Summary of Board Actions-Spring & Summer 2003

Summary of Executive Board Actions

The following is an account of official actions taken and some of the topics discussed by the AAPT Executive Board during its spring and summer meetings in 2003. A more complete description can be found in the minutes from these meetings.

Editorial Appointments

The Executive Board reappointed Jan Tobochnik as Editor of the American Journal of Physics. Tobochnik’s second three-year term as Editor will begin in Jan. 2004. The Board also authorized the following three-year appointments: Kris Davidson (University of Minnesota) and James McGuire (Tulane University) to the Resource Letters Editorial Board; and Beverly (Trina) Cannon (Highland Park High School) and John Hubisz (North Carolina State University) to the Examinations Editorial Board.

Audit Report for 2002

Upon recommendation from the AAPT Audit Committee, the Executive Board accepted and approved the report of the External Auditors for 2002. The auditors found that the financial statements of the AAPT present fairly the financial position of the association and the changes in its net assets and its cash flows during the year and conform to generally accepted accounting principles.

Commission on Graduate Education

In response to a resolution from the AAPT Committee on Graduate Education, the Board authorized the creation of a commission to study the current status of graduate physics education in the United States. An allocation of $10,000 from the Klopsteg Fund will be made available to the commission. The commission will be a cooperative effort of the AAPT and the APS Committee on Education.

Nominating Committee in 2004

The Executive Board and the Section Representatives have completed appointments to the Nominating Committee operating in 2004. The committee will select candidates for the 2004 AAPT elections and will appoint two members to each AAPT Area Committee. Board members elected in the Fall 2004 and new committee members will begin their terms of office at the close of the 2005 Winter Meeting. Members of the 2004 Nominating Committee are John Mallinckrodt, Chair (California State Polytechnic University), John Fitzgibbons (Syracuse University), Alan Gibson (Oakland University), William McNairy (Duke University), and Sherry Savrda (Seminole Community College). Task Force on Services to Four-Year Colleges and Universities Upon authorization from the Executive Board, AAPT President Charles Holbrow appointed a task force to explore ways to make the AAPT more useful and attractive to faculty teaching in colleges and universities. Members of the task force are: Ken Krane, Chair (Oregon State University); Daniel Kleppner (Massachusetts Institute of Technology); Thomas Glasmacher (National Superconducting Cyclotron Laboratory); Elizabeth H. Simmons (Boston University); Stephen FitzGerald (Oberlin College); Peter J. Collings (Swarthmore College); and Jan Tobochnik (Kalamazoo College). The task force will report its findings and recommendations to the Board in October 2003.

Subscription Rates in 2004

In 2004, AAPT members subscribing to The Physics Teacher (TPT) will realize an increase of $2 while non-AAPT members will realize an increase of $9. AAPT members will realize a $3 increase in their subscriptions of the American Journal of Physics (AJP) but subscriptions to non-AAPT members will increase by $25. This significant increase in non-AAPT subscriptions to AJP will cover the costs of putting the back issues of the AJP online in 2004 and 2005. AAPT members who subscribe to both TPT and AJP will not experience an increase in subscriptions.

World Year of Physics in 2005

In April, Chuck Stone (North Carolina A&T State University) was appointed chair of an AAPT committee to identify activities appropriate to the World Year of Physics in 2005 (WYP) that the AAPT could organize and conduct. During this year, organizations will commemorate the 100th anniversary of Albert Einstein’s papers on quantum theory, relativity, and Brownian motion, first published in 1905. The APS is coordinating the outreach and public information activities in the United States. Other members serving on the AAPT-WYP committee are Matt Briggs (Los Alamos National Laboratory), Jessica Clark (APS), Julie Conlon (Purdue University), Ted Hodapp (NSF/DUE), Michelle Larson (Montana Space Grant Consortium), David Maiullo (Rutgers University), and Steve Shropshire (Idaho State University).

Teacher Preparation

Seven planning initiatives adopted by the Executive Board provide a context for many of the Board’s discussions and actions. The first five were adopted in 2001 and two more were adopted in 2002. One of these seven initiatives, “Assessing Members’ Needs,” was retired in April. However, the AAPT staff and Executive Board will continue to periodically review the services of the association to its members. In response to a request from PhysTEC leaders, John Layman and Warren Hein, the Board added “Teacher Preparation” as an AAPT initiative, again bringing the total number of planning priorities to seven. The other six initiatives previously adopted by the Executive Board are: (1) Physics for All; (2) Dissemination of Physics Education Research; (3) Physics Content in AAPT Meetings; (4) Physics Standards; (5) Assistance to Crossover Teachers; and (6) Relationships with Professional Societies of Other Disciplines.

Mary Beth Monroe, Secretary