Meeting of the General Assembly, Thursday, May 17, 2007, Montréal, Québec, Canada
1. Welcome E Boyko, President
The meeting was called to order at 12:59 with about 190 persons present.
E Boyko expressed thanks to the Local Arrangements Committee, ledt by Anastassia Khouri and Susan Czarnocki, and the Program Committee, led by Suzette Giles and Louise Corti.
He explained that in addition to its constitutional functions, the annual general meeting provides an overview of what the association does, and encouraged newcomers to get involved in its activities.
2. Approval of the minutes of the 2006 Annual General Meeting
MOVED to approve the minutes of the annual general meeting of May 24, 2006. Moved: T Trost; seconded, W. Watkins. CARRIED.
3. Business arising from the minutes
There being none.
4. Reports of Officers
President & Vice-president - E Boyko & M Wright
E Boyko reported that he has intervened very little in the actual running of the association, but has mainly spent his energies on representing the interests of it. M. Wright noted a forthcoming call for proposals for funding of projects that further the objectives of the IASSIST Strategic Plan. Allocated funds in 2006-2007 sent two IASSIST members to the CODATA conference in Beijing.
Treasurer - J Green
J Green thanked the assistant treasurers R Boily and S Macdonald. The association has three sets of accounts in three countries. A diagrammatic overview of the distribution of the funds was presented. The association has 3 times the annual operating budget in the bank, and is in a healthy financial position. As well, the association has some long term investments. Last year’s expenditures were over budget. A large portion of association revenues are from membership fees; these fees are returned to the membership in the form of for example the IASSIST Quarterly and the listserv. The budget for the coming year is balanced.
5. Reports of Regional Secretaries
Asia/Pacific - S Holloway
ASSDA is moving to a distributed model. Currently have opened affiliates operating in Queensland, Sydney, etc. Have also received a large grant to set up historical census statistics for web access. Will also be improving the qualitative archive, and embarking on a pilot project on preservation.
ACSPRI organized the first Australian methodology conference. A National Data Network (NADA) has been formed out of the Australian Statistical Office. New Zealand is organizing a new data archive, in Auckland. The full regional report will be available on the association web site.
Canada - B Wandschneider
The Data Liberation Initiative (DLI) is another year older, and has been focusing on training programs. The full report for the region will be posted on the web site in a week or so. There have been a number of collaborative projects, especially DDI projects, in Canada, some in the form of partnerships between Statistics Canada and academia, especially to do with standards and best practices.
Members were also encouraged to try out the membership database.
Europe - M Kleemola
Reported briefly on highlights: lots of projects and organizational changes - some connections to IASSIST, via ESS and CESSDA. The European Social Survey (ESS) data will be available this autumn. The full report will be made available on the web.
USA – P Baxter
The full report will be made available on the association web server, in English and French. P Baxter recognized Peggy Adams who has been named a fellow of the Society of American Archivists. The Roper Center has received an award from the New York chapter of AAPOR. The Census Bureau has experienced resignations. The Roper Center has been active in the Data-PASS project, as well as in another project with NARA.
Africa - E. Boyko
In the last IASSIST election, no candidate was nominated for African secretariate. In consultation with the African attendees at this conference, the administration is appointing K Kosozi, Ugandan Bureau of Statistics, as the new African secretariate, drawing on the help of Y Seid. The association is looking forward to increased activity in Africa.
6. Reports of Committees
Education Committee – W Watkins
Last year, the Education Committee organized a workshop on statistical literacy. This year the committee has organized a panel on quantitative literacy, the papers from which they are planning on issuing as another themed issue of the IASSIST Quarterly. The committee is also developing training materials on quantitative literacy. The committee also had a presence at a conference on teaching statistics, held in Brazil last summer. Ms Watkins is steppping down as chair, to be succeeded by A Michele Edwards.
E Boyko thanked W Watkins for her work in focusing the Education Committee. The new chair was asked to review the charge of the committee with its members.
International Outreach Committee – P Lackie
Budget last year was US$10,000. The commmittee is now looking for funding from other organizations. An additional US$3,000 was allocated to the Strategic Plan.
Outreach fellows this year: Welch, Woolfrey, Epeh, Kosova. Six people from IHSN network are here. Forty-nine people have now attended since 1996, sponsored by the International Outreach Committee.
Two representatives from IASSIST attended the CODATA conference in Beijing, and will be presenting on their experience in a sesssion tomorrow morning.
Membership Committee – S Giles
The Association had 275 members 2006-2007, and all appear to be here, given the attendance numbers.The Association looks very healthy. Ms Giles expressed thanks for the work done by B Wandschneider, M Wright, J Green, and J Weintrop. The listserv was very active, with 664 postings last year. New members who joined at this conference will be in the database in the next 2 weeks.
S. Giles has been chair since 2000, stepping down to be succeeded by Lois Timms-Ferrara.
Publications Committee – L Neidert
Ms Neidert also stepping down as chair of the Publications Committee. Chair is really only an umbrella role; the important work of the committee is directed by KB Rasmussen, R Rice, and S Cannon.
KB Rasmussen - publication of the IQ is one year behind, but that’s good, because we have been even farther behind. All presenters were urged to submit their presentations.
R Rice - her function is as web site editor, largely a volunteer coordinator role. Highlights of the past year: membership section up to date, posting minutes and new officers, revised flyer. New FAQ for members. Several sections: membership, conferences, working on IQ citations back to beginning, also scanned back issues. Working with the membership database to harvest member institutions web sites. Wants more input from members to share documentation eg training materials, other documentation to share. Site search added to web site. Google analytics provide site use statistics.
E Boyko expressed thanks also to J Weintrop for her work.
7. Reports of Action and Interest Groups
Technology Advisory Action Group - B Block
The new action group is looking for volunteers. Its objective is to look at means to reduce the workload for IASSIST volunteers. Focus of this Action Group will be on applications, those willing to host something on their servers, etc.
Thanks to J Green for her work.
8. Conferences
2008 Palo Alto, Calif - R Nakao
R. Nakao issued an invitation to submit proposals for the California conference. A big push will be made for participatoin from the Pacific Rim and Latin America. S Cannon and E Reid are chairs of the Program Committee. Several local volunteers have been recruited.
2009 Tampere Finland
M Kleemola and T Alaterä chair the Local Arrangements Commiteee. They promise that the sun will be present at all times!
9. Nominations and elections - C Humphrey
Past year had an election, conducted on-line for the second time. One-hundred sixty-two ballots were cast, which represented a 60% turnout, the highest ever. New officers - president: M Wright; vice-president: B Block.
Next time, the election should emphasize self-nomination, and clarify the scope of responsibilities for each of the positions.
10. New Business - M Wright
Ms Wright thanked Ernie Boyko for his service as president over the past years.
11. Motion to adjourn
CARRIED