in related areas and designated board members.
Councils also will assist committees in working
with each other on issues of common interest and
in recommending actions to the board. The past
president will chair the Council for Awards, and
vice presidents will chair the councils for education,
membership, and professional issues and visibility.
The Council for Awards will be responsible for
making recommendations to the board on all mat-
ters relative to awards and awards policy, including
consideration of new awards and the consolidation
or elimination of awards.
The Council for Education will comprise—
along with education committee chairs—represen-
Current and new committee reporting structures
tatives from the Section on Statistical Education,
experience, and—above all—the commitment of
the Section on Teaching of Statistics in the Health
ASA members to accomplish long-term goals and
Sciences, and the ASA Education Department staff.
activities. In contrast to chapters and sections, which
This council will provide guidance to the board
serve the interest fields and local needs of members,
regarding statistics education issues, and it will pro-
committees are intended to function as arms of the
vide structure and processes through which initia-
Board of Directors. While governing boards sup-
tives, policies, and directions in statistics education
port chapters and sections, the Board of Directors
can be identified and realized.
is directly responsible for creating and dissolving
The Council for Membership will comprise com-
committees, providing governance and direction for
mittees that can support the membership growth
committees, and communicating with committees
area of the Strategic Plan in a broad sense by identi-
and acting on their recommendations.
fying ways to meet the needs of underserved groups
For many years, the Committee on Committees
(such as applied statisticians and young statisticians),
has been the administrative interface between the
considering ways to build and retain membership in
board and committees, but it cannot provide over-
traditional sectors of the ASA, and serving the needs
sight for committees because it lacks the decision-
of minority groups within the ASA.
making authority of the board. In the current com-
The Council for Professional Issues and Visibility
mittee reporting structure, two bureaucratic layers
will comprise committees that build visibility and sup-
distance committees from the board (see figure
port for the statistics profession and promote the use
above). Committee chairs have no direct contact
of statistics in other fields. Within the Strategic Plan,
with the board, reporting through liaison mem-
this council can support the areas of public awareness
bers of the Committee on Committees. The three
and visibility and impact in policymaking.
ASA vice presidents serve as liaisons between the
As council chairs, vice presidents will maintain
Committee on Committees and the board, but have
contact with committee chairs, lead high-level dis-
no direct responsibility for committees. The board
cussions at council meetings, and give annual pre-
receives a summary report from the Committee on
sentations to the board that describe committee
Committees at most of its meetings, and it occasion-
activities and provide recommendations that require
ally hears reports from individual committee chairs.
board action. Vice presidents will not be expected
These layers make it difficult for the board to turn
to be experts in the council areas, nor will they be
to committees for strategic work and decide which
elected on that basis. On the other hand, council
committees should be dissolved or combined.
vice chairs will be appointed on the basis of signifi-
cant domain experience.
Key Changes
The second major change is creation of a lead-
ership support council (LSC), which will advise
The workgroup’s recommendations eliminate these
the board on the strategic use of committees. The
extra layers through two major changes that will
LSC will be chaired by the president-elect. Four
occur in January 2010, assuming approval of the
appointed members of the LSC will advise the
bylaw changes in December. The first is creation of
president-elect on committee appointments and
committee councils for awards, education, mem-
assist the vice presidents and past president by serv-
bership, and professional issues and visibility. These
ing as vice chairs of the committee councils. The
councils are not new committees, much less another
vice presidents and the past president also will serve
layer of bureaucracy. Instead, councils will facilitate
on the LSC. The LSC is a new committee that will
board oversight of committees by providing regular,
continue the function of the current Committee
direct communication between committee chairs
4 AMSTAT NEwS SEPTEMbER 2009
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