February 16, 1989

Executive Committee of the American Institute of Physics

Minutes of Meeting

1. Convene – Roll Call
The meeting was convened by Chairman Frauenfelder at 5:00 p.m., 16 February 1989 in Phillips Hall of the University of North Carolina.

Members Present:
Hans Frauenfelder, Chair
Peter B. Boyce
Kenneth W. Ford, Executive Director
Roderick M. Grant, Secretary
William W. Havens, Jr.
David Lazarus
F. Dow Smith
Jack M. Wilson

Members Absent:
James A. Purdy
Martin Walt

Non-voting Participants:
Robert T. Beyer (ASA)
William L. Duax (ACA)
Jerry M. Woodall (AVS)
Thomas E. Graedel (AGU)

Staff:
Robert E. Baensch, Director of Publishing
Gerald F. Gilbert, Treasurer
John S. Rigden, Director of Physics Programs
Beverly Fearn Porter, Manager, Education Employment and Statistics Division
Nathalie D. Wagner, Assistant to the Secretary

Guest:
Eugen Merzbacher (APS President-Elect) - 17 February p.m.

For clarity in presentation with reference to the printed agenda, events recorded here are not necessarily in the same chronological order in which they appeared.

2. Report of the Secretary

  1. Minutes of 8-10 September and 23 October 1988
    Minutes of the meetings of the Executive Committee for 8-10 September and 23 October 1988 were approved.

  2. Constitutional Amendment
    Six Member Societies have given written notice that they have approved the proposed amendment; approval by a seventh (SOR) has been reported verbally. Societies have until the October 1989 Governing Board meeting to act.

  3. Assembly of Society Officers
    This year's Assembly features a format of roundtable forums on issues suggested by the Society Services Committee and by Governing Board members. Member Society staff as well as Elected Officers comprise the invitation list.

3. Remarks by the Chair

  1. Report from Tate Award Selection Committee

  2. Report from the Gemant Award Committee
    Nominees for these awards were received from Ramsey, Chair of the Tate Award Selection Committee, and Lazarus, Chair of the 1989 Gemant Award Selection Committee.

    Havens made the following motion, which Lazarus seconded, and which was unanimously CARRIED.

    MOVED that the nominees for the Tate and Gemant Awards be recommended to the Governing Board for approval.

    Pursuant to this action, the Executive Committee:

    Recommended that the Governing Board present the John T. Tate International Award to Edoardo Amaldi of the University of Rome, upon the recommendation of the Tate Award Committee.

    Recommended that the Governing Board present the 1989 Andrew Gemant Award to Gerald Holton of Harvard University, upon the recommendation of the Andrew Gemant Award Committee.

4. Report of the Executive Director

  1. Gordon & Breach Matter
    Ford referred to his 7 February 1989 memo to the Executive Committee and to the 25 January 1989 letter from Richard Meserve (AIP / APS Counsel) to Sheldon Elsen, and a 2 February 1989 response from Leslie Lupert to Richard Meserve.

    This matter, regarding the extent and significance of claimed errors, has been going on for six months. On advice of Counsel, Ford and Lubkin will publish a brief statement, in the March 1989 issue of Physics Today. The statement will indicate that AIP offered Gordon & Breach the opportunity to publish a letter with a response by Barschall; that they declined that offer; and that we have not been able to reach an agreement with Gordon & Breach. A letter to the editor from Barschall will appear in the same issue. It will provide additional clarification of his original article in Physics Today, and will refer readers to the more detailed article which appeared in BAPS.

  2. Search for Treasurer/Chief Financial Officer
    Ford stated that he appreciates Gilbert’s decision to remain at AIP until completion of the Audit for 1988. Eight candidates for his replacement have been interviewed and two have been selected for more interviews.

  3. Search for Director of Development
    The plan is to fill this position in 1989. The leading candidate has also been interviewed by some Member Societies. The position was "offered informally (orally)" to him; he has not responded as yet. The position has not been advertised. The office initially will be located in Washington.

  4. Plans for Governing Board Meeting
    Ford asked for suggestions of substantive items which could be the subject of discussions at the Governing meeting.

  5. Chaos Conference Planning
    Ford referred to his 8 February 1989 memo to the Executive Committee which reviews developments to date. Four of the six invited Soviet scientists have accepted; the other two were unable to attend. The U.S. Steering Committee has developed a list of 18 U.S. scientists to be invited. The Steering Committee is chaired by David Campbell VAAP will bring the participants over; AIP will support the Soviets once they are here.

  6. Information Technology Matters
    The FAMIS project seems to be close to the revised schedule; Ingoldsby and the staff are aiming for completion of this first phase by mid-March.

    PI-NET is behind schedule. Plans are to have the Gould computer system, which will host PI-NET, operational by the end of March. The BITNET node will be operational soon.

5. Long Range Planning I - Priorities for Goals
Ford introduced Beverly Porter, who serves as Chair of the Long Range Planning Committee in 1989. The committee will have i next meeting on 2 March. The first activity will be to try to refine the strategic plan as it was approved in October.

[The bulk of the discussion of long-range planning took place on Friday 17 February and is reported under Item 11.]

[The remainder of the Thursday afternoon was devoted to discussions about long-range space needs. Those discussions are summarized under Item 10.]

(The meeting recessed at 6:50 pm for dinner in the Carolina Inn. The staff were excused following dinner at 8:30 pm.)

6. Executive Session
The Executive Committee met in executive session from 8:30 to 9:45 p.m. This is recorded in the official minutes only.

(The meeting reconvened on Friday, 17 February, at 8:30 am.)

7. Report of the Director of Publishing

  1. Chinese Physics and Chinese Physics-Lasers
    Management, after review of the contents, circulation, and history of the journal, recommends combining the journal Chinese Physics-Lasers with the journal Chinese Physics. Quinn will refer this to the Executive Committee of OSA (which with AIP co-publishes Chinese Physics-Lasers) for approval. Approval is needed now in order to plan for editorial and billing arrangements for 1990.

    Lazarus made the following motion, which was seconded by Havens, and unanimously CARRIED.

    MOVED that AIP management be authorized to combine the journal Chinese-Physics Lasers with the journal Chinese Physics as a separate section.

  2. Soviet Matters

    1. Agreements for Atmospheric Optics and Superconductivity
      In December, an agreement was reached with the Soviets for the joint publication by AIP and OSA of Atmospheric Optics, including back issues of Volume 1-1988 and all future volumes for a three-year period.

      Mezh Kniga has received our contract for publishing the journal Superconductivity. Included in the contract is an agreement that we are to review the translation and edit the manuscripts. The statement in the contract that the quality shall conform to Soviet standards refers to mechanics of publishing (paper, printing, etc.).

      The recent economic trend in the Soviet Union is to try to retain as much of the production as possible in order to have more to export for hard currency. This has resulted in the new form of these agreements.

    2. Physics Dictionary Project
      Baensch is acquainted with the editor-in-chief of a Soviet dictionary publisher. They have discussed the possibility of co-publishing a new edition of a 40,000 word dictionary using American English. The key issues are to establish an editorial board and to set up the database. Someone from the USIA is being sought to serve on the editorial board, as that agency has a database of vocabulary which would be very helpful in the project.

      Concern was voiced over the compatibility of computer systems in both the U.S. and U.S.S.R. which would need to make use of such a database. This led to the suggestion that the nature of this problem be raised for discussion at the Assembly of Society Officers, with possible referral to the Subcommittee on Information Technology for further study.

  3. Xyvision Composition System
    The hardware for the Xyvision system was delivered in early January. 37 steps and dates for their implementation by November 1989, were identified. Production of “live” work is tentatively scheduled to begin in early summer. In early fall an evaluation for system expansion into the second phase will be made. This will be put on a Project Manager system; Ingold by has hired an assistant who will keep track of the development of this system. Meanwhile, Carlin's staff has begun training classes preparing for the pilot project.

  4. Computers in Physics - Status Report
    In December and January the planned move of the editorial offices from New York to Woodbury resulting in reducing the staff from 7 to 1. A good editorial board meeting was held in California in January. The magazine must be considered as one publication, with Borchers as executive editor, and not as a magazine with a separate front and back. The journal will be repositioned to appeal to the readers and to make it a more applications oriented publication.
    Key goals:
    1) Build circulation.
    2) Build space advertising in a highly competitive field.
    3) Reduce and control operating expenses.

  5. IOP Book Distribution Agreement - Status Report
    IOP has not been happy with Taylor & Francis for the marketing, sales, warehousing, and distribution of their book program in the U. S. and Canada. Based on an AIP proposal the IOP has obtained approval from its executive board to cancel its contract with Taylor & Francis. Baensch is optimistic that an agreement with IOP can be implemented by the fall of 1989. Their 300 active book titles will help our book program.

  6. AIP Book Warehousing and Distribution
    We are in the final stage of identifying a book warehouse and distribution agent to handle AIP and IOP book order fulfillment requests. The plan is to implement the system with the AIP book program by 1 April and to add the IOP titles by 1 July.

  7. Development of Electronic Publishing
    At the meeting in Woods Hole there was a discussion regarding electronic journal publication. If AIP is to pioneer in this enterprise, do we know whether it is technologically possible, and if so, how far away are we from achieving it? There was no ready answer; obviously it is a question of priorities. If we don’t get our costs for the print medium fixed, we won't have a cash source. In addition, we need to determine the market; what would people be willing to pay?

8. Report of Director of Finance and Administration

  1. Compensation Survey
    Gilbert referred to a letter from Organization Resources Councilors (OCR) (27 January 1989) which is conducting a compensation survey for the Institute. The greatest concern is Woodbury; AIP is losing people to other employers. In particular, reviews of staff in Subscription Fulfillment and Publication Billing have been accelerated.

  2. Rental Rates for Resident Societies
    The Committee of Society Treasurers discussed this matter, but there was no clear consensus on possible changes in the current policy. Gilbert’s 3 February 1989 memo to the Executive Committee contained the recommendation of the committee, as stated below, which was CARRIED, with one NO vote.

    It is AIP policy to charge resident Member Societies rent at an average actual cost of the facilities determined separately for each of the three locations; New York City, Woodbury and Plainview LI, and Washington DC. The policy remains subject to annual review.

  3. Workshop on Financial Prorations
    Gilbert referred to his 3 February 1989 memo to the Executive Committee discussing subject workshop. He plans to hold a workshop on financial prorations in the spring. The last such workshop was held in February 1983 and was considered very instructive.

  4. Developments with Audit
    Gilbert referred to his 3 February 1989 memo to the Executive Committee detailing plans for overseeing the 1988 audit. As a result of Dolowich’s resignation, and changeover which resulted in a new Touche Ross senior audit supervisor who does not know AIP, Gilbert has decided to postpone his retirement from AIP. A timetable for the audit calls for the auditors' draft of their report to be submitted by the end of May.

  5. IRS Employment Tax Audit Covering Calendar Year 1984
    Gilbert referred to his 8 February 1989 memo to the Executive Committee which reports a decision by the IRS in favor of AIP and the official notification from the IRS (1 February 1989) which closes this case. This means that the 16 AIP journal editors and their staffs will remain independent contractors and will not be reclassified as AIP employees.

    AIP is requesting complete disclosure of the tax information for determination of the decision, since the letter as received is useless for any citations that may be needed in the future.

  6. Status of Capital Expenditures
    Gilbert reviewed the status of capital expenditures from 1987 to the present. There were no questions.

9. Report of the Director of Physics Programs

  1. Public Information - Appointment of Manager
    Steven Sester will assume the position of Manager of the Public Information Division on 27 February 1989. Sester comes to AIP from his position as Director of Public Relations at Illinois Institute of Technology.

  2. Implementation of ATP "Public Policy Activities" Authorized by Governing Board
    Public policy activities are on hold until the new manager is in place. The statement as passed by the Governing Board at its October 1988 meeting means that many activities can be carried out by a small public information group in DC, to be in place by June. That group will facilitate (1) the flow of information from and among Member Societies and (2) meetings with key people in DC.

  3. Project SEEP
    This project is designed to help students explore and experience physics. The first activity was on 18 January 1989 in San Francisco. Over 100 7th and 8th grade students came to the joint AAPT/APS meeting, and were entertained and instructed by physicists. The school teachers were very interested and wanted help. Citrynell and Kirwan are now talking about having an additional program for teachers to enable them to enhance th.is program, and the San Francisco school system wants them to come back. Rigden invited Executive Committee members to consider this idea in terms of meetings of their Societies.

    APS has a program involving high school students. They will have a program on 21 March at their St. Louis meeting and had one last year in Baltimore. In New Orleans they had one for high school teachers. This project is under the direction of Brian Schwartz, APS Education Officer.

    AAS has run high school teacher workshops for two years; it is a lot of work but has been very successful. Advanced credit at the University of Virginia was arranged for participating teachers. The following elements are needed: 1) media attention; 2) starting almost a year ahead; 3) establishing links between local teachers and university local ties, so they can continue further contacts.

  4. Contribution to Olympiad
    Ford referred to his 8 February 1989 memo to the Executive Committee which proposes regular budgeted annual support from AIP for the Physics Olympiad. The Olympiad had been a great success academically. AIP has had good success in raising money and now have a small surplus. Recommended is 1) an annual $5,000 contribution from AIP, and 2) an additional $5,000 for this year if needed.

    Wilson made the following motion, which was seconded by Boyce and unanimously CARRIED.

    MOVED that a regular, annual budget allocation of $5,000 from AIP for the Physics Olympiad be authorized, and that an additional $5,000 contribution by AIP to the Physics Olympiad be authorized for 1989, only if it is needed to achieve the total funding needed for the program.

10. Space Matters

  1. Woodbury/Plainview
    Color photos of a rendering of the Woodbury facility remodeling project were reviewed as received from the architect. Ford suggested that it is important to proceed to hold discussions with the local residents in order to obtain a meeting with the Town Board. A favorable ruling by the Town Board would not require us to build, but would make it possible for us to do so as needed.

  2. Washington DC

    1. Proposed Rental of Additional 1,500 Square Feet
      Ford said that additional space is needed currently in Washington, as outlined in his 8 February 1989 memo to the Executive Committee. At present, there is no room for expansion of staff and activities anywhere. There is no room in New York for the Development Office. There is no room beyond that for the planned small expansion of History nor for additional space requested by APS. Woodbury and Plainview are virtually full. The requested space will be for the Development Office and educational projects as funded by NSF. Grants for the latter will include money for rental. There is also a need for pace for use by staff visiting the office.

      Smith made the following motion, which was seconded by Boyce and unanimously CARRIED.

      MOVED that the rental of an additional 1500 sq.ft. of space in the AGU building in Washington, DC, at a cot not to exceed $22/sq.ft. for a lease co-terminus with our present AGU lease (30 June 1991), be authorized.

  3. General
    (General considerations of future AIP space needs, which took place on both Thursday afternoon and Friday morning, are reported here.)

    Information distributed to the Executive Committee included: 1) a 14 February 1989 memo from Czujko to Ford outlining relative costs in selected cities and a table representing both local cost of living and the cost of leasing office space in seven areas; 2) a copy of the 15 September 1987 memo from Frauenfelder to Governing Board members reviewing Executive Committee actions related to space; 3) five charts which summarize AIP's 1988 space situation. These also show a projection for 1993, based on numbers in the Long Range Plan. The first one shows that even if one does not believe the growth indicated there, there is not enough space.

    Frauenfelder opened discussion on AIP's future space needs. Management, the Executive Committee, and the Governing Board have been worrying about the space situation for a long time. Fiscal 1989 finds us with a deficit operating budget (exclusive of long term investment income). We, and our resident Member Societies, are constrained by not being able to expand except by renting space. We must look for a solution which allows for the consolidation of our operations for the long run, whether or not we find we need less or more space in the future. One estimate suggests that relocating and consolidating operations to less expensive space could save $1-4 million a year. What would be our approach if we had a completely free hand? It is clear that real estate in Manhattan is very expensive, and that labor costs on Long Island are quite high. One possibility is to look at what part of our operations should remain in New York City, what should be in Washington DC, what might be moved to a cheaper location? A good labor supply, reasonably priced real estate, and convenience of access are all important considerations. The basis of these discussions should serve to give management clear direction as to how to proceed.

    Important management considerations, particularly in the Publishing Branch, include the following: 1) It would be very difficult to implement Xyvision while involved in a move; Xyvision will be in place by the end of 1990; 2) concerns regarding both management and staffing situations need attention in the next six months; 3) the potential of electronic publishing must be studied, but is on hold until higher priority issues are addressed. Efficient, cost effective management of our methods and operations are of utmost importance.
    On the basis of the discussions on Thursday afternoon, Ford developed, and distributed to the Executive Committee on Friday morning, a set of "Theses" which he proposed would serve to narrow the focus and to make more clear what directions the planning should take. After detailed discussion concerning each of the statements, the Executive Committee reached consensus agreement that they would serve this purpose.

    Given below are the principles on space needs as endorsed by the Executive Committee, 17 February 1989.

    1. New York City is not a suitable location for the future growth of AIP.
    2. AIP should work with APS and other Member Societies to establish cooperative goals for meeting future space requirements.
    3. Quality of life and cost of living for employees should be considered strongly in selecting future sites.
    4. In assessing future locations for AIP's publishing center, costs (especially labor costs) should be considered strongly.
    5. In assessing future locations for AIP's headquarters and physics programs links to other scientific organizations and/or universities should be considered strongly.
    6. AIP should consolidate operations in as few sites as possible and should own most of its space.
    7. AIP should be prepared to jointly own space with its Member Societies or to lease space to them, and to provide office services to these societies.
    8. AIP should select space that allows for substantial future expansion (for itself or for its Member Societies) without further relocation.
    9. Convenience and costs for volunteers attending meetings and for employees who travel should be considered in selecting future sites.

    It was agreed by consensus that the Executive Committee will serve as the Space and Planning Committee, with the Management Committee as staff, and that non-voting participants of the Executive Committee should serve as voting members when the Executive Committee is fulfilling this function.

    Management was asked to study one scenario for now. We must be careful not to sacrifice quantity and quality of analyses in order to attain speed, as we will only move once. What do we hope to accomplish by this study? We need numbers, and can refine them later. We should know if the proposed change makes a 5% or a 20% difference in the cost of our operations. Management is requested to gather as much of this information as possible for further discussion at the March Executive Committee and Governing Board meetings.

(The meeting recessed at 12:00 noon for lunch at the Carolina Inn and reconvened at 1:00 pm.)

11. Long Range Planning II - Implementing Goals
Reference was made to the AIP Long Range Plan, as distributed to Governing Board following October 1988 meeting.

The Long Range Plan has proven to be very useful. It has served to delineate the role of AIP, and to differentiate its role from those of the Member Societies. For AIP management it serves the useful purpose of providing a framework for judging new ideas. For individual managers and supervisors, it aids in the development of specific operational plans.

The objectives (page 6) are holding up well: 1 and 2 are related to publishing; 3 and 4 are related to education; 5 provides the basis for other services. The 21 goals (pages 28-36) are divided by general category. The purpose of this topic on the agenda is to seek general comments and opinions of the Executive Committee regarding things of importance. There is no mention of space issues in the planning document, for practical reasons; it is not possible for the staff to deal with these on a long range basis. Similarly, planning relative to new directions in publishing is omitted, as these topics could not be discussed by staff.

The committee is comprised of Porter (Chair), Baensch, Carlin, Braun, Ingoldsby, Merrill, Weart, and Kirwan. They represent the three Branches of AIP. The task at hand is to refine the goals, and to make the transition into operational plans. Establishment of priorities has already begun, e.g., the Xyvision project. Another example is the implementation of operational plans for books and marketing programs. In the process, needs as well as opportunities are brought out.

As Member Societies proceed with their planning activities, it will be important to know their conclusions so that they can be taken into account in AIP planning. One problem of communication is that users don't always sense that something is becoming a service. In this process it would be a good idea to see that new services are discussed at Member Society meetings with AIP representatives in attendance to obtain feedback. This would provide a process for exchanging information.

There was general agreement that immediate attention to AIP customer relations was an important priority.

12. Future Meeting Dates
Scheduled dates are as follows:
5-6 June (5 p.m. Mon - 4 p.m. Tues) Executive Committee, New York, NY
7-9 Sept (9 a.m. Thurs - 12 N Sat) Executive Committee, Woods Hole, MA
1 Oct (12 N - 5 p.m. Sun) Executive Committee, Detroit, MI
1-2 Oct (6 p.m. Sun - 5 p.m. Mon) Governing Board, Detroit, MI
3-4 Oct (Tues, Wed) AIP Corporate Associates, GM Labs, Warren, MI

13. Executive Session
The AIP staff were excused at 2:35 pm for the executive session, which is reported in the official minutes only.

14. Adjournment
The meeting was adjourned at 2:50 p.m.