The 2014 Winter Policy Council Meeting

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These reports were presented at the 2014 Winter Policy Council Meeting and are listed alphabetically by the last name of the reporter. Reports are Acrobat (.pdf) files and can be read using Acrobat Reader available from http://www.adobe.com. Supporting material may be provided.

Andersen, David   VP Finance Report   (This report is based on two financial reports developed each year by the Society's home office staff: (1) Revenue & Expense, 2013 & 2012 Comparison, and (2) Balance Sheet, 2013 & 2012 Comparison. A full report with more detailed reports will be presented at the July Policy Council meeting.) Report

Anderson, Edward   Agenda for PC Meeting   (Please find attached the agenda for the March 6, 2014 Policy Council Meeting.) Report

Anderson, Edward   The Strategy Committee Report   (♦TASKS COMPLETED IN 2013♦ (1) Significant progress in addressing the neglect of regions outside North America/Europe. (2) Creation of VP's for (a) marketing and communications and (b) professional practice. (3) Peter Hovmand and Kenneth Cooper were appointed, respectively, to the two vice presidencies listed above. ♦TASKS TO BE COMPLETED IN 2014♦ (1) Monitor and support the activities in the two areas described above. (2) Reassess the Asia-Pacific region outreach in light of recent activity there. ♦POSSIBLE OBSTACLES FOR 2014♦ (1) Low member participation in promoting their own professional interests through (a) Chapter and SIG events and (b) submitting practitioner success cases.)

Anderson, Edward   Practitioner Issues Arranged by Cluster from ISDC Practitioner's Roundtable   (Practitioner Issues arranged by cluster at ISDC Practitioner’s Roundtable - July 24, 2013Answers to question: “What can the Society do to support practitioners?”) Report

Armenia, Stefano   SYDIC Workshop Report   (This is the report for the first SYDIC (Italian Chapter) Workshop, that was partially funded by the Society's Development Fund. ) Report Supporting

Cavana, Robert   Japan Chapter / Asia-Pacific Conference   (Asia-Pacific SD Conference was successfully finished on 24 February. Thanks to many prominent plenary speakers, attractive presentations, and informative workshops, the conference gathered over 95 people from more than 20 countries. It was great honor for Japan Chapter to host it. Seven plenary sessions had plenty of information; therefore, audience could learn authentic modeling processes and analysis attitudes. This must stimulate use of SD and improve study and practice quality in the Asia Pacific region. Parallel sessions presented many practical use of SD. Asia Pacific countries have various cultural and political background. However, all participants enjoyed frank discussion and stimulated thinking of each other. Workshops had many participants. This shows that many people are eager to learn modelling techniques and skills in this area. Frequent participants of international SD related conferences could find new research topics from various presentations and prospective colleagues from Asia pacific region. And, for non-frequent members or newcomers, it was great chance to meet the first class professors and practitioners directly. It had undoubtedly significant meaning to hold this conference. Promoting communication between various background people can promote understanding serious problems in the world; then, SD can help make the world better.) Report

Eberlein, Robert   VP Electronic Presence Annual Report   (Lots of ongoing maintenance and development work for the website and web portal. We have pretty decent tools in place to support members, Chapters, SIGS and the conference.) Report

Eberlein, Robert   Conference Scholarship Committee Report    (We try to provide 10 scholarships each conference. Scholarships consist of a waiver of conference registration fee and some help with hotel rooms for the four conference nights. The rooms in the US are provided by the hotel as part of the negotiated package of one free room for a number of rooms booked (around 20-25). In Europe we usually make a small sum (approximately 100 Euros) available to help defray accommodation costs other finances permitting. Scholarships are both merit and need based and the hope is to give promising people just a little extra so they can make it to the conference. While not a high profile activity, the scholarships are appreciated and do help some people attend.)

Eberlein, Robert   Report of the ad-hoc committee on language standards   (This committee has not been active, so the reports is mostly a brief update of the activities of the OASIS XMILE Technical Committee along with a request for volunteers to represent the Society on that Technical Committee.) Report

Ford, David   Nominating Committee Report   (Please see full report by Ford, David "Nominating Committee Report.") Report

Hovmand, Peter   Diversity Committee Report   (This report provides an overview of the System Dynamics Society demographics for 2012 and 2013 membership and Diversity Committee activities. Due to a change of the reporting moment from the summer to the winter policy council, this report includes two years instead of one year. Total membership increased from 1125 members in 2011 to 1159 in 2013. Overall, the reporting of demographic information remained high at 89%. Statistics that the percentage of women is slightly declining since 2011 and with 16.4% nearly back at the level of 2008, while the age distribution has remained relatively stable. After a small drop, student membership appears to be declining from a peak of 21.3% in 2007 to 17.9% in 2013. The Diversity Committee foresees in the institution of confidential persons as of next conference.) Report

Hovmand, Peter   VP Marketing and Communications Report   (The report describes four main areas of focus: 1) improving perception of SDS, 2) understanding the story telling better that attracts and keeps people interested in SD, 3) improving regional and global communication of SD related activities, and 4) connecting and strengthening connections between existing networks. Although the there is interest and some support for increasing publicity and visibility of SDS, the recommendation is to initially focus on building a team to support communications and marketing for the SDS, and preparing membership at all levels to communicate in peer and regional networks about SD. ) Report

Malczynski, Leonard   Report VP Meetings   (Report of accomplishments, plans, and open issues from the VP Meetings.) Report

Malczynski, Leonard   Report of the Society Program Oversight Committee Winter 2014   (SPOC activities in 2013 and early 2014: SPOC membership, program chairs, ICSDS proceedings publishing.) Report

Moxnes, Erling   Awards Committee Report   (Khalid Saeed stepped down as chair and member of the Awards Committee. Thanks for many years of excellent work. Brad Morrison filled the vacancy and Erling Moxnes took over the chair. John Sterman accepted to serve for another term in the JWF Awards Committee. Thanks to Peter Milling for many years of excellent work for JWF Awards Committee. The vacancy was filled by Kim Thompson. The amount awarded for the Dana Meadows Award was increased from $1200 to $1500. Currently, there are no urgent tasks to be completed in 2014. All committees work well and the Society homepage for awards is now in very good shape. )

Pruyt, Erik   Progress Report regarding the System Dynamics Summer School   (A 3-day System Dynamics Summer School will be hosted at the venue of the International System Dynamics Conference right before the start of the conference (July 16-18 2014, Delft). This report provides some background information regarding the summer school set-up, the teaching team and participants to date. ) Report

Rahn, R. Joel   Dana Meadows Award Committee Report for 2013   (Announcing the winner and honorable mention papers and authors for the Cambridge 2013 Conference. Changes in the membership.) Report

Richardson, George   Draft note on conference proceedings   (Draft note on conference proceedings. Draft note on conference proceedings. Draft note on conference proceedings. Draft note on conference proceedings. Draft note on conference proceedings. Draft note on conference proceedings. Draft note on conference proceedings. Draft note on conference proceedings. Draft note on conference proceedings. Draft note on conference proceedings. )

Richardson, George   VP Publications report outline   (Publications VP Report Outline Meeting of the Policy Council of the System Dynamics Society 6 March 2014 • Membership of the Publications Committee • Executive Editor’s notes • Graham Russell’s, Wiley-Blackwell, notes • Conference Proceedings Proposal draft) Report Supporting

Rouwette, Etiënne   Survey results ISDC 2013 Cambridge   (Reactions to the survey of participants in the ISDC 2013 Cambridge) Report

Rouwette, Etiënne   Report VP Membership   (Since the 2013 Summer Policy Council Meeting there are two initiatives to report on: 1. the development of a proposal for corporate membership of the SD Society; 2. the case repository. ) Report Supporting

Schaffernicht, Martin   VP Chapter Activities Report   (Please find the current VP Chapter Activities report ) Report Supporting

Schaffernicht, Martin   Supplementary material for recognition of the Africa Regional Chapter   (This is to supplement the motion to recognize a new group of dynamisists from a variety of African countries (Kenya, Ghana, Uganda, Nigeria, Egypt) to be recognized as the "Africa Regional Chapter". They are proposing a Chapter Constitution which has been along the SDS's guidelines, they have an initial Policy Council with representatives for the different regions of Africa, and a total of 18 founding members who are SDS members.) Report Supporting

Spencer, Roberta   2015 Conference Report, Cambridge, MA prepared for the Winter Policy Council Meeting    (The System Dynamics Society has signed a contract with the Hyatt Cambridge. The dates of the 2015 conference will be July 19 - 23, 2015. Room rates are available 7/17/2015 Friday - 7/25/2015; double occupancy: $199.00. Our guaranteed guest room minimum is the same as it was in 2013 (824 guest room nights). )

Spencer, Roberta   Winter Policy Council Meeting Details   (The 2014 Winter Policy Council Meeting is scheduled for March 6, 2014. The snow date is March 7. We expect to hold the meeting in Cambridge, Massachusetts. More information will follow.)

Spencer, Roberta   2014 Conference Report - Delft, the Netherlands   (All conference planning is progressing splendidly. ) Report Supporting

Spencer, Roberta   2013 Conference Report, Cambridge, MA prepared for the Winter Policy Council Meeting   (2013 Conference Report, Cambridge, MA, prepared for the Winter Policy Council Meeting) Report

Spencer, Roberta   Executive Director's Winter Report to Policy Council   (A full Annual Report on Home Office Operations for the FYE 2013 will be presented at the Summer Policy Council meeting at the Delft conference. Below, please find bulleted items on Conferences, Membership Services and Recruitment, Sales, Society Sponsorship, Website, Allocation of Effort, and Finances. All statistics are early estimates and financial numbers are pre-CPA review; they are subject to change.) Report

Warren, Kim   Report of the Strategy Committee   (Attached is the report of the Strategy Committee. It takes the form of update-comments added to the full strategy report submitted to the Jan 2013 PC meeting. Don't worry, you don't have to read the whole thing again! - just the highlighted text in the Executive Summary. The report also appends the topics summarised from the Summer 2013 meeting by Etiënne Rouwette and Inge Bleijenbergh [thanks to you both]. Ed Andersen is considering a suggestion that we use part of the Summer 2014 meeting for VPs to lead work on implementation planning, based on that work. Kind regards - Kim) Report



System Dynamics Society
Updated: March 31, 2014.