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thoroughly vetted by ASA headquarters, the Publications Office, the Finance Committee and other leadership. The partnership provides stability and greater incentives to both ASA and AIPP as we work collaboratively on marketing and maintaining the prominence of ASA publications. Strengthening ties between the ASA and AIPP will help both of our organizations in the years to come, as there remains much uncertainty regarding the future of scholarly publishing.
Finally, a discussion of ASA finances would be remiss without mention of the Acoustical Society Foundation Fund (ASFF) and the important role it plays in carrying out the mission of the ASA (see bit.ly/AcsSocFoundationFund). The ASFF is overseen by the Acoustical Society Foundation Board, currently chaired by former ASA President James Miller (2018-present). That committee of volunteers is charged primarily with assisting the Executive Council in acquiring, maintaining, and ensuring the correct expenditure of endowment funds. Structural changes have been made over the past few years to ensure that appropriate funds to support awards in the Society are all budgeted within the Foundation Fund.
The Foundation Board has also been leading new fundraising initiatives in support of the strategic goals of the ASA. A major ongoing fundraising effort is currently underway to endow fellowships for developing early- career leaders in our Society, as discussed in my last president’s column (see bit.ly/AT-PresColumn-F18). Please join me and other members of the Executive Council in donating to the Campaign for ASA Early Career Leadership (see bit.ly/ASA-CAECL). All individual and corporate donors will be recognized on the campaign’s website and in a commemorative booklet, to be published at the end of the campaign. Helping to establish these fellowships for early- career leaders in acoustics is one way that we can all be good stewards for the future of our Society.
In summary, ASA finances are in great shape, but we have concerns for the future as publication models change. Accordingly, and in response to the Strategic Leadership for the Future plan, many changes have taken place to help ensure that the ASA continues to enjoy a solid financial base for many years to come. I am very enthusiastic about the current momentum and positive trajectory of the Society with respect to financial stewardship. Thank you to the many members who have served on Executive Council over the past four years for their honest assessments, frank
discussions, and decisive and careful actions with regards to the Society’s finances. There is still more to be done, of course, as future ASA leadership teams explore options for diversifying revenue streams and articulate more clearly the Society’s financial principles, related, for example, to risk management or underwriting the Society’s activities. The ideas of members on these items are welcome, particularly as the ASA is about to enter the next cycle of strategic planning for the coming three to five years.
Finally, I would like to take this opportunity to remind you that I have tried to post regularly on assorted ASA topics to the online “ASA President’s Blog” (see acousticalsociety.org/ asa-presidents-blog) in an effort to keep the ASA membership informed and engaged. If there are questions or areas of particularly interest to you that I haven’t addressed there or in these Acoustics Today columns, please do let me know (president@acousticalsociety.org). I also encourage all of you to become more involved with the Society by volunteering on any of our 41 technical and administrative committees. Please visit acousticalsociety.org/volunteer where you can learn more about these committees and submit a form to express your interest in volunteering.
8 | Acoustics Today | Winter 2018