The summer meeting of the AAPT was held July 21-25, 2001, at the Rochester Riverside Convention Center and the Hyatt Regency Rochester with many workshops at the Rochester Institute of Technology in Rochester, NY. The Section Representatives' meeting was held the evening of the 22nd and the Officers Exchange on the 23rd. At the Summer Meeting, the Representatives discuss and may make recommendations to the Executive Board but the Council does not meet. I want to report on what I feel are the main aspects of this meeting.
AAPT President John Hubisz distributed copies of a "Dear National Council Member" letter in which he identified several items concerning the organization and activities of AAPT's sections. These items are slated for discussion by the AAPT Council at the January 2002 meeting in Philadelphia. John asked the Section Representatives to share the letter with Section members and to encourage those who wished to respond to write to him. A copy of John's letter has been distributed to the Illinois Section Council and copies will be available at the fall meeting in Joliet. I expect the Council may discuss this at our Fall meeting.
AAPT Executive Officer Bernard Khoury reported on the Association's recent effort in setting goals and priorities. He described AAPT's new statements of vision and mission, and also listed several critical issues for the organization. A summary handout ("Physics Education: Setting Directions") has been sent to the Illinois Section Council members and copies will be available at the Fall meeting.
Larry Badar gave a report on the PTRA program, which is now focusing on the needs of rural teachers to complement the earlier work, which primarily included urban and suburban sites. He indicated that three universities - Coastal Carolina University (South Carolina), South Dakota State University, and Illinois State University with Carl J. Wenning - are serving as the initial prototype sites.
Section Representatives Chair Steve Iona and Vice Chair Frank Peterson led a discussion on various items being considered by the Executive Board. The item that stimulated the most discussion was the Board's likely consideration of discontinuing the print publication of presentation abstracts from the Announcer. I objected immediately to this proposed action and was joined by Ann Brandon (Chicago Section Rep) with the result after discussion that by a show of hands, the Section Representatives expressed a nearly unanimous preference for continuing the current practice. It appears that the Executive Board went along with that strong viewpoint and will continue the practice of printing the meeting abstracts in the Announcer.
A second item that was presented was a request for input about the annual meetings. Frank Peterson distributed a form that either individuals or sections can indicate preferences for locations and meeting dates. For example, this meeting was the first time a summer meeting was held at a hotel and convention center rather than on a college campus. It made it easier to talk to people at the meeting but was more expensive than staying in a dorm. A copy of this survey, "Preferences Concerning National AAPT Meetings", is available via the Web in three formats: Online, Word and PDF. Also, copies will be available at the Fall meeting in Joliet.
Finally, there was discussion of how the national organization could reinforce awards given by the local sections (e.g., by means of a letter of recognition). Bernard Khoury indicated that he believed it would be practicable for the Executive Office to do this if the relevant information were provided by the local section in a timely manner.
Future national meetings are scheduled as follows:
January 19-23, 2002 Philadelphia Marriott in Philadelphia, PA
August 3-7, 2002 Boise State University, Boise, ID
January 11-15, 2003 Renaissance Austin Hotel, Austin, TX
August 2-6, 2003 Monona Terrace, Madison, Wisconsin
January 24-24, 2004 Radisson Deauville Resort, Miami Beach, FL
Curtis J. Hieggelke
Joliet Junior College
curth@jjc.cc.il.us