Report of the Executive Director
for the Year Ending June 30, 2000
Introduction and Summary
As the new millennium unfolds, the role
of science and technology in our economic prosperity, our quality of life, and our values
continues to expand at an unprecedented rate. Accompanying these developments and as a
consequence of many of them has been a pace of new scientific discovery, its applications,
and its impacts that has been breathtaking. Celebrating the role of scientific achievement
and measuring its consequences on society are central to Sigma Xi's mission. The
Society is well equipped to pursue that mission, but such pursuit will require sustained
dedication of all in the Sigma Xi community.
Sigma Xi remains one of the world's largest
interdisciplinary scientific societies and possesses a number of unique assets and
capabilities in the science and engineering community. The Society's special
strengths reside in its vast grass roots infrastructure, with over 500 active chapters and
approximately 80,000 sustaining members. In addition, Sigma Xi carries an additional
105,000 members that are listed as inactive on the rolls. We are eager to stay in touch
with these members as well, but are even more eager to reactivate their involvement in the
Society's activities, especially as those activities expand as they have in recent
years.
In this report, I recap many of the exciting
developments of this past year and provide a glimpse into the future. Some of the
highlights of this year's activities, for which more detailed summaries are included
later, include the following:
- Governance Transition.
Sigma Xi is in the
second year of its transition to a new, more streamlined and efficient governance
structure and process. Initiated in July 1999 and implemented over a three-year period,
the new structure has promise of enabling the Society to focus on and draw upon its unique
strengths of a multidisciplinary, grass-roots infrastructure of scientists and engineers.
- Electronic Communication.
Once again this year
as last, the continued advances in the Society's developing electronic infrastructure
have facilitated better and more extensive communications among chapters and members and
have enabled new program efforts to marshal the energies and involvement of chapters and
members. Nearly all the Society's chapters now do business with the management and
administrative offices via electronic mail and other internet services.
- International Science Networking Initiative.
This year Sigma Xi initiated a new program aimed at promoting communication and
collaboration among scientists in developing countries and research colleagues around the
world. This science networking initiative is being supported by a three-year grant from
the David and Lucile Packard Foundation.
- New Ethical Issues in Science and Technology
Chapter Workshop Series.
This year's forum, New Ethical Challenges in Science
and Technology, also kicks off a new chapter-based workshop program. Attendees of the
forum and others will convene at a planning meeting to initiate the workshop series based
on the results of the forum. The National Science Foundation has awarded Sigma Xi a grant
to host the planning meeting and to organize a pilot workshop to initiate the series.
- Science Advocacy and Science Polling Programs.
Two
years ago Sigma Xi initiated the Society's science advocacy program, pioneered by the
Society's Michigan chapters, which is designed to facilitate meetings between
academic and industrial members of Sigma Xi chapters and Members of Congress in their home
districts. This year a new dimension is being added to science advocacy program as well,
aimed at surveying the science community and the public on key issues. The project is
being carried out cooperatively with the Washington-based organization, Research!America.
The project is to develop surveys of the science community regarding key issues and
compare the results with similar surveys of the general public. Comparisons of the two
surveys on the same issues are expected to reveal important challenges for the science
community in improving its efforts to enhance the public's understanding of science
and to reveal key differences in how issues are perceived.
- Public Understanding of Science.
The Media
Resource Service (MediaResource), operated by Sigma Xi since 1996, continues as a vibrant
and important Sigma Xi service in supporting an improved public understanding of science.
MediaResource assists journalists in finding experts to enhance the coverage of science
and associated issues. In addition, MediaResource administers Sigma Xi's daily
"Science in the News" e-mail service to over 10,000 subscribers. The daily
e-mail includes links to science and technology news stories reported by major media
outlets on their Web sites that day. Members can subscribe at any time at Sigma Xi Web
site.
- Sigma Xi Center.
The path toward development
of the long-awaited Sigma Xi Center made important progress this year as well, both in
terms of the character and substance of programs building on the Society's mission
that will be managed by the Center and in establishing a facility for housing those
programs and the administrative offices of the Society.
Taken together, these recent changes have
positioned the Society to take a much more prominent role in shaping the future of the
science and technology enterprise as new programs develop and the traditional ones are
sustained. In my four years in Sigma Xi's management, I continue to be inspired by
the vision and energy of many members and friends of the Society and especially to the
commitment and dedication of the very hard-working and talented Sigma Xi staff who
continue to make enormous efficiency gains in the Society's operations.
Finally, despite the many positive trends in the
Society's activities and programs, there continue to be some worrisome trends, such
as in the continued decline in sustaining membership and, just as disturbing, an almost
bi-modal distribution of many chapters with very active programs and many with few or no
activities. While this experience follows a trend in recent years of many professional as
well as honor societies, the hopeful sign is that the steep rate of decline in sustaining
membership experienced between 1991 and 1998 appears finally to show signs of leveling
off. And while the Society is still functions under a very austere operating budget,
through operational efficiency gains, a healthy investment portfolio, and successful new
development efforts and have led, once again, to a balanced operating budget. Also, the
Society's net worth continues to grow appreciably. The growing portfolio of programs
will be key in revitalizing chapters and reactivating members, but that alone will not be
enough. A re-energized commitment from chapters and members is vital to realizing a bright
and sustained future. I welcome the ideas as well as pleas for help from delegates to help
our chapters build that future.
Recap of Governance Changes
The transition underway, approved by
delegates at the November 1998 Annual Meeting, is on track to reduce the size of the
Society's Board of Directors over a three-year period to 17 members, nearly one-half
its size in 1998, and to have all voting directors elected by delegates or members. The
vote on the governance changes came after a process of deliberation over nearly two years
by the Executive Committee and the board with broad input from all across the Sigma Xi
community. When the transition is complete at the end of this fiscal year, the new board
will be comprised of the four officers (president, president-elect, immediate past
president, and treasurer), six directors elected by chapters grouped according to
geographic region (one per region), six directors elected by chapters of the
newly-instituted constituency groups based on the type of institution hosting the chapter
(one per group), and the executive director as an ex officio member without a vote.
The newly-established constituency groups include:
- Four constituency groups (with one elected
director each) for chapters in the United States and its territories, based on the type of
institution hosting the chapter, currently designated (1) research universities, (2)
baccalaureate colleges, (3) comprehensive universities, and (3) industrial or government
laboratories or area chapters.
- A Canadian/International constituency group for
chapters outside the United States and its territories.
- A constituency group representing the
members-at-large.
All voting directors are now elected
directly by delegates or members. The director for the membership-at-large will be elected
popularly by the members-at-large (i.e., those members not currently affiliated with a
local chapter), while the remaining 15 directors will be elected by the delegates
designated by chapters to serve with the annual Assembly of Delegates. The overall
governance structure is depicted in Figure 1.
Sigma Xi and Other Scientific Societies
Sigma Xi remains a unique organization in
many respects. As noted earlier, Sigma Xi remains among the largest scientific societies.
Sigma Xi is principally a confederation of chapters with a very small administrative staff
– 38 full time staff, although there are several unfilled vacancies. Many members may
not know, for example, that Sigma Xi has by far the smallest administrative staff size
relative to the Society's membership of any scientific society (see Figure 2). On one
hand, that may not seem surprising since the Society is chapter-based and many of the
Society's activities are initiated in the chapters and much of the Society's
communications are through its chapters. On the other hand, the small staff size in light
of the range and size of activities administered by that staff is in itself a testament to
their dedication and professionalism.
Committee Activities
In addition to the wide-ranging
activities of Sigma Xi's chapters, many of the Society's programs and operations
are administered through the Society's 16 standing committees. Most members of these
committees are appointed annually by the President and are charged with key
responsibilities. This year, in the wake of the governance changes that began in July 1999
and being implemented over the following three years, the board asked the Committee on
Long-Range Planning begin reviewing the overall committee structure of the Society.
The Society's current overall committee
structure is depicted in Figure 3. Some of the Society's standing committees are
statutory committees of the board, including the board's Executive Committee and the
Committees on Nominations, Finances, and Audit Review. Some committees are charged with
maintaining essential standards of the Society's membership on behalf of the board,
including the Committees on Qualifications and Membership, Diversity, Regions, and
Meetings. Some are policy advisory bodies for the board, including Long-Range Planning and
Development that are charged with preparing for the Society's future. Finally, many
committees are working program committees that administer and oversee, with help from the
staff, both long-standing and emerging programs of the Society, including Publications,
Awards, Grants-in-Aid of Research, Lectureships, and Programs (which oversees the Science
Education Grants Program, McGovern Science and Society Awards, and a variety of other
programs). These program committees, in particular, provide the working interface between
chapters, members, staff, and the programs and activities of the Society. I am
particularly grateful for the tireless efforts of many committee chairs and members in
carrying out these very important functions for the Society.
Many committees had very active agendas this
year, and I invite you to review the committee reports located on the Society's Web
site (www.sigmaxi.org) to get an appreciation of the
scope and scale of activities of the Society. Taken as a whole, it is indeed an impressive
collection.
Sigma Xi Programs and Other Activities
Over the last four years the portfolio of
programs administered through the Society management and administrative offices has
evolved into a rich mixture of long-standing programs, which continue to be central to the
Society's overall mission, balanced with newer efforts that build on the
Society's unique strengths and characteristics. The following are current sketches of
the status of a number of the current activities and programs.
American Scientist
American Scientist remains one of the premier science publications in the U.S.
and increasingly around the world. The magazine has once again been recognized by the
Society of National Association Publications (SNAP) in its annual EXCEL awards
competition. The magazine received SNAP's Bronze Award for General Excellence on June 7,
2000. The judges considered 810 "very, very competitive" entries from
association-based magazines and journals.
An essay by American Scientist
columnist and consulting editor Brian Hayes (who was also initiated to honorary membership
in 1999) has been awarded the highest prize in magazine publishing, the National Magazine
Award. His essay, "Clock of Ages," was published in the November-December issue
of The Sciences. The essay was chosen over finalists from Esquire, The
New Yorker and other magazines.
Sigma Xi Forum
The 1999 Forum, Reshaping Undergraduate Science and Engineering Education: Tools
for Better Learning, showcased a number of new features. The forum was designed to
allow educators and administrators from academia and industry to experience innovative
science instruction, experiment with state-of-the-art educational materials and discuss a
variety of models for institutional reform, science curriculum and pedagogy with their
developers.
The format and the program itself employed the
principles of active learning and, hence, featured fewer traditional plenary talks than is
customary for the Sigma Xi forum. Much of the program highlighted hands-on, facilitated
demonstrations of best practices, opportunities to explore the latest technological tools
for education, small-group discussions, workshops and problem-solving sessions. Specific
topics addressed included: using pedagogy that encourages inquiry-based learning and
critical thinking; developing curricula and departmental goals that encourage science
learning for all students; fostering administrative and cultural changes in academic
communities; forming partnerships with business, industry and other academic and
non-profit institutions to enhance undergraduate science education.
This year's forum focuses on new ethical
challenges in science and technology. An outstanding portfolio of plenary speakers and
parallel sessions is scheduled. To date, plenary speakers include National Academy of
Engineering President William Wulf, Mt. Sinai Medical School Dean Arthur Rubenstein, Cal
Tech Vice Provost David Goodstein (McGovern lecturer), University of California at Irvine
Professor Francisco J. Ayala (also Sigma Xi's Procter Prize recipient), and
University of California at San Diego Chancellor Robert C. Dynes. Parallel sessions
include those by Sigma Xi President-elect Jack Gibbons, University of New Mexico Dean Paul
Fleury, Los Alamos National Lab Director John Browne, and many others. The topics for
these sessions include: teaching ethics, intellectual freedom, what is misconduct?,
intergenerational ethics, conflicts of interest, principal investigator oversight, and
junior faculty issues. A complete preliminary forum program appears on the Sigma Xi Web
site.
The 2001 Forum on science in the arts and
humanities in Raleigh is conceived as a broad-ranging forum on the role of science in the
arts and humanities, artistic dimensions of many aspects of science and engineering, the
integration of knowledge across the disciplines of science, arts, and humanities, as well
as many other related topics.
Prizes and Awards
Sigma Xi continues its time-honored tradition of honoring scientific achievement
through its major prizes and awards, most of which are detailed in the report of the
Committee on Awards.
In brief, the 1999 William Procter Prize for
Scientific Achievement was awarded to Lynn Margulis, Distinguished University Professor at
the University of Massachusetts. This year University of California at Irvine Biologist
Francisco Ayala will receive the 2000 Procter Prize at the annual banquet and also will
address the forum in plenary session.
In 1999 the Society inducted two new honorary
members as well: Brian Hayes, former editor of American Scientist, and Joann
Ellison Rodgers, deputy director of public affairs at the Johns Hopkins Medical
Institutions. This year British television science writer and producer David Sington, will be inducted as an honorary member of the
Society.
Last year Sigma Xi's first Young
Investigator Award in the life and social sciences was awarded to Laura Landweber of the
Department of Ecology & Evolutionary Biology at Princeton University. This year Sherry
Yennello, associate professor of chemistry at Texas A&M University, will receive the 2000 Young Investigator Award in the area of the
physical sciences and engineering.
Last year The Honorable Rush Holt, congressional
representative from New Jersey's 12th congressional district and former
associate director of the Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory, delivered the
Society's McGovern Lecture. This year the McGovern Lecture will be delivered by Cal
Tech Vice Provost David Goodstein.
New Electronic Surveys Gauge Member Interest
in Program Areas
This past year Sigma Xi staff distributed an experimental e-mail survey to a sample of
the membership with the goal of gauging member interest in various possible program areas.
The Sigma Xi Committee on Long-Range Planning will consider the results of these surveys
at their next meeting, and a complete report on survey results will be included on the
Sigma Xi Web site later this year.
In brief, the 20-question survey was distributed
to a random sample of 1,000 Sigma Xi members. The sample was taken only from those members
with e-mail addresses in the member records, which currently constitutes about two-thirds
of the Society's members. The response rate was 43%. The following summarizes highlights
from the survey:
- Participants were asked to prioritize general
program areas and more specific categories of benefits and services. Most program areas
were considered a high or top priority (4-5 on a 5-point scale) for Sigma Xi by at least
50% of the respondents; however when asked which single program area would be their
highest priority for Sigma Xi, respondents ranked programs as follows: public
understanding of science (31%), K-12 education (16%), science policy (16%), undergraduate
education (15%), ethics/honor in science (10%), international expansion (4%), no highest
priority (8%).
- When asked to choose a single benefit or service
that would be their highest priority, items were ranked as follows: programs for younger
members (35%), recognition and awards (13%), diversity programs (13%), career/leadership
training (13%), American Scientist indexes/archives (12%), online
discussions/conferences (4%), discount on professional resources (3%), personal benefits
(2%), other (5%).
International Science and Engineering Fair
This year Sigma Xi continued its affiliation with the International Science and
Engineering Fair (ISEF), convening this past year in Detroit (May 9-12, 2000).
Participating in the "Special Awards" category, Sigma Xi awarded three prizes
for the best interdisciplinary team projects at the Fair. The first place award was made
to a team of two students from Manhasset High School (Manhasset, New York) who created a
new comprehensive mathematical model of HIV and T cell dynamics that allowed for the
simulation of various types of drug therapy and allows researchers to explore many new
aspects of HIV behavior and potential new therapies against HIV and AIDS. A second place
award was presented to two students from Saint Edwards Upper School (Vero Beach, Florida)
who created a text to speech program for the blind with the highest level of versatility,
user friendliness and understandability, and with a 98% accuracy rate. The third place
award was given to three students from Knoxville Catholic High School (Knoxville,
Tennessee) who created a new vacuum injection technique and used this technique to study
the effects of a tyrosine hydroxylase inhibitor on various parameters in the fruit fly.
A team of 14 judges from three Southeastern
Michigan area Sigma Xi chapters (University of Michigan, Oakland University, and Ford
Motor Company), chaired by Dr. Robert Zand of the University of Michigan Chapter,
evaluated 165 team projects at the Fair for the Sigma Xi awards.
Grants-in-Aid of Research
The Sigma Xi Grants-in-Aid of Research (GIAR) Program continues to be a keystone
program of the Society. Since its beginning in 1922 the GIAR program has encouraged and
facilitated research among young investigators by awarding grants to more than 25,000
young researchers. During last year, for example, 369 young researchers received more than
$283,000 from the Society's program. In addition, Sigma Xi continued its program with the
National Academy of Sciences whereby the Society administers the income from several trust
funds held by the Academy for grants-in-aid. During the year ending June 30, 2000, Sigma
Xi awarded more than $91,000 to 91 students from the income from funds held by the
Academy.
During the summer of 2000, Sigma Xi was notified
that its agreement with the National Academy of Sciences, for the Society to administer
the income from trust funds for grants-in-aid held by the Academy, had been extended an
additional five years; i.e., through 2005. This will continue Sigma Xi's cooperation with
the Academy on the grants-in-aid program that was begun in 1984.
Other Chapter Programs and Activities
Sigma Xi's over 500 chapters carry out a wide range of program activities. Each
year the chapters file annual reports with the Society's management offices. I refer
you to the Society's annual report which I invite you to review as an illustration of
the richness and variety of activities in which our chapters are engaged. The Appendix to
this report is a summary of chapter activities excerpted from the annual report.
Information and Communications Systems
The role of technology in continuing to expand the ability of members and chapters to
communicate and in improving the efficiency of the Society's basic operations has
become a core operation at Sigma Xi's management and administrative offices. Indeed,
the Society now uses electronic mail extensively for correspondence throughout the Sigma
Xi community. A greatly enhanced Sigma Xi World Wide Web site provides timely and
comprehensive information availability about many of the Society's activities to
chapters, members, and others. There are actually five Sigma Xi Web sites; the most used
are the Society's Web site and the American Scientist site. In addition the
Society maintains the Media Resource Service Web site, the recently unveiled "Members
Only" Web site, as well as an internal Intranet site used for administrative purposes
at headquarters offices. Traffic on Sigma Xi Web sites has tripled in the last three
years, and the Sigma Xi and American Scientist Web sites received a record number
of "hits" in the past six months. Much more efficient and cost-effective
distribution of information to chapters is now available through other Internet services
as well, such as member mailing lists, program information, and officer newsletters.
During the coming year, Sigma Xi's Web site will undergo a major re-design that should
make it easier for chapters and members to utilize the site.
Additional features that have been in place for
the past year add individual member services such as e-mail forwarding and Internet
discussion groups (e.g., the American Scientist Forum and the American Scientist
book review discussion group). Three years ago at the management offices we began
electronic communications with very few e-mail addresses for members on file and virtually
no correspondence by e-mail. We now have over 55,000 member email addresses. Virtually all
chapter officers communicating extensively via the Internet. Over 100 chapter Web sites
are now inter-linked with the greatly enhanced Sigma Xi Web site. Many, if not most
committee activities are greatly enhanced through the use of the Internet (including the
Board and Executive Committee).
Finally, administrative operations enhancements
continue to benefit greatly from the use of new technology. Such enhancements include much
more efficient document preparation through modern office software (word processing,
databases, spreadsheets, and graphics), more timely and accurate accounting information,
more comprehensive, flexible, and accurate annual budgeting, more cost-effective
distribution and processing of members' dues notices and annual giving solicitations,
more sophisticated and cost-effective graphics in American Scientist, and a more
useful database of our members.
The Sigma Xi Center Facility and Programs
Sigma Xi Center Programs
As I have noted in reports to the Assembly of Delegates for the past two years, the
initial working portfolio of activities for the Sigma Xi Center includes the following
four principal areas: (1) ethics and honor in science and research, (2) science education,
(3) public understanding of science, and (4) the overall health of the research
enterprise. Many of the prospective programs in these areas will expand on activities
initiated in the Society's chapters, such as the on-going science advocacy program, a
program for national dissemination of innovative undergraduate teaching methods, a number
of chapter "scientist in the classroom" efforts, and many others. Indeed, we are
seeing substantial activity in all of the Center's program areas, clearly proving the
worth of the original idea of the Sigma Xi Center, which was conceived as an
organizational mechanism and a facility for developing new activities and programs in
support of the Society's mission. The following are summaries of current Center
activities:
- Education. Following last year's
Sigma Xi forum on undergraduate education reform, Sigma Xi has been building the
groundwork for a national dissemination program for effective practices in undergraduate
science and engineering education. This effort has been supported by development grant
from the National Science Foundation's Division for Undergraduate Education. The
project sponsored several pilot education reform workshops that have provided experimental
models for a national dissemination effort. The project will identify potential host Sigma
Xi chapters across the U.S., identify a group of core workshop presenters who can show the
breadth and depth of innovative educational approaches being adopted across the country,
and solidify relationships between Sigma Xi and other organizations that are currently
addressing these issues. The program has already identified 40 chapters that have
expressed an interest in participating in the program. The two pilot workshops convened in
the course of the planning effort were held at North Carolina State University and at
California State University at Long Beach. These pilot workshops have provided essential
experience in designing the large-scale effort. In addition, during July 2000, in
partnership with Project Kaleidoscope (PKAL) and at PKAL's Keystone Institutes, Sigma Xi
convened representatives from its prospective workshop host chapters/institutions in
preparation for the national dissemination effort.
- Ethics.
Sigma Xi, with the support of the
National Institutes of Health Office of Research Integrity, hosted a workshop on September
10, 1999 in Albuquerque, New Mexico entitled, Ethical Challenges and Practical
Solutions for Managers in Research. This conference brought together
scientific, engineering and medical managers of research, as well as the researchers
themselves to focus on the problems faced at the management level of research
organizations of instilling and maintaining integrity in research. The meeting also served
as a forum for discussing the new Sigma Xi booklet on research ethics, The Responsible
Researcher: Paths and Pitfalls, which was released at this workshop. Finally, many of
the workshop participants stayed in Albuquerque for a planning conference for this
year's Forum, New Ethical Challenges in Science and Technology.
The 2000 forum also kicks off a new chapter-based
workshop program. Attendees of the forum and others will convene at a planning meeting to
initiate the workshop series based on the results of the forum. The National Science
Foundation has awarded Sigma Xi a grant to host the planning meeting and a pilot workshop,
the details of which will be discussed at the planning meeting.
- International Science Networking Initiative.
This year Sigma Xi initiated a new program aimed at promoting communication and
collaboration among scientists in developing countries and research colleagues around the
world. This science networking initiative is being supported by a three-year grant from
the David and Lucile Packard Foundation. One key mechanism being supported by Sigma Xi in
the Packard initiative is the development of new Sigma Xi chapters in developing
countries. This will enable communities of scientists in those countries to benefit not
only from the short-term networking activities established through the initiative, but
also from new and on-going Sigma Xi programs that will extend well beyond the time horizon
of the initiative. In particular, this initiative is aimed at establishing long-term
partnerships between scientists and chapters, especially in areas of common interest. The
program has a target of creating 30 chapters over the next three years and hosting a
variety of networking activities across the disciplines. A project planning committee
composed largely of international committee members convened in February 2000 and has been
hard at work over the summer convening teams of members and staff who are approaching
groups in many countries to explore networking activities and lay the groundwork for new
chapters and science networking activities.
- Public Understanding of Science.
The Media
Resource Service (MediaResource), operated by Sigma Xi since 1996, continues as a vibrant
and important Sigma Xi service in supporting an improved public understanding of science.
MediaResource assists journalists in finding experts to enhance the coverage of science
and associated issues. The service's database includes scientists and engineers who have
agreed to provide expert commentary to journalists on short notice. Users of the service
include major media outlets and small town newspapers, such as ABC, American Health,
The Associated Press, BusinessWeek, CBS, Chicago Tribune, CNN, Hartford
Courant, Los Angeles Times, Mansfield (OH) News Journal, McCall's
and others. MediaResource unveiled a new Sigma Xi member service called "In the
News," which is a daily e-mail to subscribers that includes brief abstracts and
pointers to full text coverage of the major science and technology stories being carried
by the general media that day. "In the News" has nearly 10,000 subscribers and
has emerged as a popular and valuable service to members.
- Science Advocacy Program.
Two years ago
Sigma Xi initiated the Society's science advocacy program, which is designed to
facilitate meetings between academic and industrial members of Sigma Xi chapters and
members of Congress in their home districts. This program was pioneered by the Michigan
chapters over the past three years and, after a survey of interest by other chapters in
initiating similar programs, is being picked up in Illinois with expressed interest from
other states. We hope to use the experience of the "technology transfer" between
the Michigan efforts and the new Illinois program as a model for future expansion of the
program. In Michigan the progress has been notable where Michigan chapters now schedule,
as a matter or almost routine, meetings with members of Congress and have in some cases
become informal science advisors to those members. I continue to have high hopes that the
science advocacy program will become pervasive throughout many of the Society's
chapters.
- Science Polling Project.
The science
advocacy program is coupled with another project being carried out cooperatively with the
Washington-based organization, Research!America. This new dimension of the science
advocacy program is a science polling effort. For its part in the cooperative venture,
Sigma Xi is developing its internal ability to survey the membership as an important
cross-section of the science and engineering community on issues of importance to the
relationship between science and society. At the same time, Research!America has developed
a public opinion polling capability in association with the Roper Center for Public
Opinion Research, which issues the Roper Polls. The project is to develop surveys of the
science community regarding key issues and compare the results with similar surveys of the
general public. Comparisons of the two surveys on the same issues are expected to reveal
important challenges for the science community in improving its efforts to enhance the
public's understanding of science and to reveal key differences in how issues are
perceived. The first pilot surveys of this project were distributed this summer, and Sigma
Xi expects some early results in the fall.
Sigma Xi Center Facility
The detailed architectural plans and specifications for the Sigma Xi Center are at
long last complete, although they will likely need some modification as the Center
portfolio of programs continues to evolve. Construction bid documents were completed last
year. As major gift fundraising activities continue and some on-going environmental
analysis and subsequent detailed specification of the grading plan for the site are
completed, groundbreaking can be scheduled. The groundbreaking has been delayed somewhat
by the detailed environmental analysis, but the current plan is to be in a position to set
the construction schedule and to break ground before this fall. There continues to be much
tireless work behind the scenes to move the Sigma Xi Center facility into its final
stages, but we hope to be in a position to schedule tours of the facility and a
celebration of our progress on the Center at the 2001 Annual Meeting of the Society, which
we be held in Raleigh in November of next year.
Conclusion
Sigma Xi continues to build on its core
mission and expand its portfolio of activities in support of that mission. The
Society's ability to build upon and draw from the local chapters' perspectives
and energy is crucial to the Society's future. I look forward to working with you in
the coming year.
Peter D. Blair, Executive Director
July 2000
Appendix to
the Report of the Executive Director for the Year Ending June 30, 2000
Figure 1 Sigma Xi, The Scientific Research Society
Governance and Organization
Figure 2 Ratio of Staff Size to Individual Membership
Size for CESSE Societies
Figure 3 Sigma Xi Committee and Governance Structure
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