The Board wrapped up its two-day (Friday and Saturday) meeting and we wrap our look behind the scenes at an ASA Board meeting in today’s blog. The Board spent 6.5 hours with an interesting and at times intense agenda, and still managed to do its work with good grace and even a bit of levity from time to time.
The day began with an update from the American Association of Public Opinion Research (AAPOR), an important partner of the ASA. Rob Santos, President of AAPOR, talked about the diverse membership of AAPOR, about the various collaborations between our two societies, and about his hopes for future collaborative efforts.
A review of the ASA’s finances, an important part of every Board meeting, was next on the agenda. ASA Treasurer Mingxiu Hu reported on the state of the ASA’s investments, reminding the Board about the status of our portfolio and the guidelines under which investments are made. He pointed out that we are in the second longest bull market since 1945, and wondered about its duration. Steve Porzio reviewed the ASA’s 2013 operating results, noting that we’ve done well and are in good shape financially. The Board also accepted the 2013 audit report, congratulating the staff on another clean audit. As it always does, the audit report will appear in Amstat News.
The Member Initiative Program involves a small fund that the Board manages to enable members to explore ideas to advance the association and the profession. The program often allows people to pilot programs that can then be continued through external funding. The Board’s next agenda item was to review the five varied and interesting proposals it received this year. The Board approved funding for all five.
President-elect David Morganstein led the Board through a discussion of four ideas he is considering for as strategic initiatives of the ASA. This annual discussion of possible future steps for the association is a part of the ASA’s strategic planning process. Morganstein will take the considerable, thoughtful feedback he received from the Board to sharpen these ideas and begin the process of testing them for feasibility.
Next up for Board consideration were two ideas for supporting undergraduate education in statistics. At the suggestion of the organizers of DataFest, the ASA will explore becoming the national headquarters for this undergraduate competition aimed at introducing students to the excitement of our profession, emphasizing the art of telling a story with data. In addition, the ASA will soon be sponsoring student chapters at universities, providing the opportunity for students to form statistics clubs to network, encourage, and support each other.
ASA Director of Programs Lynn Palmer, President Nat Schenker, and Past President Marie Davidian updated the Board on the ASA’s activities related to data science and big data. A three-pronged effort is under way. A task force is looking at enhancements to the graduate statistics curriculum to prepare students for careers in the age of big data. The ASA is developing educational offerings for JSM and the Conference on Statistical Practice to help members similarly develop new skills. A short course in text mining is one example. The third prong is the key component: a series of meetings with leaders in data science and analytics to better understand these areas of statistical practice, which of course informs the other two aspects of this strategic initiative.
The day, and the Board meeting, ended with a lively discussion about whether the ASA should develop a statement, aimed at non-statisticians, on the proper use of the p-value. A process for considering the nature of such a statement and its potential value was developed and will be acted on in preparation for further discussion at JSM.
By about 3pm, the Board meeting ended, and Board members returned to their homes and work in Virginia, Maryland, New York, North Carolina, California, Texas, Illinois, Iowa, Pennsylvania, Massachusetts, and Taiwan.
This series of blogs end the way they began – with an encouragement for you to vote in the on-going ASA elections. You’ve seen how hard these ASA leaders work and their level of commitment to the success of the ASA and the statistics profession. The decisions they make have a lasting impact on the future of our 175 year old, growing association. Please exercise your privilege to vote.
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.