7. CORE PROGRAMS OF THE ASA

As noted in the Introduction to this chapter, strategic planning in 1992 provided a comprehensive framework for delivery of services (portfolio of journals, annual meeting, and programs) by the Association to its membership. The role and responsibilities of the Association for an effective publishing program and highly successful annual meetings were conceptualized as vital to promoting how sociologists do their work. In addition, however, Executive Officer Levine noted that, “national associations like [ASA] have perhaps the unique responsibility of promoting the vitality, visibility, and diversity of the discipline. It is here that our programmatic activities are key.” ( Footnotes , February, 1994:2) The ASA objectives during the 1990s were focused in six core programmatic areas: Academic and Professional Affairs, Minority Affairs, the Sydney S. Spivack Program in Applied Social Research and Social Policy, Research on the Discipline and Profession, Public Affairs, and Public Information.

Academic and Professional Affairs Program (APAP)

The Academic and Professional Affairs Program (APAP) was established during 1993 to signal ASA’s commitment to advancing sociology and the development of sociologists across academic settings. Janet Mancini Billson, who had been directing the Professional Development Program, led APAP from 1993 to 1995. She also directed the Government Network Project, an experimental effort that operated from 1992 to 1995 to strengthen the links between sociologists and federal employment opportunities. Carla Howery has been Director of APAP since 1995.

The APAP Program integrated key elements of the prior Teaching Services Program (TSP) and the Professional Development Program (PDP). APAP continued to publish syllabi sets and materials on teaching and careers through the Teaching Resources Center (TRC) and to sponsor workshops, consultations, and department reviews through the Teaching Resources Group—with a name change to the Departmental Resources Group (DRG) to underscore APAP’s commitment to strengthening sociology departments. (See also Chapter 1 and Appendices 20–22.) Jeanne Ballantine served as Field Coordinator of the DRG from 1991 to 1994; Edward Kain served as Field Coordinator from 1995 to 1997; and Carla Howery assumed these duties thereafter. APAP sought to provide important services, but more importantly to undertake initiatives to advance sociology in the academy at all levels of the education process and in all types of institutions.

In particular, emphasis was placed on strengthening departments of sociology as the key organizational units engaged in the production of sociological knowledge and in the teaching of and training for sociology. Reflecting this ambition, APAP worked more proactively and directly with sociology departmental chairs and others in academic leadership roles.

This objective for systemic change received the strong support of Council. Footnotes articles as early as October 1992 (“Enhancing the Stature of Sociology in the Academy”), March 1993 (“ASA Meets with CSU Chairs”), and December 1993 (“ASA Focuses on the Academy”) by Executive Officer Levine reported to the membership on the foundations of the APAP Program. The aim was to expand from primarily individual case delivery of services and problem solving to define a new role for ASA in relation to sociology departments (especially chairs and directors of graduate study) aimed at promoting the health and well-being of the discipline. The establishment of a Department Affiliates Program and Chairlink to facilitate routine communications with chairs; an Annual Chairs Conference for two-year, four-year and graduate degree conferring institutions with agendas directed to short- and long-term issues; and data collection about sociology departments, training, students, and graduates to enhance planning were all initiated or in place by mid-1994. Other specific APAP initiatives during the 1990s contributed to this fundamental agenda. These include the following:

• A key APAP activity was close collaboration with the Minority Affairs Program (MAP) Program on ASA’s Minority Opportunities Through School Transformation (MOST) Program aimed at advancing excellence and inclusiveness through curriculum and climate change, research based training, mentoring, and outreach (see MOST Program).
  
• In 2001, Council established the Task Force on the Advanced Placement (AP) Course in Sociology, which has created guidelines and curriculum materials for an Advanced Placement high school course and has also assembled other teaching materials. With Caroline Hodges Persell, (Chair), the Task Force has worked to encourage the College Board to develop an AP exam, course, and teacher training. The Task Force has also worked closely with the National Council on Social Studies on these projects. Since August 2002, the ASA has also offered a High School Affiliates Program to link ASA with social studies departments.
  
• ASA developed a project with Professor William Frey of the University of Michigan to work with departments on Integrating Data Analysis (IDA) into the sociology curriculum. Executive Officer Levine and Frey were Co-Principal Investigators on this Social Science Data Analysis (SSDAN) project designed to build research-based skills ”early and often” in sociology students with an emphasis on Census data. ASA received $417,241 from NSF for a three-year award for this project. In 2003, upon Levine’s departure, Howery assumed responsibility as Principal Investigator of the ASA team.
  
• The Carnegie Academy for the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (CASTL) collaborated with ASA to identify scholars in teaching and learning in sociology. The Carnegie Academy “works with disciplinary associations to maximize the impact of the scholar’s work, to disseminate scholarship on teaching and learning, and to identify disciplinary culture that pertains to this work.” (Council, February 2001) Nine sociologists were selected from 1999 to 2001 to conduct projects on various issues relating to teaching and learning as part of this venture.
  
• A workshop on the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning in Sociology was held from July 20–23, 2000 at James Madison University. With support from CASTL and James Madison University, “48 sociologists met to discuss ’what we know’ and ‘what we need to know’ on six topics: on teaching and learning styles, assessment of faculty, use of technology in teaching, curriculum, community academic partnerships, and the institutional context.” (Council Minutes, February 2001)
  
• ASA worked with the Council for Undergraduate Research (CUR) to include more sociologists as members and more sociological research in their publications and meetings. With ASA’s encouragement, CUR expanded its programs to include memberships for sociology and other social sciences.
  
• ASA participated in a project with the American Association for Higher Education on use of peer review in teaching sociology. Initially supported from the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching and Learning, this effort involved synthesis of “empirical work and useful advice” by a team of sociologists.
  
• In 1998, a report was prepared on part-time work as an outgrowth of a conference on “The Growing Use of Part-time and Adjunct Faculty,” held in September 1997.
  
• With five other disciplines and with funding from the Atlantic Philanthropies, ASA took part in the Preparing Future Faculty (PFF) project to develop models for preparing future faculty. Four sociology departments (competitively selected) participated in the project: North Carolina State University, Texas A&M University, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, and Indiana University. The project concluded in December 2002 with a Capstone Conference.
  
• At the K-12 level: Based on a review by APAP of practices in nine states, the ASA Council in January 1995 passed a resolution (supported by ASA’s Committee on Sociology in Elementary and Secondary Schools) recommending that, “secondary teachers must have nine credit hours of sociology course work in order to be fully qualified to teach courses called ‘sociology…’” Council at this time also approved initiation of discussions on an Advanced Placement exam in sociology, and on development of course standards for the 12th grade elective in sociology (Council Minutes, January 1995). ASA continued to work with the Educational Testing Service and the College Board in developing a model course for a Grade 12 elective that could serve as the basis for an AP course.
  
• In 1994, a Task Force on Campus Hate Crimes and Bias-Related Incidents was established by Council to reduce hate-motivated or bias ‘crimes’ on college campuses. This committee produced a hate crimes resource book and a list of actions which faculty can use to intervene in a campus crisis. This Task Force working with the Committee on Teaching compiled materials illustrative of what sociologists can use to prevent or de-escalate acts of bias and bigotry. A report Teaching About Ethnoviolence and Hate Crimes (Second Edition), was compiled by Howard J. Ehrlich and Regina Fidazzo (2000). In 1999, Council created a Task Force on Current Knowledge on Hate/Bias Acts on College and University Campuses with Leonard Gordon, Chair, that presented its final report to Council in January 2002.
  
• Stimulated by Ernest Boyer’s book, Scholarship Reconsidered , ASA appointed a Task Force on Scholarly Dimensions of the Professional Work of Sociologists to participate in a national project on “Defining Scholarly Knowledge.” (The Task force later became known as the Task Force on “Recognizing and Rewarding the Scholarly and Professional Work of Sociologists.”) Funded by the Fund for the Improvement of Postsecondary Education (FIPSE), the Pew Charitable Trusts, and the Lilly Endowment, the project involved about forty disciplines. The objective was for each discipline to produce a set of guidelines for evaluating a broader set of professional activities. ASA’s Report, prepared by a Task Force was presented to Council in January 1998. Council “agreed on the importance of encouraging discussion of faculty work and faculty evaluation…[and] thought the issues should be discussed but that Council should not endorse or adopt the report.” (Council, January 1998)
  
• In 2001, ASA Council decided to revisit the ASA report on the undergraduate sociology major published in 1990 as Liberal Learning and the Sociology Major by appointing a second Task Force “to update and expand upon the original report and its recommendations.” The new Report, “ Liberal Learning and the Sociology Major Updated: Meeting the Challenge of Teaching Sociology in the Twenty-First Century , by Kathleen McKinney, Carla B. Howery, Kerry Strand, Edward L. Kain, and Catherine White Berheide was published in 2004 by the ASA.
  
• The Task Group On Graduate Education (TAGGE) chaired by Joan Huber issued a Report in March 1992 on a number of issues relating to departments of sociology. Council approved the Report on August 24,1992, and also appointed a Subcommittee consisting of William Gamson (Chair), David Featherman, Myra Marx Ferree, Jill Quadagno and Doris Wilkinson to examine its implications and frame a discussion for initiatives. The Subcommittee concluded that, rather than orientation toward one “core” in graduate education, a range of approaches and ideas ought to be explored; it therefore examined strengths of various departments, and how these might be modeled as “promising practices” for other departments. In January 1994, a Committee on Graduate Education was appointed by Council for a three-year period “to look at graduate education and identify the special strengths of departments, with the goal of preparing a report on 3 or 4 programs which are doing exceptional work on particular issues.”

From 1994 to 1996 subcommittees were appointed by Council to address various aspects of the graduate experience (e.g., preparing graduate students as teachers, sociological practice programs, recruiting and graduating students of color, effective mentoring, and professional ethics). The first reports were issued in 1996 on “Teaching Sociology Graduate Students to Teach Sociology.” Subsequent reports were issued by the Committee, including on the “Successful Practice in Master’s Programs in Sociology,” and on “Models for Professional Socialization of Graduate Students.” (All reports are available on the ASA homepage.)

Minority Affairs Program (MAP)

ASA commitment to a diverse discipline led to conceptualizing its specific minority initiatives as elements of a broader Minority Affairs Program (MAP). By the end of 1992, the strategic plan articulated this fundamental objective by characterizing it as Minority Affairs. During the 1990s, the MAP Program consisted primarily of two main components: (1) The Minority Fellowship Program (MFP) funded primarily by NIMH to support pre-doctoral training of underrepresented minorities in the sociology of mental health and, (2) the Minority Opportunities Through School Transformation (MOST) Program, funded by the Ford Foundation to effect systemic change in sociology departments in order to achieve excellence and inclusiveness in education for all students. The MOST program was completed in 2002.

MAP reflected ASA’s fundamental objectives that transcended specific activities or projects. A high priority was placed by ASA on expanding the diversity of the profession and on enhancing opportunities for minorities throughout the discipline. The MFP and MOST were described by Executive Officer Levine as, “quite major initiatives whereby the Executive Office plays a pivotal role (a) in ensuring a next generation of well trained minority sociologists, who can be leaders in the field, and (b) in producing systemic changes in how the discipline addresses issues of mentoring and multiculturalism in building faculties of the future.” ( Footnotes, February 1994:2) ASA also worked to build productive alliances with the Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) during this time.

The Minority Fellowship Program (MFP)

The Minority Fellowship Program (MFP) of the ASA has provided financial support to minority scholars pursuing graduate studies in mental health continuously since the Program was launched with (primarily) NIMH support in 1974. Since that time (up to 2004), more than 1,200 minority students have received support for graduate training (Appendix 23). By the 25th Anniversary of the MFP, which was celebrated at the 1999 ASA Annual Meeting, 214 Fellows had received PhDs. Effective August 1, 2000, MPF Fellows supported by the NIMH Training grant received a stipend award of $15,000 per year.

ASA received two new awards from NIMH for the MFP Program during the 1990s: $2.5 million was awarded to cover the period from September 1, 1994 to July 31, 2000 (an increase of almost $500,000 over the previous cycle), and $2,688,000 was awarded to cover the period from August 1, 2000 to July 31, 2005. During the 1990s, ASA continued to seek additional sources of support for minority student training.

In order to diversify training for minority students of color in sociology, the MAP Program used resources from the ASA’s restricted MFP Fund to support non-mental health predoctoral fellows. While only a few such fellows could receive ongoing support in any one year (leading to only one or two new starts), use of this funding stream allowed ASA to provide predoctoral fellowship support outside of the NIMH award. The MFP Fund consists of member contributions (it was the largest proportion of member individual contributions) support from such organizations as the Sociologists for Women in Society (SWS), Alpha Kappa Delta (AKD), and the Association of Black Sociologists (ABS), as well as royalty gifts.

During the 1990s, ASA added explicit training components to the predoctoral training program in addition to the stipend and informal networking opportunities that Fellows receive. These activities included Proposal Development Workshops held in Washington, DC, the Summer Research Initiative (which placed Fellows at research sites with major ongoing studies in mental health or in methods training courses at the Inter-university Consortium for Political and Social Research [ICPSR], or similar programs), and specific training activities during the ASA Annual Meeting. Also, in 2000, the MFP Program added an orientation training workshop to introduce incoming Fellows to the Program and to the sociology of mental health as a day event before the start of the ASA Annual Meeting.

Minority Opportunities Through School Transformation (MOST)

In 1988, under the general umbrella of the MFP, ASA undertook a program of summer institutes to recruit and attract minority students to sociology. Funded by an $185,000 grant from the Ford Foundation, MOST I (as this initiative was termed as it ended in 1993), consisted of four successful summers of institutes of coursework, research experiences, and mentoring on two university campuses each summer: at the University of Delaware and the University of Wisconsin-Madison in the summers of 1990 and 1991, and the University of California-Berkeley and the University of Michigan-Ann Arbor in 1992 and 1993.

The Minority Opportunities through School Transformation Program officially commenced in the fall of 1993 with a period to plan, recruit, and select departments. In May 1994, the MOST Program launched its work with a workshop of all participating MOST coordinators and department chairs. Ultimately, 11 departments participated for the full duration of the Program, including seven at primarily undergraduate institutions (Augusta State University, Grinnell College, Pitzer College, University of Puerto Rico-Mayagüez, Southwestern University, University of Texas-El Paso, and William Paterson University), and four at PhD conferring institutions (University of California-Santa Barbara; University of Nebraska-Lincoln; Pennsylvania State University; and Texas A&M University).

The Ford Foundation made two awards in support of MOST: The initial grant of $415,000 covered the period from October 1, 1993 through September 30, 1998, and was renewed in 1999 with a $485,000 award covering the period of October 1, 1999 to July 31, 2002.

MOST focused on activities that aimed to produce systemic change at the academic departmental level, to improve access and opportunity for students of color, and, in general to change “business-as-usual” practices of departments in order to achieve excellence in education for all students. With leadership from the national MOST team in the Executive Office, ASA worked intensively with departments over the eight-year life of MOST to introduce sustainable change in curriculum, climate, outreach to diverse populations at undergraduate and graduate levels, research-based training, and mentoring.

A review of program outcomes in the participating institutions conducted at the completion of the program in 2002 showed that the number of courses containing diversity content increased, the percent of graduating minority majors nearly doubled, proportions of underrepresented minorities as graduating majors increased (with many students advancing to graduate study), and the number of minority faculty increased significantly.

On June 6–7, 2002, a Capstone Conference was held in Washington, DC as a culmination to the MOST Program. Nearly 100 leaders in education and on diversity issues gathered to reflect on the achievements of and lessons learned from MOST, and to identify approaches that might be used to transport MOST to other disciplines and institutions. While MOST was located in sociology departments, a key objective was to fi nd ways to transport the MOST model to other social and behavioral sciences and to other fields. A report on the MOST Program entitled Promoting Diversity and Excellence in Higher Education Through Department Change , by Felice J. Levine, Hávidan Rodríguez, Carla B. Howery, and Alfonso R. Latoni-Rodríguez was published by the ASA in 2002.

The Sydney S. Spivack Program in Applied Social Research and Social Policy

The Spivack Program in Applied Social Research and Social Policy was established as a core program within the Executive Office in 1992. According to the proposal that was submitted to the Trustees of the Cornerhouse Fund in 1991, the Program envisioned by ASA would “take the lead in enhancing the visibility, prestige, and centrality of applied social research and the application of sociological knowledge to social policy.” (Proposal for the Sydney S. Spivack Program in Applied Social Research and Social Policy, January 1991:1) In doing so, the program aimed to build on the substantial advances that had been made with respect to promoting applied sociology and sociological practice during the 1980s.

Origins of the Program

As described more fully in Chapter 1, the Trustees of the Cornerhouse Fund informed the ASA in 1989 that the Fund would cease operations, that remaining funds would be gifted, and that ASA would be invited to submit a proposal on how it would expend these funds. The ASA proposal to establish a continuing program named in honor of Sydney S. Spivack (instead of expending the resources on a single major project) was accepted by the Trustees in early 1991, and the gift to the Association was formally announced on August 26, 1991 at the Annual Meeting in Cincinnati. In taking this unrestricted gift and placing it in an ASA Council-designated restricted Fund, the ASA established a program that in the short- and long-term could continue to pursue activities that addressed the connections between sociological research and important issues of social policy. The basic gift from the Cornerhouse Fund establishing the Spivack Program was $750,000, with a small additional amount (approximately $25,000) transmitted after the Fund was fully dissolved.

The initial Spivack Advisory Committee chaired by Joan Waring (which also included Ivar Berg, William Hoffman, Marvin Olsen, Harriet Presser, Wendy Baldwin, William V. D’Antonio, Manuel de la Puente, and Cheryl Leggon) was appointed by Council to guide the work of the Spivack Program (including the Committee’s offering its own initiatives). Various operational models and programmatic ideas were presented for launching the program at the first meeting of the Advisory Committee in November 1991. In July 1992, the Committee decided on a “staged” strategy for topics, including invited papers on policy issues—which would serve as a catalyst for workshops, Congressional briefings, press conferences, and so forth. Phyllis Moen wrote the first paper on “Work and Family Linkages,” which was the subject of the first Congressional Briefing on December 10, 1992 and a media briefing on February 1, 1993 (see Appendix 25). In 1993, Council clarified that the Spivack Program was a core program within the Executive Office and allocated full authority over the Program budget to the Executive Office once an annual budget was approved by Council.

The Spivack Program in the 1990s

Inaugurated in 1992, the Spivack Program is a core program of the Association. As it evolved during the 1990s, it consisted of four basic components: (1) a series of policy briefings aimed at Congressional staff, Administration officials, representatives of non-profit associations, and the media, (2) other special initiatives that sought to integrate research and public policy through educational forums, (3) a Congressional Fellowship Program that provided support for a sociologist to work on a Congressional staff or Congressional agency, and (4) a Community Action Research Initiative (CARI) that provided an opportunity for sociologists to bring social science knowledge, methods, and expertise to bear in addressing community identified issues and concerns.

THE CONGRESSIONAL SEMINARS AND POLICY INITIATIVES

Through 2002, the Spivack Program sponsored about a dozen Congressional seminars and other social science briefings on policy topics. To disseminate the results of these briefings more widely, the substantive contributions of each were published in ASA’s Issue Series in Social Research and Social Policy . Several Spivack Program workshops and conferences were also conducted to apply sociological knowledge to issues of societal importance or with potential policy consequences.

Workshops, for example, were held on “Research Challenges on the Social Causes of Violence” (June 1993); “Initiative on Genocide and Human Rights” (November 1993); “Rethinking the Urban Agenda” (May 1994); and “Social Science Perspectives on Affi rmative Action in Employment” (June 1996). A volume, The Realities of Affirmative Action in Employment , authored by Barbara F. Reskin was produced from the June 1996 Conference. (Appendix 25 contains a complete list of Spivack Program initiatives and related publications.)

THE CONGRESSIONAL FELLOWSHIP

The ASA has supported a Congressional Fellowship each year since 1993 (a complete list of Fellows is included in Appendix 26). The Congressional Fellowship supports a PhD-level sociologist as a staff member in a Congressional office, committee, or agency for an intensive six-month period. This experience provides an opportunity for a sociologist to apply sociological knowledge to important issues and to learn more about the policy making process. The Fellowship is funded in part by the American Sociological Foundation, and is part of the Spivack Program in Applied Social Research and Social Policy. The year 2004 stipend for the Fellowship is $15,000.

AAAS/ASA MASS MEDIA SCIENCE FELLOWSHIP

With the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), the ASA sponsored a summer fellowship for sociologists from 1997 to 2003 to enhance their skills and training in public communication and working with the media. The Fellow was placed in a major media outlet, in addition to orientation seminars with other AAAS Mass Media Science Fellows. The Program was discontinued in 2003 due to the high costs of this Fellowship and the low numbers of sociologists who applied as candidates. The Spivack Advisory Committee thought that other efforts at preparing social science writers and sociologists who would engage in media work would be more effective. (The AAAS/ASA Fellows and their assignments are listed in Appendix 27.)

COMMUNITY ACTION RESEARCH INITIATIVE (CARI)

Since 1995, the ASA has awarded up to seven fellowships each year under the Community Action Research Initiative (CARI) Fellowship Program. These awards are made in support of sociologists engaged in projects that bring social science knowledge, methods, and expertise to bear in addressing community-identified issues and concerns. Grant applications are encouraged from sociologists seeking to work with community organizations, local public interest groups, or community action projects. Projects have included work with groups involved with: health and culture in the African-American community, jobs and support groups for the homeless, women domestic workers, health conditions in the Latino population, immigrant workers rights advocacy programs, and childcare programs. Up to $2,500 is awarded for each Fellowship to cover direct costs associated with doing the community action research.

The Research Program on the Discipline and Profession

The Research Program on the Discipline and Profession was formally established in 1992 to advance knowledge and information about sociology by improving routine data collection, undertaking studies and issuing reports of significance, and making data accessible to others with research interests in the profession. These goals have been accomplished by conducting several types of surveys, compiling relevant data from secondary sources, building and maintaining databases from ASA membership information and other sources, and disseminating research findings in various formats and through a variety of venues.

Since its inception, research results have been routinely published in Footnotes , shared with departments and chairs, and presented at regional and Annual Meeting workshops and at other professional societies and conferences. By 1999, with the evolution of the ASA website, substantially more information, data, and analyses from the Research Program were published on the homepage.

Also in 1999, ASA introduced the Data Brief and Research Brief series containing summary analyses and highlights of information on the discipline and profession. Initially published as print documents, this series became an integral part of the website after several years. (See Appendix 24 for a listing of publications produced by the Program.)

During the 1990s, the Research Program activities were directed by Carla Howery, Cynthia Costello, and (since 1997) by Roberta Spalter-Roth. Other staff in the Research Program has included a Program Assistant (who also performed other programmatic functions), and from 2000–3, two Postdoctoral Fellows. In 2002, William Erskine joined the staff as a Research Associate in the Program. A major achievement of the Research Program from 1991 to 2000 involved systematizing the data collection processes in several areas:

• The Survey of Graduate Departments of Sociology. This Survey was conducted annually between AY 1991–92 and 1997–98 of the universe of graduate sociology departments in the United States. The individual sociology department is the unit of analysis in this survey. In 1999, the Research Program in consultation with department chairs, undertook a review of information needs of departments, and in AY 2001–2, the graduate departments were surveyed again (with this assessment taken into consideration) along with a sample survey of BA-only departments. Since 1994, the Survey was conducted as part of the process to collect information for the Guide to Graduate Departments , and the Guide has also included a section with analysis of data on graduate departments. Data are compiled on approximately 2,300 departments, and include institution and department name, type of degree or courses offered, chairperson, mailing address, phone number, and number of sociology faculty (Preface to the 1999 Guide).
  
• ASA Membership Database. A database on ASA members has been extracted annually since 1999 for research purposes from ASA’s NOAH membership database. These data are derived from information provided on membership and renewal forms each year and are entered into the NOAH database. A “public use” data file containing characteristics of FY 2000 members was created from these files in 2001 for use by the Committee on the Status of Women (CSWS) and the Committee on the Status of Racial and Ethnic Minorities (CSREM). An analysis of the 2001 membership was also published on the ASA homepage, and in the January 2002 issue of Footnotes .
  
• PhD Tracking Survey. In 1997 and 1998, ASA took part in a multidisciplinary survey of employment experiences and career paths of the 1996–97 cohort of new PhDs. The study was conducted as a collaborative project of a number of scientific societies, including ASA, under the auspices of the Commission on Professions in Science and Technology (CPST), with funding from the Sloan Foundation and the National Science Foundation. A 72 percent response rate was achieved in the survey, which focused on employment information during the week of October 13, 1997. Several ASA Research Briefs , including “New Doctorates in Sociology: Professions Inside and Outside of the Academy” (2000), “Gender in the Early Stages of the Sociological Career” (2000), and “Minorities at Three Stages in the Sociology Pipeline” (2001) were published from this study. In 2001, a brief follow-up survey was conducted, and with 14 professional societies, ASA developed plans to conduct a follow up of the cohort of PhDs, five to six years after they received their PhDs.
  
• Secondary Data Compilation and Analysis. Data relating to sociology and sociologists (including comparative data on selected social science disciplines) have been compiled from various sources, including the National Science Foundation (NSF), the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES), College and University Professional Association for Human Resources (CUPA-HR), and the Chronicle of Higher Education . Analyses based on these sources were presented on the ASA homepage.

Public Affairs Program

Council has consistently supported and encouraged ASA participation in activities that enhance the visibility and role of the discipline of sociology and the profession. In February 1992, Council specifically affirmed “the Public Affairs Program as a high priority initiative and endorse[d] efforts by the Executive Office to explore how this [would] fit with ongoing commitments.” Discussion in Council focused on the need to undertake such activities in different arenas—particularly as collaborative efforts with other organizations before Congress and federal agencies.

While ASA’s efforts built on the commitment to and advances in public information activities of the 1980s, initiatives after 1993 took on new forms following the realignment of Programs as outlined in the strategic plan. “Public Affairs activities reflect our recognition that advocacy, education, and representation are integral to our goals of advancing sociology as a field and discipline, and promoting the contributions and uses of sociology in society,” wrote Executive Officer Levine in 1994 in describing the objectives of the Program (Footnotes , February 1994:3). The Public Affairs and Public Information Programs were planned as efforts that support and undergird substantive programs (such as the Spivack Program) as well as key goals of the Association.

In pursuing these objectives, ASA has worked closely with other scientific and aligned organizations, particularly the Consortium of Social Science Associations (COSSA), the National Humanities Alliance (NHA), and the American Council of Learned Societies (ACLS). Also, the Association joined and participated in other coalitions such as the Coalition for National Science Funding (CNSF)—routinely sponsoring an exhibit of an NSF-supported sociological project at the CNSF exhibition held each spring on Capitol Hill on scientific projects funded by NSF.

During the 1990s, the ASA undertook initiatives to educate about and speak on behalf of sociology (and the social sciences) by (1) responding to legislation, (2) supporting the National Science Foundation on budgetary and other issues, (3) contributing to the work of the Census 2000 through participation in key committees, (4) promoting sociology in health issues, (5) participating in activities related to protection of human subjects in research, and (6) engaging in or testifying on behalf of agencies and programs vital to ASA and sociology. The ASA also took various actions in response to the terrorist attacks in the United States on September 11, 2001. The following are illustrative of some of these initiatives:

Responding to Legislation

ASA routinely monitored federal legislation (especially legislation with adverse effects for social science research) and, with other scientific and learned societies, responded to such initiatives in various ways. For example, in 1996, ASA led a “Research and Privacy Coalition” of more than 30 groups in opposition to H.R. 1271 (“the Family Privacy Protection Act of 1995”) which was passed as part of the GOP agenda on the “Contract with America.” The Act required parents to give written consent before their children could participate in almost all federally-funded research. The Coalition strongly argued that this measure would have a chilling effect on research on minors and mobilized action against it. Executive Officer Levine testified before the Senate Committee on Governmental Affairs on behalf of the Coalition in opposition to H.R. 1271 on November 9,1995.

On June 19, 1996, the Coalition organized a Senate staff briefing and press conference on Capitol Hill to urge defeat of the bill. The profile that ASA and related groups gave to this issue sufficiently delayed Congressional action that it was supplanted by other topics until it resurfaced in the context of reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary School Act (ESEA) in 2001.

Supporting the National Science Foundation

ASA participated in activities aimed at strengthening the role of the National Science Foundation as a key federal agency supporting social science research. In the early 1990s, Executive Officers D’Antonio and Levine were actively engaged in the process to establish a separate directorate for the social and behavioral sciences at the NSF, and, throughout the 1990s, Levine continued to work closely with the NSF leadership and the NSF Sociology Program on expanding opportunities for the social sciences. NSF Sociology Program Director Patricia White spent a year starting in March 1997 visiting at the ASA Executive Office to work on special policy issues.

Executive Officer Levine testified on Appropriations for the National Science Foundation, before the U.S. House of Representatives (Committee on Appropriations, Subcommittee on Veterans Affairs, Housing and Urban Development and Independent Agencies) on behalf of ASA on three occasions: in April 1999 (for FY 2000 Appropriations), in May 1997 (for FY 1998 Appropriations), and in May 1996 (for FY 1997 Appropriations).

ASA also supported the NSF Data Infrastructure Initiative, a year-long planning effort launched in the summer of 1997 to examine the investment in data infrastructure—for example, the General Social Survey (GSS). ASA sponsored workshops and meetings, and published articles in Footnotes on the initiative to raise awareness of the issue and provide opportunity for contribution to this planning effort. Executive Officer Levine was invited to present at a meeting held by the National Research Council on this issue.

Supporting Census 2000

In January 1995, Council passed a motion urging that ASA seek greater involvement with the U.S. Bureau of the Census. The Executive Office subsequently explored ways that sociology and ASA could have a greater role in the Census. In December 1995, then Department of Commerce Secretary Ronald Brown appointed Executive Officer Levine to the newly reconstituted Advisory Committee for the Census 2000 (renamed the Decennial Census Advisory Committee). Executive Officer Levine was an active member of the Advisory Committee, chairing the Statistical Estimation Subcommittee and serving on a small writing team that drafted the Committee’s major report.

Promoting Sociology in Health Issues

ASA brought a sociological perspective to the field of health through various efforts at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS), the National Institutes of Health (NIH), and the National Academy of Sciences (NAS).

A major challenge for social science research occurred in 1991 when DHHS Secretary Louis Sullivan rescinded an award by the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD) to the University of North Carolina for support of the American Teenage Study. The award had been made after peer review and approval by the NICHD Advisory Council and the NICHD Director. ASA Council (in response to a request by the Sociology of Population Section), passed a resolution strongly opposing the “totally egregious and unprecedented action of HHS Secretary Louis Sullivan in rescinding an approved grant….This action is a serious threat to the integrity of the peer review process and the independence of scientific thought, and represents political intrusion into scientific research. We direct the Executive Office to publicly oppose this action, and to take all appropriate steps to have the study reinstated.” (Council Minutes, August 27, 1991)

ASA played an important role in emphasizing the social sciences at the National Institutes of Health (NIH): In 1993, ASA urged that social science be explicitly included in the title of the newly created Office of Behavioral and Social Science Research (OBSSR) and worked as an active member of the coalition to establish this Office. ASA also worked closely with the OBSSR throughout the 1990s on a number of initiatives, including a jointly sponsored Science Writer’s Workshop in June 1997 (see below).

ASA sought to increase the visibility of sociology at NIH by, (for example), providing extensive comment on the restructuring of peer review at NIH, and by submitting a detailed statement to the NIMH on the importance of investing in sociological work. The ASA also helped in planning and implementing a major conference with the NIH, “Toward Higher Levels of Analysis: Progress and Promise in Research on Social and Cultural Dimensions of Health,” which took place on the NIH campus in June 2000. This conference was the first time NIH focused on the social sciences in this area.

Executive Officer Levine testified before a U.S. House of Representatives Subcommittee on Appropriations on Fiscal Year 1998 Appropriations for the National Institutes of Health on April 16, 1997. ASA also submitted written testimony on the National Institutes of Health to the U.S. Senate on May 1, 1997.

Participating in Activities on Protecting Human Subjects in Research

The ASA has participated in activities relating to protection of human subjects since the late 1970s when the Executive Office and the ASA Standing Committee on Regulations of Research responded to U.S. Department of Health and Human Services revisions to procedures on standards for human protections in federally-funded research. In the two decades that followed, ASA became involved in the issue in a number of significant ways, including the legal cases of Mario Brajuha (see Chapter 1) and Richard Scarce, which focused on protection of confidential information provided by research subjects. In the mid-1990s, the ASA Committee on Ethics considered related issues extensively in the course of the major revision of the ASA Code of Ethics (approved in 1997).

In January 2001, then Secretary of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS), Donna Shalala, appointed ASA’s Executive Officer Felice J. Levine to the National Human Research Protections Advisory Committee (NHRPAC). The Committee was charged with providing expert advice and recommendations to the DHHS departmental officials on a broad range of issues and topics pertaining to the protection of human research subjects. Levine was Co-chair of NHRPAC’s Social and Behavioral Sciences Working Group. She also testified before the Committee Assessing the System for Protecting Human Research Subjects of the Institute of Medicine (IOM) of the National Academies (on behalf of COSSA and the ASA) on January 31, 2001.

The ASA Response to the Terrorist Attacks of September 11, 2001

Following the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001 the Association issued a public statement on the tragic events, disseminated relevant materials to members of the Congress and other policy makers, and posted lists of experts from sociology who were available for consultation and interviews.

“The Statement of the American Sociological Association on the Terrorist Attack, September 11, 2001,” noted that, “Sociologists have made contributions in different areas that can add significantly to public understanding of these events and to healing communities and our nation.”

Sociologists added their knowledge and expertise to the public discussion on the causes and consequences of such events, and several Congressional briefings sponsored by the Spivack Program were held during 2002 on related issues (see Appendix 25). Terrorism and related themes were highlighted at the 2002 Annual Meeting (see Chapter 3).

In the months following the attacks of September 11, 2001, the federal government began removing or restricting access to certain public datasets that were vital to researchers, policy makers, professionals in public health and the environment, industry, and others. With consultation and expertise provided by ASA’s Section on Environment and Technology, and acknowledging the sensitivity of these issues in light of security issues surrounding the September attacks, ASA Council passed a resolution in January 2002 on “Access to Public Data.” The Resolution urged that rationale for such restrictions be specified, “that recognized scientific, academic, and citizens organizations engaged in lawful use of such data be granted access to such information through data access provisions; and that an advisory committee on public access to environmental and public health data be formed…to guide government agencies in maximizing reasonable public access.” ( Footnotes , February, 2002:9)

Other Public Affairs Initiatives

ASA also collaborated on actions with other aligned associations in areas of mutual concern and especially on issues affecting the social sciences, humanities, and education. Some of these other initiatives included:

• In 1997, a project was undertaken in response to a request from the Offi ce of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) in support of President Clinton’s Initiative on Race, “One America.” Of all the scientific and learned societies, ASA alone responded to this call from OSTP. With the Spivack Program, ASA sponsored a research workshop on the Race Initiative in April 1998, actively sought to engage sociologists and other social scientists in this project, and undertook preparation of research papers on various issues relating to race, racism, and race relations. ASA was awarded $87,640 from the W. K. Kellogg Foundation in 1998, and $54,300 from The Ford Foundation in 1997 for the project.
  
  
• With the National Humanities Alliance, ASA joined the effort to protect the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) from sharp budget cuts or total elimination due to the House GOP plan to balance the federal budget.
  
  
• The ASA joined colleagues from the American Psychological Association (APA) on the Human Capital Initiative in the mid-1990s; and in 2000, began support for the Decade of Behavior (2000–10), a multidisciplinary effort led by the APA to focus attention on the potential for contribution by the behavioral and social sciences on meeting significant challenges of society.
  
  
• The ASA was involved in collaboration on several major projects on violence. Executive Officer Levine was invited to attend the federal Interagency Violence Research Working Group, and served on the Advisory Board of the National Consortium on Violence Research (NCOVR) and the National Television Violence Study.
  
  
• On behalf of COSSA, Levine provided testimony on Appropriations for the Office of Justice Programs, U.S. Department of Justice, before a U.S. House of Representatives Subcommittee on Appropriations three times: on April 17, 1997 (for FY 1998); April 17, 1996 (for FY1997); and on May 11, 1993 (for FY 1994 Appropriations).
  
  

 Public Information Program

First established in the mid-1980s, the Public Information Program of ASA continued to expand media coverage of sociology during the 1990s. The Strategic Plan of 1992 envisioned two goals for the Public Information Program: (1) to respond to media inquiries with timely and relevant information, including referrals to experts on specific issues, and (2) to initiate press briefings and other actions that inform and educate about sociology. Topics emanating from the substantive programs such as the Spivack Program were viewed as particularly appropriate for nurturing media interest in sociological issues. There was a close alliance between Public Affairs and Public Information initiatives with the same members of ASA’s small staff often engaging in one, the other, or both forms of activity.

At the 1993 Annual Meeting, a public information consultant was engaged to enhance coverage and to involve the media in the meeting by initiating a special media panel. Edward Hatcher was appointed Director of Public Affairs and Communications in 1995 and served until 1997. Katherine J. Rosich, a Policy Analyst Consultant to the ASA on Spivack projects, continued the work of coordinating the public information functions from 1998 to early 2002, when Lee Herring joined the staff as Director. In July 2000, Johanna Ebner, a recent graduate of American University in Sociology and Communications was hired as a Program Assistant in Public Information. Ann Boyle, the AAAS/ASA Media Fellow for 1998, and Rachel Gragg (who had completed a term as Congressional Fellow) provided professional support in the public information area during the 1998 and 1999 Annual Meetings respectively.

Considerable emphasis was placed in the Public Information Program on enhancing forms of communication with the media:

• Requests for information by media were routinely referred to sociologists with expertise in a given area. These events also generated ongoing contacts with some members of the press.
  
  
• Press releases were written on articles from ASA journals ( ASR and JHSB as well as special editions of ASR and CS ) and were posted on the news wires (these were routinely filed on newswires: Newswise and the AAAS news service, Eurekalert).
  
  
• Events held under the auspices of the Spivack Program or special public affairs initiatives were also covered in press releases and posted on the newswires (e.g., ASA held a briefing at the National Press Club on research related to the Family and Medical Leave Act in 1993, and also on the action against H.R. 1271 in 1996). The media was invited to all Congressional briefings and Spivack Program initiatives and to the MOST Capstone Conference in June 2002 (special media packets were prepared for these events).
  
  
• A Science Writer’s Workshop sponsored jointly by ASA and OBSSR was held on June 30, 1997 on “Families, Youth, and Children’s Well Being,” featuring Linda Burton, Donald Hernandez, and Sandra Hofferth (proceedings were published in the ASA Issue Series in Social Research and Social Policy ).
  
  
• The ASA Annual Meeting was a high priority for the Public Information Program. A major effort was made to contact or invite national and local media to the meeting, packets of special materials were prepared, and a media office was set up at the Annual Meeting to provide services and support to members of the press who attended. Press releases on plenary sessions, presentations, selected papers, and other special events at the Meeting were prepared and posted on the newswires. Each year one or two press conferences were also held during the meeting: In 1998, a press conference was held at the release of The Realities of Affirmative Action in Employment, by Barbara F. Reskin. A press conference on “Cyberspace and Everyday Life,” with Barry Wellman, Keith Hampton, and Marc Smith at the 2000 Annual Meeting generated dozens of media stories around the world in the weeks following the Annual Meeting.