Society for Research in Psychopathology
Executive Board Meeting
Thursday, October 16, 2003
Present: Deanna Barch, Barbara Cornblatt, Nancy Docherty, Ian Gotlib, Michael Green, Sheri Johnson, Daniel Klein, Ray Knight, Susan Mineka, Tom Widiger, Michael Young
Absent: Lee Anna Clark, Steven Silverstein, Deborah Levy, Scott Monroe
1. The meeting was called to order by Ian Gotlib, President.
2. Election: The election results were announced. Michael Green will be the new President-Elect, and the two new Board members will be Deanna Barch and David Miklowitz.
It was noted that Michael Green will be vacating his seat on the Executive Board in order to serve as President-Elect. The Board will appoint someone to complete his term on the Board. This will be done by e-mail, coordinated by Dan Klein who is the current President-Elect.
3. Development Committee: Michael Green reported on the work of the Development Committee. They were able to raise $10, 000 in unrestricted educational grants this year to help pay for the meeting. This year’s sponsors were Eli Lilly and Bristol-Myers Squibb.
The procedures developed by the committee for soliciting sponsorship funds were discussed. Potential sponsors are identified by the committee, and the President then sends them letters requesting funding. This worked well enough this year. However, some companies did not respond to the letter. Michael will talk with the committee about whether in future years they would be willing to follow up with their industry contacts when this happens.
The Past President will send copies of the program and thank you letters to this year’s sponsors.
4. Treasurer’s Report: Michael Young reported there were 123 people pre-registered for the meeting, which is similar to other recent years. He presented a report indicating a balance of roughly $22,000 in operating funds and $41,000 in investments. Income came primarily from meeting registration fees, dues, and educational grants from pharmaceutical companies. The only major unusual expense this year was the upgrading of the website, which cost about $10,000. Hotel deposits have been paid for the next two years’ meetings.
The question was raised as to how much the registration fees should be for non-member research staff members who are not students. The Board decided that student fees should apply, because many such individuals are working in these positions in preparation for applying to graduate school.
5. Website: Nancy Docherty reported on the new SRP website. The new site has many advantages over the old one. Meeting information, the membership directory, application forms, and information on the Society are accessible there. Information on the site can be added or changed easily. Abstract submissions for the annual meeting are now submitted there as well, and can be processed by the Program Committee via the site and turned into the written program for the meeting. The possibility of on-line meeting registration was raised. Michael Young will pursue options for paying registration fees directly through the website.
6. Program Chair Report: Sheri Johnson reported on this year’s program. She noted that the new website was very helpful for handling submissions and organizing the program. There are three invited talks this year, in addition to those of the Zubin Award winner and the President. Sheri remarked that several of their original invitees were unable to speak because of prior engagements, even though they were contacted almost a year ahead of time. There were three symposium submissions, all of which were accepted. In addition, 18 oral papers and 108 posters were accepted for presentation.
There was some confusion about whether or not symposia could include non-members. The Board agreed that only the symposium chair needs to be a member. Other symposium presenters can be non-members. However, none of the presenters should be students. Sheri agreed to change the “Instructions for Program Chairs” and the text of the Call for Abstracts to reflect this policy.
There was a discussion about the Sunday poster session. It is not as well attended as the Thursday session, because some people leave the meeting early. Possibly the session could be moved to another time, and some of the talks presented on Sunday morning instead. The issue was slated for discussion at the Members’ meeting.
7. Future Meetings: Deanna Barch reported that she has booked the Chase Park Plaza Hotel in St. Louis for next year’s meeting. The meeting will take place October 7–10, 2004. The meeting in 2005 will be in Miami. New York is a possibility for 2006. Barbara Cornblatt will check into this.
8. Membership Committee: Barbara Cornblatt presented information on new membership applications. These were discussed, and all were accepted. There are seven new full members and nine associate members. The full members are: Daniel allen, Theodore Beauchaine, Canan Karatekin, Benjamin Hankin, John Kerns, Wilson McDermut, and Denise Sloan. The new associate members are: Belinda Barnett, Ellen Leen-Feldner, Matthew Feldner, Eric Meyer, Joshua Miller, Michael Moore, Tracy Moran, Emilie Nakayama, And George Michael Slavich.
We have averaged about fourteen new members each year for the last four years, and have lost about half that many each year. Membership criteria were discussed. Ray Knight moved that the requirement from sponsoring members be changed from letters to endorsements. This was seconded by Tom Widiger and passed unanimously.
Barbara Cornblatt reported that she wanted to step down from her position as Membership Chair. Dan Klein will find someone to replace her.
9. The Federation of Behavioral, Psychological, & Cognitive Sciences has communicated with Ian, asking if SRP would like join their organization. It is an organization of scientific associations that engages in lobbying and other political activities in support of research. Sue Mineka volunteered to learn more about the organization and inform the Board by e-mail.
10. The meeting was adjourned.