a. Finances and Audit

Treasurer Henry Brady reported on the status of APSA's finances. He stated that currently the APSA is running a slight surplus balance and endowments are starting to grow again. The Trust and Development Committee is drafting a statement regarding the purpose of APSA's endowments in order to define investment strategies.

Council Action: Council unanimously approved the FY03 audit.

b. Building

Michael Brintnall began the discussion on the opportunity to buy the building adjacent to the national office. The asking price is $312/sq ft, but he noted it may sell for more than that. Brintnall will be meeting with the real estate agents soon to discuss competitive bids. Acquisition of this building would expand the presence of the Association in D.C. and provide the Centennial Center with a cleaner, clearer identity.

Council asked if the purchase of this building is out of need for more space. Brintnall responded it represents a target of opportunity for the Association to expand the value of its holdings and to allocate space for the Centennial Center and other activities more favorably, but it is not needed for net new space alone. Other advantages to buying the building include increasing the overall value by 10% because of the parking APSA can provide, naming and fundraising opportunities, and the ability to bring in other like-minded associations for relationship-building opportunities.

Rudolph suggested moving the process forward, but making sure the Council remains informed. To allow the Association to act quickly, she and the administrative committee recommended the appointment of a small executive group composed of Susanne Rudolph, Margaret Levi, and Henry Brady with whom staff could consult on a running basis. Council noted that the actual purchase of the building would require a formal resolution in which assessments of all advantages and disadvantages would be discussed.

Council Action: Council voted unanimously to delegate Susanne Rudolph, Margaret Levi, and Henry Brady to work with APSA staff to move forward with efforts to buy the neighboring building pending full Council approval.

a. Task Force on Difference and Inequality in American Democracy

Chair of the Task Force Larry Jacobs discussed the draft report. He noted that approval is needed from the Council for dissemination. The report is rooted in research and only the most salient and clear findings were presented. Jacobs highlighted the disclaimer that accompanies the report which states that the opinions presented are solely those of the task force members. Theda Skocpol remarked that the work of the task force is impressive considering they met for the first time only 15 months ago. A few edits remain, but the task force requests the report be posted on the APSA web site for member comment. Also part of the funding for the project from the Russell Sage Foundation will go toward publication of a book on the research reports.

Council was impressed with the report and Jennifer Hochschild expressed an interest in publishing portions of the report in Perspectives. Some Council members expressed a concern that the report does not explain who the victims are and the strategies for aiding them and also that it is more descriptive than analytical. Skocpol explained that the task force backed away from taking a stand on these issues because there was much disagreement in the literature and among the task force members. Some members of the Council felt the report expressed some partisan views in certain areas, while others thought it functioned more as a descriptor of policy observations without clearly pushing policy recommendations. Council was encouraged to send their comments and suggestions to the task force via email.

Council Action: Council voted unanimously to accept the task force's report and disseminate it as a report of the APSA's Task Force on Inequality and American Democracy.

b. Task Force on Difference and Inequality in the Developing World

Bahram Rajaee provided an update on the progress of the Task Force on Difference and Inequality in the Developing World. They met for the first time in March and discussed their mission and ideas for the product of their research. They split into two working groups: one on economy, the other on democracy and confl ict. There will be a roundtable event at this year's Annual Meeting in Chicago.

Hochschild expressed an equal interest in publishing aspects of the report from this task force in Perspectives as well.

c. Committee on Civic Education and Engagement

Chair of the committee Steve Macedo provided an overview of the draft report he submitted to the Council. He noted that the committee is not focused on civic education in the schools at this point, but more on institutional and legal issues affecting civic education and engagement. The report consists of three sections: one on electoral processes, another on metropolitan areas and legal structures, and the third on the non-profit, voluntary sector. The report is to be issued publicly with some policy recommendations on how to promote participation, but the same disclaimer that views are solely those of the committee will apply.

Council inquired into whether or not the final report would include a teaching component. A few stressed this importance of addressing the teaching issue because it would have more of an impact on APSA's constituencies than federal level policy recommendations. Macedo responded that the committee is hoping to include a teaching component at some point, but for now decided not to focus on this. Margaret Levi added that the reconstituted committee under her purview would have this focus and asked members of the committee to email her with suggestions on committee members and its mission.

Council also inquired as to the structure of the report. Macedo explained that the report would be entirely from the committee as a whole and not composed of working papers from individual members. Council suggested that the report include a short statement that summarizes the findings.

d. Centennial Center

Deputy Director Rob Hauck reported on the Centennial Center. He noted that every available space will be filled in September with a variety of fellows including a number of international scholars. An important aspect of the Centennial Center has been the brown bag lunches that allow fellows to discuss their research and outside speakers to address the group.

e. Public Presence Working Group

Margaret Levi began the discussion of the proposal drafted by Gary King and supported by the group on the issue of a concerted public presence agenda for the APSA. The group recommends more allocation of staff time to this issue and the development of a short-term plan to prepare for the upcoming elections. A long-term plan would be more focused and institutionalized. King suggested the reallocation of half of a staff member's time with the goal of getting people's research out into the mainstream media. He stressed that political scientists discover knowledge as well, and the public should be aware of this. Council members highlighted the fact that associations exist that would be interested in being vehicles for the dissemination of research identified by APSA. King responded that staff would focus some of their attention to finding these established connections.

Council also questioned the criteria or standards for releasing information on political scientists' research because there may be some disagreement on what is discovery and what is not. A suggestion was made to change the publications committee's charge to provide oversight of what is released and in the short-term to use work accepted for publication in APSA and other political science journals that has thus been peer-reviewed.

Other members reminded the Council that the purpose of the public presence initiative is to promote political science and not political scientists. The research has to be timely and current. Rob Hauck mentioned that the national office does press releases and the editors of journals have a system in place to accept or reject appropriate articles. Council noted that a public affairs officer is needed with expertise in understanding what will resonate with the public. The national office will provide plans for prioritizing the public presence agenda.

Council Action: Council voted unanimously to encourage the Association's reallocation of staff time with appropriate training to write press releases and carry out other public affairs tasks. Executive Director Michael Brintnall responded that APSA staff will develop an operating plan for the Council to review.

a. 2004 Annual Meeting Plans

Deputy Director Rob Hauck provided an overview of this year's Annual Meeting. He indicated there would be 736 subject panels, 18 theme panels, and several promising plenaries featuring George Soros, Joseph Stiglitz, Mary Robinson, and Fernando Cordozo as invited speakers.

In reference to next year's program chairs, Margaret Levi indicated that Susan Stokes will be the voting member of the committee.

Council Action: Council unanimously approved the proposed 2005 program committee division chairs with the proviso that chairs have the ability to change and add names as necessary.

b. APSR Editor's Report

APSR Editor Lee Sigelman made a brief interim report and Council applauded his renewal for two additional years. He commented on the diversity of the May issue and added that they have built up a backlog of articles to be published, so they are a couple of issues ahead of themselves. At the moment they have not planned for an anniversary edition of the 100th volume of the APSR, for cost reasons and a lack of promising ideas. Council suggested an issue that reviews the important articles that the APSR has published in the past. Sigelman also mentioned wanting to add a few more names to the editorial board to recognize people for their service to the journal.

Council Action: Council supported Lee Sigelman's initiative to add names to the APSR editorial board. During budget approval, Council also authorized the hiring of an additional student editorial intern.

c. Perspectives Items

Perspectives on Politics Editor Jennifer Hochschild provided a brief update on the journal. The rate of rejection is about half of the articles submitted. Occasionally there are complaints, but the editors work with the authors and encourage them to resubmit. At the moment, they are operating under a backlog of articles. Hochschild also mentioned that her term is ending June 2005 and she has no plans of extending it at this time. She asked for any comments or suggestions on the journal that could be related to the search committee and the new editor.

Council then discussed the issue of journals rejecting articles without review which is a serious issue that needs attention. Though the matter could not be discussed in depth, Council asked that it be addressed by the Association journal editors when they meet at the APSA Annual Meeting.

Council Action: Council unanimously approved incorporating a best article award in Perspectives into the Eulau Award. The amount for each award would be $750 and APSA operating funds would make up deficiencies in funds generated by the endowment until a new endowment can be raised.

d. Publications Issues

Brintnall reported that a suggestion from Gary King and Greg Kasza on open access journals will be referred to the publications committee with an accompanying memo from the national office addressing issues.

a. By-Laws Changes

The chair of the Council Rules Committee, Robert Axelrod, outlined the by-laws changes which clear up and modernize items, such as the use of electronic mechanisms for voting, clarify that associate members are not voting members, and restate Council guidance to the nominating committee. He also noted that additional by-laws changes relating to the Annual Meeting and educational programs have been deferred until the fall meeting to allow further committee input.

Council Action: Council unanimously approved changes to the By-laws.

b. Nominating Committee Report

Council noted the 2003–2004 Nominating Committee's proposed slate, which included the following nominees (see July issue of PS or visit <http://www.apsanet.org/about/governance/nominations.cfm> to view proposed slate.

c. Elections Review Committee Report

Council heard a report from Kirstie McClure, chair of the Elections Review Committee, on the committee's assessment of APSA elections with suggestions/recommendations for the Council to review. McClure emphasized that this was a preliminary report from the Committee, which has been meeting only since January. She said the specific charge of the committee was to consider the question of how regular elections, whether generated by petition or constitutionally institutionalized as annual events, might be responsive to concerns about minority representation without recourse to setasides or quotas. A number of options and alternative recommendations for Council's consideration are to be included in the final report, along with the reasoning behind each.

McClure said the committee reviewed the election processes of several peer associations, analyzed election mechanisms and voting procedures and queried past nominating committee members. The committee, with support from APSA staff, also looked closely at patterns of representation on the nominating committee and in APSA leadership relative to APSA membership. She noted that in general in terms of representation of various groups within the Association the process has worked for many groups, but that some members, such as those representing non-Ph.D.-granting institutions, perhaps because they have no organized group within the association, have been underrepresented on the Council.

McClure referenced the review of alternatives included in the report and commented that at a minimum the committee recommends instituting Single Transferable Vote (STV) instead of the current block vote system because it is kinder to diversity. A few broader alternatives include enlarging the Nominating Committee and subjecting it to competitive elections along with various combinations of other Council positions. McClure noted that these alternatives are not necessarily consensual recommendations, but the committee agreed that all would be included in the report.

Council commented that the report includes many interesting ideas, but does not provide both advantages and disadvantages for each of the options presented or explanations as to why the present system does not work. McClure mentioned that the issue of whether or not the Association should have competitive elections is not part of the committee's charge and the committee was divided on this issue.

Some Council members expressed reluctance for changing the constitutional mechanisms because they feel that the existing system is not broken. It was noted that organized groups such as Perestroika are divided on this as well. Other Council members commented that STV is a complicated mechanism because it is not intuitive and they encouraged the committee to aim in a different direction on this.

President-elect Margaret Levi expressed concern over the committee's charge and felt the committee is going beyond what it was solicited to do. Mc-Clure responded that the committee itself agreed to disagree on the exact interpretation of its charge. Rudolph added that the charge of the committee was to address the issue of ensuring minority representation through competitive elections.

The committee was asked for its next steps in presenting a final report. A suggestion was made to accept this report as the final report. McClure stated she has a duty to take the comments and suggestions of the Council back to the committee and revise this report. Council asked the committee to prepare a final report that the Council can receive in a manner analogous to the previous election review committee's report.

Council Action: Council unanimously approved posting on the web site the data collected on APSA membership and governance and the memo regarding elections systems that were included in the Elections Review Committee report.

a. Mentoring Task Force Update

Council heard a report from Kirsten Monroe about the progress of the Mentoring Task Force and she referenced the memo in the Council book. Currently there are 100 mentors and 70 mentees, but graduate students have not been contacted yet, so numbers will most likely rise. Council suggested passing out fl yers at the graduate student reception at the Annual Meeting.

b. Task Force on Graduate Education

Council Action: Council voted unanimously to accept the report developed by the Task Force on Graduate Education and directed staff to devise an implementation strategy, including publication on the web and in PS.

c. Program Reviews

APSA is launching its first organized program review of the CFP program with a largely outside review committee.

Council Action: Council approved the next topic for review is APSA's minority programs.

a. Teaching and Learning Conference

Linda Lopez reported on the success of the Teaching and Learning Conference and indicated that Council will receive names for the next conference's program committee shortly after the meeting.

Council inquired into plans for disseminating information and suggested centralizing the products and highlighting them on the webpage. Council also suggested using politicalscience.org and Brintnall agreed that was part of the plan.

b. International Committee Proposals

Bahram Rajaee provided an overview of the proposal by the International Committee which clarifies the role and purpose of the committee and recommends steps the Association might take to strengthen international partnerships and enhance cross-national perspectives across the Association.

The budget implication of the recommendations include money for travel to the Annual Meeting for scholars in lesser developed countries, perhaps defined as non-OECD countries, extended the visits for international scholars, and eliminating or reducing the foreign postage fees.

The Administrative Committee recommended endorsing additional money for travel to the Annual Meeting for non-OECD scholars and slowly reducing the foreign postage fees. Council supported the recommendations of the Administrative Committee and noted that extending travel for international scholars is important in terms of the potential for collaborative research. Council suggested raising endowment funds to support this recommendation.

Council Action: Council voted unanimously to enthusiastically endorse the directions proposed to this point by the International Committee and looks forward to getting the biggest results for its commitment. Specific actions included in the budget involve scaling back foreign postage subsidies and adding funds for Annual Meeting travel for scholars from non-OECD countries.

c. Associate Membership

Council Action: Council unanimously approved the redesign of the associate membership category to include receipt of any one of the APSA journals—Perspectives, APSR, or PS.

d. Minority Fellowships for Asian Pacific American Political Scientists

Council reviewed a request from the new status committee to incorporate Asian Pacific Americans into the Minority Fellowships and Bunche Institute programs. Council inquired into whether or not funds would increase for these programs with the addition of another group. Brintnall responded that the proposed budget for FY2005 did not include additional funds. Council acknowledged that certainly some categories of Asian Pacific Americans are under-represented, but not necessarily all and that perhaps the language of the fellowship programs needs to be changed, so that awards are granted on a needs basis. Council was told these issues would be addressed by the upcoming program reviews. Council also expressed concern with expanding these programs before the review because the success of the programs is not yet known and expanding the programs without increasing the funds does the other groups a disservice.

Council Action: Council approved with one abstention the postponement of the inclusion of Asian Pacific American Political Scientists into the minority fellowship programs until the program review committee has had an opportunity to review the quality of all the programs and how Asian Pacific Americans fit into them.

e. Organized Sections

Council Action: Council unanimously approved a new section journal on teaching and learning and the application of section continuation and termination policy dictated by the Organized Section Handbook with regards to membership levels for Section #26 (Ecological and Transformational Politics).

f. Development Committee Priorities

With the wrap-up of the Centennial Campaign, the Development Committee is converting the effort into a continuing annual campaign. The committee is meeting soon via conference call and will solicit priorities from the Council and will be looking to the Council to provide leadership in funding.