.
• John Thompson, director of the Council of Professional Associations on Federal Statistics (COPAFS) and former director of the Census Bureau, updated the board on the activities and goals of COPAFS.
• The Council of Chapters Governing Board (COCGB) and the Council of Sections Governing Board (COSGB) reported on their recent activities. The COSGB has been working with interest groups to provide funding. The COSGB has created a “Getting Started” guide for people interested in starting an interest group. Two new interest groups have recently formed: Statistical Auditing and History of Statistics. The COCGB highlighted the success of its “chapter stimulus funding” program, which the board extended for an additional two years.
• ASA Vice President Rob Santos reported on the 2017 activities of the Education Council and the plans of the various council entities. Council reports are a key way the board and committees stay in contact with one another.
• Amanda Malloy, ASA director of development, updated the board on the development program. She reported the outcome of a recent benchmarking study involving the development programs of associations belonging to the Joint Policy Board on Mathematics (JPBM) and Consortium of Social Science Associations (COSSA). Malloy said the study was encouraging, showing us to be about where we should expect to be relative to other societies with respect to the age of the development program. She also reported that 2017 fundraising is going well and the recent matching campaign has been a success.
• Executive Director Ron Wasserstein reported that the ASA will be ready in early 2018 to launch its “Count on Stats” campaign. The ASA, in partnership with other organizations in the statistical community, is promoting and defending the federal statistical system and its important work through a public outreach initiative to enhance awareness of the importance, reliability, and trustworthiness of government data. Count on Stats is designed to elevate the public discourse about government data and the value of the system.
• The board reviewed the interim report of the AAPOR-ASA Task Force on Improving the Climate for Surveys. The task force is chaired by former AAPOR President Peter Miller and former ASA Board member Cynthia Clark. (AAPOR is the American Association for Public Opinion Research.) The board noted that many of the recommendations of the task force dovetail with the goals of the ASA’s Count on Stats campaign.
• Director of Science Policy Steve Pierson reported on the ASA’s recent efforts to support funding for statistical agencies and research, to track the report of the Commission on Evidence-Based Policymaking and the resulting legislation, and to continue support of former head of the Greek statistical system, Andreas Georgiou. Pierson said he is also monitoring the administration’s efforts to defund forensic science activities at the National Institute of Standards and Technology and to terminate the National Commission for Forensic Science at the Department of Justice.

Nussbaum thanked the ASA staff for its work and for supporting him so well. He also expressed appreciation for the board’s commitment to the ASA and its active participation at the board meetings and throughout the year. He said these are what make the ASA run well.

The board meets again April 13–14, 2018, at ASA headquarters.

2018 Board of Directors

• Lisa LaVange, President
• Karen Kafadar, President-elect
• Barry Nussbaum, Past-President
• Kathy Ensor, Third-Year Vice President
• David Williamson, Second-Year Vice President
• Katherine Monti, First-Year Vice President
• Paula Roberson, Third-Year Council of Chapters Representative
• Julia Sharp, Second-Year Council of Chapters Representative
• Don Jang, First-Year Council of Chapters Representative
• Eileen King, Third-Year Council of Sections Representative
• Jim Lepkowski, Second-Year Council of Sections Representative
• Katherine Halvorsen, First-Year Council of Sections Representative
• Cynthia Bocci, International Representative
• Scott Evans, Publications Representative
• Amarjot Kaur, Treasurer
• Ron Wasserstein, Executive Director and Board Secretary