ASA President Karen Kafadar convened the ASA Board meeting at the Hyatt Regency Denver prior to the start of JSM 2019. The highlights of the board meeting follow.

Discussion Item

• ASA Director of Membership Development and Marketing Amy Farris reviewed with the board the many strategies staff uses to recruit and retain members. Then, the board engaged in a discussion about the ways policies such as membership categories, recruitment and retention resources, branding, and what items are provided to members only can affect membership. The results of the discussion will seed future discussions and possible policy changes.

Action Items

• The board approved a document, “Policies and Procedures for Reporting, Investigating, and Adjudicating Violations of the ASA’s Activities Conduct Policy,” subject to legal review and final vote by the Board Executive Committee. After final approval, this document will be printed in Amstat News and widely disseminated.
• The board extended the contract of ASA Executive Director Ron Wasserstein through August 2024.
• The board appointed Ruixiao Lu as treasurer for a three-year term, beginning January 1, 2020.
• The board formed a CHANCE task force to consider the future of the magazine and report at the next board meeting.
• The board decided that either Boston or Montréal will be the site of JSM 2026, with the final decision to be made in the fall by the Executive Committee after staff negotiates with those cities.

Reported Items

• ASA Associate Executive Director and Director of Operations Steve Porzio briefly summarized the ASA’s financial activity through June 30, 2019. Finances are as expected for the first half of the year.
• ASA Treasurer Amarjot Kaur reported on the ASA’s investments. She noted that due to the bull market, the ASA’s portfolio had gained more than $2.4 million in value in the first half of 2019, reaching a market value of about $21.3 million.
• Amanda Malloy, ASA director of development, reported that, while overall giving is down in the US, giving at the ASA has been up. Not only did the ASA see its 11th consecutive year of increased giving in 2018, but 2019 is ahead of 2018. She also noted the official launch of the ASA GivesBack program. This is a new group of early-career statisticians and students whose purpose is to promote a culture of philanthropy.
• The board received progress reports on the strategic initiatives launched by Kafadar. In addition, ASA President-elect Wendy Martinez updated the board on her ideas for 2020.
• The Council of Chapters Governing Board (COCGB) and Council of Sections Governing Board (COSGB) reported on their recent activities. The COCGB reviewed many matters, including plans for JSM, a new chapter reporting survey, chapter stimulus funding, and other resources for chapter success. The COSGB reported on a workshop for interest group officers and improvements to annual reporting, among many other activities.
• David Goldberg of Purdue University updated the board on the activities of the Math Alliance. The board continues to be interested in sponsoring activities of the alliance. Goldberg said he would keep the board informed of opportunities.
• Jim Rosenberger, director of the National Institute of Statistical Sciences (NISS), updated the board on NISS activities and continuing ways NISS and the ASA can collaborate. These two organizations have been partners for more than two decades.
• ASA Director of Strategic Initiatives and Outreach Donna LaLonde updated the board on the status of ASA salary surveys. She reviewed the history of salary surveys and indicated further discussion will take place in November.
• LaLonde also reported that student chapters continue to thrive, with more than 60 student chapters operating at present. The third annual student chapter leadership workshop was held at JSM this year. Students from Denver served as table hosts. Daniel Elchert, ASA science policy fellow, described his role at the ASA. The students discussed 21st-century skills and what the ASA can do to support development of those skills.
• ASA Science Policy Director Steve Pierson updated the board about the citizenship question on the decennial census, the status of changes to the Economics Research Service and National Institute of Food and Agriculture of USDA, ongoing issues at the Puerto Rico Institute of Statistics, and issues involving the National Center for Education Statistics. He also updated the board on the Count on Stats program and State of the US Data Infrastructure project.
• ASA Director of Education Rebecca Nichols described a few of the many ASA educational activities, including the educational ambassador program, review of the National Assessment of Educational Progress mathematics assessment framework, Meeting Within a Meeting, Beyond AP Statistics, What’s Going on in This Graph, and Census at School. The board expressed delight and enthusiasm for the wide array of ASA investment in education at all levels.

The board holds it final meeting for 2019 November 22–23 at the ASA office in Alexandria, Virginia.