ASA President Lisa LaVange convened the July ASA Board meeting at the Fairmont Waterfront Hotel in Vancouver prior to the start of JSM. Highlights of the meeting follow.
Discussion Items
- The board engaged in a series of brainstorm discussions regarding four topics: programmatic needs; membership; accreditation; and data science. Many ideas for follow-up were generated.
- The board reviewed an initial report and recommendations from the Sexual Harassment and Assault Task Force. The recommended policy changes will be circulated to ASA membership for comment prior to final review by the board at its next meeting.
Action Items
- The 2019 ASA budget of about $10.9 million was approved.
- The board approved a change to the charter of Statistics Without Borders (SWB). SWB has grown beyond all expectations and some restructuring was needed to deal with the size and complexity of the organization.
- Funding was granted to partner with the University of Maryland Baltimore County on a series of conferences in Africa designed to build statistical capacity in various regions.
- The board endorsed an ASA statement on conveying forensic findings.
- The board also endorsed the update of “Principles and Best Practices for Post-Election Tabulation Audits.”
Reported Items
- Associate Executive Director and Director of Operations Steve Porzio updated the board on ASA financials for the first half of 2018. All is as expected at the midway point.
- ASA Treasurer Amarjot Kaur also updated the board on the status of the ASA’s investments. Market value at midyear was about $20.7 million, down about $100,000 from the start of the year.
- The board received progress reports on the strategic initiatives launched by LaVange. In addition, ASA President-elect Karen Kafadar updated the board on her ideas for 2019.
- Representatives from the Council of Chapters Governing Board (COCGB) and the Council of Sections Governing Board (COSGB) reported on their recent activities with leadership on their minds. The COSGB representative reported on its JSM leadership workshop and data it is collecting about section activities. The COSGB is adding a section service recognition award, mirroring that of the chapters. The COCGB is developing leadership training for chapter officers and council members.
- Donna LaLonde, ASA director of strategic initiatives and outreach, reported that we now have 66 ASA student chapters. She noted that for the second year in a row, we are hosting at JSM a leadership workshop for student chapter officers. A speaker’s bureau for student chapters is in development by the ASA’s Committee on Membership Retention and Recruitment.
- ASA Director of Science Policy Steve Pierson updated the board on several important matters, including the citizenship question on the decennial census, the nominee for director of the US Census Bureau, the ASA’s Count on Stats campaign, the status of science and statistical agency budgets, the proposed consolidation of some federal statistical agencies, the status of the Puerto Rico Institute of Statistics, and the latest on the continued persecution of statistician Andreas Georgiou.
- Phil Kutzko, director of the Math Alliance (The National Alliance for Doctoral Studies in the Mathematical Sciences), and Leslie McClure, a member of its executive committee, provided an overview of the work of the Math Alliance and ways the ASA has been and can be involved.
The board meets again November 16–17 at the ASA office in Alexandria, Virginia. Newly elected board members will participate in a board orientation at that time.
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
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