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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 Report of VP Finance for February PC Meeting (Summary: This abbreviated report is based on two financial reports developed each year by the Society's home office staff: (1) Revenue & Expense, 2014 & 2013 Comparison, and (2) Balance Sheet, 2014 & 2013 Comparison. A full report with more detailed reports will be presented at the July Policy Council meeting. I predict that when everything is properly accounted for the Society will close out 2014 with an overall loss in Net Ordinary Income. Our Net Income will still be positive, but less than in 2013. My full report gives more detail and reviews several on-going streams of activity at the home office ) Report
Andersen, David Conflict of Interest Message and Draft Report (The System Dynamics Society is a non-profit corporation. The NY Non-Profit Revitalization Act of 2013, effective July 2014, mandates that all non-profit corporations doing business in New York adopt a Conflict of Interest policy (in the case of the Society we refer to this as a “Guideline”), and the Act sets forth specific provisions that must be included in the Guideline. Adoption of this Guideline, and compliance with the same, are of the utmost importance in maintaining our tax-exempt status. The Administrative Committee has had the opportunity to review and discuss the Guideline and it is our recommendation that the Guideline be reviewed by the full Policy Council and adopted as soon as possible. ) Report
Black, Laura (Please find the report for the Ad hoc Committee on the PhD Colloquium. Along with that, please see the current version of the DRAFT PhD Colloquium Call for Capers and a proposed Call for Angel Advisors for the PhD Colloquium. The committee chair is Laura Black and the committee members are Ed Anderson, Jill Kuhlberg, and Len Malczynski. ) Report Supporting
Bleijenbergh, Inge Diversity Committee Report Winter Policy Council Meeting 2015 (This report provides an overview of the System Dynamics Society demographics for 2014 membership and conference. Total membership increased from 1082 in 2012 to 1159 in 2013 and 1143 in 2014. Overall, the reporting of demographic information remained high at 89%. Moreover, updated information on member demographics continued to improve demographic estimates for prior years. Results using revised estimates shows that the percentage of women members is slowly going up again to 18.1% in 2014, after it reached a dip of 16.4% in 2013. With this percentage women members are far from having a critical mass, which may affect the culture and image of the society. The age distribution has remained relatively stable. Students represented an estimated 20.1% of the membership in 2014, nearly equaling the peak of 21.3% in 2007. ) Report
Cooper, Kenneth Report of VP Professional Practice, 2015 Winter Policy Council (In 2014 we agreed priorities for improving SD professional practice, then outlined a plan focused on high-leverage actions. The centerpiece is an academic-commercial alliance that would place university students in a "Top Gun" training program at firms engaged in the commercial practice of SD. Two firms and one university are already identified for the pilot stage. Policy Council session will aim to identify other firms, universities, and begin processes for curriculum development, selection criteria, and program promotion. The objective is to pilot the program with a few students from a few schools, with a few firms in the next school term possible.) Report
Davidsen, Pål Publications Committtee report (Report on 2014 and goals for 2015. Reference to SDR Executive Editor´s Report on 2015.) Report Supporting
Eberlein, Robert VP Electronic Presence Report (Very modest changes to our electronic presence. The Office is undertaking more routine tasks, including bibliographic highlights and frequent Facebook posts, to increase our overall presence on the internet. Little has changed in the infrastructure for either the web site or managing conferences.) Report
Hovmand, Peter Marketing and Communications Report (Accomplishments for 2014 included developing an initial marketing and communications plan, identifying and recruiting people to help with activities, and designing a sampling plan and survey for year-on-year evaluation marketing and communication efforts. Aims for 2015 include piloting and implementing the survey, revamping the SDS newsletter, developing a SDS magazine, and developing a proposal for the summer 2015 PC meeting targeting a specific sector (e.g., through sponsorship of a special issue, joint sponsorship of a conference day with another organization). Issues that need to be addressed include having a better demographic model of current and past membership, guidance on how to respond to allied organizations, and improving the perception of diversity in the SDS.) Report
Malczynski, Leonard Potential sites for the International Conference of the System Dynamics Society (Summary of conference site selection activity post 2016.) Report
Malczynski, Leonard VP Meetings report (VP Meetings report 2014 The year 2014 meetings activities were focused on: 1) confirming meeting logistics for the first Delft ICSD default conference The Delft organizing committee provided excellent sources of information on Delft including hosing and meals. I assume many of the same materials will be re-used in 2016 2) promoting and informally searching for conference sponsors starting in 2017. An information session on hosting the ICSDS was held in Delft, as has been done for several years Currently the only expressed interest has been from Riga, Latvia (probably 2018) and Albuquerque (probably 2019). No proposals have been received 3) organizing poster voting The assistant VP and I preparing a scoring sheet but had difficulties implementing with the thread chairs. We will have more lead time this year. 4) involvement in the PhD colloquium Member of an ad-hoc committee to assist in the improvement of the PhD colloquium logistics and post-colloquium mentoring)
Morrison, J. Bradley Meeting Minutes from 2014 Summer Policy Council Meeting (Please find a draft of the meeting minutes from 2014 Summer Policy Council Meeting in Delft, Netherlands.) Report
Morrison, J. Bradley Organization and Bylaws Committee (We now have a conflict of interest policy. We have no other news.)
Morrison, J. Bradley Winter Policy Council Minutes (Includes minutes and a summary of the State of the Union in tabular form.) Report
Moxnes, Erling Report to Winter Policy Council Meeting 2015 from Awards Committee (Report to Winter Policy Council meeting 2015 from Awards committee From: Erling Moxnes, committee chair.) Report
Pruyt, Erik Report on the System Dynamics Summer School, Delft, 16-18 July 2014 (Highlights: - 3 full days, 82 participants, 12 lecturers, 4 tracks (basic, project, intermediate, and advanced); - 23100 euro income (76 paid participants x 300 euro per person), 12100 euro costs (catering, hotels, etc), 2022+10400 euro shared as honorarium between members of the teaching team, 600 euro reserved for wire transfers (money left will be donated).) Report
Rouwette, Etiënne Survey SD conference 2014 (Participant evaluations of the 2014 conference in Delft, the Netherlands.) Supporting
Rouwette, Etiënne Report VP Membership - correct version (Since the 2014 Summer Policy Council Meeting there are three topics to report on: 1. the case repository; 2. contact with SIGs; 3. handover VP Membership tasks. ) Report Supporting
Schaffernicht, Martin Report VP Chapters (During 2014, two new Chapters were launched in Africa – each of them has carried out an activity supported by the Field Development Fund. Also, the Pakistan Chapter was established. The overall members count has been similar to the previous year’s. The degree of activity of the respective Chapters, as well as their web presence, have continued similar to those of previous years. Many Chapters plan specific activities to respond to the challenges they see, and there is increasing demand for the Field Development Fund. We should attend to their calls. Many Chapters in the Asian-Pacific area belong to the group of Chapters we have little contact with or which are having difficulties. The Asian-Pacific initiative appears to be a most promising policy. However, attention is called to the Mediterranean area, where several smaller local groups could move towards a future Chapter. ) Report Supporting
Spencer, Roberta PUBLIC AGENDA AVAILABLE FOR 2015 Winter Policy Council Meeting - February 9, 2015 (The 2015 Winter Policy Council Meeting is scheduled for February 9, 2015 at the Hyatt Regency Cambridge. It will start at 11 AM.) Report
Spencer, Roberta 2014 Conference Report, Delft, the Netherlands, prepared for the Winter Policy Council Meeting (2014 Conference Report for Delft, the Netherlands includes information on attendee demographics, conference organizers, conference sponsors, program thread percentages, submissions and rejection rate, new and continuing conference events, and finances. Submitted on behalf of the Delft Conference Team: Program Chairs, Pål Davidsen and Etiënne Rouwette; Organizing Chairs Erik Pruyt, Wil A. H. Thissen, and C. Els van Daalen; Workshop Chairs, Jack B. Homer and Hazhir Rahmandad; and Conference Manager, Roberta L. Spencer.) Report
Spencer, Roberta 2016 Pre-Conference Report for Delft, The Netherlands (We will follow the same model for the 2016 conference as we did for the 2014 conference. ) Report
Spencer, Roberta Follow-up on 2015 Winter Policy Council Meeting (Dear Officers and Members of the Policy Council: The minutes and supporting documents of the Winter Policy Council Meeting have been posted on the PC Menu; please go to the Web Portal and log in to review them. Please find below a list of motions for electronic voting. According to Winter PC Meeting guidelines, these motions are posted on the PC Discussion Forum for online discussion. The preliminary discussion period will last until March 16. Please feel free to send in your comments. After the preliminary discussion period, the formal version of the (revised) motions will be posted on the PC Menu, when there may be final discussion. Voting will follow. Thanks. Best, Roberta) Report
Spencer, Roberta Conflict of Interest Blank Form and Disclosure of Potential Conflict of Interest Blank Form (Pursuant to the NY Nonprofit Revitalization Act of 2013, System Dynamics Society Policy Council President, officers, members, committee members, and key employees shall complete, sign, and submit to the secretary of the corporation a written statement identifying ... any conflict of interest. Each officer, member and key employee must annually re-submit such a written statement. Please sign the attached copy and return to the Society office as soon as possible. Also attached is a Potential Conflict of Interest Blank Form in the case of something new arising after the annual form is signed. Thanks.) Report Supporting
Spencer, Roberta Executive Director's Winter Report to Policy Council (A full Annual Report on Home Office Operations for the FYE 2014 will be presented at the Summer Policy Council meeting at the 2015 Cambridge 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
Spencer, Roberta 2015 Conference Report – Cambridge, Massachusett USA (All conference planning is progressing splendidly.) Report Supporting Link from authors
Strohhecker, Jürgen System Dynamics Society State of the Union 2014/2015 Winter PC Meeting (Tabular summary of all reports, to be used in the Winter Policy Council Meeting, 9th February 2015) Report
Warren, Kim Final 2015 Report of the Nominations Committee (This report includes information on the Slate of Candidates for the 2017 Presidency, and for Vice-Presidential posts and Policy Council membership for 2016-18. It also reports plans to improve the Nominations process, especially as regards increasing diversity of the Society's leadership and increasing attention to the Assistant Vice-Presidential positions. ) Report
Warren, Kim System Dynamics Society Strategy Committee -- Report for 2014 (The report focuses on key items of progress on strategy issues, and on the strategy process, in 2014; and priorities for strategic issues, and further strategy work, during 2015: ) Report Link from authors
Warren, Kim Nominations Committee Interim Report (As Nominations for positions to be filled for 2016-2018 have not all been finalised, this is an interim report only. An updated report will be provided when that process is completed.) Report