Annual Chapter Report

Purpose

The Annual Chapter Report is funded and carried out by the Council of Chapters. The principal objective is to collect and disseminate information about the status, activities, and needs of ASA Chapters. This information is summarized to provide an overview of the Chapter program and is also utilized in the form of individual Chapter data.

Uses of the data are to:

• Determine the viability of individual Chapters,
• Identify Chapter needs,
• Identify potential issues for workshops and seminars, and
• Provide supporting data for Council of Chapters budgets.

Administrative Structure

The Chair of the Council of Chapters appoints a Report Committee, chaired by a member of the Governing Board, which is responsible for the design, conduct, analysis, and dissemination of results of the Annual Chapter Report. This Subcommittee works in conjunction with staff of the ASA office.

Content and Report Design

The report is designed to collect information from the Chapters on the size and composition of Chapter membership, meetings held, service needs, and utilization of services during the previous calendar year. To maintain comparability in the data from year to year, the questionnaire is changed as little as is necessary. Changes are adopted only if they will enhance the validity of the data or will provide new information needed for Council planning and administration. The Report Subcommittee considers proposals for changes which may originate from members of the  COCGB or Chapter officers. Proposed changes are then submitted to the COCGB for approval.

Annual Chapter Report Distribution, Response, and Follow-up

In December, an initial email request for the online Annual Chapter Report is sent to Chapter Representatives, Chapter Presidents, and Secretaries by the Vice Chairs. Vice Chairs follow-up with a second email in January to non-responding Chapters. Personal contact may be needed for chapters that have not completed the report by February. Because of the turnover of Chapter officers, achievement of maximum response may require a coordinated effort by the Report Subcommittee, the Vice Chairs and ASA staff.

Chapters vary in their method of responding to the report. The person responsible for completing the report is expected to consult with current and previous Chapter officers to assure that information about the membership and programs are accurate, and that suggestions for Council activity reflect a broad consensus.

Data Processing

Data are usually processed at the institution of a Subcommittee member; therefore, procedures and format may vary.

Analysis

The data should be analyzed in a manner that will be most useful in fulfilling the objectives of the report. Statistical analysis is carried out using methodologies appropriate for the data and the questions asked. For most questions, simple descriptive statistics are adequate.

The report is intended to be a complete census and not a sample. Non-response occurs non-randomly and cannot be ignored. Therefore, non-response is a particular problem in presenting results.

The distributions of descriptive variables, by Chapter, provide an overview of the status and characteristics of the ASA's Chapter Program.

Summary Report

One section of the report should be devoted to Chapter-specific information, in which Chapters are identified. The remainder of the report should provide an overview in which Chapters are not identified. Longitudinal information of interest to ASA, such as changes in membership and in the proportion of members who are national members, should be included. Data from previous annual reports can be used for this purpose.

Items relating directly to the budget of the Council of Chapters should be reported in sufficient detail to permit informed budget decisions.

COC Annual Business Meeting

Key results from the previous year's report are presented at the COC Annual Business Meeting at JSM.

Archiving

An archive of at least four years of previous Chapter report responses should be maintained.

Report Timetable