The ASA is asking the government not to include scientific and statistical jobs in a new rule that could make it easier to fire federal workers, saying these roles should stay separate from politics so the public can trust the data and decisions based on it.
Policymaking
ASA Recommends Five Policy Actions to White House AI Panel
In response to the White House’s Request for Information on the Development of an Artificial Intelligence Action Plan, the ASA’s Scientific and Public Affairs Advisory Committee and the Committee on Data Science and Artificial Intelligence orchestrated the ASA’s submission highlighting the essential role of statistical science in developing, optimizing, and evaluating AI systems.
ASA, GMU Team on Project to Assess Health of Federal Statistical Agencies
Recently, a grant from the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation funded a collaboration between the American Statistical Association and George Mason University to assess the health of the federal statistical agencies. A team made up of ASA members will begin reporting their assessment in the first quarter of 2024, with updates annually thereafter.
Donations Help ASA’s Work, Affect National Interests
The ASA’s director of development, Amanda Malloy, shares how the ASA has been investing in statistics and data science education and inspiring students to pursue careers in STEM.
Applications for ASA Science Policy Fellowship Wanted
The ASA seeks applications for its fall of 2023 science policy fellowship. A one- to two-year position, the fellow will be based at the ASA headquarters in Alexandria, Virginia; however, they will spend much of their time in Washington, DC, advocating for statistics and experiencing first-hand how federal science policy is formed.
ASA Members Show Up Despite Challenges
Although much has changed since the pandemic began, ASA members contributed more than $280,000 in support of ASA programs.
Giving Power to the People Via Community Engagement
Rob Santos values and seeks alternative perspectives—be they in statistical studies, project management, leadership decision-making, or even career development—because different perspectives can lead to vastly different interpretations, and all interpretations can contribute to a dialog that leads to insight.
Applications Sought for ASA Science Policy Fellowship
A one- to two-year position, the fellow will be based at the ASA headquarters in Alexandria, Virginia; however, they will spend much of their time in Washington, DC, advocating for statistics and experiencing first-hand how federal science policy is formed.
Advocating for the Federal Data Infrastructure: What, Why, When, and How
ASA Science Policy Fellow Daniel Elchert helps answer the question: What is our federal data infrastructure, and when and how might statisticians go about advocating for this system as a means to leverage data for the public good?
Twelve Years of ASA Science Policy: Highlighting the Scope and Breadth
The ASA’s science policy activity has covered a variety of topics since the creation of the ASA’s science policy staff position 12 years ago. The responsibilities of the position are to raise the profile of statistics and statisticians in policymaking and to advocate for the interests of statisticians.