Ron Wasserstein, ASA Executive Director
ASA President Wendy Martinez called to order the final regular meeting of the ASA Board on November 18. The board met via videoconference over a three-day period. The highlights of the board meeting follow.
Action Items
The board approved the following:
- Revisions to the charges of the Committee on Funded Research and Committee on Statistics and Disability
- Funding to convert to new platforms for membership and content management
- Proposed changes to the constitution and bylaws, not including the changes to the first paragraph of Article III, Section 2 of the bylaws. That paragraph proposed a change to the voting method used in ASA elections, and the board decided, based on member responses, to leave that section as is. That is, we will continue to use approval voting as our voting method.
- Entering into a partnership with ACM and IEEE-CS to accredit undergraduate data science programs under the ABET accreditation aegis
- A policy for naming ASA awards and scholarships
- Adding FENStatS as an accreditation partner
Reported and Discussed Items
- Associate Executive Director and Director of Operations Steve Porzio updated the board on 2020 financials as of the end of the third quarter. He noted that the ASA will operate at a loss in 2020. Porzio said we can manage this deficit because our balance sheet is healthy.
- ASA Treasurer Ruixiao Lu reported on the ASA’s investments. She described the diversity of the investment portfolio. Lu noted it is time to review our contract with our investment adviser and to consider whether to continue with the same adviser. Bids have been received from other companies and will be reviewed by the Investments Committee.
- The board broke into small groups to ponder, over a two-day period, the future of ASA meetings during and after the pandemic. They raised questions and made many suggestions that the staff will consider as meetings are planned for 2021 and beyond.
- As it does annually, the board discussed the status of committees in the Professional Issues and Visibility Council and Education Council. The committee 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 association.
- The board heard updates and reports from several organizations with which we have collaborations or are developing collaborative efforts, including (in the order the board heard the reports):
- Academic Data Science Alliance
- Institute for Mathematical and Statistical Innovation
- Canadian Statistical Sciences Institute
- National Institute of Statistical Sciences
- Sports Analytics Club Program
- Royal Statistical Society
- Adrian Coles and David Marker, co-chairs of the ASA’s Antiracism Task Force, informed the board about the launch of this task force. They reviewed the charge and vision of the task force, including their working definition of antiracism. They outlined the areas of impact they would like to see the committee strive for, their timetable for achieving this impact, and their plan for reporting to the board.
- Martinez, President-elect Rob Santos, and incoming President-elect Kathy Ensor updated the board on the strategic initiatives they are planning or that are in progress. Information about them will appear in Amstat News.
- The board reviewed the report of the ASA’s Strategic Plan Review Committee, which consists of the third-year board members, publications representative, treasurer, and executive director. The committee made recommendations to improve evaluation of ASA initiatives.
- Council of Chapters Representative Ji-Hyun Lee reviewed the JSM-related activities of the council, the activities of the Chapter Status Committee, plans for virtual attendance options at future COC business meetings, and a plan to hold winter meetings of the COCGB in connection with the Conference on Statistical Practice once that becomes feasible (i.e., post-pandemic). She also discussed feedback from Council of Chapters members regarding the holding of its meetings virtually at JSM.
- Council of Sections Representative Katherine Halvorsen reviewed the leadership workshop for council chairs held in late September, the video created to help section treasurers do their jobs, and the completion of a report on factors affecting section membership. She also noted that three sections have updated their charters.
- ASA Director of Science Policy Steve Pierson introduced our new science policy fellow, Jonathan Auerbach. Pierson reported on advocacy efforts of the association, focusing on issues surrounding the 2020 census, the transition to a new administration, technical papers developed by staff, and statistical issues in Supreme Court cases.
- Amanda Malloy, ASA director of development, reviewed the major fundraising challenges we experienced this year. She noted that, nonetheless, people are continuing to donate and we continue to add new donors. Giving Day was again successful, Malloy said, generating many gifts and involving new donors. She asked the board to assist with thank-you notes to be sent to all donors who contributed at least $200 in 2020.
The next regular meeting of the board will be April 14–16, 2021, via videoconference.
2020 Board of Directors
Wendy Martinez, President
Rob Santos, President-Elect
Karen Kafadar, Past President
Katherine Monti, Third-Year Vice President
Richard De Veaux, Second-Year Vice President
Dionne Price, First-Year Vice President
Don Jang, Third-Year Council of Chapters Representative
Anamaria Kazanis, Second-Year Council of Chapters Representative
Ji-Hyun Lee, First-Year Council of Chapters Representative
Katherine Halvorsen, Third-Year Council of Sections Representative
Mark Glickman, Second-Year Council of Sections
Representative
Rebecca Hubbard, First-Year Council of Sections Representative
Alexandra Schmidt, International Representative
Scott Evans, Publications Representative
Ruixiao Lu, Treasurer
Ron Wasserstein, Executive Director and Board Secretary
2021 Board of Directors
Rob Santos, President
Kathy Ensor, President-Elect
Wendy Martinez, Past President
Richard De Veaux, Third-Year Vice President
Dionne Price, Second-Year Vice President
Matilde Sanchez-Kam, First-Year Vice President
Anamaria Kazanis, Third-Year Council of Chapters Representative
Ji-Hyun Lee, Second-Year Council of Chapters Representative
Alexandra Hanlon, First-Year Council of Chapters Representative
Mark Glickman, Third-Year Council of Sections Representative
Rebecca Hubbard, Second-Year Council of Sections Representative
Kate Calder, First-Year Council of Sections Representative
Alexandra Schmidt, International Representative
Bin Nan, Publications Representative
Ruixiao Lu, Treasurer
Ron Wasserstein, Executive Director and Board Secretary
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