Chapter Visitation Request Form
The Chapter Visitation Program is probably one of the most visible means by which ASA shows its support and concern for its Chapters. The visitor is generally the ASA President, Vice President, Executive Director, or a Council of Chapters Governing Board member. The purpose of the visit is to communicate with the Chapters on issues of concern to the Chapter and the Association. The visit is also expected to stimulate and revitalize Chapters by providing a prominent speaker. The visitor subsequently reports his/her perception of the status of the Chapter and identifies areas of strength or weakness.
The objectives will be met with one or more of the following:
- Providing a lecture, at minimum cost to the Chapter, which offers the maximum probability of attracting potential new Chapter members as well as current but inactive Chapter members.
- Providing a discussion format among Chapter members for exchange of information on current ASA issues or policy and Chapter concerns.
- Establishing goals and objectives for the Chapter to attain in the immediate future to improve and maintain the Chapter’s status within the Association, as determined by the Council of Chapters’ evaluation criteria.
Responsibilities of the chapter visitor: Once ASA headquarters has confirmed a Chapter visit, the Chapter visitor shall be responsible for:
- Coordinating travel plans with a Chapter contact person.
- Providing the title and abstract of the lecture along with biographical information to the Chapter contact person in sufficient time to allow adequate publicizing of the visit.
- Requesting that the scheduled visit include a meeting with Chapter officers to discuss specific Chapter concerns.
- Devoting some portion of the lecture to ASA announcements and items of concern to Chapters. Some time should also be allocated for questions and discussion of these issues. Also, the visitor should request and solicit individual comments on possible problems or recommended changes for the Chapter.
- Providing a program that will meet the needs of the Chapter, e.g. technical or non-technical.
Responsibilities of the visited chapter: The Chapter selected for the visitation shall be responsible for:
- Contacting the visitor directly and making specific arrangements for the visit.
- Offering transportation and lodging assistance to the visitor.
- Publicizing the visitation as a Chapter meeting and distributing the announcement to members in the area. ASA will assist the Chapter by identifying ASA members in the area who are not Chapter members.
- Reporting on the Chapter visitation in Amstat News.
Chapter selection criteria: All Chapters shall be eligible to request a visitation by completing the designated Chapter Visitation Request Form which is available at the top of this page. Requests may also be submitted by Vice Chairs for Chapters in their district which are in need of visitation. These requests shall be reviewed by the Council Chair, the Executive Director, and the Chapter Liaison. The Chapters will be ranked according to their need for visitation. The ranking procedure will consider these criteria, ordered according to importance:
- Highest priority consideration shall be given to any Chapter that is in immediate danger of being disbanded, provided that it has been established that there is a need for the continued existence of this Chapter, according to the Vice Chair’s report.
- Chapters that are on probation.
- Chapters that report a large proportion of non-ASA members.
- New Chapters.
- Inactive Chapters or Chapters with large proportions of inactive members.
- Chapters located in areas with high potential for attracting new members.
- The number of Chapters to be visited will be determined by the availability of funds and Chapter visitors.
Visitor selection criteria: Chapter visitors shall be selected by the Executive Director and Chapter Liaison in consultation with the Council of Chapters Governing Board. All officers of the ASA Board of Directors and the Council of Chapters Governing Board shall be candidates for Chapter visitor. The selection criteria will focus on matching a Chapter’s needs with the Chapter visitor’s skills and ability to assist the Chapter.
Chapters in need of attracting new members in an industrial environment might receive a visitation from an officer who can attract industrial statisticians. A Chapter in need of attracting academic statisticians or revitalizing its primarily academic Chapter might require a technical lecture from an officer with a well-established technical reputation. A Chapter in immediate danger of being disbanded would require visitation from an officer with experience in Chapter needs and functions.
Visitation Budget And Expenses: Chapter visitations conducted by members of the ASA Board of Directors or by the Executive Director are funded primarily by the ASA. In addition to that, the Council of Chapters shall recommend a budget for Chapter visitation by the Council of Chapter Governing Board members (usually Vice Chairs) or their agents subject to approval of the ASA Board. The ASA Chapter Liaison shall be responsible for monitoring the distribution of the Chapter visitation funds.
Chapter visitors will be requested to subsidize their expenses whenever possible through the coordination of Chapter visits with other business. Chapters will be encouraged to seek funding sources, for example, through corporate sponsorship, whenever possible. Other methods for optimal use of visitation funds will include geographical considerations when matching Chapter visitors to Chapter requests, scheduling multiple Chapter visits within a given geographical area, and encouraging travel planning sufficiently in advance to take advantage of travel discount rates.