March 22-23, 1974

Governing Board of the American Institute of Physics

Minutes of Meeting

The Governing Board meeting was held in two parts. The first session took place in Parlor C of the Hotel Commodore, New York, N. Y., on Friday evening, March 22, 1974, and lasted until 9:30 p.m. The second session was held at the offices of the Institute on Saturday March 23, 1974, beginning at 9:30 a.m. When items requiring action were discussed on Friday evening, action was deferred until Saturday, after the Annual Meeting of the Corporation, since the term of office of new Governing Board members officially begins at the end of the Corporation Meeting.

Members Present During All or Part of the Meeting: H. Richard Crane – Chairman, Robert T. Beyer, John V. Bouyoucos, Joseph A. Burton, James L. Flanagan, William A. Fowler, Laurence W. Fredrick, James B. Gerhart, W. W. Havens, Jr., Sherwood K. Haynes, Gerald Holton, G. A. Jeffrey, E. Leonard Jossem, H. William Koch, J. A. Krumhansl, Sidney Millman, Philip M. Morse, Jarus W. Quinn, Arthur L. Schawlow, Frederick Seitz, F. Dow Smith, Arnold A. Strassenburg, Wallace Waterfall.

Absent: Michael Ference, Jr., Kenneth W. Ford, Janet B. Guernsey, Robert P. Kraft, John S. Laughlin, A. I. Mahan, E. R. Piore, R. S. Rivlin, Arthur H. Rosenfeld.

Guests Present at Various Times During the Meeting: F. R. Eirich, representing The Society of Rheology; Ronald F. Peierls for the APS Committee on Professional Concerns; Ralph A. Sawyer, Past Chairman of the AIP Governing Board; Larry D. Simpson, representing the American Association of Physicists in Medicine.

AIP Staff: H. William Koch, Director; Sidney Millman, acting for the Secretary; G. F. Gilbert, Treasurer; Lewis Slack, Associate Director for General Activities; Robert H. Marks, Associate Director for Publishing; Raymond W. Sears, Director, Manpower Division (Saturday only); Dorothy M. Lasky, Assistant to the Director; Mary M. Johnson, Assistant to the Secretary

Chairman Crane called the Friday evening session to order at 7:40 p.m. and introduced the new members present, Messrs. Bouyoucos, Fowler, Haynes, Morse, and Schawlow. He noted that Mr. Flanagan would attend the Saturday session, and that the other new members, Messrs. Piore, Rivlin, Rosenfeld, and Ms. Guernsey had been unable to attend.

Various documents containing background information on subjects discussed were distributed before and during the meeting. In most cases, copies of the documents are not being included with these minutes but will be filed with the official copy of the minutes. Anyone who wishes to receive copies of any of the documents referred to herein may do so by requesting them from the Secretary's Office.

For clarity in presentation, events are not recorded in the minutes in the exact order in which they occurred.

1. Minutes

Upon motion made and passed without dissent the minutes of the Governing Board meeting of November 16, 1973, were approved as distributed.

2. Report of Chairman

Crane reported that the Executive Committee, at its meeting on the afternoon of March 22, discussed at length how it might spend more time and get more deeply involved in AIP policy matters. The flavor of the discussion is reported on Page 4 of the minutes of the March 22 Executive Committee meeting. It decided to set up a mechanism for regular and more frequent meetings of the Executive Committee. To insure close touch with problems facing all Member Societies, those not represented on the Executive Committee will each be invited to send a non-voting representative to these meetings. The members-at-large of the Governing Board collectively may also send one non-voting participant.

3. Discussion of Report of the Consultant on Evaluation of AIP Subscription Fulfillment Function

Strassenburg, Chairman of the Advisory Committee on Dues Billing and Subscription Fulfillment, presented highlights of the report of the consultant, McCaffery, Seligman and von Simson, Inc. (MSV). He distributed copies of a two-page summary (copy attached as Exhibit A) of conclusions and recommendations. The MSV report is about 175 pages and is available to interested Board members. Strassenburg’s presentation was interspersed with comments by Gilbert concerning recommendations and questions raised in the report.

Many of the recommendations have already been implemented. These include the prompt processing of orders requiring minor monetary adjustments; the prompt deposit or return of checks including Canadian currency; the relaxation of the practice of tight cashiering control of daily transactions. Some of the problems will require further study before they are resolved, the toughest one being the problem with nonmember orders handled by agencies. Nonmember orders account for about two-thirds of the volume of business. The number of agencies involved is about 800. Other problems, such as the production schedule for printing labels for journals with irregular schedules, or the allocation of costs to various fulfillment operations, or the problem of requests for missing journal issues, are more tractable and will be resolved within a reasonable time.

There is general agreement among the AIP staff and the members of the Advisory Committee on Dues Billing and Subscription Fulfillment that the investment in hiring the consultant (at $6,500) was a very good one. There is very little doubt that it will result in a more efficient subscription fulfillment operation with considerable savings even if they don’t turn out to be as high as Von Simson estimates ($200,000 out of the 1974 budget). At that, it will take some time before all of the desirable changes are put into effect.

4. Publishing Matters

  1. Negotiations on Publication Rights

    Koch called attention to a document entitled "Negotiations on Publication Rights," copies of which had been distributed to members of the Governing Board, and asked that this document be regarded as administratively confidential. He discussed the barter feature involved in the negotiations with the Russians. There are 50,000 excess pages of AIP and Society journals that the Russians photocopy, compared with those translated by AIP. For the excess AIP will get $3.90 per 1,000 pages per subscriber. They would like to have AIP involved in as many pages as possible to reduce this potential royalty payment to AIP. Koch noted that AIP was authorized by the Societies to negotiate for them. He said he anticipated that by May 1, three Society councils will have met and if they so authorize, AIP will sign agreements with the Russians for the use of their respective journals in the barter. The Institute would like to have a uniform arrangement for all Societies. Koch read the two resolutions contained in the document which had been distributed and noted that the reference to AIP-published Society journals is on the assumption that authorization will be obtained from the respective Societies.

    Koch also reported on the current status of negotiations with IEE, which are being revived in an informal way so far.

    The two resolutions proposed by Koch are as follows:

    1. The principles of an agreement between the USSR and AIP as given in Exhibit B, attached to these minutes, are hereby approved for AIP and Society journals. Further, the inclusion of AIP journals in the execution of such an agreement beginning in subscription year 1973 is hereby authorized. The inclusion of Society journals is understood to be a matter of separate negotiations by AIP with the Societies involved. Such negotiations and requests for approval are hereby authorized.
    2. Informal discussions as proposed in the F. K. Willenbrock letter to L. Burchinal dated January 30, 1974 (copy attached as Exhibit C), that will lead to a reopening of IEE-AIP negotiations are hereby encouraged. The Board will look to the development of recommendations for AIP action regarding those negotiations from an ad hoc committee consisting of Dr. E. Brady, Chairman, Dr. H. Richard Crane, and Dr. H. I. Fusfeld, based on the exploratory Brady discussions proposed by Willenbrock.

    In response to a request for clarification of the bartering philosophy, Koch explained that originally the Russians suggested a percentage of subscription price but the difficulty is that for many journals there is a page charge and this results in a subsidized price which would not produce much of a royalty. The $3.90 figure is a simple and workable arrangement. We are going to tie this in with a basic barter arrangement and the Russians are not too concerned about the royalty fee since they intend to build up the barter arrangement.

    The following motion was then made, seconded, and passed unanimously:

    MOVED that the two resolutions proposed by Koch, and recorded above, be adopted.

  2. Integrated Primary and Secondary Journals: Costs and Implications

    Marks discussed the document on this subject, which had been distributed, and presented a series of slides showing some of the computer terminals, and described their use. He noted that the head of each article consisting of the title, author and his affiliation, abstract, and indexing terms are now being economically produced and are available for multiple purposes. This achievement drew very favorable comments from Burton who acknowledged previous skepticism on the economic aspects of this program.

5. Report of Annual Corporation Meeting

Gilbert reported that the annual meeting of the Corporation was held at 9:00 a.m. on Saturday, March 23, 1974, in compliance with New York State law. All of the Member Societies were represented by proxy and there were reports by the Director and the Treasurer. It was also stated that the annual report of the Corporation for 1973 will be published in PHYSICS TODAY, and that the auditor's report for 1973 will be sent to the Secretaries and Treasurers of all Member Societies when it is completed.

6. Annual Report for 1973 – Authorization to Publish in PHYSICS TODAY

Koch noted that copies of a draft report were sent to all members of the Governing Board prior to the meeting. He stated that the wording on Pages 8 and 9 will be modified to tone down references to the breaking of an agreement by IEE and to copyright infringements. After some discussion the following motion was made, seconded, and passed without dissent:

MOVED that the draft of the annual report for 1973 as submitted by the Director, with the indicated changes, be approved as the report of the Board of Directors to AIP Member Societies, and that publication of the report in PHYSICS TODAY be authorized.

In response to a question on the cost of publishing PHYSICS TODAY, Marks noted that PT is running a deficit of approximately $125,000. Income is mainly from advertising but there is income of $50,000 to $60,000 from other sources. He stated that we are planning to increase the advertising rate.

7. Financial Matters

  1. Financial Report for 1973

    Gilbert distributed copies of his March 22, 1974, letter to all Governing Board members containing estimated figures for calendar year 1973. He made brief comments about various figures. He emphasized that these figures had just become available and were subject to audit. He also noted that the Executive Committee, at its November 15, 1973 meeting, had authorized the taking of net income or expense from the Investment Advisory Account into operations regularly. A detailed financial statement for calendar year 1973 will be sent to Board members after the audit is completed.

  2. Financial Handling Charge for 1975

    Gilbert noted that each year the Governing Board fixes the financial handling charge for the following year which, according to the AIP Constitution, cannot exceed one per cent (1%) of the monetary value of business done on behalf of the Societies. For several years it has been five-eighths of one per cent and, at its meeting on March 22, 1974, the Executive Committee recommend that it be set again at this figure for 1975. The following motion was then made, seconded, and passed without dissent:

    MOVED that the financial handling charge for calendar year 1975 be set at five-eighths of one percent (O.625%).

8. Discussion of the Future of AIP and the Societies

Seitz gave a brief report covering past history of AIP, prospects for the future, and relationships with Member Societies, especially APS, and read conclusions from the Report of the Long-Range Planning Committee of which he was chairman. He also recommended that the final edition of this report include a letter from Kenneth w. Ford which is in disagreement with some of the conclusions in the summary.

Krumhansl, Chairman of the Committee on the Future of the APS, discussed some of the highlights of the report of his committee. He noted that the copies of the report which had been distributed incorrectly included the report of the APS Committee on Minorities. He commented on the strong role played by Philip M. Morse in this study.

Krumhansl said his committee found that there were real questions about the quality of life of physicists and the role of APS as a scholarly society interested in conditions for the advancement of physics. They felt it was a precious thing and did not want to tamper with it, but there were problems which APS members wanted the Society to deal with. One aspect has to do with their relations with AIP and the surrounding community. The committee noted the recently published Bromley report on Physics in Perspective and did not try to cover the same territory. He pointed out that the FAPS report is history now, and since most of the recommendations it contains were implemented before the final report was issued, the APS Council essentially participated in decision-making. Krumhansl noted the establishment of the Professional Concerns Committee which is working very actively on portable pension plans, and the Committee on Education. He also mentioned the program of Congressional Science Fellowships sponsored by the American Physical Society, which is only indirectly related to the recommendation made by the Committee on the Future of the APS.

The discussion then turned to the report of the AIP Long-Range Planning Committee. Questions were raised as to the intended meaning of "Ways in which the Societies should support AIP," "Dependence by Societies on AIP," or whether Societies had indeed failed to recognize their obligation. Crane noted that the LRPC report contains a diversity of recommendations each of which will have to be considered for implementation. He said the report will have to be discussed in detail in the future and the recommendations voted on by the Executive Committee on an individual basis. The Board might wish to receive the report and commend it to the Executive Committee, Governing Board, and AIP staff for action and/or implementation in the future. Havens suggested that the Board receive the report and refer it to the governing bodies of the Member Societies and ask them to come back to the AIP Governing Board with specific recommendations. He proposed that the Chairman appoint a representative of each Society to report back to the Long-Range Planning Committee. Holton said that, in addition to responses from individual Societies, we should keep in mind the views of the members-at-large.

The following motion was then made, seconded, and passed without dissent:

MOVED that the Governing Board receive the report of the Long–Range Planning Committee with thanks for its efforts, and refer it to the AIP Planning Committee and the governing bodies of Member Societies for discussion of what should be implemented and how it should be done.

The Saturday session was adjourned at 12:00 noon for a group photograph and luncheon and reconvened at 1:15 p.m. During this time, ceremonies were held in honor of Wallace Waterfall in anticipation of his retirement as Secretary of the Institute on March 31, 1974, and appointment as Secretary Emeritus. The program consisted of brief talks by Sawyer, Crane, and Koch, and presentation to Waterfall of gifts and a certificate, copy of which is attached to these minutes as Exhibit D.

9. A Preliminary View of Statistical Data from the APS–AIP Register of Physicists and Related Scientists

Sears began his presentation by noting that the Register, started after World War II, became a valuable source of statistical data relating to manpower. He said it was biennially conducted by NSF and the Societies through 1970 and discontinued in 1971 by the Office of Management and Budget. It was conducted in 1973 in the form of an APS-AIP Register. Sears gave some highlights of the results which are to be published in an article to appear in the April issue of PHYSICS TODAY. He noted that it is the first time we have had a data base on physicists and that only an updating will be necessary in the future. He felt an economical plan could be worked out which would reduce the burden on respondents. It may be possible to update it triennially and use a back-of-the-envelope approach for some data that should be collected more often. Sears noted that the analylists are working with all of the committees in the various Societies to highlight data of particular significance to them.

Peierls, Chairman of the APS Committee on Professional Concerns, said he believed that there is a need for this kind of information and that the present approach is a good one. A valuable part of the information is the question of trends and changes. Further studies will provide answers to questions such as "What is the career of a physicist?" He noted the usefulness of this information in connection with compliance with Affirmative Action legislation. He said it would be a great tragedy to lose the continuity of the information and he hoped the Member Societies would support it.

Quinn suggested that the Governing Board adopt a long-range plan (five years) for the support of this activity. Holton also agreed that it is very important for the Societies to have this kind of information.

The following motion was then made, seconded, and passed without dissenting vote:

MOVED that a five-year plan with budget for the acquisition of manpower statistics be presented by AIP at the next meeting of the Governing Board.

10. Report of the Nominating Committee and Election of Officers, Executive Committee and Member-at-Large of the Governing Board

Havens presented the list of nominees as given in his letter of March 14, 1974, addressed to Crane. The nominees were as follows:

  • Chairman, AlP Governing Board: H. Richard Crane
  • Acting Secretary: Sidney Millman

Executive Committee:

 

  • Joseph A. Burton
  • Laurence W. Fredrick
  • W. W. Havens, Jr.
  • E. Leonard Jossem
  • Jarus W. Quinn
  • Wallace Waterfall
  • H. William Koch, ex officio
  • Director–at–Large to 1977: J. E. Goldman

In addition to the regular nominations listed above, the Nominating Committee recommended that Wallace Waterfall be appointed Secretary Emeritus of the American Institute of Physics.

 

Crane noted that one of the nominations requires waiver of the resolution passed at a previous meeting of the Board which prohibits an officer or employee of a Member Society from becoming an officer of AIP. He recommended this be waived in the case of an acting officer of the Institute. Havens read this resolution which was passed by the Governing Board at its meeting on March 31, 1973, and made the following motion which was seconded and passed without dissent:

MOVED that the resolution passed by the Governing Board on March 31, 1973, restricting officers or employees of Member Societies from becoming officers of the Institute, be waived in the case of the nomination of Sidney Millman as Acting Secretary.

The following motion concerning the report of the Nominating Committee was then made, seconded, and passed without dissenting vote:

MOVED that the report of the Nominating Committee be accepted and the candidates proposed be declared elected.

11. Appointment of Committees for Current Year

A list of proposed committees and representatives for the coming year had been distributed prior to the meeting and the list, as approved, is attached as Exhibit E. Koch noted that committee memberships are frequently suggested to us by the Societies. The Information Committee will be replaced by the Publishing Policy Committee, and the Committee on Physics and Society (COMPAS) has been eliminated. A more active Executive Committee should obviate the need for this latter committee. Beyer noted that the Planning Committee has three new members all of whom are members of APS, but that members-at-large and small Societies are not represented. After further brief discussion, the following motion was made, seconded, and passed without dissent:

MOVED that the proposed committees and representatives for the coming year be approved, and that the Chairman and Director be empowered to make any changes or additional appointments which may be necessary during the year.

12. Resolution re S. A. Goudsmit

Slack noted that S. A. Goudsmit retired from the Governing Board as of the end of the annual Corporation meeting held on the morning of March 23, 1974, after 24 years of continuous service. He read the following resolution and, by motion made and passed, it was adopted unanimously:

IN RECOGNITION OF Samuel A. Goudsmit's long tenure of twenty-four years' membership on the American Institute of Physics Governing Board, longer continuous service than any present member,

his forthright application of incisive wit, both to problems at hand, to his colleagues, and to himself,

his insistence on high standards in all areas of Institute endeavor and, in particular,

his application over these years of his own creativity, long well known in science, to bringing innovative leadership to pioneering work in the publishing program of the Institute,

the Governing Board hereby RESOLVES to express its appreciation to Samuel A. Goudsmit for his long and dedicated years of service and to wish him good health and continuing enjoyment of both work and retirement in the years ahead.

The Secretary was directed to transmit a copy of the above resolution to Mr. Goudsmit.

13. Meetings Schedule

It was suggested that a regular timetable be established for future meetings of the Governing Board.

The meeting was adjourned at 2:30 p.m. on Saturday, March 23, 1974.