Board of Governors Mid-Year Meeting, Bilboa, Spain, July 3, 2007
Members Present
Meryl Butters, Agnes Chan, Michael Corballis, Adele Diamond, Jack Fletcher, Igor Grant, David Loring, Catherine Mateer, Robin Morris, Jenni Ogden, Feggy Ostrosky-Solis, Barbara Wilson, Bob Bornstein (ex-officio)
Members Absent
Erin Bigler, George Prigatano, Andrew Saykin
1. Call to Order
President Igor Grant called the meeting or order at 2:05 pm. Dr. Grant welcomed Michael Corballis, President-Elect, and new Members at Large, David Loring, Meryl Butters, and Robin Morris to the Board.
2. Review of Minutes
The minutes from the Board Meeting held February 6, 2007, distributed in advance of the meeting, were approved and accepted.
3. Treasurer Report
Erin Bigler, Treasurer of INS, was unable to attend the meeting but provided in advance a report reviewing the current finances of the Society, as well as a document containing the income and expenses associated with Society meetings in the last 5 years, The meetings have continued to be profitable and the Society is currently in a strong financial situation.
4. Executive Secretary Report
Bob Bornstein, the Executive Secretary, reported that the membership of INS is anticipated to be approximately 4900 by next February. Memberships plateaued for the first time this year (previous years have seen growth of about 7% per year). The proportion of new members from outside of North American continues to exceed that from inside North America, consistent with the stated goals of the Society. There were 417 members who were dropped for non-payment of dues, but this was largely made up for by new members.
Reporting on progress with respect to nominations, Dr. Borstein indicated that at least one member has been approached and agreed to run for each of the positions of President and Treasurer, and that there are a sufficient number of members who are considering standing for the offices or willing to serve as back-ups. There are five nominations for Member at Large positions and two back-ups. A full slate of nominations will go out in the summer 2007 ballot.
Under the direction of the President, The office of the Executive Secretary is currently undergoing a review. A site visit to the offices of the Executive Secretary has been set for August 13, 2007.
Dr. Bornstein provided information about the status of upcoming meeting venues as follows.
In 2008, the Winter Meeting will be held in Waikoloa, Hawaii, February 6–9, 2008, and the Mid-Year Meeting will be held in Buenos Aires, Argentina, July 2–5, 2008.
In 2009, the Winter Meeting will be held in Atlanta, Georgia, February, 11–14, 2009, and the Mid-Year Meeting will be held in Helsinki, Finland (in conjunction with the Nordic Neuropsychological Society).
With respect to the 2010 Winter Meeting, Dr. Bornstein conducted a site visit at the Fairmont Princess in Acapulco, Mexico. He indicated that the site is very beautiful, and that the venue in excellent condition and well suited to the meeting. The rooms rates are thought to be very reasonable ($159–219). The Society would be able to partner with the Association of Latin American Neuropsychology to increase potential registrations. Dr. Bornstein recommended approval to set the 2010 winter meeting in Acapulco.
Motion: That the winter meeting of the INS be held at the Fairmont Princess Hotel in Acapulco, Mexico from Feb. 3–6, 2010. (Ostrosky-Solis/Fletcher)
The motion passed unanimously.
In 2011, the winter meeting is scheduled to be held in Boston, Massachusetts at the Marriot Copley Square, a decision approved previously by the Board.
The 2010 and 2011 mid-year meetings have not yet been set. Proposed sites for those years had originally included Edinburgh, Hong Kong, Bejing, Thessoloniki, and Krakow.
Dr. Bornstein conducted a site visit in Edinburgh, but reported that even assuming a registration of 500, the registration rate would need to be above $500. This rate was believed to be too high and the venue was thus judged not to be feasible. The Board agreed.
There is a local organizer for Thessaloniki, Greece, but the original proposal had been for 2011, not 2010. There was interest on the part of the Board in having a meeting in Asia, and Beijing was considered to offer the most opportunity for local involvement and the benefit of a large number of current professional relationships between members of the Society and faculty and clinicians at Beijing Normal University (in the Psychology Department and Medical School).
Motion: That, for the mid-year meetings in 2010 and 2011, the Executive Secretary explore opportunities in Thessalonica, Greece and in Beijing, China, and recommend an order in which these venues could best be scheduled. (Fletcher/Butters)
The motion passed unanimously.
Arrangements have moved along very well for a mid-year meeting in 2012 in Oslo, Norway, and Dr. Bornstein asked for formal approval of the Board for a meeting there.
Motion: That the mid-year meeting in 2012 be held in Oslo, Norway. (Ogden/Diamond)
The motion passed unanimously.
Dr. Corballis queried whether Turkey had ever been considered as a venue, as there is interest in attracting more neuroscience meetings there. While of potential interest, there would need to be a local organizer to come forward with a proposal.
On another topic related to meeting organization, Dr. Bornstein brought up for discussion the potential to enter into an agreement to retain and regularly use a single firm to carry out meeting management activities. Platinum One, a meeting management firm which is based in Ireland, was used previously, when a meeting of the Society was held in Ireland, and found to be very beneficial and to offer significant advantages to the Society. Platinum One has suggested that the Society may want to enter into an agreement with them. If the Society agreed to use their services in any venue in which a meeting is held, Platinum One would agree to waive the general management meeting fee, hold per member fees constant, and mount and manage the meeting website for registrations, hotels, etc. They would also bring someone on site who knows the organization. It would not be a formal contract, but an ongoing mutual agreement. The Board approved entering into such an agreement in principle.
Committee Reports
5. Program Committee
A. Bilbao 2007:
Mariana Cherner, Chair of the Bilbao Program Committee, reported that the Committee had received and reviewed 552 abstract submissions, with 20 withdrawn before the meeting. The meeting will include 21 paper sessions, 9 symposia, and 8 poster sessions. As of the morning, there were 710 registrants, a number that compares very favorably with other European meetings of the Society. A very large number of meeting registrants is from Spain. The Wednesday night reception will be held at the Guggenheim Museum, there is a Thursday evening dinner at a cideria, and a Friday excursion. On behalf of the entire Board, Dr. Grant thanked Dr. Cherner and Dr. Natalia Ojeda del Pozo for their organization of what should be an outstanding meeting.
B. Hawaii 2008:
Dr. Tom Marcotte, Chair of the Hawaii Program Committee, was unable to attend the meeting in Bilbao, but did submit a report in advance of the Board meeting. The theme of the meeting will be neuropsychology's contributions to transdisciplinary research. An impressive list of scheduled invited speakers and symposia is already well developed. A new feature of the program that Dr. Marcotte would like to introduce is the identification of ‘citation posters’. This would involve identifying and marking particularly strong poster presentations by students or trainees. This proposal was endorsed by the Board as a potentialy very valuable initiative, as long as it did not decrease the number of strong submissions for paper presentations.
6. Continuing Education
Jennifer Manly, CE Director, reported that 6 CE sessions will be held on the Wednesday prior to the start of the Bilbao meeting. There will be 16 sessions of CE offered during the Hawaii meeting, with a special interest in offerings that build on the conference theme of interdisciplinarity and/or that focus on emerging fields. The Portland CE program was very successful.
Dr. Manly has conducted a survey with respect to online CE offerings. There was strong support for arranging CE credit for a program that involved systematic review of selected JINS articles. A more extensive survey with respect to CE is planned for later in the year. Dr. Loring suggested to Dr. Manly that she might look into the possibility of providing CE through podcasting technology.
The President acknowledged the outstanding work that Dr. Manly is doing in her role as CE Director, and thanked her for her continuing commitment and the success of the program.
7. International Liaison Committee
Bernice Marcopulos, Chair of the International Liaison Committee, was unable to attend the meeting in Bilbao, but submitted a report to the Board in advance. The report indicated that she has applied for a ISSN number for the International Liaison Newsletter in order to make it a serial publication of the INS. This would not involve any additional cost, but would allow it to be catalogued by the Library of Congress in the US.
8. Publications
Sureyya Dikmen, Chair of the Publications Committee, indicated that JINS is doing very well under the able editorship of Dr. Kathy Holland. Turnaround times continue to be very impressive, with an average of only 5 weeks between submission and decision. Approximately 27 manuscripts are received per month. The acceptance rate is about 50%. All available pages are being used and the Society has received 50 extra pages for free this year.
There was some concern expressed that the Impact Factor for JINS has gone down, while the Impact Factor for some other journals has gone up. The Impact Factor is calculated as the number of citations divided by the number of papers, and can be influenced on a year to year basis by a number of factors, both meaningful and potentially spurious. The change in the Impact Factor was brought forward to the Board for information only and will be looked at more closely by the Publications Committee. A table providing Impact Factors and Rankings for 2004, 2005 and 2006 in comparison to other major neuropsychology journals was provided. Rankings of JINS were also provided relative to the major Neurology, Psychiatry and Neuroscience journals.
Dr. Dikmen announced that an arrangement has been made whereby JINS will be electronically archived. This is a service that preserves the literature, but does not cost anything to the Society.
The subscription rate for JINS will be going up by $1 from $47 to $48 per year as of 2008.
A contract has been signed with Dr. David Loring and Oxford Press to publish a Second Edition of the Dictionary of Neuropsychology.
Dr. Dikmen was thanked by Dr. Grant on behalf of the Board for her outstanding job as Chair of the Publications Committee. Dr. Grant also asked that Dr. Dikmen express his thanks to Dr. Kathy Haaland who continues to do an excellent job as Editor of JINS.
9. Awards Committee
Dr. Don Stuss, the Chair of the Awards Committee, has elected to step down and a new Chair will be appointed by the President.
The President suggested that the Board consider whether or not the Society should do more to recognize individuals who have made sustained contributions to the field of neuropsychology. While the Awards Committee has previously recommended against the creation of Fellows of the Society, it did establish a number of Lifetime Achievement Awards in science, education, and service. Although these have been announced, no nominations have come forward. It was suggested that the Awards Committee could be more proactive in recommending individuals for career achievement awards. To this end, a smaller group of members of the Board agreed to meet after the formal Board meeting to discuss this issue, as an ad hoc meeting of the Awards Committee under the direction of the President.
10. New Business
A. Meryl Butters expressed some concern that the Society keep abreast of future directions in neuropsychology and that this be reflected in the content of meetings. She identified, for example, the growing importance of translational and transdisciplinary research. After considerable discussion, there was consensus that the Society should focus more time and resources on invited talks, make them more of an honor, and compensate invited speakers better.
At present, invited speakers are reimbursed for their airfare, two nights accommodation, and an honorarium of $500 (usually about $2000 in total). Invited symposia, in which there are 4 presenters, are provided with $10,000 in total to distribute among the speakers. It was suggested that the invited speaker fee be increased to $1000 from $500, and that a higher level of financial support and more flexibility be provided for invited symposia. The current expenditures on invited speakers (10 per meeting) and invited symposia (2 per meeting) are in the range of $25,000. It was suggested that this be doubled to $50,000 per meeting in order to attract quality speakers from outside the society or members of the society who might not normally attend the meetings.
Motion: That the Program Chair receive $50,000 in total to cover the costs of invited speakers and symposia, with the guideline that costs should not exceed $5000 for a single symposium. (Butters, Loring)
The motion passed unanimously.
Other recommendations of the Board include having the President work closely with Program Chairs to assist in selecting and attracting invited speakers and symposia.
B. Unfortunately, due to economic considerations, the Vivien Smith Summer Institute normally held in Thessalonica, Greece had to be cancelled this year. However, there is apparently some funding from a pharmaceutical company that will allow the summer institute to be scheduled next year. It was also suggested that if the INS mid-year meeting is held in Thessalonica, that the Vivien Smith Summer Institute be scheduled in sequence with the INS meeting so that students could attend both meetings.
11. Adjournment
Dr. Grant adjourned the meeting at 5:00 pm.
Respectfully submitted, Catherine Mateer, Board Secretary
Mid-Year Business Meeting, Bilbao, Spain, Friday, July 6, 2007
1. Introduction
Dr. Igor Grant, President of the Society, called the meeting or order at 6:50 pm.
2. Treasurer Report
The report of the Treasurer, Dr. Erin Bigler, was received and accepted at the meeting of the Board of Governors. The Society is currently in a strong financial position, with more than $1 million in reserve. The implementation of a slight dues increase has been helpful in replenishing the Society's reserves and the meetings have continued to be successful from a financial as well as both scientific and clinical perspectives.
3. Executive Secretary Report
Bob Bornstein, the Executive Secretary, reported that the membership of INS is currently about 4600 after removal of some members for non-payment of dues. In the last 2 years, approximately 17% of total Society members have been from outside North America, while approximately 22% of new members are from outside North America, continuing the trend of greater membership growth among those outside North America.
4. Committee Reports
A. Program Committee—Bilbao
Dr. Mariana Cherner, Chair of the Program Committee for Bilbao indicated that there has been good feedback on both the program and the venue. There were 746 registrants, with a particularly strong representation of registrants from Spain (46%), the largest country represented at the meeting. Dr. Cherner thanked all of the members of the Program Committee, including Dr. Natalia Ojeda del Pozo and the other members of the Local Arrangements Committee, and Dr. Manly, the Director of the Continuing Education Program.
Dr. Ojeda del Pozo thanked all of the professional societies in Spain for advocating on behalf of the meeting and encouraging attendance. Forty other countries were represented including countries on every continent. She also recognized the hard work of the local authorities and others who worked on the local arrangements.
The President thanked Dr. Cherner and the entire Program Committee for an excellent meeting. He also thanked Dr. Ojeda del Pozo and the entire local steering committee for encouraging so many professionals and students in neuropsychology to take part in the meeting. He noted that the extent of local participation set a new standard and was consistent with the goals of the Society.
B. Continuing Education Committee
Dr. Jennifer Manly, Chair of the Continuing Education Committee, thanked all of the members of the Continuing Education Committee. She reported that 6 CE sessions were held on Wednesday, and welcomed feedback on that format for the mid-year meeting. She indicated that the CE program for the Hawaii meeting was almost set, and that the Committee was welcoming suggestions and proposals for the mid-year meeting in Buenos Aires and the meeting in Atlanta. She also reported that members should expect a survey about CE later in the summer asking about some new ideas and formats, and the potential interest in setting up both basic and advanced level CE's.
The President thanked Dr. Manly and her committee for another successful CE program in Bilbao.
C. Upcoming Meetings
Dr. Bornstein provided information about the status of upcoming meeting venues.
In 2008, the Winter Meeting will be held in Waikoloa, Hawaii, from February, 6–9. Dr. Tom Marcotte is the Program Committee Chair and there is a strong slate of invited speakers and several new proposals for enlivening the program.
The 2008 Mid-Year Meeting with be held in Buenos Aires, Argentina from July 2–5. In 2009, meetings are scheduled in Atlanta, Georgia, and Helsinki, Finland. In 2010, meetings are scheduled in Acapulco, Mexico, and being planned in either Thessaloniki, Greece, or Beijing, China. In 2011, meetings are scheduled in Boston, Massachusetts, and either Greece or China, depending on the 2010 meeting schedule. In 2012, a North American meeting site has not been set, but the mid-year meeting is currently planned to be held in Oslo, Norway.
D. Publications Committee
Dr. Sureyya Dikmen, Chair of the Publications Committee, announced that JINS is doing well, with an average of 27 submitted manuscripts per month. The time from submission to letter of decision is less than 5 weeks, and the time from acceptance to publication is approximately 5 months. The acceptance rate is approximately 50%.
Abstracts are now available on the website prior to the meetings. The contents of JINS will be archived through Portico, so that if for some reason Cambridge is unable to provide the information, the publications of the Society's journal will be archived for future use.
Dr. Haaland, Editor of JINS, thanked her Associate Editors, as well as Guest Editors for the wonderful job they are doing and particularly for the very quick and responsive turnarounds on manuscript reviews. She encouraged everyone to send their best work to JINS, and particularly encouraged critical reviews, which she would like to see expanded. She intends to continue to do one symposia issue per year, and ideas for topics are encouraged.
E. Nominations
The nominations slate for new officers and members-at-large is nearly complete and an election ballot will be sent out in the fall. Balloting ends in early January and election results will be complete January 10, 2008.
F. Award Winners
Dr. Cherner presented certificates to the winners of the Butters, Rennick and Cermak Awards.
Cristina Sole, of the University of Barcelona, received the Phillip M. Rennick Award, for the best submission by a graduate student for her talk entitled ‘Functional and Structural Correlates of Cognitive Reserve in Normal Aging, Mild Cognitive Impairment and Mild Alzheimer's Disease.’
Markus Thimm, of the University Hospital RWTH Aachen, received the Nelson Butters Award for the best submission by a post-doctoral fellow for his talk entitled ‘Effects of a New Computerized Training on Neural Recovery from Spatial Neglect.’
Sandra Lehmann received the Laird S. Cermak Award for best submission in memory research for her paper entitled ‘Cortical Signature of Amnesia: a High Resolution Event-Related Potential Study.’ The award was accepted for her by Dr. Schnider.
The President sincerely congratulated all of the award recipients on their exceptional contributions.
5. New Business
None.
Before adjourning, the President, on behalf of the entire Board, again thanked Dr. Cherner, Dr. Ojeda del Pozo, and Dr. Manly, as well as their respective committees for a wonderful scientific program, excellent local arrangements, and strong CE program. He also thanked Ave Sovranko and Sue O'Brien of the INS office for their support before and throughout the meeting, and Dr. Bornstein for continuing to ensure the Society meetings run so smoothly and successfully.
6. Adjournment
The Business Meeting was adjourned at 7:18 pm.
Respectfully submitted, Catherine Mateer, Board Secretary
