Council Highlights

ASA Council held its mid-year meeting February 11-12, 2012, in Washington, DC. Pending Council approval and online posting of the minutes, the following is a snapshot of key decisions and discussions.

Minutes. The minutes for the summer Council meetings on August 23 and August 24, 2011, were approved and are now posted at www.asanet.org/about/Council_Minutes.cfm#2011.

Budgets and Investments.

Approved the operating budget and the Spivack budget for 2012.
Approved the MFP budget for 2012-2013, and allocated funding from the Spivack fund to support two additional Fellows.
Requested the Committee on the Executive Office and Budget (EOB) to look at current bond investments and talk with ASA’s investment advisor about socially responsible choices.

Donations.

Added the Community Action Research Initiative (CARI) to the donation options provided for members’ consideration.
Affirmed the intention to increase opportunities for members to donate to the ASA small grant programs.

Publications.

Approved permanent page increase of 100 pages for per volume year ASR, with encouragement to consider publishing articles that are longer than average, and 64 pages for JHSB.
Approved increases of 30 pages each for SOE and SPQ per two years.
Approved posting anonymously a one-page vision statemens from applications for editorships during the next three years, accompanied by the criteria for selection of editors, and inviting members to submit comments to the Committee on Publications.
Asked the Committee on Publications to review the vision-posting process and experience for effectiveness and report back to Council at the end of the three-year trial period.
Declined to publish details of editorial office budgets beyond what is already included in the official audit.
Supported e-publication of the MOST report on Promoting Diversity.
Affirmed production of a 2011 Annual Report.

Sections.

Approved placing proposed bylaws amendments on the 2012 ballot for the following sections: Collective Behavior and Social Movements, Environment and Technology, International Migration, Methodology, Sociological Practice and Public Sociology, Sociology of Emotions, Sociology of Mental Health, Sociology of Population, and Sociology of Sex and Gender.

Status Committees.

Accepted all recommendations contained in the final report of the Committee on the Status of Racial and Ethnic Minorities in Sociology (CSREMS), posted at www.asanet.org/about/statuscommittees/minorities.cfm.
Approved recommendations from the Committee on the Status of Persons with Disabilities in Sociology and the ASA Meeting Services Department to provide (1) live webcasting for Plenary Sessions, and (2) training for Meeting Services staff to do on-site inspections for disability compliance.
Approved insertion of a statement about ethical professional behavior in all future Annual Meeting programs, as recommended by the Committee on the Status of Women in Sociology.

Task Forces.

Approved moving forward with appointments to the ASA Task Force on Post-Doctorate Fellowships in Sociology.
Established a new Task Force on Community College Faculty to (1) examine the professional role, professional development, and possible advocacy needs of sociologists employed as community college faculty; and to (2) develop recommendations for how the ASA, as the national association for sociology, can best support community college faculty in the discipline of sociology.

Ad Hoc Committees

Declined the proposal from the Ad Hoc Committee on Turnaround Times in Sociology Journals to survey ASA members on manuscript review times.
Requested that the Committee on Publications consider best measures for reporting data on the manuscript submission process and have the Executive Office apply those measures to requests for the data included in the Publishing Options guide.
Referred other recommendations from the Ad Hoc Committee on Turnaround Times in Sociology Journals to the Committee on Publications.

New Business

Endorsed the American Educational Research Association’s (AERA) Report and Recommendations for the Reauthorization of the Institute of Education Sciences, with special emphasis on recommendations 1-12 and 15 in the report.
In consonance with the Modern Language Association, expressed support of teaching and studying languages other than English in American institutions of higher education and the importance of languages to the discipline of sociology.
Affirmed support of academic freedom in response to a request from the Colorado Conference of the American Association of University Professors (AAUP).
Authorized potential development of an amicus brief in support of ethnic studies if deemed appropriate in relation to court cases arising from Arizona’s Anti-Ethnic Studies Law.
Reiterated support in principle of academic freedom and confidentiality of research data in reference to a court case involving oral histories from Northern Ireland collected by researchers affiliated with Boston College.