President's Newsletter  Volume 14 - Number 1 - April 2001

Back to Newsletter Index

Minutes of Winter Policy Meeting on February 15, 2001

The Winter Policy Council Meeting was held at Worcester Polytechnic Institute. In attendance: Ali Mashayekhi (President), James Hines (President Elect), Jay W. Forrester (Founding President), David Andersen (V.P. Finance), Nan Lux (V.P. Chapters), Robert Eberlein (V.P. Meetings), David Packer (Secretary), and Policy Council Members Rogelio Oliva, Ginny Wiley, Jonathan Coyle, John Heinbokel, Carol Frances, Mohammad Mojtahedzadeh, David Peterson. Guests included Jack Pugh, Webmaster, John Sterman, Allen Boorstein, Hazhir Rahmandad, Michael Radzicki, Khalid Saeed, and Roberta Spencer, Executive Director. 

Jay Forrester speaking with PC Member Jonathan Coyle

Informational items included reports from the Executive Director, Vice President-Finance, Vice President-Publications, the Society Webmaster, System Dynamics Review Editor, Publisher John Wiley & Sons, Vice President-Meetings, and Vice President-Chapters. In addition, reports were given from the following committees: Curriculum, Nominating, and Administrative. To view the full reports, please go to the website at www.systemdynamics.org/ then go to "Member Services, Bylaws, Minutes and Reports" and finally click on "Business Meetings Minutes." 

Action Items that were voted on and approved included

• Minutes of Meetings at Bergen Conference
• Student Prize for Conference Presentation. The Awards Committee will select a student paper to be awarded a prize of $500 cash and a plaque, conference registration for the following year, and travel expenses of up to $500 to that conference. Students must be in an accredited program, and there can be no faculty co-author.
• Forrester Award. The award will be increased to $5000, starting with the award presented at the Atlanta conference.
• Appointment of the Award Committee. John Sterman noted that the current members are John Sterman, David Lane, George Richardson, and John Morecroft. John Sterman announced he would like to step down from the chair position after this year. A new chair will be appointed by the President.
• Membership of the Administrative Committee. This committee will be composed of the President (ex officio), the President Elect (ex officio), the Past President (ex officio), the Secretary (ex officio) and three members designated by the President. 
• Chapter Representatives on Society Letterhead. Chapter representatives to the Policy Council will be listed on the Society's letterhead, starting with the next reprinting of Society letterhead. 

President Ali Mashayekhi, Secretary David Packer and Member John Sterman

Discussion Items

• Quality of Work in System Dynamics. Jay Forrester opened the discussion with questions about work in the field and noted that his own observations lead to concern. He noted that there are "three-day courses" that teach system dynamics (impossible) and asked if the field might be threatened by poor work or if growth has led to a dilution of skills. Also discussed was the absence of models in the System Dynamics Review and the thought that this makes it difficult for people to learn; and if models for articles should be on the Society's website. Possible avenues to address this issue include: a culture where work is criticized against standards so that learning takes place, publishing lists of reality checks and challenging people to meet them, a section of the Review that discusses models, or a two-part Review with one part being papers with models and the second part "Letters to the Journal" discussing proprietary work where models cannot be shared. Ali Mashayekhi stated that the root need is training and education and an understanding of the learning processes. He agreed that we should recognize the issue. 
• Discussion of Jay Forrester's Ph.D. Seminar Tape Series. Khalid Saeed commented that the edited tapes (eleven two-tape sets of approximately three-hour sessions) are very rich in content. Tapes could be offered separately (two-tape sessions) or as a complete package of eleven sessions. The tapes will be available for distribution through the Society. A companion reading list still needs to be completed. The tapes are not for beginners. A suggested method for use would be to assign them as preparation for a subsequent class discussion. Pricing might be in the range of $50/set of two or $500+ for the full eleven sets. Many thanks were given to Jay for this contribution to the field! 
• Membership Functions of the Society. David Andersen noted this responsibility is shared with the publisher and there is a need to work on desirable changes. This topic was referred to the Administrative Committee. 
• Society Priorities. It was noted that the general membership voted to endorse three Society priorities: 

1. Increasing the quality and quantity of system dynamics education 
2. Increasing the quality and quantity of papers flowing to the System Dynamics Review and other top journals 
3. Open relationships with other professional societies

• Acknowledgement of Past Officers' Contributions. The contributions of Jac Vennix as President, Michael Radzicki as Secretary, Roger Hall as Vice President at Large, and Carmine Bianchi, David Ford, Frank Maier, and Anjali Sastry as Policy Council members were gratefully acknowledged by Ali Mashayekhi and all present.
• Nominations made by the Nominating Committee. The Nominating Committee, composed of Dave Ford, Frank Maier, Carmine Bianchi, Jim Hines and Jac Vennix, proposed to the Policy Council the following slate of candidates to take office in 2003:
  • President elect: Bob Eberlein
  • Secretary: Jim Lyneis 
  • VP Publications: John Morecroft 
  • Members of the Policy Council: David Lane, Jody House, Etienne Rouwette, and Deborah Campbell. 

Any System Dynamics Society member may submit other nominations for these offices and positions, provided that 

1. Each such nomination is accompanied by a petition signed by twenty-five members in good standing or ten percent of the total membership, whichever is less,
2. Each nominee is a member in good standing, 
3. Written evidence is submitted to the effect that each nominee has agreed to stand for election, and 
4. Such nominations reach the Secretary within five weeks after publication of nominations received from the Nominating Committee. 

If no nominations are received by the Policy Council from the membership at large, the slate of candidates submitted by the nominating committee and approved by the council will be deemed elected. If the Council has received any nominations from the membership at large, the Society business office will mail to all members a ballot, plus a brief biographical sketch of each nominee, during the second quarter of the fiscal year. To be counted, ballots must reach the Society business office on or before June 30th. The Secretary will arrange to count the ballots after the close of the election.

Back to Newsletter Index

Roberta L. Spencer, Executive Director
System Dynamics Society
Milne 300 - Rockefeller College
University at Albany – SUNY
Albany, New York 12222 USA
Phone: (518) 442-3865     Fax: (518) 442-3398
e-mail: system.dynamics@albany.edu
http://www.albany.edu/cpr/sds/

Back toIndex