President Waite opened a discussion of an expansion of services for PAA members, which would include more electronic communication and products. She formed an ad hoc committee, chaired by David Lam, to provide oversight for the development and coordination of electronic communication and services provided by the PAA (see related story on page 3). The primary aim will be to speed up the delivery of announcements and publications. The expansion of the annual meeting has also increased the need for additional software to improve the preparation of the program. Discussion among the Board members about such software concluded the issue of new services.
Ken Hill, chair of the finance committee, reported on the financial health of the organization. The deficit proved lower than expected because of increased membership and charitable contributions. The actual deficit for 1994 was approximately $36,000, which was down substantially from the 1993 deficit of $88,000. Added personnel costs and additional expenses from the Miami meetings cancelled out some of the added benefit of the successful membership campaign. Projected deficits for 1995 are $10,000. Because of higher costs due to the relocation of the office and the purchase of new computer equipment, the Finance Committee recommended changes in meeting registration fees and an increase in membership fees. The Board passed a motion to increase the annual meeting registration fees by $5 for regular members, pro rated for students, and an increase in annual dues for 1996 by $5 for everyone. In conclusion, the Finance Committee suggested that past President Udry's campaign for one-time contributions be institutionalized into a development fund for PAA members.
Jeff Evans, Secretary-Treasurer of the PAA, also delivered his biannual report. He discussed the changes in personnel and plans for moving the Business Office to suburban Maryland in the summer of 1995.
The remainder of the morning session included a discussion of the current meetings and those scheduled for New Orleans next year. The Board had an extended discussion of the new meeting format with some members voicing concern about the quality and organization of the meeting. Areas of concern included the quality of the papers and presenters as well as the size of the audience for so many concurrent sessions. On balance, the Board made no recommendations for changing the direction of the meeting structure other than to improve the organization of the program and software. Additional topics for the morning session included approval of Linda Gage's request to fold the Subcommittee on Census 2000 back into COPS and tabling a decision pending further clarification on the ethics statement prepared by the Ethics Committee, chaired by Jill Grigsby.
During the afternoon session, Anne-Harrison-Clark, of the Public Affairs Office discussed the large changes that occurred following the last election and what is ahead for funding for demographic research. Other issues included a recommendation to reword, pending clarification from the original documentation, the Dorothy S. Thomas Award to encourage all outstanding graduate student papers to be submitted for consideration and an approved expansion of the Membership Committee to institutionalize the successes of the membership drive from the previous year.
The final presentation of the day was from Mary Kritz, who chairs the International Outreach program. The program was very successful in identifying and funding foreign scholars to attend meetings using funds from grants received by the PAA. Mary Kritz stepped down as chair of the committee because of the large administrative burden involved in coordinating the program. The Board recommended additional funds for administration of the international outreach program. The meeting adjourned at 4:20 P.M.
The next meeting of the Board of Directors will be Friday October 27, 1995 in Washington, D.C.