Executive Committee of the American Institute of Physics
Minutes of Meeting
Members Present: Ralph A. Sawyer – Chairman, Wallace R. Brode, S. A. Goudsmit, W. W. Havens, Jr., R. B. Lindsay, Francis W. Sears
Absent: S. L. Quimby
AIP Staff Present: Elmer Hutchisson, Wallace Waterfall, Henry A. Barton, Mary M. Johnson
The Chairman convoked the Executive Committee at 9:32 a.m.
1. Minutes
Upon motion made, seconded, and passed without dissenting vote, the minutes of the meeting of June 8, 1962 were approved as distributed with the following correction: Item 3(d), Page 3, line 5, “RMP” is changed to “JMP.”
2. Financial Matters
-
Financial Statement for Six Months Ended June 30, 1962
Copies of the financial statement for the first six months of 1962 and the Treasurer’s explanatory letter (copies attached) had been distributed prior to the meeting.
The Treasurer answered some questions and said that it is our intention to use funds from the Operating Reserve to make up the anticipated journal deficits at the end of this year. This is not indicated in the financial statement’s projection the end of the year.
The Treasurer reported that it was necessary to liquidate some of our holdings in the Investment Advisory Account and we realized a profit of about $2,000 on the sale of $150,000 worth of assets in spite of the depressed condition of the market.
The Treasurer stated that subscription handling costs this year have been about 60% higher than last year and that a proportionate share of total costs (about $45,000) will be charged to Society journals. Officers of AIP have considered suggesting that the Institute might absorb some of this but AIP has already absorbed at least $115,000 of the conversion costs (see Item 16 of Treasurer’s memorandum of September 19 attached). It was agreed that any action on this point should wait until later in the year.
-
Addition to Signature List for Regular Checking Account
The Treasurer stated that the AIP Regular Checking Account is one which requires two signatures and there are, at present, six people on the staff who are authorized to sign checks drawn on that account. There are days when it is difficult to obtain two of the authorized signatures and the Treasurer recommended that Gerald F. Gilbert, Director of Service Operations, be added to the list. He said that in the case of small circulation refund checks this would be particularly useful. Upon motion made, seconded, and passed without dissenting vote, the Executive Committee authorized the addition of Mr. Gilbert’s name to the list of persons authorized to sign checks drawn on the AIP Regular Checking Account.
-
Bonding of AIP Employees
The Treasurer reported that Institute employees are now bonded to the extent of $25,000 for any one employee. Our insurance broker has been consulted and has advised that there is no established formula for determining what the bond should be. In spite of the fact that there is little opportunity for any employee to abscond with AIP money, the Treasurer recommended that the bond be increased to $50,000 per employee at an added cost of approximately $100 per year. There were no objections.
-
Authorize TIAA Payment for Director
The Treasurer stated that at the time Mr. Hutchisson was appointed Director of the Institute, it was agreed that AIP would pay his TIAA retirement premiums. Since becoming Director, his salary has been increased twice without proportional increases in TIAA payments. The Treasurer recommended that such payments be increased in proportion to his salary, and the following motion was made, seconded, and passed without dissenting vote:
MOVED that, effective September 1, 1962, the Institute increase payments to TIAA on behalf of the Director in proportion to his salary.
3. Brief Review of Special Activities
The Director reported briefly on the following AIP activities:
-
APPLIED PHYSICS LETTERS
The first issue of APL has made its appearance. The journal has been well received but we are not satisfied with the cover and are studying ways to make it more attractive.
-
Indexes for Journals
The Documentation Project, under the supervision of Pauline Atherton, is now a year old. One study has suggested how physicists want their journals indexed. We propose to apply this information in the indexing of AIP journals. Improvements in the indexing of PHYSICS ABSTRACTS have also been suggested to Mr. Crowther. Citation studies are also being made with interesting preliminary results.
-
Seminars for Science Writers
The Seattle Seminar, which was held jointly with the American Chemical Society and the American Institute of Biological Sciences, was extremely effective and we have requested funds for additional seminars which will probably include some interdisciplinary areas.
-
Committee on Physics Faculties in Colleges
The subject committee, under the Chairmanship of Robert Brode, was set up to investigate ways of strengthening physics faculties in small colleges. At the present time the committee is concentrating on a specific group of small colleges to learn the problems.
-
Manpower Studies
The Director displayed a paste-up sample of the proposed annual “Handbook of Physics Manpower.” The preliminary edition of about 100 copies will be distributed to a selected group for comments after which the final printed version will be made available to all physics departments heads. This project is being financed for two years under a grant of $51,740 from the National Science Foundation.
-
Possible Secretariat for Annual Magnetics Conference Group
The Institute received an inquiry about establishing a permanent secretariat for the Annual Magnetics Conference Group. An offer to cooperate and some estimated costs have been submitted but nothing has developed to date.
-
Washington Office for AIP
At the present time the Optical Society has an office in Washington and it appears that AAPT will soon be setting up an office there for Mr. Buchta. The Director indicated that the staff has thought for some time that it would be well to have an AIP representative in Washington to attend meetings and keep in close touch with Federal legislation and Government agencies with which we have dealings. The Director estimated that the cost of the setup he had in mind might be about $10,000 per year. After brief discussion, the following motion was made, seconded, and passed without dissenting vote:
MOVED that the Director be authorized to explore the possibility of setting up a Washington office for AIP and obtaining office space in Washington which could be shared with some of the Member Societies.
4. Management Surveys
The Secretary recalled that the Executive Committee, at its meeting on March 23, 1962, had authorized the expenditure of up to $15,000 for management surveys. The firm of Cresap, McCormick and Paget was employed after they submitted a bid of $7,000 to $8,000 for a survey of our circulation operations. Subsequently, they submitted a proposal to survey our accounting procedures for $6,500 to $7,500 and they were authorized to proceed. In view of the Institute’s high employee turnover and personnel problems, it is felt that a personnel management survey would be desirable and the cost has been estimated at $9,000.00. Such a survey would cover, among other things, salary ranges, job classifications, vacation policies, and would indicate the way to maintain employee morale and efficiency.
After brief discussion, the following motion was made, seconded, and passed without dissenting vote:
MOVED that the staff be authorized to spend an additional $10,000 for continuation of the present survey and for the proposed personnel survey.
5. Possible Affiliation of Subsidiary Groups
The Director reported that a subsidiary group of AIEE-IRE had inquired about affiliation with the Institute although no formal application had been received as yet. During the discussion which followed, it appeared to be the consensus that affiliation of such a group with an organization in another discipline should not bar the group from affiliation with AIP also.
6. Appointment to Scientific Manpower Commission
The Director stated that his term as one of the two AIP representatives to the Scientific Manpower Commission will expire on December 31, 1962, and he suggested that W. C. Kelly be appointed to replace him. The following motion was made, seconded, and passed without dissenting vote:
MOVED that W. C. Kelly be appointed to replace the Director as one of two AIP representatives to the Scientific Manpower Commission for a three-year term beginning January 1, 1963.
7. Previews
The Director described plans for the Niels Bohr Library dedication ceremony to be held in the afternoon, and he also described briefly the proposed Arden House program to begin in the evening.
8. Future Meetings
Upon motion made, seconded and passed unanimously, the following dates were approved for meetings through June 1963:
Executive Committee
Saturday – December 8, 1962
Friday – January 25, 1963 (breakfast meeting, Hotel Statler)
Friday – March 22, 1963
Friday – June 7, 1963
Governing Board
Saturday – March 23, 1963
Annual Meeting
Thursday – February 21, 1963
9. Printing Facilities
Mr. Goudsmit pointed out that Byrd Press apparently is capable of printing techniques which Lancaster Press cannot duplicate and he asked whether Byrd or other printers with Byrd’s capabilities could not be found with sufficient capacity to handle all our journals. The Secretary stated that Mr. Rohrer of Lancaster Press has been making a detailed study of the situation and has found it presents almost insurmountable problems to his company. Byrd Press or no combination of known printers now has the capacity available to handle the volume of material which we have been producing through Lancaster Press. The Secretary said this whole matter is being intensively studied by the Director of Publications.
10. Report on and Inspection of New Building
Messrs. Mark W. Zemansky and Brunson S. McCutchen, who are members of the Property Committee together with Messrs. Sawyer, Havens, Hutchisson, and Waterfall, had been invited to join the Executive Committee for this report and tour of the building, but neither was present.
The Secretary reported that the building addition is essentially complete although we do not yet have our permanent Certificate of Occupancy. The previously anticipated cost of approximately $680,000 will probably be close to the final figure and all but about $100,000 has been paid to date. Redecorating of the west building and necessary repairs to the outside of the west wall will cost about $10,000.00. We have not yet borrowed any money but our mortgage application will be presented to the Governing Board for the required formal approval at its meeting next Friday. Although we have not been pressed for money to date, our mortgage commitment had to be made some time ago in order to obtain the $40,000 which we received from Dannie Heineman for the new Niels Bohr Library.
The Secretary distributed copies of a new little folder containing floor plans of the east and west buildings and described the facilities briefly, after which the Executive Committee was taken on a tour of the new addition.
The meeting adjourned at noon.