Highlights of the April 2011 Board of Directors Meeting

ASA President Nancy Geller led the board through a packed agenda during its first meeting of 2011 at the ASA Office in Alexandria, Virginia, April 8–9. Here are the highlights:

2011 ASA Board of Directors
Nancy Geller, President
Bob Rodriguez, President-elect
Sastry Pantula, Past-President
Christy Chuang-Stein, Third-Year Vice President
Rod Little, Second-Year Vice President
Mary Mulry, First-Year Vice President
Jeri Mulrow, Third-Year Council of Sections Representative
Jessica Utts, Second-Year Council of Sections Representative
John Bailer, First-Year Council of Sections Representative
David Marker, Third-Year Council of Chapters Representative
Tom Short, Second-Year Council of Chapters Representative
Bonnie LaFleur, First-Year Council of Chapters Representative
Ray Chambers, International Representative
Karen Kafadar, Publications Representative
Keith Ord, Treasurer
Ron Wasserstein, ASA Executive Director

Based on recommendations from the respective search committees and Committee on Publications, the board appointed Ron Christensen as editor of The American Statistician and Jim Albert as editor of the Journal of Quantitative Analysis in Sports. Both appointments are for 2012–2014.

The board reappointed Keith Ord as treasurer. Ord will continue to serve through 2013.

As he does at each meeting, Ord updated the board on the status of ASA financials. He reviewed the 2010 financials, during which the ASA ended up slightly in the black, and looked at the status of the financials for this year and for future budgets. Ord noted that the ASA is tightly managing its resources and this is necessary for continued success.

The board approved the audit report for 2010 and thanked Steve Porzio, ASA assistant executive director and director of operations, and his accounting staff for another excellent audit.

President-elect Bob Rodriguez presented an overview of four initiatives he has planned for the coming year and received feedback from the board. The details will be finalized during spring and early summer. Further information will appear in Amstat News later this year.

Rodriguez also reported on a unique discussion held at the ASA office on March 28. Rodriguez and Executive Director Ron Wasserstein met with expert managers in the field of business analytics to discuss the nature of their work and the role the ASA might play in advancing the careers of members in this area of statistical practice. ASA members Bob Starbuck, Dave Dickey, and Jim Rosenberger also were engaged in this discussion.

The board also received progress reports on the current initiatives launched by Geller.

The board heard a proposal to declare an International Year of Statistics in collaboration with the International Statistical Institute, the Royal Statistical Society, and others. Further discussion about this proposal will take place over the summer.

Steve Pierson, ASA director of science policy, organized a panel discussion during which the board learned about a variety of issues related to legislation regarding the level of autonomy for the U.S. Census Bureau. Panel members included Connie Citro, executive director, CNSTAT; Louis Kincannon, U.S. Census Bureau director, 2002–2008; Ken Prewitt, U.S. Census Bureau director, 1998–2000, and vice president for Global Centers, Columbia University; and Andrew Reamer, research professor, Institute of Public Policy, The George Washington University.

The board heard a report from the Committee on Scientific Freedom and Human Rights (CSFHR) about human rights problems faced by official statisticians in Argentina. CSFHR chair, Bill Seltzer, presented the report, which suggested action steps for the board. The board concurred with the committee’s recommendations and follow-up is under way.

Iain Johnstone, chair of the Accreditation Committee, reported on the status of the accreditation program one year after the board approved the implementation plan. Johnstone noted, among other things, that the program is in full swing, with the application process open to all eligible members. Visit the website for details about how to apply. Geller thanked Johnstone for his outstanding leadership of the process.

The board reviewed proposals received through the Member Initiative Program and decided to award full or partial funding to five of them.

The board considered proposals for two new journal partnerships with other societies. The proposals had been reviewed and recommended by the Committee on Publications. The executive committee of the board will follow up on these proposed journals.

The leadership of the Journal on Computational and Graphical Statistics proposed moving to single blind reviewing. Double-blind reviews are becoming virtually impossible for this journal because the source material reviewed is difficult to blind. The board concurred with the proposal, subject to the approval of our partners—the Institute of Mathematical Statistics and the Interface Foundation of North America.

Vice President Christy Chuang-Stein reported to the board on the status of committees under the Membership Council. The board was asked to follow up on concerns raised by some committees. This report and the related follow-up are part of the board strategy for committee management that was implemented during 2010.

As it does at each meeting, the board heard reports on the status and well-being of the sections and chapters from the board representatives of those bodies. Both the Council of Chapters and Council of Sections governing boards meet regularly by conference call to manage issues of importance to the chapters and sections.

The board approved a plan to develop a partnership with the Public Relations Society of America to develop best practices guidelines for public relations professionals using statistics.

The board next meets on June 17 in Alexandria, Virginia, for its annual budget meeting. The next regular meeting of the board is July 29–30, prior to JSM in Miami Beach.

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