COMMITTEES
JSM CE Program: How It All Happens
eileen C. King, ACCe Past Chair, and Ronald e. mcRoberts, 2010 ACCe Chair-elect
T
he responsibility of shaping the Continuing Education
(CE) program at JSM each year falls to the nine mem-
bers of the Advisory Committee on Continuing
Causal Inference Course Planned
Education (ACCE). To be representative of the interests of the
for JSM 2010
entire ASA membership, the make-up of the committee is bal-
anced among members from academia, government, and
James Robins and miguel Hernan will present a
industry who have knowledge in various areas of statistical
two-day course on causal inference during Jsm
expertise (e.g., sampling, biostatistics). Gender balance is also
2010 in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.
desired. This attention to balance aids ACCE’s charge to pro- Robins is the mitchell L. and Robin LaFoley
vide a well-rounded CE program covering the range of statisti- Dong Professor of epidemiology at the Harvard
cal topics the committee believes are of interest to the University school of Public Health. the principal
ASA membership.
focus of his research has been the development
The CE program for JSM 2010 will have its beginnings at
of analytic methods appropriate for drawing
the upcoming JSM in Washington, DC, when section pro-
causal inferences from complex observational
gram chairs solicit course proposals from their members. Most
and randomized studies with time-varying
CE course proposals are cosponsored by ASA sections, though
exposures or treatments. Hernan is associate
proposals do not have to be cosponsored and sponsorship has
professor of epidemiology at the Harvard
no bearing on whether the course is accepted. The advantage
University school of Public Health. His research
to a section (or chapter) soliciting course proposals is that
focuses on causal inference for longitudinal data.
courses will be offered on topics of special interest to their
members and they share the revenue, which is used to fund
their own programs.
The deadline for course proposals is late September.
Immediately after the deadline, the course proposals are sent
courses held in seven rooms over four days. It would be coun-
to each member of the ACCE and CE Course Evaluation
terproductive to have two courses on a similar topic on the
Subcommittee for appraisal. Membership on the subcommit-
same day at the same time, so the ACCE works hard to have
tee consists of representatives from the Council of Sections,
courses with similar topics on separate days.
Council of Chapters, Committee on Applied Statisticians,
An identical process is used to select the Computer
and Committee on Career Development. The evaluations
Technology Workshops (CTWs), which occur on the
furnished by each subcommittee member for each course are
Wednesday of JSM. CTW proposals are due in mid-January.
given careful consideration before the ACCE members make
At the conclusion of each course at JSM, evaluations are
their final decisions.
completed by the participants. The evaluations rate the quality
Between the course proposal deadline in late September and
of the instructor(s), quality of the course materials, and overall
the final decision on courses for the CE program in December,
quality of the course. They are then reviewed by the ACCE
the ACCE meets at the ASA office. Here, committee mem-
and used to select the course(s) that receive the Excellence in
bers begin discussing the course proposals received and iden-
CE Award. Instructors receiving the award are asked to pres-
tify statistical topics they believe are of interest to the ASA
ent the course again at the subsequent JSM, and the course
membership but not covered in the proposals received. If the
is recognized as an Excellence in CE Award winner in the
committee determines there will be gaps in the CE program,
JSM Program.
accomplished instructors in the topics not covered by the pro-
Being able to provide JSM attendees with high-quality
posals are identified and asked to present a course.
Continuing Education courses is rewarding. Based on the rise
The number of course proposals received each year has
in CE attendance over the last few years and the positive feed-
been increasing, making the selection process competitive.
back received on evaluation forms, the committee believes it is
Many difficult decisions are made during the committee’s
providing a valuable benefit to ASA members. For more infor-
lengthy teleconference call in early December. When the final
mation about submitting a CE course proposal, visit www.
courses are chosen, the ASA staff liaison contacts those who
amstat.org/meetings/jsm/2009 and click on the Continuing
submitted proposals to let them know whether their proposal
Education tab. n
was accepted.
The next part of the process is to make the CE course
schedule, which can be tricky. Generally, there are 27–30 CE
JUNE 2009 AmstAt News 65
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