INTERNATIONAL BIOMETRIC SOCIETY

Transcription

1 INTERNATIONAL BIOMETRIC SOCIETY EXECUTIVE BOARD MEETING: 8 TH JULY :00 16:00 LOCAL TIME, ROOM M BARCELONA INT L CONVENTION CENTRE, BARCELONA, SPAIN APPROVED MINUTES In attendance Apologies : Call to Order, Welcome and Introductions - Louise Ryan Officers: Louise Ryan (President), Elizabeth Thompson (Outgoing President), Biggerstaff (Secretary-Treasurer) Directors: Karen Bandeen-Roche, Frank Bretz, Mark Brewer, Elizabeth Brown, Brian Cullis, Krista Fischer, Joel Greenhouse, Freedom Gumedze, Tae Rim Lee, Luzia Trinca, Andreas Ziegler, Geert Verbeke (Incoming President, 2019) Representative Council: Iris Pigeot (Representative Council Chair) IBO Staff: Peter Doherty (Executive Director), Randy Lindner (Bostrom), Kristina Wolford (Bostrom) José Pinheiro The meeting was called to order at 09:10. Louise welcomed everyone and thanked them for their participation : Minutes of the 19 March 2018 Executive Board Meeting: Paper A Louise thanked Andreas for pointing out several areas of the minutes that required adjustments. These adjustments were incorporated into the final minutes from 19 March, which have since been approved by . The minutes were officially approved prior to this meeting : Matters Arising (not otherwise on the agenda): No additional topics were suggested : Officer Reports: a. President s Report: Paper B b. Membership by Regions and Related Issues i to date: Paper C 1

2 ii. Romanian Region Review and Vote: Paper D iii. Response to EU Data Protection Directive Paper E iv. Ideas regarding member signup and renewal process: Paper F c. IBS Finances and May 2018 Financial Statement Brad Biggerstaff i. Treasurer s Report, Review of Financials: Paper G ii. May 2018 Financial Statement: Paper H iii. Investment Report: Paper I iv. FY2019 Membership Fee Discussion: Paper J d. IBC2018 overview Elizabeth Thompson: Paper K e. IBC2020 Planning Update: Paper L f. International Business Office Management Report Peter Doherty and Randy Lindner: Paper M 4a: Louise Ryan shared the news that the new JABES Editor had been selected and recently approved by the Board. A new Co-Editor for Biometrics was also approved. At the same time, Ann Hanhart, the Editorial Assistant for Biometrics, is retiring. The IBS is contributing funding towards a gift that is being designed for Ann. Regarding the pricing of Biometrics, the latest price increase was scrutinized by several volunteers and, following a review, was deemed acceptable and in keeping with the planned normalizing of rates for the journal. Continuing on with other recent Officer actions, Taylor and Francis has agreed to offer a discount to IBS members on many of their publications during and prior to the conference. This was viewed as an appropriate method of engaging Taylor and Francis, which has sought a relationship with the IBS in the past. The recently-approved partnership with the ISI has been positive to date, with members from both organizations attending the other society s conferences through a joint funding initiative approved by the Board. Louise also shared plans for the 2019 IBS-sponsored session at the ISI conference in Kuala Lumpur, and mentioned the IBS s membership with Friends of COPPS. Finally, the presidential election went smoothly this year. Executive Board elections are expected to be held later in the year. 4bi: Louise reviewed the July, 2018 membership tracking report, noting that the 2017 year-end figures were above the 6000-member mark, and 2018 figures to date are just above 6,300 members. The percentage of Regions reporting prior to the IBC deadline is also a positive sign (31 out of 37, or 84%). 4bii: Louise and Peter addressed the report on the Romanian Region, first affiliated in Currently, there are no official members of the Romanian Region, nor have there been since Attempts were made to contact the Region during 2016 and 2017, and also in early The Board was reminded that, due to this period of inactivity, the Region may be dissolved, though the P&P does not specify the number of years a Region must lapse in order to be eligible for dissolution. 4biii: Paper E was reviewed by Louise, in response to the new EU Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). The GDPR outlines the ways in which personal data must be protected as well as the ways in which customers must be able to access and control that data. The language contained in the document is currently undergoing legal review. 4biv: Louise then shared ideas regarding improvements to the member signup and renewal process, which was originally drafted as the new website RFP process began. The consensus is that the current data review and transfer 2

3 procedures involve too much manual work and invariably result in errors and time lags. have been received from a variety of Regions, and pros and cons have been shared with Louise. A suggestion was for the new website to collect some basic data from a prospective member, which would then trigger a message to the local Region, who would follow up and request payment from the new member. Not all Regions were in favour of this, especially some who noted Region-specific requirements or wish to maintain their own database. 4ci-iii: Brad Biggerstaff provided a financial summary for May, 2018, noting that the full financial report and investment report are included in the Executive Board meeting book. The cash balance is $667,000, investment growth has been relatively flat, and membership payments received to date have actually exceeded $230,000 for the year. No IBC registration income is shown yet, because the income is not realized until the conference concludes. Total assets are just over $2.7 million USD. The summary also includes a new percent of budget column, as well as a section that attempts to break down the larger income and expense areas. Peter has also provided a chart that shows paid staff time for Noteworthy areas that showed a higher percentage of staff time include the IBC, Membership Services, the Biometric Bulletin, Regional Activities, and Accounting. However, this does not take into account hours that are included in the core management fee, nor hours that are spent on the IBS s behalf but not tracked by client (reception, HR, some accounting functions, etc.). Additional points included an explanation regarding the travel awards to date (as of May, a small portion of the projected $30,000 in funds had not yet been dispensed), and the fact that the IBS will realize a savings with the move from the current Biometrics Business Office to the new office in Belgium. Finally, Brad reminded the group about the restrictions placed on the Society s investment manager and the funds areas in which the Society has chosen not to invest. 4civ: Brad Biggerstaff shared a proposal for a membership dues increase for 2019, noting that the Budget & Finance Committee has reviewed the details of the proposal. It has been some time since an increase has been considered by the Executive Board. Justification for a dues increase at this time was shared in Paper I. Brad detailed the rationale for initiation of an evaluation of any potential dues increase, and it was noted that some future activities might be covered by IBS reserves rather than with funds from the operating account. As part of past actions, in 2014 the Executive Board approved the use of reserve funds in order to pay for work on the new website this fall, as well as work on the IBS archives at a sum not to exceed $100,000 (for storage, moving, the expertise of a trained archvist, etc.). Committee members offered many comments regarding the potential for a dues increase, though there was concern from those committee members representing developing countries. It was noted by a Board Member that the Board has requested at least two years ago a detailed accounting of the IBO's staff billing time *per project*, and that without explicit knowledge of this, it was felt that any dues increase was not justifiable because expenses could not be detailed. 4d: Louise thanked Elizabeth Thompson for her detailed IBC 2018 report. Then Elizabeth updated the Board on the latest developments related to conference in Barcelona. She first thanked Charmaine Dean, Lupe Gomez and Pere Puig for their excellent leadership. She then thanked Brad for keeping the finances in check, and Kristina, Peter and the IBO for their work in what was the first IBC for most of the staff. Following a late start with the abstract process, and a major staff change at the IBO, full registration and Short Course registration has been strong, with projected total attendance just below 900 participants. Some delays in the travel awards program were also noted. 3

4 The decision to develop a volunteer budget for IBC 2018 was mentioned. The group was reminded of the need for transparency in making volunteer arrangements, and the organizers have been quite pleased with the arrangements made to date by the Local Organizing Committee. The LOC was also involved in sponsorship solicitations, and the confirmed number of sponsorships are up over IBC The majority of sponsorships are considered in-kind contributions. There was a record number of invited session proposals for IBC 2018, and the number of session proposals in general was quite strong this year. Finally, improvements with the mobile app and the IBC website since Victoria were noted. 4e: Louise began her IBC 2020 report by thanking Renato Assuncao for his work in completing most of the recruitment required to form the 2020 International Program Committee, while also keeping diversity in mind. Meanwhile Taerim Lee and Taesung Park, co-chairs for the 2020 Local Organizing Committee, have engaged the new conference managers (MCI) in several meetings as the contract for the conference venue (COEX) is negotiated. The contract should be signed within days. 4f: Peter began the management report, noting a few of the highlights as planning for the IBC continued. He thanked Mik Bauer for his continued oversight on the travel awards program, and introduced the new staff, including Amanda Bignall, who has been quite involved in registration and membership projects, Kristina Wolford, who worked with Charmaine Dean on the abstract process, and Natalie Ellis, who will assist us in the future with many administrative tasks. Peter continued with a proposal for future staff organization, noting that Kristina is being proposed as the Director of Operations, Amanda would begin to do more work with the volunteer committees, and Natalie and a new staff person (not yet hired) would assist with administrative matters which. This would increase the number of staff contacts working on governance, committees, regional activities and administrative tasks inside the IBO, while allowing Peter to be more strategic in his work. 4bi: Peter Doherty mentioned the changes to the membership tracking report for this meeting. Several Board members commented that the Student member counts appear to have increased, though some Regions typically do not report because there is no balance due for members in that category. The Officers encourage all to consider ways to engage students to convince them to continue their memberships following graduation. There were also several comments regarding the extent that the numbers seem to fluctuate from year to year. 4bii: Several members inquired as to whether additional options were available to the Board and the IBO to help keep the Romanian Region members a part of the IBS. At-Large membership is still available as an option. Direct IBO management of the Region was suggested as an interim step, though no action was taken. Rather than joining as At-Large members, Romanian members could be encouraged to join other neighboring Regions, in order to regularly engage with other members. 4biii: Iris Pigeot shared that the German Region is currently seeking legal advice regarding what language and protections they need to put in place in order to fully comply with the new EU General Data Protection Regulation. Issues with the transfer of data to the US because of weaker data regulations is a concern. Peter added that members would need to have the opportunity to agree to the transfer of the data, perhaps at the start of the application process. There was a question regarding whether sex and other personal information could be collected. For this and other data points, the customer should always be given the option not to provide that information in order to comply. Randy Lindner also commented that, while GDPR is meant to protect citizens of the 4

5 European Union, the policy drafted by the IBO is meant to protect all customers, wherever they are located. 4biv: As the membership process discussion continued, several additional Region-specific issues were mentioned which might preclude members from joining directly through the IBO. 4civ: The recommendation from the Budget and Finance committee was for a small increase. However, Executive Board comments pointed to the need for a full review of expenditures and a further explanation regarding why the current financial situation and account balances, both of which appear to be quite healthy, should result in a dues increase at this time. 4d: Though the number of abstract submissions was strong, concern was voiced by several Board members because certain areas of biometry were not well represented in the abstract submissions, nor in the program itself. It was suggested that this will likely be a continuing concern as plans for IBC 2020 begin to take shape. It was also stated that it will always be an important priority to minimize any problems that DC travel awardees might have in travelling to the IBC. 4e: Louise confirmed that the option for space chosen by the group will involve the staging of some events in the open lobby area of the contracted space. 4f: The subject of managing costs was discussed. No significant increases in cost are expected in the short term as a result of the staff additions. Elizabeth added that the contract with the IBO, which also defines the scope of work, will need to be updated. Randy went on to state that new projects will often result in changes to the scope of work. 4bi: It was noted that the IBO staff should make an effort to consolidate historical membership figures so that the Executive Board can review membership trends over a longer period of time. 4bii: Upon a Motion, the Executive Board approved the dissolution of the Romanian Region as an official Region of the IBS. Two abstentions were noted. Krista Fischer agreed to work with members in Romania in order to help connect them with the larger community. Joel Greenhouse and others also noted the importance of maintaining communications with the members in Romania through At-Large membership, local activities and other efforts. The Education Committee will discuss this at their upcoming meeting. 4biii: It is the group s understanding that all Regions should draft their own policies, as the nature of each Region s operations will be different. Once Region drafts have been prepared, it was suggested that the IBO could collect copies of them to ensure that there are no contradictions between the IBO and Region policies. The IBO was asked to send a notice to all Regions, so that they are aware of the need to draft a document that addresses GDPR. The IBO was also asked to share this draft with Andreas Faldum, who has been involved in the German Region s review of GDPR language. It was later pointed out during legal review that the individual review of each and every local region privacy / protection policy, which would have to include the regular re-read of each policy, is unworkable from an administrative standpoint and could also expose the IBS to potential future legal scrutiny. 4biv: Each Region s situation will be explored as a vendor is selected to work on the design and launch of the new website. 4ciii: Brad Biggerstaff suggested that he and Peter will speak with the investment manager regarding a potential shift in investment strategy to one that is a more conservative strategy, in order to minimize any potential future downturn in the stock market. 4civ: Following robust discussion, the decision to table an increase in dues for 2019 was agreed to. Randy Lindner offered an update to the comparative study of IBO operational costs to those of similarly sized organizations. The last study 5

6 was completed in Louise agreed that this would be very helpful. Randy also reminded the group that the IBS s reserves are quite healthy. 4e: Louise will continue to work with the IPC and LOC Chairs in order to confirm the makeup of both IBC 2020 committees. The proposed final committee rosters will then be shared with the Executive Board, so that they may approve them. The staff will place dates and information on IBC 2020 on the IBS website during this meeting, and add additional information when available. Finally, the Board was reminded that they will need to meet in a special session in order to approve the location for IBC 2022 during this conference. 4f: No concerns related to the draft staffing plan were shared. Randy will work with IBO staff to present a revised scope of work as part of a new contract. The contract will be reviewed by the Executive Board before the end of the : Standing Committee Reports and Related Matters: a. Awards Fund Committee i. Committee report: Paper N ii. Proposal for an ad-hoc committee to consider DC travel awards for non-ibc years AND VOTE Elizabeth Thompson: Paper O b. Budget and Finance Committee - Brad Biggerstaff c. Committee on Communications Report i. Social Media Activities: Paper P ii. Website RFP and Development Process: Paper Q d. Conference Advisory Committee: Paper R e. Editorial Advisory Committee: Paper S f. Education Committee: Paper T 5ai: Louise reviewed the Awards Fund Committee report, noting that a nearly equal number of Regular and Student awards were distributed this year. Just under 25% of the applicants received awards (15 out of 62). 5aii: Elizabeth addressed Paper M, in which a proposal has been made to revise and clarify the process for providing travel awards during a non-ibc-year. The program to date has been successful. However, questions of funding, administration, timely communications, and fairness when making selections have all been raised. It is the intent of the committee that these issues be reviewed by an ad hoc committee, and changes considered for a vote at the next IBS Executive Board meeting so that changes might be made prior to the start of the next awards cycle. Elizabeth also shared the previous thinking that the IBS would provide funding for this program and not necessarily rely on the Regions during non-ibc years. 5ci: Louise provided the report on behalf of the Chair. The Regions have nominated nine social media liaisons to date to serve as part of the Social Media Coordinators group. She also noted the increases in followers in recent months, while adding that there is still much more work to do. 5cii: Louise updated the group on the status of the website request for proposal. Many working groups have been consulted, and the goal is to distribute the RFP immediately following the IBC. Early discussions have also taken place with a company that develops online communities for volunteers and members, though no decisions have been made in terms of who might provide this new service. 5d: Louise provided the report on behalf of the Chair, Satoshi Hattori. Satoshi noted the importance of revising the instructions for Regions interested in 6

7 submitting bids, due to the new agreement with MCI, the approved conference management company. The Chair has suggested that the Regions only be responsible for a budget with very limited detail. MCI had requested that they could assist the bidding Regions in developing their bids and assisting with the development of the full budget, to perhaps include a comparative assessment of venues and event spaces. But it is important that the Regions still be in control of developing the final proposal. The committee would like to take some of the pressure off of the Regions, while making it easier for regions to come forward with bids for the IBC. 5e: Louise shared several highlights from the Editorial Advisory Committee report on behalf of Hans-Peter Piepho, including the nomination of Mark Brewer as the new Co-Editor of Biometrics, and the work in reviewing nominations for a new Book Review Editor. Additional information can be found in the report. 5f: Louise shared the Education Committee s recent accomplishments, including the arrangements for the Statistics in Practice Session and Short Course at the IBC, and the continuing Journal Club online sessions. 5ai: Louise noted the committees concern that many applicants had to be turned away due to a lack of additional funding. 5aii: The idea of forming an ad hoc committee today was discussed. It was also mentioned that Mark Brewer and Luzia Trinca would be appropriate members of the ad hoc committee, as current Board liasons to the committee. Louise encouraged all Regions to submit a nomination. 5cii: The timeline for launch of the site, and potential side projects resulting from the work, were discussed. The committee is expected to begin reviewing proposals in early August. It is possible that the design, implementation and development of communities could potentially be done through the use of one or more companies. A question regarding how the IBC services will be handled came up. The need for user-friendly services that closely align abstract submissions and the IBC website was suggested, while using as few vendors as possible. Louise also mentioned that a Region template and Region page hosting is still envisioned as a service that we would be happy to offer Regions who may opt to take advantage of that service. 5d: One Region inquired regarding the amount of information provided as part of the Call for Proposals, suggesting that more specific information on registrants by type, and historical trends, should be shared if available. Having access to previously successful bids might also important to new bidders. 5f: The group discussed that, when developing the Short Courses, there is the need to balance profitability against diversity of content areas. The committee believes that these needs were considered in leading up to IBC There was also a question regarding whether additional online courses were being developed in order to engage members in developing countries with more accessible members-only content. Louise encouraged Krista Fischer to bring this idea up with the committee. 5aii: Upon a Motion, the Executive Board approved the formation of an ad hoc committee to explore adjustments to the process for awarding travel funds as part of the Awards Fund Committee non-ibc-year travel program. Elizabeth Thompson has volunteered to be the chair of the committee and will ask Dan Kajungu to recommend two additional members of the full committee to join the ad hoc committee. Iris Pigeot agreed to bring up the need for two additional members at the Representative Council meeting on Thursday. 5cii: Upon a Motion, the Executive Board approved the distribution of the current Request for Proposal to design, develop and launch a new IBS website. 7

8 : Representative Council Matters a. Report Iris Pigeot: Paper U b. Recommendations regarding Members at Large - Iris Pigeot (See Paper U) 6a: Chair Iris Pigeot first updated the Board on the recent activity in support of the Network and Interregional Activities Funding Program. The Representative Council is expecting a new joint proposal from the Argentinean and Chilean Regions. Much work has been done on the review of nominations for awards this year. In the end, nominations for three groups of awards were reviewed and votes were taken. The group is pleased that the IBS is able to honor four Honorary Life members this year, along with a winner of the Rob Kempton Award. No nominations were received for the Award for Outstanding Contributions to the Development of the IBS. Most award winners will be attending the ceremony. 6b: Finally, a task force had been formed in May to study the Member-At-Large issue. Thanks to Jürgen Kübler, Clarice Garcia Borges Demetrio, Antje Hoering, Alison Kelly and Stijn Vansteelandt for participating on the task force. The task force recommends that members should be expected to join a Region if applicable, but that a link can be established with a specific Region based on either nationality, work address or residential address. They recommend that special exceptions might be given for those members from developing countries with temporary residence in a developed country. 6b: There was a suggestion that the definition of temporary should be further defined as part of this discussion : Publications a. Biometrics b. JABES i. Publisher Report: Paper V ii. Executive Editor Report: Paper W i. Publisher s Report: Paper X ii. Business Manager s Report: Paper Y c. Biometric Bulletin Report Editor Search d. JSTOR Revenue Sharing Update: Paper Z 7a: Louise reminded the Executive Board of the upcoming Biometrics Associate Editors meeting, and mentioned several highlights from Wiley and the Executive Editor s written report, including the ending of editor terms, the retirement of Ann Hanhart, details on submission rates and locations, the latest impact factor, and other statistics. 7d: Peter shared the latest revenue sharing report, and the recent change in our relationship with JSTOR as the first seven editions of JABES will soon be moved over to the JABES official site on the Springer server. This means that JSTOR revenue from JABES will decrease in the future. 7a: There was an inquiry regarding the recent actions to help improve not only the standing of the journal but the underlying structure and whether it still fits the IBS s needs. Though the look and feel may have improved in recent 8

9 months, the substance may need some additional attention. There is some concern that the submissions and those that are selected for publication may be too theoretical. 7a: The liaisons to the Editorial Advisory Committee were asked to bring the matter to the EAC for the group s input. 7a/b: Executive Board members were asked to attend as many of the publications-related meetings as possible, to engage the working grous in these important subjects Coffee Break : Items for Decision a. IBC Seoul, South Korea: Approve members of the LOC b. IBC Seoul, South Korea: Approve members of the International Program Committee c. Policy on harassment: Approve statement for web. Paper AA 8a: Louise noted the current Local Organizing Committee roster for The group was asked to review and comment on the roster. 8b: Louise presented the roster submitted to date by the Chair, Renato Assuncao. 8c: Louise Ryan discussed the draft of a harassment policy statement with the Executive Board. 8a: Louise and several others commented on the fact that the committee is larger than usual, though it was thought that this in itself would not present a problem. It was suggested to Taerim that some of the members might be considered primary members of the committee, while others might be considered secondary in order to reduce the size of the actual normal working group to something that is a bit more manageable. 8b: and concerns regarding the current roster were shared including underrepresentation in some areas of biometry, and an uneven level of geographical representation. Specific Regions who might contribute nominees to the group were named. 8c: and suggested changes were shared with the Chair. Most changes were related to the expectation that the Society would not necessarily be in favour of forming a disciplinary group to address and/or disprove specific allegations, but also to ensure that other groups who might be affected by inappropriate actions are included in the statement. Still other comments were made that might point to opinions or language preferences that are regional in nature. One suggestion was that a statement be added at the top of the statement affirming that "This statement has been constructed in American English.", which might minimize some misunderstandings. 8a: Upon a Motion, the Executive Board approved the makeup of the Local Organizing Committee. 8b: Following this review, it was deemed premature to approve the list of IPC committee members as currently proposed. Executive Board members will assist Renato with suggestions of additional possible IPC members. 8c: The consensus was that approval of this statement, which has been partially revised during the Executive Board meeting, be tabled for now. Iris Pigeot was asked to take this statement to the Representative Council meeting, so that members could review the statement to see if the descriptors used in the first paragraph are appropriate, among other things. 9

10 : Any Other Business a. Schedule for IBC Governance Meetings: Paper AB b. Review of DRAFT Agenda for the Members General Meeting, Paper AC c. Venue for 2019 in-person Board Meeting 9a: Louise reviewed the list of governance meetings scheduled for the 2018 IBC, and reminded all liaisons to attend their assigned meetings. 9b: The agenda has been circulated with the Executive Board, as well as the membership. Assuming that a quorum is present, the matter of the Bylaws revision will be voted on at the meeting. 9c: Options for the 2019 in-person Board meeting were discussed. 9a: Elizabeth updated the Board on the plan for the Young Statisticians Lunch. Lupe Gomez and Pere Puig have organized an agenda, and members of the Board are welcome to attend. 9b: Elizabeth reminded the group that all members are strongly encouraged to attend the Members General Meeting. 9c: The options currently available to the Executive Board are to hold the 2019 meeting in either Vilnius, Lithuania (2 June) or Munich, Germany (17 March). 9c: A decision has not yet been made regarding the location for the 2019 inperson meeting of the Executive Board : Review of IBO, Closed Session John Hinde 10: The Executive Board went into a closed session at 15:50. Adjourned: Respectfully submitted, Peter E. Doherty, CAE 10