Page 10 - 2016Summer

From the Executive Director
Continued from previous page
and Saturday, May 27-28, 2016. The goal of the workshop was to help develop leadership and networking skills for early career professionals in the field of acoustics. The work- shop provided an opportunity for attendees to connect and socialize with fellow early career acousticians, expand lead- ership and networking skills, learn more about the Society, and contribute to the future of ASA. It featured a keynote speech by Gregory B. Northcraft, Harry J. Gray Professor of Executive Leadership in the Department of Business Ad- ministration at the University of Illinois. The response rate for the retreat exceeded expectations and as of this writing more than 40 people are expected to attend.
To properly engage members, it is important that we first better understand the makeup of the current membership. Another initiative of the Goal 2 Task Force is to analyze ASA membership data to determine what information is current- ly available and what information ASA needs in order to best position the Society toward understanding future trends, challenges, and opportunities within our demographic.
Goal 3: Dissemination of Information and Knowledge
(James Lynch, Chief Champion)
Last fall, the ASA Executive Council approved funds to hire a full-time Managing Editor for the Publications Program. Mary Guillemette, Publications Manager, James Lynch, Edi- tor in Chief, and Helen Murray, POMA Manuscript Man- ager and AT Coordinator, conducted a search, with the suc- cessful conclusion in the hire of Elizabeth Bury. Ms. Bury comes to the position with over eight years of experience in a scientific journal editing office, the last four of which she served as Associate Managing Editor.
This position will oversee the entire submission, review, and transmittal workflow for JASA, including guiding imple- mentation of new features and helping to resolve process and technical issues. Ms. Bury has had much experience working with the Editorial Manager system and will help train the publications staff in its use and capabilities as well as assist authors, handling editors, and reviewers in negoti- ating the system. The hiring of additional full-time staff for the Publications Office is a significant step forward in our journal operations and we look forward to benefitting from Ms. Bury’s expertise.
The Publications Program also successfully transitioned all three journals' (JASA, JASA EL and POMA) peer review system from PeerXpress (PXP) to Editorial Manager (EM), resulting in better control of the submission system and al- lowed for the development of new options in the process.
Further, the Publications Program instituted important ini- tiatives such as “Gold” open access, Publish-Ahead-of-Print (PAP), video and sound multimedia files, and supplemen- tary material file archiving for the Journal.
Goal 4: Financial Stewardship
(David Feit, Chief Champion)
The Task Force for Goal 4 is in the process of addressing two actions: one, creating a clear charge to establish a Finance Committee and two, analyzing ASA operations and financ- es to assess the need for a new business model to guide the Society into the strongest position in terms of income, sub- sidies, reserves, and fiscal transparency. Once these issues are addressed, plans are in place to hire a full-time Finance Manager to help ASA achieve its fiscal goals as guided by the Treasurer and the Executive Council.
Conclusion
These, of course, are not the only activities to be generated in each of the four goal areas. Nonetheless, these are indicative of the amount of energy, focus, and commitment that ex- ists among members and leadership to work collaboratively toward our core purpose to increase and diffuse the knowl- edge of acoustics and its practical applications.
This is both a five- and ten-year plan. The fact that so much energy released in just the early months of the plan demon- strates that this will not be one to sit on the shelf and that this, in fact, will be a plan with a number of demonstrable outcomes, resulting in an even stronger, more resilient, and nimble ASA.
Membership in any of the four goal task force groups is open, and we welcome your ideas and especially your participa- tion. I encourage your involvement. There’s great enthusi- asm behind the Strategic Leadership for the Future Plan and much ambitious, creative thinking about how to bring these goals to fruition. Your voice is important and valued as we move forward.
Other opportunities exist for participation. Between meet- ings, the task force groups meet via conference calls. Let me or any of the Chief Champions know of your interest and we will add you to the task force. We also welcome suggestions, thoughts, and ideas related to the goals that you can relay in more informal ways. What’s most important is that moving ASA forward is a collective enterprise, and there are many ways to let a 1,000 flowers bloom.
I hope that you will join us.
8 | Acoustics Today | Summer 2016