Report of the Committee on Regions
for the Year ending June 30, 2003

The Regional Directors who served on the 2002-2003 Committee on Regions were:
Chair: Howard Ceri, Northwest Region, John W. (Jack) Sommer, Southeast Region,
James F. Baur, Southwest Region, C. Clifton Chancey, North Central Region,
Christopher S. Lange, Northeast Region, Richard W. LoPinto, Mid-Atlantic Region
Executive Director: Patrick D. Sculley. Staff Contact: Evan R. Ferguson, Sigma Xi Headquarters

The Committee on Regions is composed of the 6 elected Regional Directors who represent the regional chapters on the Board of Directors. Associate Regional Directors (ARDs) were invited to attend the meetings of the Committee on Regions. The Committee met twice at the 2002 Annual Meeting. The Regional Directors serve on the Board of Directors, and assist in the coordination of national and regional programs, and help plan and coordinate the regional sessions at the Annual Meeting.

The 2002-2003 annual meeting of Sigma Xi was dominated by two events, the declaration of intent to begin building of the Sigma Xi center, and the discussions around the new Strategic Plan for Sigma Xi. In keeping with these events much of the discussion at the Meeting of Regional Directors focused on the role this body could play in the future of Sigma Xi in context of the new strategic plan. The committee met twice during the course of the annual meeting. At the first meeting the relationship between the Committee on Regions and other committees of Sigma Xi (specifically Qualifications and Membership) was considered as well as the effectiveness of the Committee of Regions in fulfilling the objectives that it has undertaken in the past. A great deal of the discussion focused on the need to identify clear objectives for the Committee, which could then lead to actions and outcomes. The Committee also discussed the need for more scientific sessions to be included into the annual meeting format. The new meeting format address this issue by separating the Proctor Prize lecture as a stand-alone event along with the Young Investigator and McGovern Lectures. Further the Student Poster Session has become a two-day event that is more integrated into the meeting, allowing delegates the opportunity to become involved in the evaluation of the posters. While no conclusive directions for the committee were set forward, the committee agreed, during the second meeting to consider future directions and appropriate mandates for the committee. The Directors also recommended to the Society's President that Dr. Howard Ceri again serve as Chair of the Committee for the year beginning July 1, 2003, and that Dr. Christopher Lange again represent the Regional Directors on the Executive Committee for a two-year term, effective July 1, 2003.

Respectively submitted,
Howard Ceri

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