Report of the Executive Director
for the Year ending June 30, 2004
Clearly the construction and occupation of the Sigma Xi Center is the sentinel event of fiscal year 2004. In the Report of the President, Dr. Raven has already highlighted the building and its grand opening celebration. I will add some facts and figures to flesh out Dr. Raven’s wonderful comments.
The Sigma Xi Center was occupied on December 1, 2003, and by the end of June 2004 it was already proving its worth as a marvelous venue for the conduct of the Society’s business. In its first seven months, the Center hosted a board meeting, eight committee meetings, ten staff training sessions and 31 other meetings and workshops involving 16 different organizations and institutions.
The final cost of our building, equipment, furnishings and services was $9.23 million. Costs were contained by conducting an aggressive bid process for equipment, furniture and services and by building during a downturn in the economy. Since the date of occupancy, the cost of steel, drywall and many other building materials has risen by 30%. Today the building is worth much more than the cost of its construction, validating the wisdom of the Board’s decision to build when it did. It has been the recipient of three prestigious awards - the Champion Award for the best office building from the Triangle Commercial Real Estate Women, a second place in the REDY (Real Estate Deal of the Year) competition for the Best Development project in North Carolina in 2003, and the 2004 Edge Award for Partnering Team Approach. Funding for the Center is coming from our capital campaign. To date we have raised nearly one-third of the cost but there is still a long way to go. I encourage each of you to consider a donation to the capital campaign.
The Society’s programs were emphasized throughout the year with much progress in each program area. Each program initiative is a stepping stone to the attainment of the vision and goals outlined in Sigma Xi’s strategic plan. Our programs are facilitated by the staff of the administrative offices of Sigma Xi, but they are executed by the chapters.
Again this year chapters undertook a wide range of activities supporting current and future scientists and engineers. These activities included lectures on career choices for science and engineering students presented at both the University of Toronto and Carleton College chapters. The University of Idaho Chapter initiated a new graduate student research award given on the basis of excellence in both research and the communication of research results. The chapter chose the presentation they thought would make the most interesting paper in American Scientist. Sigma Xi members at the Ford Motor Company Chapter initiated TechLeaP (Technology Leadership Program) with students and faculty at Henry Ford Community College (HFCC). This is a new Sigma Xi/Ford Motor Company community service project intended to provide community college students with real-world scientific research experience.
Several chapters, including Northern Michigan University and Northern Kentucky University, gave new faculty members opportunities to talk about their reseach during meetings. The University of Dayton Chapter continued to develop a research database that will allow faculty and staff to enter research-related information. The East Carolina University chapter presented the first annual State of the Art Forum in the Sciences which focused on the future of electron microscopy at ECU. The forum brought together scientists from several departments and fields, and ultimately resulted in a collaborative proposal that was successful in acquiring a new electron microscope.
This year also included activities at chapters that had been inactive the last few years. The Corning Incorporated Chapter had suspended activities during an intense business downturn but restarted this year with public lecturers and technical talks to Corning’s R&D center. The Alamo Chapter held several talks with each talk drawing larger audiences than the previous one. And the Tampa Bay Chapter (previously University of South Florida Chapter) went from inactive to nominating over 75 new members in one year.
Other initiatives reflected the central facilitation role of the administrative offices of the Society. Our forum, Science and Engineering: Keys to International Understanding, was the capstone to the Society’s David and Lucile Packard Foundation grant in support of Sigma Xi’s International Networking initiative. As an outgrowth of this initiative, a Sigma Xi Partnership was established in Moscow in FY04 and a training session was held in Tbilisi, Georgia in collaboration with UNESCO, IWISE (International Women in Science and Engineering), and CRDF (Civilian Research and Development Founda-tion). Furthermore, the readership of the Society’s very informative International Newsletter has grown from 173 to 3,000 recipients in FY04.
In the Public Understanding of Science Program area, Sigma Xi has collaborated with AAAS to win the bid to host the 2008 International Public Communication of Science and Technology Conference in Los Angeles. In another initiative that bridges international cooperation and the public understanding of science, Sigma Xi has partnered with the United Nations to create a Scientific Expert Group on Climate Change as outlined in the President’s report. Our very popular Science in the News Weekly has expanded its readership to 4,581 subscribers. Each of these highly visible initiatives enhances the visibility and image of science in general and the Society in particular.
In the Health of the Research Enterprise Program area, a successful year for Grants-in-Aid of Research was concluded. Awards totaling $385,515 were provided to 639 recipients. And one of the Society’s most venerable programs continues to prosper with 53 chapter subsidies for Distinguished Lectureships being approved. Our attention to the needs of students was extended to our annual meeting where we have placed greater emphasis on the Student Research Conference. More than 300 students attended the Los Angeles meeting in November 2003. The poster sessions, workshops, presentations and dynamic social events were very well received, but the opportunity for the students to network with our seasoned scientists was the highlight of the event.
Our Education Program continues to be a highly productive way for our members to influence and shape the coming generations of researchers with program activities from grade school through postdoctoral research. The National Computational Science Workshop was presented to 16 chapters at our annual meeting in 2003. The Society has established a sponsorship relationship with the Sally Ride TOYchallenge - a toy design competition which teaches engineering design principles to middle school children. We have hosted a regional TOYchallenge and provided judges for that event and the national finals. Board Members Rick Meyer and Ray Lutz not only served as judges at the finals but also served in an advisory capacity for a documentary being produced about TOYchallenge. The National Institute of Standards and Technology Chapter sponsored two teams from Washington Grove Elementary School (a nearby Title 1 school) that competed in the Sally Ride TOYchallenge at George Mason University. Both teams won in the educational category and were invited to the national competition. This is the first year the chapter sponsored teams in the event, and it was a successful and gratifying experience. The teams presented their projects at a child-friendly reception preceding the chapter’s annual banquet.
Other education programs were featured in FY04. The Postdoc Survey, funded by the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation, had a successful pilot phase in winter 2003. Full study data colleciton at over 40 of the nation’s most prestigious institutions began in spring 2004. The results of the survey will illuminate and benchmark best practices in postdoc programs. Furthermore, local North Carolina initiatives are being supported as a pilot for propagation throughout Sigma Xi. North Carolina members are supporting the Teacher Link program, funded by the Burroughs Wellcome Fund, which matches experienced scientists as Fellows with classroom teachers to improve the quality of science education. Our goal was to identify 25 Fellows who were willing to serve, but we were able to provide 43 Fellows. In a move of generosity characteristic of Sigma Xi members, the offered stipends were declined so that the funding could be used to further enhance the program and reach more students and classrooms. As is often the case, one successful collaboration leads to another. Our outstanding work with Teacher Link led to a nomination for me to serve on the Advisory Committee for the North Carolina Partnership in Math and Science (NC-PIMS). NC-PIMS, through their parent organization, the North Carolina Math Science Education Network, has provided funding for Sigma Xi to complete the programming and Web interface for its volunteer database which will be available to scientists, engineers, and educators everywhere via the Web.
American Scientist magazine continues to dazzle with its brilliant editorial content and visual beauty. This was a strong year for American Scientist magazine on the newsstand and in advertising sales. Revenues from newsstand sales during FY04 reached a new American Scientist record of $140,000, an increase of 32% from FY03. During the past year, our average sell-through rate for copies sold on the newsstand was 34% — 3% better than the industry average. Our magazine is currently sold in every state in the U.S. and in 40 countries. Advertising revenue also reached a record $225,274. This was an increase of 11% from FY03 and the industry average increase was only 6.3%. Progress continues to be made in American Scientist Online with 41 issues of magazine content available online in addition to classic articles and columns from earlier issues. The online magazine now averages 1.6 million page views and more than 95,000 unique visitors each month. Thirty-six articles were picked up by European magazines—ten each in French and Spanish, nine in German and seven in Italian.
The Society’s administrative processes also received attention during FY04. An integrated process team of staff members documented and streamlined our grants management process from project concept through funding, execution, and follow-up reports. The staff finalized the conversion to its new membership database and decision support system with training in modules for demographics, membership, chapters, finance, contracts, workgroups, meetings, orders, donations and grants. The database is an important advance in the improvement of productivity and member service. Additionally, the construction of the new building provided the impetus for a complete review of the Society’s insurance policies. Improved coverage was obtained without increased expense, once again through a competitive bid process.
The Society is well positioned for a bright and dynamic future with the new Sigma Xi Center, highly visible and important programs, sound administrative procedures, and outstanding volunteer leaders. The challenge to that future continues to be declining membership. In FY03 membership dipped only 1,000 members but the decline steepened in FY04 with a loss of 2,451 from our numbers. Declining membership obviously has a negative impact on our budget. Thanks to cost containment we managed to meet that challenge, but the impact on our programs could be devastating over time if the membership slide is not checked. The Society’s programs are facilitated centrally but executed decentrally by the chapters and their members. Declining numbers afford fewer dedicated and talented members to execute the programs that advance our mission: to enhance the health of the research enterprise, foster integrity in science and engineering, and promote the public’s understanding of science for improving the human condition. If you believe in the importance of this mission as I do, won’t you please share the honor of membership by recognizing worthy individuals with nomination.
I would like to conclude my report by paying homage to the officers, board members, committee chairs and committee members, chapter leaders, volunteers and staff who serve our Society so nobly. The past year has seen many successes, and each is attributable to the leadership and service of our volunteers and staff.
Patrick D. Sculley
Executive Director
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