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From the President and Executive Director
Christy K. Holland and Susan E. Fox
On November 6, 2015 the Executive Council of the Acousti- cal Society of America approved the Strategic Leadership for the Future Plan.
Both an aspirational and outcome-focused planning docu- ment, it is a five-year scheme that sharpens the Society’s goals and objectives that support our core purpose to gener- ate, disseminate, and promote the knowledge and practical applications of acoustics.
Shown in the “At a Glance” figure on right are the four over- arching goals: Awareness of Acoustics, Member Engagement and Diversity, Dissemination of Information and Knowl- edge, and Financial Stewardship. The Executive Council as- signed a chief champion to each goal. These four individuals will work with membership to insure concrete outcomes as articulated in the goal’s objectives and metrics for success. Importantly, the Executive Council insured 2016 budget placeholder funding for each goal, ranging from $50,000 to $100,000.
Over 40 highly engaged volunteer members attended an implementation champions meeting held during the ASA fall meeting in Jacksonville, Florida and discussed desired achievements for each goal. Breakout groups identified spe- cific action items and a plan for execution addressing which committees and who should be involved, resources needed, specific metrics of success, and a deadline for achieving de- sired results.
Even at this very early stage of implementation there are al- ready successful outcomes that can be attributed to the Stra- tegic Leadership for the Future Plan. These represent just the beginning of a set of objectives articulated to provide a course of action over the next five years.
Goal 1: Awareness of Acoustics
ASA engages and informs members of industry, educational institutions, government agencies, and consumers to recognize important scientific acoustics contributions.
PURPOSE AND GOALS AT A GLANCE
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Awareness
of Acoustics
ASA engages and informs consumers,
members of industry, educational institutions, and government agencies
to recognize important scientific acoustics contributions.
Champion: MichaelR.Stinson
Member Engagement and Diversity
ASA membership reflects societal
diversity and the evolving multi-disciplinarity of acoustics, ensuring its continued relevance to academics, industry, government and practitioners across the globe and engaging acousticians throughout their entire careers. Champion: LilyM.Wang
ASA’s Purpose
The purpose of the Society is to generate, disseminate, and promote the knowledge and practical applications of acoustics.
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Dissemination
of Information and Knowledge
ASA disseminates acoustics information
and knowledge to a broad audience using the most effective means.
Champion: James F. Lynch
Financial Stewardship
ASA engages in wise, strategic steward- ship to ensure sufficient resources to deliver maximum value both now and
in the future. Champion: David Feit
• Contracted a social media expert to help expand ASA’s pres- ence on Twitter, Facebook and other social media platforms. As a result, ASA’s exposure on Twitter, for example, rose from 746 followers six months ago to 1,450 followers today.
Goal 2: Member Engagement and Diversity
ASA membership reflects society diversity and the evolving multi-disciplinarity of acoustics, ensuring its continued rel- evance to academics, industry, government, and practitioners across the globe and engaging acousticians throughout their entire careers.
• Initiated a series of web broadcasts of ASA meeting special sessions, first initiated with the fall meeting in Jackson- ville this past November. As a pilot test ASA organized the broadcast of seven sessions and one Technical Committee meeting, without charge and with open enrollment. Web attendance of the technical sessions totaled 270 individu- als and another 53 members attended the Noise technical committee meeting over the web. ASA will refine session streaming at future meetings and expand this method of member engagement and outreach. Continued on page 10
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