Report of the Executive Director
for the Year ending June 30, 2002
In her Report of the President, Dr. Marye Anne Fox has outlined some of the major accomplishments of Sigma Xi during the year ending 30 June 2002 that included the search for a new Executive Director, the November 2001 Forum, the re-instatement of two meetings of the Board of Directors per year, and Board approval of the American Scientist OnLine project. In a year in which the Society conducted an extensive search for a new Executive Director to replace Peter Blair, and one in which the Society and the entire world faced a transition in the aftermath of the tragic events of 11 September 2001, these accomplishments certainly indicate that Sigma Xi was able to move forward, despite a variety of uncertainties. This, in my view, is a credit to the Society, its resiliency, and its ability to adapt to changing situations - an attribute that has served Sigma Xi well for 116 years and certainly bodes well for the future of the Society.
In addition to the accomplishments reported by Dr. Fox, Sigma Xi continued to maintain and expand its efforts in other areas during the past year. For example, chapters continued to find new and creative activities to engage their members, and the scientific community within their institutions or communities, in pursuit of the encouragement of research pure and applied. Many of these activities have been reported in "The Sigma Xi Today" section of American Scientist throughout the year, on the Society's Web site, and via the chapter officer newsletter, The Intercom. In addition, the Board and its volunteer committees, and a dedicated Sigma Xi staff, continue to explore new opportunities that might provide new avenues for participation by the Society's chapters and members.
One of the highlights of the November 2001 Annual Meeting was the Student Research Symposium that took place throughout Saturday, 10 November 2001. More than 120 undergraduate and high school students from North and South Carolina, Virginia, Washington DC, Missouri and Texas presented their research posters and participated in a day of activities that included workshops, special lectures, and career counseling. Delegates attending the 2001 meeting in Raleigh also had the opportunity to discuss the students' research with them during the poster sessions throughout the day. The Student Research Symposium was made possible by support from GlaxoSmithKline, while supporting elements of the program were made possible by the Research Triangle Park Chapter of Sigma Xi, the North Carolina Section of the American Chemical Society, and the American Chemical Society Matching Gift Fund. The 2001 Student Research Symposium was so successful that plans are well underway for Sigma Xi to sponsor a similar conference at the November 2002 meeting in Galveston.
Certainly another highlight of the year ending 30 June 2002 was the recognition awarded the Society's magazine, American Scientist, by The Society of National Association Publications (SNAP). American Scientist, was awarded a Gold Award in the
Magazines, General Excellence, category; a Gold Award in the Magazines, Feature Article category for the article "Health and Human Society" (November-December 2001), and a Bronze Award in the Magazines, Feature Article, category for "The Growing Threat of Biological Weapons" that appeared in the January-February 2001 issue of the magazine. That is, American Scientist won two first prizes--one for general excellence--and a third prize--the best showing ever for the magazine in the history of the awards! The awards were presented to American Scientist on Thursday evening, 27 June 2002, at the SNAP Awards Gala at the Wyndham City Center Hotel in Washington, DC.
Also, in June 2002, Sigma Xi unveiled its new redesigned Web site (www.sigmaxi.org) that should enable visitors to navigate the site more easily and offers a number of convenient new features, including a site map and a site search engine. Drop-down menus provide easy access to information about the Society, its programs, meetings, member services, chapters, resources, and American Scientist.
Throughout the year, Sigma Xi continued to work and expand its efforts to network scientists in developing and underdeveloped countries into the greater global scientific community under the Packard International Networking Initiative, supported by the David and Lucile Packard Foundation. Sigma Xi recognized the need for shifting the focus of the Packard Initiative toward offering a framework of services and programs that can connect with the maximum number of individual researchers in a cost- and time-effective way, thereby best achieving the goals of the Packard Initiative. While internal goals still include the formation of Sigma Xi chapters, it is now clear that the real strength that Sigma Xi brings to this effort is the existing network of chapters, programs, potential International Partner groups and infrastructure upon which the Society is building strong, sustainable networking tools that will benefit individual scientists and groups of researchers in developing countries around the world. As part of the Society's efforts to expand its network of local groups to countries around the globe, Sigma Xi's Board of Directors approved a pilot program to provide an alternative way for groups in certain countries outside North America to become officially-recognized "Sigma Xi International Partners." The establishment of a Sigma Xi International Partner enables a group to set and collect their own annual dues in their local currency, which is intended to assist groups where the cost of US$54/member/year prohibits the formation of a local Sigma Xi group. The International Committee approved a fee schedule for a one-time initiation fee, a yearly administration fee, and optional benefits for a five-year pilot program so that the yearly basic administrative fee would be ~$5/member for groups of 20.
All of the examples cited above and many others, including those cited in the Report of the President, clearly indicate that Sigma Xi is an active Society that has made significant strides in the past year. However, the Society's two crucial problems remain to be solved - membership, and chapters at research-intensive universities. The resolutions of these two critical issues are fundamental to Sigma Xi's future.
At the November 2001 Assembly of Delegates, I informed delegates that, for the year ending 30 June 2001, Sigma Xi's membership had declined only 300 members but warned the Assembly that Sigma Xi and its chapters could not relax in its efforts to correct the nearly two decade decline in membership and must continue to address this issue as a serious problem within the Society; otherwise, the decline will continue. One hates to be right but in this instance I, unfortunately, was indeed correct. For the year ending 30 June 2002, the Society's membership declined about 3,000 members; i.e., at about the same rate as through most of the 1990s. Unfortunately, I sense in the Society that many individuals feel that "Sigma Xi" must solve the membership problem but then the question simply is: Who is "Sigma Xi?" In fact, "Sigma Xi" is everyone within the Society - its Board of Directors, staff, volunteer committees, and perhaps most importantly, the Society's members and chapters. Every chapter in the Society has a critical role to play in helping to solve the membership decline in Sigma Xi. Traditionally, and continuing today, over 90% of initiates come from chapters and the number of initiates in Sigma Xi is down significantly from 10 years ago. That is, Sigma Xi is bringing in fewer qualified individuals to membership than it did in the early 1990s! Also, the influence of chapter activities and communication with its membership cannot be overstated in the decision of whether a member decides to pay their annual dues, indicating that chapters have a vital role in helping the Society to retain its dues-paying members. The volunteer members of the Society's Board and its committees, and the administrative staff, work very hard to find ways to blunt or reverse the Society's membership decline but chapters have a vital role to play in this endeavor also.
The second major problem of Sigma Xi also continues - the overall state of its chapters at the large research-intensive universities, particularly the top 50 universities in terms of overall research and development expenditures. I do not mean to be overly pessimistic because a few chapters at these institutions are doing a superb job for the Society. However, many chapters at the large research-intensive universities may be described as moribund or quasi-moribund at best. Unfortunately, a highly significant number of the Society's members are affiliated with these chapters and the institutions that host these chapters have the largest potential pool of initiates to Sigma Xi. Frankly, as one former Executive Director put it concerning his interest in these chapters: "That's where the members and potential initiates are!" He was indeed correct, and for Sigma Xi to continue to be the honor Society of research scientists and engineers, the Society will have to work together to address and solve the unfortunate situation that exists at many of its chapters at research-intensive universities. This will involve the Board and its committees, staff, and most importantly a few dedicated individuals at these chapters. It is a daunting task but one that can and must be accomplished if Sigma Xi is to be a respected voice in the research community.
Perhaps I should add that the problems of membership and chapters at research-intensive universities are not new problems in Sigma Xi. In a seminal report to the Society's Board of Directors in 1979, entitled "Whither Sigma Xi?," Dr. Patricia Faber and Dr. Larry Kushner (both now Past Presidents of Sigma Xi) expressed concern over the potential loss of members in Sigma Xi due to economic factors and demographics. They also were extremely concerned over "the loss of vigor of chapters at the major research universities" and commented: "The implications for Sigma Xi of the loss of vigor of chapters at major research universities are serious. Such universities, although limited in number, are the source of most Ph.D.'s in science and engineering. Their chapters provide the Society with most of its new members each year. Should those chapters falter in bringing initiates into the Society, the total Sigma Xi membership could go into a period of quantitative and qualitative decline." Unfortunately, Pat and Larry's prediction indeed has come true and Sigma Xi must intensify its efforts, and find the resources, to address the clear interrelationships between the Society's membership decline and the "loss of vigor" at its research-intensive universities and other chapters. The Society's future in many ways depends on it, if Sigma Xi is to remain a chapter-based, grass-roots Society.
Some may look at my comments in regard to membership and chapters and see them as enormous problems, perhaps insurmountable problems. On the other hand, I see the issues of membership and chapters as a great opportunity for Sigma Xi to once again adapt itself to the ever-changing environment of science and technology - something the Society has done on numerous occasions in its previous 116-year history. The arrival of Dr. Sculley on 3 June 2002 as the new Executive Director of Sigma Xi, with his clear intention to engage immediately the entire Society in a strategic planning exercise in the coming year that will define goals, objectives, and priorities for Sigma Xi, bodes well for the Society's future and in addressing these opportunities. Clearly, under Dr. Sculley's leadership, Sigma Xi has a wonderful opportunity to re-address itself, and re-dedicate itself, to the Society's future concerning membership, chapters, programs, and the role of Sigma Xi in the 21st Century research enterprise.
In closing, I think that Sigma Xi can be proud of its progress during the year of transition that ended 30 June 2002. Rather than maintaining the status quo, as it could have easily done, the Society moved ahead in a variety of important areas as outlined in this report and in the Report of the President, Dr. Fox. Certainly, this could not have been done without the dedication and support of the Society's volunteer leadership on its Board of Directors and its standing committees, the Society's officers, a dedicated staff at Sigma Xi's administrative offices, and the members and chapters within the Society. The cooperation and dedication of all these groups and individuals to work together during the past year bodes extremely well for Sigma Xi and its future. I was extremely proud to have played a small part in this endeavor during the past year.
Evan R. Ferguson
Acting Executive Director
1 September 2001 - 2 June 2002
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