Received at the AAPT Section Representatives Meeting

Riverside Convention Center
Rochester, New York

 July 22, 2001

Dear National Council Member,

The Council runs the AAPT. There is, however, a loose link between the Sections and the National AAPT that I would like to see strengthened. For example, if I were to mention dues check off at a gathering there would not be room for any other discussion. In the past questions have been raised about simple things like whether or not the sections can use the AAPT logo.

I would like to propose that we make a concerted effort to improve this situation. It may take several years, but I think that it will be worth it in the long run. There are a number of things that we can immediately start working on. For example, all Sections are required to have a Constitution. These constitutions should be looked at to bring them in line with the national Constitution. For most Sections, this is not a problem. I do not foresee much time being spent on this.

All Sections should consider having officers following the national pattern. In the case of those that have a secretary-treasurer that could be changed to two officers but held by the same person. Those not having, say, a Two-Year College Representative should get one to strengthen the link with two-year colleges in the section. Small Sections should have no problem with this, as there is no reason why one individual could not wear more than one hat. This would facilitate communication in that the database could be used by the national office to, say, contact all secretaries (remember, not all secretaries are AAPT members!) for important announcements that could be made at upcoming Section Meetings. Or, all treasurers (again, not all are AAPT members!) could be notified when national AAPT members have indicated that they want dues to go to the Section. Mailing lists could be handled by the national office to improve recruitment and advertising. This would be a benefit to section members who are not national members that they do not get now.

Uniform dues ($5 seems to be common) within all sections will make things much easier should we get to a stage where we could have dues check-off. Then there is the matter of section and national membership. Who is to be considered a section member must become uniform. We cannot simply say, All physics teachers within our section. A uniform Everyone who has paid dues within the past three years might be acceptable. There must be a regular procedure for providing the national office with a mailing list distinguishing who is a national member also and who is a section member only. Dues are distinct from registration and other expenses at meetings. The North Carolina Section has dues of $5 per year. They charge a registration fee (cheaper if you pre-register, which helps planning considerably) and $2 (plus materials, if applicable) for all workshops and often incorporate a meal in the expenses.

Reports including Minutes should follow a uniform pattern with the reports being published in the Announcer. (These are already required to be sent into the national office; this suggestion is that it be only necessary to send them into the Announcer.) Each Section should have a history on file with the national AAPT and it should be updated regularly. Web sites make this much easier. After many, many years, the Texas Section realized that our members would not live forever and they were disappointed that they had not foreseen having a historian. Fortunately, a few old timers came through with quite a collection of past materials and they were able to put together a good picture of the Section's history. Preserving the past can be helpful.

At present Board members can be invited to Section Meetings to give papers or speeches or workshops at no charge to the Section. In an effort to encourage joint Section Meetings, the Board offers some financial incentive for holding them. The national office has access to a much wider group of possible speakers and this list might be a resource that would be valuable to the Sections. With good suggestions, this might become more flexible. The Executive Office also sends out a booth on request to be set up at Section Meetings showing off publications and providing freebies often accompanied by extras that can be used for prizes.

Some Sections have become incorporated and are designated as tax exempt. Others may wish to do so and by improving communications we can help each other.

For my part (and please recognize that it is I and not the Board initiating this suggestion), through the Executive Board, I will get the Executive Officer to look into legal problems that might arise or that will have to be overcome. That is one of the reasons for having the Constitutions agree.

Please send me any concerns or suggestions that you might have and plan to have this as an agenda item in January 2002 - if it does not get completely shot down before then.

Best wishes,

John Hubisz
President, AAPT

John L. Hubisz, Physics Department, Box 8202, North Carolina State University, Raleigh NC 27695-8202; hubisz@unity.ncsu.edu, (919)515-2515, (919)515-7331 FAX