3. THE EXECUTIVE OFFICE (EO)

Transitions and Reorganization

Transitions
In August 1982, Executive Officer Russell R. Dynes left the ASA to become Chair of the Department of Sociology at the University of Delaware, and at present he remains professor emeritus on the faculty of the University. William V. D'Antonio, then Professor of Sociology at the University of Connecticut became Executive Officer in August 1982 and served until his retirement from ASA in August 1991. In 1993, D'Antonio joined the faculty of the Catholic University of America as an Adjunct Research Professor (his current position). Felice J. Levine who succeeded D'Antonio, also served as Executive Officer-designate from her appointment in May 1990 until she joined the ASA staff on August 1, 1991. Levine was Director of the Law and Social Science Program at the National Science Foundation before becoming Executive Director of the ASA.

Executive Office staffing changed in other ways during the early 1980s as well. In February 1981, long-time staff member Marjorie E. (Midge) Miles left her position as Administrative Officer and was succeeded by Jo Ann Ruckel. Also, Lawrence J. Rhoades, who had served as Executive Associate of the Association in 1974 and 1975 and from 1977 to 1981 left the Executive Office in 1981for a position at the National Institute of Mental Health. Three sociologists joined the professional staff during 1981, including Bettina J. Huber, as Assistant Executive Officer, Carla B. Howery as Professional Associate with a focus on teaching, and Paul R. Williams, as Director of the Minority Fellowship Program.

Reorganization
A variety of staffing issues emerged in the Executive Office over the years. In his 1981 Report to the membership, Secretary Herbert L. Costner noted that, depending on how and when counting was done, the Executive Office had a professional staff of three to five people and an administrative/clerical staff of 12. He also reported that the EOB conducted a review of the Executive Office in 1979 and 1980 in response to the concerns raised by women and minority sociologists on how to better integrate them into the Executive Office. Concerns were also raised about the demand on Executive Office staff time by several of the interest groups within the Association. Costner wrote that one professional person was added to the staff at this time.

The complexities and tensions existing in Executive Office operations were described by outgoing ASA President James F. Short, who said that, "[the] [o]rganization of both sociologists and the staff, authority relations and the division of labor among them, were often ad hoc, with little rationale save personal preference or equally ad hoc precedent….Over the years conflicts had arisen and remained unresolved, however, to the detriment of both interpersonal relationships within the office and of service to the Association." (Footnotes, December 1984:1-2)

In October 1983, The Committee on the Executive Office and Budget (EOB) retained management consultants Robert Atwell and Madeleine Green to conduct a study of the Executive Office. In January 1984, Council approved an EOB recommendation to give broad authorities to the Executive Officer to "reorganize the Executive Office in order to improve efficiency and effectiveness" of operations. Secretary Theodore Caplow noted that recommendations were communicated to the Executive Office staff by the Executive Officer. The position of Administrative Officer was eliminated and new managerial positions were created.

The reorganization of the Executive Office included five new managerial positions: Convention and Meetings Manager, Governance Manager, Publications Manager, Business Manager, and Office Manager. At the time of the reorganization, the staff also consisted of a Membership Secretary, three staff sociologists, and a support staff of seven. The only other professional staff position added during the 1980s was that of Director for the Professional Development Program, which was established in 1986.

The reorganization of 1984 significantly affected the operations of the Executive Office. Key functional authorities were shifted from the Administrative Officer to the Executive Officer, thus laying the foundations for an administrative structure that could build professional services in the five managerial areas. The ASA staff (both professional and administrative) was thereafter able to focus attention in their respective functional areas, resulting in an enhancement in the quality and level of services to the membership. Programmatic activities were also realigned and institutionalized around the key areas established in the restructuring.

Other changes took place with respect to staffing in the early 1980s. Professional staff sociologists were appointed to positions for specific tasks, rather than for fixed two-year periods as had been the practice up to that time. The Executive Officer's position also was extended to a second term. In 1988, an Ad Hoc EOB/Council Committee on Professional Staff Appointments formulated a detailed professional staff hiring and evaluation policy, which was adopted by Council with slight modifications in January 1990.

In February 1985, Council created the position of Ombudsperson for the Executive Office, and in August 1985, Joseph Scimecca of George Mason University became the first Ombudsman. The Ombudsman was charged with hearing staff grievances within the Executive Office not satisfied by the Executive Officer. Scimecca served from 1986 to 1988; no one was appointed for 1989, and William Anderson was Ombudsman from 1990 to 1992. (It appears that no staff person contacted Scimecca or Anderson, and the position was eliminated after 1992.)

In 1991, D'Antonio noted that during his nine-year tenure at ASA the staff grew from 17 to 19 fulltime persons, and from two to six part-timers. However, while the staff increased by only a few people, the workload of the Executive Office increased substantially during that period through the addition of several new journals and programmatic services. (The issue of whether the ASA Executive Office was "overstaffed" was raised a number of times during Council meetings during the 1980s.)

ASA's Headquarters
The housing situation at 1722 N Street NW in Washington, the headquarters of the Executive Office, was also assessed from time to time. During the early 1980s, ASA engaged in discussions to relocate to one building with two other social science associations in the Washington area, but, in January 1982, Executive Officer Dynes informed Council that this was deemed not feasible. The outdated condition of the 1722 N Street headquarters was observed by Council in January 1982, when the boiler blew out (fortunately without injuries). Council instructed the Executive Office in 1986 to explore alternatives for its housing. In 1989, Secretary Aiken noted that the ASA building was close to staffing capacity, in effect placing some limits on Association activities, and he encouraged EOB "to remain open and to continue to review options for moving ASA to new quarters." (Council Minutes, August 12, 1989)

Despite these constraints, in 1990, ASA entered into a five-year agreement to house the Population Association of America (PAA) at the ASA Executive Office at 1722 N Street when PAA's office sharing arrangement with the American Statistical Association was discontinued. The PAA, with a membership of about 2,800 at the time, had close ties to the ASA through an overlapping membership, and collaborative arrangements of many of its members. Part-time administrative services to PAA were provided by two ASA staff members, and there was one full-time PAA staff member. In 1995, the PAA moved to a new location in the Washington, DC area when its lease and services agreement with ASA expired.

Application of New Information Technologies (IT)
Executive Office operations also gained in efficiency as a result of implementing new technologies and systems. The 1980s saw the rapid development of office computer systems, and ASA struggled to keep up with the opportunities they presented. Computer systems at the time however, required specially designed software programs, which took time and money, and the search for proper expertise.

In 1982, Council approved a special capital expenditure for the purchase of computer equipment for the Executive Office, and a Burroughs Convergent Technologies system was purchased and installed that year. This system, however, could accommodate a limited number of users and required considerable reprogramming to adapt to Association needs. Janet Astner of the Executive Office worked closely with the systems programmers to augment the software applications for membership records, subscriptions, accounting, and other ASA requirements. In 1986, ASA increased the capacity of its information system by adding ten computers for staff workstations.

Council also addressed the opportunities for adapting the new technologies to enhance communication among sociologists more generally. In 1985, Hans Mauksch, James Campbell, and Edward Brent wrote a proposal to establish an electronic bulletin board to link sociologists through a communications system at ASA, which Council approved in 1986. The Committee advocated moving slowly by developing a network for communications among research scholars in sociology, and between ASA committees and members of ASA sections.

Electronic enhancements to the ASA were also introduced during the late 1980s. The ASA Executive Office established Bitnet communications through a terminal linked to the George Washington University mainframe computer, with Karen Gray Edwards, Manager of Publications, monitoring traffic for staff. Edwards, working in close collaboration with Boyd Printing Company, ASA's primary publisher, introduced innovations such as use of electronic media and formats into the publishing program of the ASA. Other innovations during the 1980s included publication of electronic addresses in the Directory of Members for the first time in 1988.

In January 1989, Executive Officer D'Antonio reported to Council that equipment problems "plagued the office," and requested upgrades in some areas, noting that the main computer system would need to be updated. Later in 1989, D'Antonio reported that some equipment had been purchased, including a FAX machine, a personal computer for access to Bitnet, and a more advanced Xerox copier. In 1990, a more advanced phone system was also installed.

By the end of 1990, the ASA Executive Office had a computer system consisting of ten personal computer work stations with word processing and other office applications (Lotus, Harvard Graphics), networked to the Burroughs Convergent Technologies System (including its database system with basic accounting, subscription, and membership record information), several printers, and a network connection to Bitnet through George Washington University.

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