160th Acoustical Society of America Ad-Hoc Committee on Diversity in Acoustics 18 November 2010 The meeting was called to order at 7:12 a.m. 1. Attendance The following Members of the Committee (denoted by *) and guests were present: David T. Bradley* Tyrone Porter* Whit Au Mardi Hastings Peggy Nelson 2. Introductions and Approval of Minutes The substitute committee chair sent the previous meeting’s minutes to the committee one week prior to the meeting and received no comments or changes. At the meeting, the substitute chair requested that the members introduce themselves, and the minutes from the Baltimore meeting were approved unanimously. 3. SACNAS/MAES Conference Report The substitute chair relayed Juan Arvelo’s report from the SACNAS/MAES Conference to the committee. 4. Proposals and Funding Requests Four proposals/funding requests to be submitted to the Internal Affairs committee for review by the Executive Council were discussed. ASA Diversity Statement Proposal a. The CDA previously submitted a diversity statement to the Executive Council, who recommended that the CDA consult with the Panel on Public Policy (PoPP) to revise the statement. PoPP met at the Cancun meeting to discuss the statement and offered a few minor changes to the statement. These changes were adopted and other minor changes were implemented during the CDA meeting. b. The committee unanimously voted to send the revised proposal to the Internal Affairs committee. ASA Demographics Data Collection Proposal a. The CDA previously submitted a demographics proposal to the Executive Council, who felt that the race and ethnicity categories must be defined more broadly, and would welcome a report and discussion with the Diversity Committee about this proposal. Therefore, the CDA consulted the Statistical Research Center of the American Institute of Physics for broader category descriptions. Following their suggestion, and subsequent discussion by the CDA, the demographics survey has been revised. b. The committee unanimously voted to send the revised proposal to the Internal Affairs committee. Outreach Funding Request a. The committee unanimously voted to send the funding request to the Internal Affairs committee. Acoustics Audio & Video Student Competition Funding Request a. The CDA discussed the connection between the Competition and the Acoustics Gallery. There was some concern regarding the timing and logistics involved with having the Competition winners present their work in the Gallery. Therefore, the CDA should investigate this issue further before moving forward with this aspect of the Competition. b. The word “coolness” was changed to “impact” to help clarify the competition criteria. c. The committee unanimously voted to send the revised funding request to the Internal Affairs committee. 5. Undergraduate Research Support Tyrone Porter shared his desire for the Society to provide more support for undergraduate research, particularly for members of underrepresented groups. The CDA discussed the current Societal offerings for undergraduate research, including the Robert Young award. The CDA members felt that the Young award is underfunded and not well advertised. The CDA members would like to explore the possibility of expanding this award, with the possibility that the award explicitly state that students from underrepresented groups are particularly encouraged to apply. The CDA hopes to work with the Acoustical Society Foundation and the Education in Acoustics committee (and any other interested parties) to revise and expand this award. 6. CDA Sustainability David T. Bradley charged the committee members with the task of brainstorming solutions for making the CDA sustainable. Ideas that were presented to address this issue included joining forces with the Women in Acoustics committee, perhaps by having back-to-back meetings; moving the meeting time away from 7:00 am, and increasing the CDA presence at the Society meetings, perhaps through events similar to those sponsored by the Student Council and Women in Acoustics committee. 7. Adjournment The meeting was adjourned at 8:00 a.m. Respectfully submitted, David T. Bradley Substitute Chair Ad Hoc Committee on Diversity in Acoustics
Meeting Minutes: Cancun, Mexico