ASA President Karen Kafadar convened the final ASA Board meeting of 2019 at the ASA headquarters in Alexandria, Virginia, November 22–23. The 2019 Board of Directors were joined by the incoming 2020 board members. The highlights of the board meeting follow.

Discussion Items

• As it does annually, the board discussed the status of committees in the Education Council and the Professional Issues and Visibility Council. These councils serve as the connection between their committees and the board. The board expressed gratitude for the great work these committees do on behalf of the profession and the association.
• The board welcomed two former US chief statisticians, Katherine Wallman and Hermann Habermann. They briefed the board on the citizenship data collection being carried out by the Census Bureau using administrative data per Executive Order 13880.

Action Items

• The board changed the names of three committees:
  1. The ASA/MAA Joint Committee on Undergraduate Statistics will become the ASA/MAA Joint Committee on Undergraduate Statistics Education (and, perhaps, further be changed to ASA/MAA Joint Committee on Undergraduate Statistics and Data Science Education, pending MAA approval). The size of this committee was reduced at the suggestion of the committee.
  2. The ASA/NCTM Joint Committee on Curriculum in Statistics and Probability will become the ASA/NCTM Joint Committee on K–12 Education in Statistics and Probability. A change to the charge of the committee was made as well.
  3. The ASA LGBT Concerns Committee will become the ASA LGBTQ+ Advocacy Committee.
• The board created the ASA Task Force on Statistical Significance and Reproducibility. Its charge is to develop thoughtful principles and practices the ASA can endorse and share with scientists and journal editors. The task force will be appointed by Kafadar with advice from the ASA Board and make its recommendations to the board by November 2020.
• As it does each year, the board reviewed the ASA’s strategic plan and how it is being implemented by the association. While no action to change the plan was taken, several suggestions for improved implementation will be followed up on by staff and board leadership.
• The board appointed initial members to the ASA Review Board, which is the body responsible for carrying out the policies for violations of the ASA Activities Conduct Policy. Board members Katherine Monti, Dionne Price, and Ron Wasserstein are the initial members of this review board.

Reported Items

• Associate Executive Director and Director of Operations Steve Porzio summarized the ASA’s financial activity through September 30, 2019. He said the ASA’s financial health is very good, with net assets over $21 million. He predicts a positive annual net revenue at year’s end, but that depends on market activity the rest of the year.
• ASA Treasurer Amarjot Kaur reported on the ASA’s investments. She noted the ASA’s portfolio had gained over nearly $3 million in value in the three quarters of 2019.
• Amanda Malloy, ASA director of development, summarized the results of ASA Giving Day. We raised more than $80,000 from 300+ donors. The number of donors on ASA Giving Day was much higher than last year, which, Malloy noted, is exactly the goal of Giving Day. Malloy also noted there are more than 90 members in the Helen Walker Society (HWS). HWS members are those who have given at least $1,000 to the ASA in the past year.
• The board received progress reports on the strategic initiatives launched by Kafadar. In addition, ASA President-elect Wendy Martinez updated the board on planned activities for 2020.
• The Council of Chapters Governing Board (COCGB) and Council of Sections Governing Board (COSGB) reported on their recent activities. The COCGB was actively supportive of Giving Day, has launched its new reporting mechanism, continues to monitor chapter health, and continues to improve the traveling course program. The COSGB reported on the continued growth in the number of interest groups and changes in procedures to financially support new sections. It also made suggestions on ways the website could be easier to navigate for section use.
• Mark Glickman, co-chair of the ad hoc Advisory Committee on Data Science, updated the board on the progress of that committee, noting recommendations will be coming to the April 2020 board meeting.
• Tian Zheng, chair of the Section on Statistical Learning and Data Science (now the largest section of the ASA), updated the board on activities of the section and shared her perspective on what is going on in various data science communities.
• The board heard an update from Andreas Georgiou, the former president of ELSTAT—the Hellenic Statistical Authority—on the status of his continued trials and tribulations in the Greek court system. After meeting with Georgiou, the board approved another statement of support for him.
• Steve Snapinn, chair of the Publications Committee, and Scott Evans, publications representative to the Board of Directors, reported on discussions of the CHANCE Magazine Task Force. The board is considering a recommendation from the task force to rebrand CHANCE as a data science–focused publication.

The board will next meet April 3–4 at the ASA headquarters.