IN ATTENDANCE:
(To be checked on final) Jim Lyneis, President; Brad Morrison, Secretary Elect; Andreas Groessler, VP Meetings; Bob Eberlein, VP Electronic Presence; Imrana Umar, Member; Gloria Perez-Salazar, Member; Brian Dangerfield, Executive Editor; Krys Stave, Member; Agata Sawicka ; AVP Member Services; Khaled Wahba, PC Member; Peter Milling Chair, Admin Comm; Erling Moxnes, President Elect; Tim Haslett, VP Chapters; Roberta Spencer, Executive Director; Bill Biach; Ali Saysel; Gonenc Yucel; Switbert Miczka, President German Chapter; Habib Sedehi, President Italian Chapter; Susan Howick; Etienne Rouwette; Birgit Kopansky; Steffan Groesser, President Swiss Chapter; Aldo Zagonel; Graham Russel; Aldo Zagonel; Kim Warren; Enzo Bivona; Christina Spencer; Silvia Ulli-Beer; Alex Kononets; Stefano Armenia
CALL to ORDER / WELCOME and ANNOUNCEMENTS (President James Lyneis):
Jim Lyneis called the meeting to order at 11:00am. Jim thanked retiring Secretary David Packer, retiring VP of Member Services Deborah Campbell and the retiring members of the Policy Council. Jim also welcomed Krys Stave as the new VP of Member Services.
Minutes:
It was moved by Bob Eberlein and seconded by Krys Stave to approve the minutes of the 2008 Winter Policy Council meeting. The motion passed unanimously.
REPORTS:
VP Finance (Bob Eberlein standing in for David Andersen):
Bob Eberlien summarized some of the key points from the report that David Andersen submitted. Overall, expenses are up slightly, but the Society is in good financial shape. Several changes have occurred this year. This is the first year of our new tiered dues structure. We changed our accounting method from cash basis to accrual basis to be in compliance with Massachusetts law. We re-arranged some expenses so that expenses for a staff person at the Home Office are now included in the UAlbany contract, not in the “professional services” line.
VP Electronic Presence (Bob Eberlein): see report
VP Publications (Graham Russel of Wiley for Deborah Lines Andersen):
Graham reported several indicators of continued and growing strength of the System Dynamics Review. Subscriptions were up 8% compared to 2007. Growth in online readership is a key objective. The impact factor is slightly down. Downloads of articles increased 20% over 2007.
Executive Editor, System Dynamics Review (Brian Dangerfield):
Andreas Groessler is the new Notes editor. The backlog now is quite healthy, with the largest number of approved manuscripts in recent memory.
VP Meetings (Andreas Groessler):
2011: According to the standard rotation, the 2011 conference should be in North America. We are still soliciting proposals for this conference. We have one elaborated proposal from Portland, Maine, and we have the option of using our default site in Boston.
2012: We have received pre-proposals from a group from Rome and a group from Switzerland. We may also receive a pre-proposal from Australia.
VP Chapter Activities (Tim Haslett):
Tim once again thanked Ginny Wiley for her service as VP Chapter Activities and Aldo Zagonel the retiring Assistant VP for Chapter Activities. Martin Schaffernicht will be the new Assistant VP for Chapter Activities. Tim lamented the low rate of reporting by chapters (only 6 reports received) and expressed his hopes to increase the reporting percentage as he gets to know the chapters in his new role.
Executive Director (Roberta Spencer):
Athens Conference Report:
Roberta referred to her comprehensive report for a complete update. She highlighted that Jen Rowe is leaving and that Robin has been hired.
It was moved by Bob Eberlein and seconded to acknowledge the wonderful job that Jen Rowe has done for the Society over almost a decade of service and to wish her well in her pursuits. The motion passed unanimously.
Administrative Committee (Peter Milling):
David Packer is retiring. Peter Milling and Bob Eberlein will continue. Brad Morrison was a member of the Committee and will continue on the Committee in his role as Secretary.
Organization and By-laws Committee (Brad Morrison): The Committee is undertaking to prepare an update of the Society by-laws to editorially incorporate past amendments to the by-laws into a current consolidated and up-to-date document for reference.
Diversity Committee (Peter Hovmand):
Referred us to the report on the Web. There has been a slight increase in the number of female members and other indicators of diversity.
2008 SIG Report (Deborah Campbell):
Webmasters’ Report (Jack Pugh): see report
DISCUSSION ITEMS AND MOTIONS:
Although it is mid-year, about 80% of members are enrolled. We now have an updated membership dues structure that allows members to select a dues amount based on corresponding recommendations for dues amounts for various income levels. In a thread on the mailing list, some members expressed concern about the new structure, particularly about the perceived income reporting needed to choose a dues level. The March newsletter contained an article explaining this. The new dues structure appears to have been a benefit for our members with lower incomes, but here has been no obvious increase in the number of lower income members. 20% chose the same dues as the old tier; 40% went up and 40% went down. Choice of the "electronic only" option for the SD Review increased from 5% to 22%, mostly from the lower income tiers.
VP Member Services (Deborah Campbell):
There are five projects focused on benefits for existing members: membership dues, conference fees, career link, membership retention, and the nominating committee. Proposed projects included some action to stimulate recruitment and renewals through our chapters, creating a portfolio of stories of successful SD careers, and developing a youth conference. Our current membership comprises academics, business practitioners, and people interested in K-12 education, but our conference program generally does not offer as much for business and K-12.
Albuquerque 2009 Conference Report:
Aldo Zagonel reported that plans for the 2009 conference in Albuquerque are coming together well. We already have some strong sponsorship (e.g., $5000 from Sandia, with $2500 more expected, $500 to support K-12 activities, a pledge from isee systems to support some scholarships), but we are still seeking sponsors. We are trying to plan a "Spillover Day" for Friday, but we need sponsors.
At the Winter PC meeting, we voted to hold the 2010 conference in Gyeongju, Korea. The proposal has just been received. Bob Eberlein will send the information to the PC Listserve.
It was moved by Bob Eberlein and seconded that we re-appoint Yaman Barlas to another 3-year term on the Nominating Committee. Motion passed.
It was moved by Peter Milling and seconded by Andreas Groessler that we appoint Jim Thompson to the vacant position on the Administrative Committee. Motion passed.
The Awards Committee (established in the Winter Meeting as an umbrella committee to oversee awards committees) has requested that a Community Service Award Committee be formed to designate award winners as appropriate for awards for exceptional service, such as the Lifetime Service Award. The Committee is charged with determining which awards, regular or special, are appropriate for community service, and determining who should receive them. Jack Pugh and Bob Eberlein have received the Lifetime Service Recognition Award and the Executive Director has the most visibility of service. These awards will not involve any money. It was moved by Bob Eberlein and seconded by Erling Moxnes to form such a committee, the Serving President (chair), Bob Eberlein, Jack Pugh and the Executive Director to constitute the committee. Motion passed.
Dana Meadows Award Funds: The amounts awarded have been less than the growth in the award fund, so it might be appropriate to spend more of the endowment. We asked the Dana Meadows Awards committee to determine how to handle this.
Conference budgeting: It was suggested that we modify our conference budgeting procedures so that we break out the local budget in such a way as to include local sponsorship and local expenses, keeping home office expenses that are not influenced by local organizers separate. This would enable a memorandum of understanding between the Society and the local host. It was moved by Andreas Groessler and seconded by Tim Haslett that we form a committee to implement the proposal. Motion passed. Committee members will be Bob Eberlein (chair), Andreas Groessler, Jim Lyneis, and David Andersen.
Society Budget: Some concern was raised about raising energy costs and in particular that increasing costs of travel might reduce travel to our conferences. Jim Lyneis explained that in this budget funding for the System Dynamics Review editors has been increased to $20,000, up from $12,000. The increase has been approved by the Administrative Committee. It was moved by Bob Eberlein and seconded by Tim Haslett that we approve the 2008 budget as submitted by the VP Finance. Motion passed.
PhD Colloquium: We had some discussion about possible means of providing funding for the PhD Colloquium. One suggestion was to ask the Dana Meadows Committee to consider using some of the award endowment to fund the Colloquium. It was moved by Tim Haslett and seconded by Erling Moxnes that the SD Society agrees to support the PhD Colloquium Lunch by contributing 50 percent of any otherwise unsponsored cost up to a limit of $1000. The details regarding menu and cost of the lunch should be discussed and agreed with the Executive Director in advance. A line item of maximum $1000 will be included in the Society budget and there is no mandate to spend the full line item detailed in the budget. Motion passed.
Society Strategy Development (Kim Warren):
The plan was to use the discussion list to gather inputs, but the response has been quite limited: fewer than 2% of Society members have responded.
Kim outlined a revised process (similar to one used by UK Chapter of INCOSE) that we will use:
A committee will be formed to support this process and generate some of the work products. A starting point will be results from the two member surveys (the open question and the quantitative one) already done
Discussion brought out several points:
Kim notes that in INCOSE as in the ISDC, there are distinct groups of people with different interests. INCOSE comprises both who do the work and those who are interested in the subject but are not professional engineers.
Proceeding Papers: Due to difficulty obtaining visas, some authors of accepted conference papers are unable to attend. After some discussion, it was moved by Andreas Groessler and seconded that we publish in the proceeding papers when the following three conditions are met: 1) The paper is submitted and accepted through the regular review process. 2) All authors are unable to attend because they have not been able to obtain visas for travel to the conference location. 3) The author pays the conference registration fee. Motion passed.
Conference Timing: We had some discussion about conference timing after suggestions that late July may not be most convenient for all Society members. After some discussion, there was no strong sentiment to change from our typical late July (or some time in July) schedule.
Website Improvement: It was suggested that we use a content management system to simplify website management and keep content up to date more readily. The Italian Chapter has had good experience with such a system.
ADJOURNMENT:
The meeting was adjourned by unanimous vote at 4:20 pm
Recorded by Bob Eberlein
Edited, reviewed and respectfully submitted,
J. Bradley Morrison, for David Packer, Secretary
November 17, 2008
Please send any corrections or comments to J. Bradley Morrison ( )
ADDENDUM:
to be reported at Winter 2009 Meeting:
Conference Program Committee: Formed by President James Lyneis and met for the first time in 2008 Athens, to provide a means for dealing with program issues and for providing continuity of policies between conferences. The committee will rotate membership annually at the conference, and consist of the following members, the names for the first committee are included:
For 2009: Current Program Chair, serving as Committee Chair (2009 Andy Ford and team), Next Program Chair (for 2010, TBA), Past two years Program Chairs (2008 Brian Dangerfield and 2007 John Sterman/Rogelio Oliva), VP Meetings (Andreas Groessler), VP Publications (Deborah Andersen), VP Electronic Presence (Bob Eberlein), Executive Director (Roberta Spencer)