The ASA Board of Directors met during JSM 2025 to approve key actions, receive financial and program updates, and discuss initiatives ranging from future JSM sites to strengthening community engagement and mentoring.
Budget
State of the Workforce Data Infrastructure
In the latest feature examining the state of the US data infrastructure, the Count on Stats team spoke with three experts on the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS). Katharine Abraham was BLS commissioner from 1993–2001, and Erica Groshen was BLS commissioner from 2013–2017. Ken Poole is the chief executive officer of the Center for Regional Economic Competitiveness and longtime and widely recognized leader in the BLS data user community.
State of the Education Data Infrastructure: What Three Experts Have to Say About the National Center for Education Statistics
For the state of the data infrastructure series, the ASA Count on Stats team spoke with three experts on the National Center for Education Statistics: James L. Woodworth, Jack Buckley, and Felice J. Levine.
Biden Administration’s First Budget Request Favors NIH, NSF; Flat Funds Education, Energy, Health, Justice Statistics
The Biden administration’s fiscal year 2022 (FY22) budget request sends a strong signal for its support of research funding, proposing 20 percent increases for the National Institutes of Health and National Science Foundation. Many of the federal statistical agencies also see strong support through increases of 5–10 percent.
ASA, COPAFS, Partners Urge Bolstering of Federal Statistical Agencies
Federal statistics have undergirded our democracy, society, and economy since the nation’s founding. Even as their importance has increased over the centuries—especially recently with the focus on evidence-based policymaking—the agencies producing the data have been neglected, lost important autonomy and statutory protections, and been pushed deeper into the federal bureaucracy.
FY21 Federal Budget Finalized
![Figure 1 shows the budgets of the seven mid-sized statistical agencies normalized to their FY09 levels, along with the GDP deflator to account for inflation. Budget restructuring for ERS in FY15 and ORES in FY19 are accounted for in the graph to allow for comparison over this time period. One-time moving costs in FY16 for BEA are also omitted. [Key: BEA, Bureau of Economic Analysis; BJS, Bureau of Justice Statistics; BTS, Bureau of Transportation Statistics; ERS, USDA Economic Research Service; NCSES, NSF National Center for Science and Engineering Statistics; ORES, Social Security Administration Office of Research, Evaluation, and Statistics; SOI, IRS Statistics of Income Division]](https://magazine.amstat.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/FY_Figure1_-150x150.jpg)
The NIH, NSF, and several federal statistical agencies received increases, but many are facing fiscal challenges after years of purchasing power loss.
Highlights of the November 18–20, 2020, ASA Board of Directors Meeting
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.
Highlights of the July 28–30, 2020, ASA Board of Directors Meeting
The ASA Board held their meeting in early August via videoconference. The highlights included discussion of the Constitution and Bylaws Review Task Force and 2021 ASA Budget.
Highlights of the April 2020 Board of Directors Meeting
The ASA Board held its first meeting of 2020 in April via videoconference. The highlights of the board meeting included discussion of the ASA’s role in the COVID-19 pandemic and strategic initiatives for 2020.
Highlights of the November 2019 ASA Board of Directors Meeting
ASA President Karen Kafadar convened the final ASA Board meeting of 2019 at the ASA headquarters November 22–23. The 2019 Board of Directors were joined by the incoming 2020 board members.