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American Society of Agronomy Advancing Agronomy Through ASA Restructuring Pittsburgh, PA

American Society of Agronomy Advancing Agronomy Through ASA Restructuring Pittsburgh, PA November 1-5, 2009. Why consider a change in ASA structure?. To understand the need of restructuring, one needs to first understand our history. Division History. ASA. 1907.

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American Society of Agronomy Advancing Agronomy Through ASA Restructuring Pittsburgh, PA

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  1. American Society of Agronomy Advancing Agronomy Through ASA Restructuring Pittsburgh, PA November 1-5, 2009

  2. Why consider a change in ASA structure? To understand the need of restructuring, one needs to first understand our history

  3. Division History ASA 1907 Based on article by Lowell Moser

  4. ASA 1907 Crops Section Soils Section 1931 I. Soil PhysicsII. Soil ChemistryIII. Soil MicrobiologyIV. Soil FertilityV. Soil GenesisVI. Soil Science Applied to Land Use 1931

  5. ASA 1907 Crops Section SSSA 1936 VII. Genetics, Cytology, and BreedingVIII. Physiology, Morphology, and EcologyIX. Miscellaneous Topics I. Soil PhysicsII. Soil ChemistryIII. Soil MicrobiologyIV. Soil FertilityV. Soil GenesisVI. Soil Science Applied to Land Use 1937

  6. ASA 1907 Crops Section SSSA 1936 VII. Breeding, Genetics, and CytologyVIII. Physiology and EcologyIX. Production and ManagementX. Seed Production and TechnologyXI. TurfXII. Weed ControlXIII. Agronomic Education I. Soil PhysicsII. Soil ChemistryIII. Soil MicrobiologyIV. Soil FertilityV. Soil GenesisVI. Soil Science Applied to Land Use 1947

  7. ASA 1907 CSSA XIII. Agronomic Education SSSA 1954 1936 1954 VII. Breeding, Genetics, and CytologyVIII. Physiology and EcologyIX. Production and ManagementX. Seed Production and TechnologyXI. TurfXII. Weed Control I. Soil PhysicsII. Soil ChemistryIII. Soil MicrobiologyIV. Soil FertilityV. Soil GenesisVI. Soil Science Applied to Land Use

  8. ASA 1907 A1. Resident Education A2. Land Use and ManagementA3. Meteorology and ClimatologyA4. Extension EducationA5. Environmental QualityA6. International AgronomyA7. Ag Research Station Mgmt.A8. Plant Science ApplicationsA9. Professional PractitionersA10. Bioenergy and … SystemsA11. Biometry 19671956196319671974197519841990200220072007

  9. ASA 1907 A1. Resident Education A2. Military Land Use and ManagementA3. Agroclimatology and Agronomic ModelingA4. Extension EducationA5. Environmental QualityA6. International AgronomyA7. Ag Research Station Mgmt.A8. Integrated Agricultural SystemsA9. Professional PractitionersA10. Bioenergy and … SystemsA11. Biometry 19671984197819671974197519841995200220072007 (division names changed shown in black)

  10. Key Developments Setting the Stage for Big Changes After years of discussion, the Boards approved in November 2004 restructuring, so that each of the Societies could operate independently In 2006 Boards of the Societies began meeting independently In May 2006 the ASA Board developed a new strategic plan with vision and goals specific to this restructured ASA In 2007 ACSESS (Alliance of Crop, Soil, and Environmental Science Societies) was incorporated to manage the shared resources of the Societies

  11. ASA SSSA CSSA Before 2004 Alliance of Crop, Soil, and Environmental Science Societies (ACSESS) Resource Managing Organization After 2004

  12. Why consider a change in ASA structure? To understand the need of restructuring, one needs to first understand our history Create better identity for both “seasoned” and potentially new scientists and professionals

  13. Division Identity Concerns Until 2005 all A, C, and S divisions were part of ASA with board representation Starting in 2009, members must have ASA membership in order to belong to an ASA division (but no requirement to belong to a division) ASA governance is based on division structure Not all members represented Disproportional representation

  14. Decline in ASA membership may be, in part, due to lost identity for the science of agronomy. ASA Membership Trend Total Members 16,000 14,000 12,000 10,000 8,000 6,000 4,000 2,000 0 1955 1960 1965 1970 1975 1980 1985 1990 1995 2000 2005

  15. Age Group 75+ 70 - 75 65 - 70 60 - 64 50 - 59 40 - 49 30 - 39 25 - 29 0 - 24 0% 5% 10% 15% 20% 25% 30% ASA is an aging society, illustrating the need for attracting younger members if we are to be viable into the future. 2005 ASA Membership by Age

  16. Crop Science Soil Science Environmental Science To create identity for ASA membership, agronomy needs to be re-established as a stand-alone science. Agronomy Agronomy is the science of land management that integrates crop, soil and environmental sciences for the purposes of producing food, feed, fiber, fuels and environmental services.

  17. Why consider a change in ASA structure? To understand the need of restructuring, one needs to first understand our history Create identity for both “seasoned” and potentially new scientists and professionals Enable responsiveness to emerging needs and interests of the members “Responsiveness” means unshackling ourselves from constraints imposed by the presence of a structure (divisions) requiring bylaws to be changed whenever programs are added or revised.

  18. Current Strategic Plan Language “Innovate” “… powerful advocate and voice for advancing agronomy (proactive) …” “… supports new program and service introduction faster” “…leading edge innovative forums” “... articulate the vision…”

  19. The Problem? ASA organization and governance (and the supporting bylaws) did not evolve from an era requiring rapid response. ASA A1. Resident Education A2. Military Land Use and ManagementA3. Agroclimatology and Agronomic ModelingA4. Extension EducationA5. Environmental QualityA6. International AgronomyA7. Ag Research Station Mgmt.A8. Integrated Agricultural SystemsA9. Professional PractitionersA10. Bioenergy and … SystemsA11. Biometry 19671984197819671974197519841995200220072007

  20. To do so requires a decoupled structure facilitating both Society functions Programs/Services Governance • Conclusion: ASA restructuring is needed to: • Facilitate program development for primary interests of all members • Provide an efficient and equitable system for governance of the Society

  21. Restated as our Goal- • Develop a new ASA structure that: • Facilitates program development for primary interests of all members • Provides an efficient and equitable system for governance

  22. Five principles used to guide the reshaping of ASA: Members should be able to readily identify their programmatic area of interest. Programmatic areas will be nimble, easily changed to reflect emerging interests and problem areas. Programmatic areas can be added or deleted easily, without disrupting or requiring governance change. Governance through Board of Directors will reflect broad areas of membership interest. Board of Directors structure for these broad areas will remain relatively stable over time to minimize the need for bylaw changes.

  23. What changes are being proposed?

  24. Organizational Structure Programs/Services Governance Communities Sections

  25. What’s a Community? A Community represents members with a common interest or passion (“natural cluster”). Here members will develop the majority of their Society associations that magnify science and science delivery. Themes for Communities can be diverse in topic specific scientific investigation analysis tools educational roles geographic areas communication techniques emerging challenges

  26. From feedback from the ASA 2008 Division Surveyandfrom refinement through the Realignment Task Forcepotential Communities have been proposed

  27. Proposed Communities:

  28. How will a Community work? ASA members can elect to be associated in as few or many Communities as they choose. The number of Communities a member can affiliate with will expand and contract to reflect member interests. Creation of a new Community will be relatively easy. Not like the historic 3-4 yrs needed to create a division. Simple petition to the ASA Board. Petition includes name and description of the Community, leader(s), likely activities (e.g., symposia, special functions), and names of interested members. Communities that show little or no activity over time will easily be dissolved.

  29. A few more points on Communities Proposed Community names are not set in stone. Discussion over the next year along with the “first meeting” of communities will be used to identify communities and the names the members want. Some Communities currently proposed might not even emerge through the restructuring. Community viability will require leadership. If that doesn’t develop (or it can’t be recruited), then the Community will not exist.

  30. Organizational Structure What about Society governance? Programs/Services Governance Communities

  31. What is Society governance? Governance of the Society is accomplished through the Board of Directors Board consists of: Society-wide elected Presidents (Elect, President, Past) Society-wide elected Board Reps (currently 11) Ex officio members (editor-in-chief, CEO) Board functions: Policy making and following Society bylaws Strategic planning & implementation Finance and resource management, including directing ACSESS

  32. Organizational Structure What about Society governance? Programs/Services Governance Communities Sections

  33. Proposed Section Names Biometry & Statistical Computing Climatology & Modeling Agronomic Production Systems Education & Extension Land Management & Conservation Global Agronomy Environmental Quality

  34. Programs/Services Governance Communities Sections In order to provide broad representation for governance purposes and to facilitate communication/coordination of programs, aggregates of Communities will associate with a Section.

  35. ASA 2008 Division Survey (~840) • 79% agreed that Community and Section groupings make sense 62% agreed that Communities more effectively represent ASA than the current structure 77% agreed that they can see one or more Communities in which they would actively participate 64% support this new structure

  36. Where are we and where are we going in the restructuring process? Transition Team (Board and HQ staff) Co-Chaired by D. Osmond and N. Kitchen • Issues: • Communities and Sections • Community/Section leaders • Composition of Board • Program Enhancement • Communication to members • Member feedback • Re-write of bylaws Given approval by Members, new ASA Initiated Division Alignment Task Force Co-Chaired by L. Moser and L. Sommers Annual Meeting (Initiate Communities) Member Survey Membership Vote on bylaws change

  37. Questions

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