Today was the first day of the ASA’s two-day Spring meeting. I’ll paint a picture of the day’s events, as we continue our series that takes you behind the scenes and on the set of an ASA Board of Directors meeting. Tuesday's blog provided an overview of the Board and its meetings. Wednesday's we looked at the preparations for the meeting, and yesterday we looked other things we ask Board members to do while they are in the DC area for the Board meeting. Now, however, the main event has begun.
The Board meeting takes place in the first floor conference room at the ASA HQ on North Washington Street in Alexandria, VA. Washington Street is the part of the George Washington Memorial Parkway, so if you have ever landed at Washington National Airport, you were just four miles or so north of the ASA Office.
Sixteen Board members plus five staff plus any guests crowd around a U-shaped set of tables. Having arrived at the ASA HQ around 7:30am and had breakfast, Board members take their places, designated by table tents, at about 8:30am. Each attendee is connected to the Internet through a laptop or mobile device, as all Board materials are distributed electronically. At the head of the U are screens that display slides that indicate the current topic and provide additional information. At the start of today’s meeting, a slide reminding us that “Statisticians bring integrity to the processes and data that fuel innovation and have real impact on our world” welcomed Board members to the meeting.
President Nat Schenker gaveled the meeting to order. Attendees introduced themselves, and we welcomed a special guest, Rob Santos, representing the American Association of Public Opinion Research (AAPOR). Rob is AAPOR’s President. Guests from the leadership of other organizations are a frequent occurrence at the ASA Board meetings. Their presence helps us stay connected with important partner societies.
After minutes were approved and other preliminaries addressed, the Board got down to business. Items on the Board’s agenda are carefully selected based on two overarching criteria: (1) Are they connected to the ASA’s Strategic Plan? (2) Are they “policy-level” items? (That is, they should be at the level requiring Board decisions or discussion, and not down-in-the-weeds operational details.)
The first regular agenda item was a perfect example of that. The Board considered an official ASA statement on the proper use of value-add models (VAMs) in education. The Board felt it important to make a statement encouraging good use of statistics and statisticians in this matter that impacts the future of K-12 education in the use. Policy statements relate specifically to increasing the visibility of the profession, an ASA strategic objective, and must be made at the Board level.
After that, the meeting rolled on through three important and intense discussions, all of which you will hear more about in this blog space and in the pages of Amstat News over the next few months. The Board discussed recommendations from a professional consulting firm regarding the national public relations campaign we are launching in this 175th anniversary year to reach high school and college students with information about careers in our profession. The Board also heard recommendations from another expert team about enhancing the ASA’s development/fundraising capacity, and then was deeply impressed with the progress being made by three groups of volunteers working specific initiatives launched by President Schenker. The work day wrapped up eight hours after it started, with a thorough discussion about the activities of committees in the ASA’s Membership Council and a discussion about the process for appointing future committee members.
We devote Friday evenings of each of the two-day Board meetings to a social activity. It is important that Board members have the opportunity to interact with one another socially as well as professionally, since we work so closely and actively together. This time, we are heading to an Asian restaurant in DC for a great meal and a good time getting to know one another, then we will walk a few blocks to see a theater production. By about 10:30pm, a tired but happy group of volunteers will be heading back to their rooms at a nearby hotel to rest up for 6.5 hours of meetings tomorrow.
In 2014, the American Statistical Association is celebrating its 175th anniversary. Over the course of this year, this blog will highlight aspects of that celebration, and look broadly at the ASA and its activities. Please contact ASA Executive Director Ron Wasserstein (ron@amstat.org) if you would like to post an entry to this blog.