Some Traditions and Suggestions for
Officers and Hosts of
TSAAPT
The advancing nature of the officer chain in TSAAPT generally serves to keep
things moving along smoothly; however, our hosts and officers sometimes still
realize or find out about certain responsibilities too late to avoid
embarrassment or last minute headaches. This manuscript contains suggestions
and things that have been done in the past which can serve as a guide to these
people.
PRESIDENT
The president is responsible for
seeing that all the activities of the section as stated in the constitution and
approved by the section council are carried out. He/she should keep in touch
with the officers, section representative and committee chairman to be sure
that all matters are being handled approximately. He/she is responsible for
calling necessary council meetings and for making all the arrangements for
these meetings. The president should work with the program chairman and host to
fix a time and place for the section business meetings which he/she conducts.
All committees are appointed by the president including the nominating
committee which traditionally is appointed in the spring. There has been a recent
tradition of appointing the immediate past president to chair the nominating
committee. The president also is in charge of arrangements for banquets and
luncheons which include head table arrangements, serving as Master of
Ceremonies, etc.
PRESIDENT-ELECT
According to the constitution the
vice-president and president-elect are jointly responsible for planning
programs for the meetings. Traditionally, and probably wisely so, the president-elect
has taken this responsibility but calling on the vice-president for assistance
as needed. In many cases it has proven helpful to both parties to involve the
vice-president in program planning. Thus following traditions the
president-elect has full responsibility for all aspects of the programs for the
spring section meeting. (See below under HOSTS and PROGRAM PLANNING).
VICE-PRESIDENT
The vice-president is in the
position of an apprentice and should clearly observe the activities of the
president and president-elect with the full understanding that he/she will have
to fill these positions in the following two years.
SECRETARY-TREASURER
The secretary-treasurer of TSAAPT is
elected every year. It is significant to note that only 9 different people have
held this office during the first 24 years of the Texas Section. The smooth
operation of the section is greatly enhanced by the longevity of the people
holding this office. Keeping up with the records and finances of the section
could become a confused mess if frequent changes were made in this office. As
secretary this individual keeps track of all meeting minutes and documents of
the association. He/she has the responsibility of keeping current membership
rolls which can be made available when necessary. Traditionally the secretary-treasurer
has mailed minutes of section business meetings to the entire membership.
As treasurer this individual handles
all the financial matters of the association. He/she maintains a section bank account
and records of all financial transactions. It has been found valuable for this
individual to have access to a computer for financial records and in particular
membership rolls.
SECTION REPRESENTATIVE
The section representative is a
voting member of the AAPT council which is the governing body of the
Association. He/she is therefore an individual who will go to all AAPT national
meetings and be an active participant in AAPT affairs. In particular he/she
should promote the Texas Section at the national level and promote AAPT at the
section level.
In 1972 the constitution was changed
to give the section representative a four year term of office. This was a good thing
because good influence at the national level has some relationship to length of
tenure.
The Texas Section of AAPT is a very
active section with very good participation from all levels of physics
teaching. Much of the success of the Texas Section is due to good leadership and
a strong tradition of good meetings. As we have grown we have also expanded our
activities. In the paragraphs below are listed some projects which the Texas
Section is presently involved in.
Excellence in Teaching Award
The Texas Section annually
recognizes outstanding teachers of physics below the collegiate level. Science
supervisors, principals, teachers, or students are invited to submit the name
of a teacher for such an award. All teachers in
A committee of the Texas Section
then reviews the nominees and up to 4 awards are presented. The awards are
announced at the banquet of the Science Teachers Association of Texas and the awards
are presented at the fall meeting of the Texas Section. Along with the
recognition the recipients receive scientific equipment and science books
donated by scientific equipment companies and book companies.
Many excellent papers on physics
teaching are contributed each year at our Texas Section meetings which are not repeated
at national AAPT meetings. In an effort to encourage these people to give them
at the national meeting the Texas Section is awarding $50.00 towards travel
expenses of the selected contributors. The selections are made by a Texas
Section committee and the paper abstract must acknowledge the support of the
Texas Section.
Other
The following items list some
additional projects and activities of the Texas Section.
1. A new award started in 1979
honors outstanding contributors to physics higher education in
2. A committee of the Texas Section
is investigating the possibility of activating a regional section of the
American Physical Society and possible joint affiliation between the two
sections.
3. The
particular pre-college preparation for future physicists and engineers.
4. There has been a trend in
HOSTS
One tradition that has strongly
contributed to the success of TSAAPT has been the continuous willingness of
Texas Institutions to host our section meeting. It involves a lot of time and
effort. One way that TSAAPT has been able to remain financially healthy while
having excellent meetings has been for host institutions to bear the major
portion of the meeting expense. In recent years several institutions have spent
$500 on fall meetings to pay for invited speakers, printing costs, hospitality
services, etc. This definitely reflects the excellent support for our section
in the state of
MEETINGS AND MEETING PLANNING
Good meetings are the major reason
for the success of TSAAPT. These meetings don't just happen; they take a lot of
careful planning and hard work. Traditionally the emphasis in our fall meetings
has been on research and student research and in our spring meeting on
pedagogy. There is a strong feeling that this tradition should continue.
Research papers can be contributed in the fall but members are strongly
encouraged to give them in the spring.
The remaining discussion will be
concerning the fall meeting; however, most of the ideas carry over to the
spring meeting where the chairman for physical sciences of TAS serves as the
program chairman instead of the TSAAPT president-elect.
The two most important contributing
factors of a successful meeting are careful advance planning and good
communications. It is imperative that the president-elect and are presentative
of the host institution (HOST) meet in the spring to plan for the fall meeting.
Generally this is done at the spring meeting and the president, vice-president
and secretary-treasurer are included in this meeting. Generally plans would go
something like the following (Dates arbitrarily chosen assuming the meeting is
November9-11).
1. Past president sends out first
call for papers August 21. Deadline given as October 20. This mailing has
sometimes included a form for nominating emeritus members.
2. Host mails second and final call for papers on October 1. This mailing
should include some preliminary meeting information to catch the interest of
our members. This mailing one or two weeks later should contain motel
information and maps of the city and campus.
3. The past president has the final
typed program including chairpersons, times, etc. to the host by October 27.
Final touches supplied by the host who has the program printed within a week or
less. Sometimes the program is mailed to the membership and sometimes it isn't.
At least the initial typed copy from the past_president should be mailed to all
contributors.
Following are some ideas for the host
to keep in mind when planning a meeting.
1. Meetings are generally more
enjoyable when all activities are centrally located and close together.
Attempts should be made to have the hospitality room, meeting rooms and
exhibitors areas as close together as possible so as not to isolate any part of
the activities.
2. Obtaining exhibitors has
generally been the responsibility of the host. The number of exhibitors at our
fall meetings has varied from 2 to more than 10. The number seems to be related
to the aggressiveness of the host more than anything else. Generally exhibitors
have not paid for the right to exhibit. Our meetings are not that large and it
is necessary to keep the exhibitor overhead small or they won't come. It is
also a good idea to list the names of the exhibitors on the program.
3. Registration at our meetings can
be very smooth or very confusing and frustrating depending on how carefully it
is planned. The only fees collected are TSAAPT dues and meal or banquet
tickets. It is important that each registrant fill out a form which clearly
shows his/her name, complete mailing address and Institution. Our membership
rolls come from these forms and thus the information is important. Thought
should be given to expediting registration on Friday morning so that people do
not spend long periods of time waiting in lines.
4. All financial arrangements and
registration forms should be discussed ahead of time with the section
secretary-treasurer. Since he/she is the one who is responsible for the money
and membership rolls he/she should be involved or at least aware of what is
being done on all financial and registration matters
ADDITIONAL NOTES TO
SUBMITTED BY MARY BETH MONROE
JUNE, 1997
(These notes are based on my service
as an officer of the Texas Section AAPT. Traditions are just that, actions
customarily performed based on mutual agreement among the officers and recent
officers of the section.)
PAST-PRESIDENT:
This officer, following the revision in the Constitution administered when Fred
Loxsom was President, serves as Program Chair for TSAAPT for the fall meeting.
The fall meeting is officially hosted by the Texas Section APS and therefore
the Program Chair will work closely with the Program Chair of TSAPS and the
Zone 13 SPS Councilor to prepare a mutually attractive program for each of the
three organizations.
This officer has traditionally
chaired the two committees of TSAAPT: the Nominating Committee and the Awards
Committee (even though the Constitution says the committees are chaired by the
Section Rep).
PRESIDENT BEFORE THE IMMEDIATE PAST
PRESIDENT:
This officer serves as Chair of the Physical Science Division of the Texas
Academy of Sciences. Irregularly this officer has been called upon by TAS to
organize a Physical Science Contributed Paper Session at the Annual Meeting of
TAS.
This officer traditionally serves as
a member of the Awards Committee.
ADDITIONAL POSITIONS:
The TS AAPT prides itself on being a volunteer organization. There are three
additional positions which well serve the section but are not elected
positions.
1. Precollege Awards: The section
has had one or two individuals who have volunteered their time and talent to
solicit, review and select recipients of the precollege awards and donations
from vendors to be given to the recipients. (At the time of these notes, David
Brink serves as the Precollege Award coordinator)
2. The section has a workshop
coordinator who is responsible for contacting workshop leaders and organizing
the agenda and meeting space to accommodate the workshops held at both the Fall
and Spring meetings of TSAAPT. This individual works closely with the TSAAPT
Program Chair and the Host institution to insure that the physical needs of the
workshops are available at meeting time. (This person is currently Tom O'Kuma)
3. TSAAPT now has a Web site
developed and maintained by Paul Schulze at
SPS ZONE COUNCILOR:
The Society of Physics Students is a member organization of the American
Institute of Physics and Zone 13 is a region of this national society. Although
SPS is the third organization meeting jointly with the TS APS and TS AAPT, the
Councilor meets with the TSAAPT Council and reports its activities to this
governing body. The SPS zone is treated, for all practical purposes,
satisfactorily as a student organization within TS AAPT, but in fact has no
political or voting ties with TSAAPT. The SPS Councilor and Associate Councilor
work closely with the SPS Chapter of the Host Institution and the Program
Chairs of TS APS and TS AAPT in the preparation of meeting programs.
NOMINATING COMMITTEE:
In recent times, this committee has been chaired by the Past-President and two
members of the committee have been recommended by the Past-President and
approved by the TSAAPT Council. The Committee submits a slate of
recommendations for the appropriate positions, first to the Council in the Fall
and then formally to the membership during the Luncheon Business Meeting. The
Committees have sometimes submitted one nomination for each position and
sometimes two nominations for each position. Election of the officers is held
during the Spring Business Meeting of TSAAPT. (Elected officers will assume
office at the close of the following Fall meeting of TSAAPT.)
The Nominating Committee normally
works with the Secretary Treasurer to ensure that voting ballots are prepared
and ready for the Spring election.
AWARDS COMMITTEE:
In recent times, the membership of this committee has consisted of the three
immediate past presidents of TSAAPT, with the Past-President serving as
committee chair. (Special note: the Constitution states that this committee is
chaired by the SectionRep. This practice has not occurred recently but the
Section Rep has worked with this committee in its selection.) The
responsibility of the committee is to collect, review and select recipients for
the two Teaching In Excellence Awards, the Robert N. Little Award and the
Katherine Mays Award. These awards are not annual awards. In the event that the
Committee has awards to make, the Committee notifies the Council that award(s)
will be made but the name(s) of the recipient(s) is customarily withheld until
the actual award ceremony.
Robert Beck Clark is the person to
contact concerning the preparation of the plaque for the Little Award and Tom O'Kuma
is the person to contact for the preparation of the plaque for the Mays Award.
This committee is not involved with
the Precollege Awards nor the Outstanding Contributed Paper Award.
AWARDS:
TSAAPT customarily presents awards during the banquet of the Spring meeting.
Each
At the conclusion of each Spring
Meeting, the Council Officers informally meet and discuss the papers presented
during the TSAAPT Contributed Paper Sessions. If a paper is found deserving, it
is selected for partial funding for presentation at the AAPT Summer meeting in
the summer following the TSAAPT meeting. The Secretary-Treasurer handles the
funding for the paper and the President immediately notifies the winning
presenter(s).
PRECOLLEGE AWARDS:
In recent times, one or two individuals have been in charge of procuring,
reviewing and selecting recipients for these awards. These individuals
communicate their choices to the President. The President and Program Chair
then coordinate the Award Ceremony activities during the banquet with the
meeting host.
MEETINGS:
The Fall and Spring meeting each consists of three organizations meeting
jointly as a physics community: the Texas Section of the American Physical
Society, the Texas Section of the American Association of Physics Teachers and
Zone 13 of the Society of Physics Students. The Host institution is therefore
obligated to work with these three organizations concerning the logistics of
this meeting. The Fall meeting is primarily the responsibility of TSAPS and the
Spring meeting is primarily the responsibility of TSAAPT. The President-Elect
serves as the TSAAPT Program Chair for the Spring meeting and the
Past-President serves as the TSAAPT Program Chair for the Fall meeting.
Traditionally TSAAPT mails three
Announcements and Call for Papers for each Fall and Spring meeting. The
mailings are coordinated with the help of the Secretary-Treasurer. These
mailings are usually separate from the mailings by the TS APS programs
committee.
The Host institution normally
assumes the responsibility to contact and arrange for exhibitors and vendors to
attend the physics meetings.