Presidential Suite, Pasadena Hilton
WEDNESDAY, MARCH 24th, 2004

Present: Annas, Brink, Dreyfus, Francis, Goering, Jubien, Lopes, Normore, Silvers

Guest: Lopes

CALL TO ORDER: Chair Sara Goering called the meeting to order at 2:05 p.m.

APPROVAL OF AGENDA: On the previous Friday, Secretary Silvers reported, the APA Executive Director had contacted her and asked to attend the Executive Committee's meeting. She explained to him that the Executive Committee had set its agenda a month earlier to conform to members' other obligations. She could not alter the times of the meeting or order of the agenda without members agreeing to the change of plans, and they were unlikely to be reachable on such short notice, especially when they were preparing to travel. Consequently, she invited the Executive Director to meet with the Executive Committee after the assessment of mini-conference grant proposals and the discussion of committee appointments (which require executive session) were completed.

This invitation was not accepted. The Executive Committee discussed reordering its agenda for the Executive Director but did not see a way to do so compatible with scheduling commitments the members already had made. Members suggested that the special summer planning meeting the Executive Committee was considering would be a more useful venue for the Executive Director to attend because the Committee would not be so pressed to complete business the by-laws required. No personnel nor mini-conference proposal decisions were likely to be made at that meeting, and the longer time period of the meeting would offer more opportunity to fit Executive Committee members' schedules with the Executive Director's schedule.

The agenda was continued in the form it had been circulated, revised, and adopted a month before the meeting.

APPROVAL OF MINUTES OF MARCH 26, 2003: The minutes were approved as presented.

FINANCIAL REPORT AND REPORT OF SECRETARY-TREASURER ON STATE OF THE DIVISION: The Secretary-Treasurer reported that the Division's balance as of March 9th, 2004, was $223,233.71. The division therefore was
in compliance with its policy to hold a reserve covering two years of operating expenses, plus possible attrition or cancellation costs imposed by a hotel. This year the APA National Office continued its new practice of holding on to divisional income until approximately a third of the way through the subsequent fiscal year. For this reason, Pacific Division funds had to be transferred from an interest earning account to the checking account to cover ongoing expenses.

The Executive Committee examined financial documents prepared by the Secretary-Treasurer, and other financial documents that had been distributed to the APA Board of Officers. Comparative expenses for the three divisions were noted. In 2002-03, the Pacific Division was the only division to operate in the black. Even when adjusted to reflect the difference in meeting size, the Pacific Division's meeting expenses were considerably less than the other two divisions' expenses. The Secretary-Treasurer will examine this situation to account for the disparities.

The Pacific Division makes expenditures on non-meeting items that support the division's goals of furthering philosophical scholarship and teaching in the region. The 2003-04 expenditures will reflect the $5,000 that the Executive Committee awarded as seed money for the public radio show "Philosophy Talk." This show offers a venue for philosophers to reach the public. The award was made to support placing the show with public radio stations located on college campuses. The award furthers the divisional goal of encouraging young people to learn about philosophy.

The mini-conference on Global Justice will be another special expense. This is the first in the Pacific Division's effort to support new areas of philosophical inquiry by making discussion of them available to Pacific Division members.

The discussion turned to the future of the division. The Executive Committee members considered several relevant documents, including Eastern Division Secretary-Treasurer Bett's report (while he was acting Executive Director) about the defects of the divisional structure and former Board Chair Phil Quinn's concerns about increasing workloads imposed on philosophers who do APA work.

In the current climate, Executive Committee members were concerned that preserving the two smaller divisions may require imposing enormous burdens on the philosophers responsible for divisional work. In his last address to the APA Board of Officers, Quinn had discussed the workloads of the Board Chair, Executive Director, and divisional secretary-treasurers. Subsequently, vice chair and treasurer positions have been added to relieve the Chair's burden, the Executive Director has been moved from a part-time to a full-time position, and his staff has been increased. No similar relief is available to deal with the growing workloads of the divisions. The standardization policy has exacerbated this problem by demanding alterations of divisional practices despite adverse consequences for divisional workload and for cost effectiveness.

The Secretary-Treasurer told the Executive Committee that she continues to have difficulty obtaining reasonable accommodation for her disability from the APA National Office. Requests for reasonable accommodations
made to the Executive Director go unanswered, even after being reiterated several times. She had been working with APA Board Chair Judith Thomson on this matter, but this conversation was short-circuited when the Board of Officers proposed shifting the title of CEO from the Chair to the Executive Director. In this circumstance, the Board Chair found herself unable to continue addressing the matter. Accommodations needed by and promised to other Pacific Division members also were not being made.

The Executive Committee authorized the Secretary-Treasurer to expend funds consistent with the current and previous year's budget items and restrictions. Amounts will vary from the current year because hotel costs in San Francisco are higher than in Pasadena. As usual, unprecedented or unusual expenses must be approved by the Executive Committee, as must the details of the budgets for approved mini-conferences.

The Secretary-Treasurer also reported on the altered Pacific Division paper submission rules. During deliberation by email, the Executive Committee had made these alterations to accommodate the Central Division's change of its paper submission date. The alteration codifies the existing practice that a paper presented as a colloquium paper on the main program at another APA divisional meeting cannot be presented as such at the Pacific Division meeting. Papers will not be disqualified from consideration by the Pacific Division program committee just because they have been submitted to other divisions. This change is responsive to the divisions' submission dates now being spaced at least two months apart.

After noticing a table set up by the APA National Office in the Eastern Division Book Display, the Secretary Treasurer had invited the National Office to do the same for the Pacific Division. She understood that the Eastern Division Executive Committee provided exhibit space on a "for cost" basis to the National Office. The Pacific Division was providing the space to the National Office on a "no cost" basis. The relevant principle is that access to information about APA activities is a service to members generally. The Eastern Division National Office exhibition made syllabi for philosophy courses promoting diversity and inclusiveness available to members, and the Secretary-Treasurer hoped Pacific Division members would be offered the same opportunity. The Executive Committee endorsed this invitation.

FUTURE MEETING SITES: The work created by the APA's Standardization Process during July and August of 2003 prevented the Secretary-Treasurer from doing site visits to locate venues for the meetings of 2006, 2007, and 2008. She will have to fit more site visits than usual into her 2004 summer plans, as it is essential to obtain locations for future meetings.

SPECIAL MEETING: The Executive Committee addressed the question of planning for the division's future. Members agreed to try to meet in San Francisco during the summer for this purpose. The APA Executive Director will be invited to this meeting.

The Executive Committee authorized payment for members' travel to this meeting, for food and lodging, and for hotel meeting space.

REPORT OF THE PROGRAM CHAIR: Program Chair Leslie Francis discussed the work of the 2004 Program Committee. This year's work had been made more difficult than necessary because the papers were sent to her later than program chairs had received them in previous years (and later than promised). She had been unable to decipher some of the information on the summary sheet. Some papers had not had identifying cover sheets removed. She was provided with information about the papers in hard copy only, preventing her from "cutting and pasting" into the program copy. She had had to retype all the paper titles, paper numbers and, later, authors and affiliations. Silvers had been unable to support Francis as she ordinarily supported program chairs because she had not been able to obtain the information sheets in an accessible form, although in previous years the sheets had been easily obtainable in such form.

The Secretary-Treasurer added that, despite these hardships encountered by the Pacific Division Program Committee, the program created by Francis and the Program Committee members was outstanding. Many APA members, both within and beyond the division, had praised it. Special thanks were due Program Committee members who were finishing their service: R. Lanier Anderson, Alva Noë, Dion Scott-Kakures, Lisa Shapiro, Christopher Shields, Ellen Suckiel, Paul Teller, and Margaret Urban Walker.

The Executive Committee briefly reviewed the process that had been used to address the case of the paper about language some Program Committee members viewed as potentially offensive. Details of a follow-up conversation with the author were reported. The author sent an email stating that the Executive Committee's process in addressing the matter had been fair and effective. Executive Committee members had devoted an extraordinary amount of time to assessing the situation and arriving at a solution that worked for everybody. Despite the work involved, the Executive Committee endorsed the process as worthwhile.

APPOINTMENT OF NEW MEMBERS OF PROGRAM COMMITTEE: The Executive Committee discussed the operation of the 2003-04 Program Committee. Attention was paid to philosophical fields in which the 2003-04 Program Committee would have benefited from additional strength, either because there were more submitted papers in these fields than were expected or because program committee members in these fields had had difficulty completing the work.

The Executive Committee prepared a list of individuals who would be invited to join the Program Committee. A list of candidates was endorsed for each philosophical field that needed to be covered or needed more coverage. Cross-listed ranking rules were set up to ensure a candidate selection procedure that promoted various kinds of diversity.

Dominic McIver Lopes will chair the Program Committee for the 2005 meeting and Sara Goering for the 2006 meeting. The Executive Committee discussed possible Program Committee Chairs for the 2007-09 meetings and developed a list of candidates that will be brought to the 2004-05 Executive Committee.

The Secretary-Treasurer and 2005 Program Committee Chair will begin issuing invitations to serve on the Program Committee. They will keep the
Executive Committee informed and will request endorsements of more candidates if the individuals who accept appointment to the Program Committee do not, collectively, represent the diversity that the Executive Committee seeks.

APPOINTMENT OF 2004 NOMINATING COMMITTEE: A list of candidates for the 2004-05 Nominating Committee was prepared. Attention was paid to ensure a membership with diverse representation of both teaching and research institutions, public and private institutions, of different geographical locations in the division, and of philosophical fields. Ranking rules for the selection of the chair and the members were set up to ensure a selection procedure that promoted these and other kinds of diversity.

The Secretary-Treasurer will issue invitations to the members selected by the Executive Committee to serve on the 2004 Nominating Committee.

APPROVAL OF BUSINESS MEETING AGENDA: The Executive Committee discussed the Business Meeting Agenda. Secretary-Treasurer Silvers explained that an APA member from the Eastern Division had questioned whether Section VIII (which calls for ratification of proposed alterations at divisional business meetings), or Section X (which calls for discussion or amendment of proposed, but ratification by mail ballots of the divisions) governed the alterations proposed by the APA Board of Officers. The Eastern Division had proceeded under Section X, and the Secretary-Treasurer thought it would be helpful to print Section X in the Business Meeting agenda. The Executive Committee agreed.

The Secretary-Treasurer reported that a member had contacted her, having been referred by the APA Executive Director, about a public policy resolution supporting same sex marriage. She had explained the process for presenting public policy resolutions at the Business Meeting, which votes on whether the resolution will be sent to mail ballot. She had not heard anything more about this matter from the member or from other members and did not know whether a resolution would be introduced. The Executive Committee discussed the parliamentary rules governing amending agendas from the floor, in order to aid President Annas in case a member at the Business Meeting rose and moved to add this item to the agenda.

STATUS OF KAVKA PRIZE: Leslie Francis, chair of the Kavka Prize Committee, reported on the prospect of the continuation of this prize. The Pacific Division Executive Committee is committed to offering a place on the program to a session on the winning paper, and to nominating committee members if the APA Committee on Lectures and Prizes so requests.

The Executive Committee reviewed correspondence related to the Kavka Prize. This correspondence included a commitment from the University of California, Irvine (where the Kavka Prize Fund is held), to underwrite expenses the APA may incur in administering the award process. The Fund has sometimes contributed to a reception celebrating the Kavka Prize winner(s) and other APA prize winners. Silvers said she did not know if the APA National Office had accessed the Kavka Fund to cover any costs associated with receiving the nominated papers and sending them on to the Kavka Prize Committee. She reported urging former Executive Director
Elizabeth Radcliffe to work with the UCI Philosophy Department on this matter. She circulated the email correspondence between Radcliffe and Nick White, chair of philosophy at UCI. In it, Radcliffe tells White that the Kavka Prize does not impose administrative costs on the APA National Office. Francis will work with the UCI Philosophy Department to try to clarify the situation.

MINI-CONFERENCE SERIES: Silvers reported on the status of the 2004 Global Justice Mini-Conference and the 2005 Philosophy of the Emotions Mini-Conference. Francis described her difficulties with the 2004 Mini-Conference: some main program participants who planned to attend the mini-conference asked to be scheduled in the latter days of the main conference. Further, the main program sessions on political philosophy relevant to global justice could not be scheduled on the Saturday afternoon or Sunday morning main program.

The Executive Committee considered two new mini-conference proposals. The proposal for a 2005 workshop, with one or two main program sessions, on the medieval philosopher Richard Rufus of Cornwall was approved with conditions. These are that the budget be only $5,000, that use of the funds be focused on activities related to the PacDiv program, and that there be a clearer idea of the contributions of the workshop to the program.

The proposal for a 2006 workshop on models of God was deferred because of difficulties with the description of the topic. On the one hand, the proposal seemed too narrow because centered on Judeo-Christian ideas of God. On the other hand, it seemed too wide because the description invites a mega-conference rather than a mini-conference. Silvers will work with the proposers to improve the proposal for resubmission.

APA STANDARDIZATION PROCESS: The Executive Committee discussed the role of the new APA Standardization Committee. The Executive Committee has selected Francis and Silvers to represent the division on this committee, and the remainder of the Executive Committee will serve as alternates. Executive Committee members identified issues for the agenda of this committee. The problems experienced by Francis and her committee, and those reported to the 2002/03 Executive Committee by 2003 Program Chair Nick Smith last year, should be addressed in this venue, as can the National Office's handling of divisional funds. Silvers and Francis will remain in close consultation with the rest of the Executive Committee during the process.

ADJOURNMENT: The meeting was adjourned at 6:09 p.m.

Respectfully submitted,

Anita Silvers

Secretary-Treasurer

Santa Monica Room, Pasadena Hilton
SATURDAY, AUGUST 7th, 2004

Present: Annas, Brink, Goering, Lopes, Murphy, Normore, Silvers

Guests: Francis (Member of APA Standardization Committee and 2004 Pacific Division Program Chair), Hanson (APA Board of Officers' Chair)

CALL TO ORDER: The meeting was called to order by Chair Goering at 9:00 a.m. Chair Goering thanked the members for making the trip and giving up a weekend to APA business in the middle of the summer break. She also thanked APA Board Chair Karen Hanson for joining the Executive Committee for its meeting. The Secretary-Treasurer reported that the APA Executive Director had been invited to the meeting but was unable to accept due to a scheduling conflict.

APPROVAL OF AGENDA: The agenda, which previously had been circulated to the members for additions and alterations, was approved.

Chair Goering announced that the first order of business would be some brief items of ordinary business for the Executive Committee.

Then the Executive Committee would turn to the main purpose of the meeting. The divisional Executive Committee's ability to hold successful conventions with excellent philosophical programs and to support philosophy in the division is being compromised by the destabilization of key APA operations. At its regular meeting in March, the Executive Committee decided to schedule a special summer meeting to consider how to execute its duties, as specified by the APA Bylaws, under the conditions that currently obtain in the Association.

Meeting Sites for 2006 and 2007: Secretary-Treasurer Silvers reported on her trip to the Pacific Northwest and on the hotels that had made proposals to hold the meeting. Proposals from Seattle were between $25 and $35 more per room night than proposals from Portland. The hotels in Seattle wanted more than $60,000 for meeting space rental, or the equivalent in catering guarantees, while the hotels in Portland wanted $25,000 meeting space rental or the equivalent in catering guarantees.

The Executive Committee discussed the meeting space and surroundings of each hotel. Silvers explained that there was a good possibility of Powell's opening up a bookstore exhibit at the meeting itself if the Division met in Portland. Consideration was given to holding a micro-brewery tasting during the annual reception. A poll of division members conducted last year indicated that they most preferred to meet in San Francisco. The next most popular meeting sites were Seattle, Portland, San Diego, the L.A. area, Vancouver, and Albuquerque. The Division has met recently in San Francisco and Seattle, but not in Portland for more than a decade.

In view of the lower hotel room prices to be found in Portland, and the length of time since a meeting has been held there, the first preference for 2006 is to meet in Portland. The Hilton in Portland has more meeting space, and has made the lowest bid for sleeping room price. It is the first choice. The Portland Marriott's meeting space is cramped. Therefore, the Westin in
Seattle is the alternative. The Secretary-Treasurer will begin the lengthy process of trying to eliminate meeting room rental charges and catering guarantees from the hotel proposals. The Secretary-Treasurer will work on proposals from San Francisco and Pasadena for 2007, and also will look into a kind invitation from the Philosophy Department at UNLV to meet in Las Vegas.

The economic and other difficulties that now are evident in our society, and that may increase, have made meeting planning much more difficult. Travel or site disruptions may affect attendance at the meeting, as the anti-war demonstrations did in San Francisco in 2003. As a consequence, the work of the Program Committee, the Executive Committee, and the Secretary-Treasurer has increased.

The Secretary-Treasurer reported that she had asked the APA Executive Director how he would like to proceed with consultation regarding the time and place of the meeting, as described in the APA Bylaws. She had done so in 2003 before the Executive Committee selected the Pasadena site for the 2004 meeting, but had received no response to her email. As in 2003, she had received no response from the Executive Director in response to her invitation to consult about the 2006 meeting site. The Executive Committee decided that site selection for 2006 had to proceed even in the absence of a response.

APPROVAL OF RUFUS MINI-CONFERENCE BUDGET: The Executive Committee approved the budget submitted by Rega Wood, chair of the organizing committee for the 2005 mini-conference on Richard Rufus of Cornwall, an early western commentator on Aristotle, whose work is also of interest for the history and philosophy of science. (The mini-conference proposal was approved at the March 2004 Executive Committee meeting.) Since then, the mini-conference's planning committee membership has been expanded. The mini-conference organizers will seek additional funding to supplement the financial support the Pacific Division can offer, and the Secretary-Treasurer will offer her help in this endeavor.

SECRETARY-TREASURER'S REPORT: The Secretary-Treasurer reported that she had been asked about information published in the APA Proceedings in regard to the Joint Divisional Advertising Fund. This information suggested that the Pacific Division was drawing down on the Fund for more than its fair share. To the contrary, the Pacific Division has contributed about twice as much to the fund as it has drawn from the fund. Figures provided to the Board of Officers in November 2003 (covering fund activity from 2000 to 2003) show the following contributions and draw downs:

Contributed to Fund Drawn from Fund

EASTERN +92,321.00 -27,181.09

CENTRAL +17,839.50 -55,033.45

PACIFIC +19,367.00 -9,982.65

The Pacific Division's low draw down is due in part to the fact that its program committee does not meet face to face (so there are no travel expenses) and in part to other cost saving procedures.

The Secretary-Treasurer reported that she had requested, but not received, figures for Pacific Division 2004 registration and 2003/04 expenses and income from the APA National Office and so was unable to provide the Executive Committee with a full financial report.

Finally, the Secretary-Treasurer reported that she had asked for APA website posting of the Executive Committee's email decision to extend the term of David Brink as an Executive Committee member to January 2005, to serve while Nick Smith is in Africa.

APA BOARD AGENDA ITEM ON JOURNAL REFEREEING: Pacific Division members have asked the Executive Committee whether the APA can help reduce the time journals take to referee articles. Given the unwritten but generally accepted prohibition against submitting to more than one journal at a time, waiting for more than a year to learn whether a paper has been accepted by a journal is harmful to the profession. Young philosophers on tenure track are especially vulnerable. College or university wide tenure committees may judge young philosophers' publication records unfavorably when compared to the publications of candidates from disciplines where journals have much shorter response times.

The Executive Committee noted several actions the APA could take to reduce the problem. For example, the APA could convene a meeting of journal editors to discuss solutions, could research and publish the average length of time each journal holds an article before making a decision, and could urge journal editors to reduce the time referees are given to complete their reports. The Pacific Division will place the matter of over-long refereeing on the agenda of the November 2004 Board of Officers meeting, with a request that the Board undertake to apply APA influence and resources to address this problem.

REPORT ON STANDARDIZATION COMMITTEE: Francis and Silvers reported on the APA Standardization Committee. The Committee (Marcia Baron, Richard Bett, John Cooper, Michael Kelly, Robin Smith, and Francis and Silvers) is charged by the APA Board of Officers with reviewing the standardization policy. Save for Baron (who visited the National Office earlier because her June travel plans prohibited her joining the rest of the Committee), Committee members met with the entire National Office staff for more than four hours in Newark, Delaware, in late June.

Francis and Silvers distributed a draft copy of the Committee's report. All committee members except the APA Executive Director had endorsed the report. Answering queries, Francis and Silvers reported that the Executive Director had not expressed dissent with the agreements reached during the meeting with the National Office staff. The Executive Committee studied email correspondence from the Executive Director regarding his differences with the rest of the Standardization Committee.

The Executive Committee was supportive of following the agreements presented in the Standardization Committee's Report. Executive Committee
members noted that the agreements contained in the report seem reasonable and unextraordinary. Some matters that the Executive Committee asked to be addressed are not mentioned in the report. Francis and Silvers explained that these items had been included in an initial list of topics for the Committee but then eliminated when the Committee's meeting time was focused on listening to National Office staff problems.

Francis said that the National Office staff do not seem to understand the Pacific Division's blind refereeing process, and that her program committee work had been made harder because of unfounded suspicion. Executive Committee members recalled that the problem for blind-reviewing encountered by the Division has been exactly otherwise. In 2002, after the list of accepted papers was sent to the APA National Office, a staff member recommended to the Program Chair that the rejection of a paper be reversed. This recommendation was based on the identity of the author and the history of the paper within the APA.

According to APA staff, Francis said, there no longer are issues about standardizing financial reporting. She then expanded on the discussion about standardizing placement operations at the meetings. All divisions are committed to conducting placement, and all will work with the National Office to find appropriate space. What is appropriate for one divisional meeting may not be for others, as the number of departments interviewing differs dramatically from division to division because of the difference in the time of year. In determining appropriateness of placement space, the needs of the philosophical programs organized by the divisions had to be weighed as well.

Silvers mentioned that much time during the meeting had been spent in discussing her having allowed a member in Hong Kong to submit a paper with a late postmark because mail pick-up in Hong Kong had been affected by a typhoon emergency on September 1. The Pacific Division has a policy of tolerance in cases of late postmarks where even extremely prudent authors could not have predicted the occasion of the delay, but the Eastern Division has a no tolerance policy. The Standardization Committee's report stipulates that the Pacific Division will publish its policy, and the Central Division Executive Committee will discuss what policy to adopt.

The question of the upcoming Pacific Division program process was raised. Of most concern is whether the understandings regarding electronic submission, which is supposed to be initiated with the Pacific Division September 1 deadline, will proceed as agreed at the Standardization Committee meeting with National Office staff. Silvers reported that she had initiated a conversation with National Office staff as agreed to at the meeting.

The main matter is to provide for APA members who discover on September 1 that they do not have the requisite password to submit electronically or otherwise have trouble with electronic submission. She had not, however, received any response from the staff.

The Standardization Committee Report notes that many problems have occurred because of communication difficulties. The Report does not recommend how communication can be improved, however. In view of the
absence of proposed remedies, Executive Committee members urged that the Pacific Division take a modular approach to program work and thereby reduce the need for National Office staff time during the program development process. This approach also will help the APA conduct more national projects by decreasing the staff's involvement with program development. At the same time, the Standardization Committee's reference to problems in communication should be pursued so that communication can be improved.

LETTER ON STRUCTURE OF THE APA FROM THE COMMITTEE ON THE STATUS OF WOMEN: The APA Committee on the Status of Women has written a letter, now posted on the APA Website, urging that the structure of the APA be modified so that the Association be able to gather data on its members, seek external funding for members' projects, raise philosophy's profile, protect vulnerable departments from cutbacks, protect and enhance the status of those marginalized within the profession, and preserve and enhance philosophy as a mode of inquiry and a socially useful tool. The presumption that motivates the CSW letter seems to be that none of these activities can be undertaken under the current APA structure. In general, Executive Committee members expressed support of an APA National Office that does more for the profession.

Executive Committee members pointed out that all these activities have been pursued in the past, and that therefore the current structure of the APA does not prevent their pursuit. The Pacific Division Executive Committee will write a letter joining the Committee on the Status of Women in supporting an APA that "actively promotes its' members professional interests in addition to those of organized scholarly exchanges." Annas proposed to contribute a paragraph that resists the idea that the APA currently is just a scholarly or learned society that has the exchange of ideas as a primary purpose _ this is an inaccurate account. Normore will contribute a paragraph with examples of activities the Association can and should undertake. Silvers will contribute a paragraph specifically endorsing data collection and a paragraph urging the divisions to review services the National Office staff provides them with the aim of reducing these so as to shift staff time to national projects and support of national committee work. Brink volunteered to review the CSW letter and draft any additional remarks he thinks will be useful. Drafts will be circulated to the Executive Committee until a final one is approved. The letter should be posted on the APA website, as the CSW letter has been posted. (A copy of the Executive Committee's letter follows these Minutes as Attachment 1.)

APA BOARD AGENDA ITEM - REQUIREMENT TO OBTAIN COMPETITIVE BIDS ON CONTRACTS OF $25,000 OR MORE: The APA expended a considerable sum on a contract with a research organization to obtain data about the Association's members, but the Committee on the Status and Future of the Profession now judges the data obtained through this contract to be of little use. In this case, no RFP was issued to different research organizations to solicit competitive bids to conduct the survey. To help guard against similar problems in future, the Pacific Division Executive Committee will place the following item on the agenda of the 2004 APA Board meeting:

The Pacific Division Executive Committee requests that the Board of Officers adopt a policy of competitive bidding on contracts for the purchase of equipment or services in an amount of $25,000 or more. Bids should be solicited from at least two qualified vendors, if available in the relevant market. RFPs should be announced and circulated in media where they are likely to come to the attention of interested bidders. Contracts should be awarded to qualified vendors who submit the lowest bid unless a justification for accepting a higher bid is provided.

APA BOARD AGENDA ITEM _ REMEDYING THE DISENFRANCHISEMENT OF MEMBERS: APA members who have paid their dues by January 1 per the APA by-laws have complained that they are being held to a much earlier date for dues payment in order to have voting privileges. The Executive Committee will place the following item on the agenda of the 2004 Board of Officers meeting:

Under Pennsylvania law, the bylaws of a non-profit, membership organization must set out the terms of membership. (15 Pa. C. Stat. 5103)

Under current APA by-laws, members in good standing are defined as follows: A member or international associate is in good standing in a specified year, July 1 to June 30, if that person does not owe dues to the Association for any year preceding that year and pays dues by January 1 of that year. (By-laws, 5.a.)

The bylaws also specify that "each member shall signify to the Executive Director of the Association the divisional affiliation desired (as described in Articles IV and V) for purposes of voting." (Art. III, 3)

Thus, members who have paid dues such as to be in good standing by January 1 of the year in question, and who have signified a divisional affiliation should be certified as eligible to vote. And Pennsylvania corporation law (under which the APA is incorporated) specifies that the terms of membership are as set out in the by-laws.

Other provisions relating to membership are:

(1) The privileges of voting at a divisional business meeting and receiving mail ballots of that division shall be limited to members certified by the Executive Director as affiliated with that division. (Art. III, 3)

(2) Members are to be dropped from the mailing list if they are in arrears and replaced on the mailing list if their dues are paid such as to restore them to good standing. (By-laws, 5.b.)

(3) Members who are in arrears by more than one year may recover good standing by paying the current year's dues plus one-half the amount they are in arrears. (By-laws, 5.e)

(4) Members who have been arrears for more than two years are dropped from the association. (By-laws, 5.c)

Current APA practice departs from the terms set by APA by-laws. In practice, individuals must pay dues prior to July 1 to be included on a list printed in the November Proceedings (published deadline: September 1) and thereby to exercise voting rights of members in good standing. The Pacific Division Executive Committee recommends that APA practice conform to the deadline set in the by-laws for dues payment by members to be in good
standing, so as to enfranchise members who pay their dues by Jan 1, unless the relevant by-law is amended.

APA BOARD AGENDA ITEM _ ACCESSIBILITY OF APA MATERIALS TO PRINT-DISABLED INDIVIDUALS: The APA Board of Officers has adopted policies rejecting discrimination against individuals on the basis of disability. Implementation of a nondiscrimination policy requires that APA textual materials be accessible, on an equitable basis, to individuals who are print disabled, as are some Pacific Division members. Recently, APA documents and forms have been offered to members only in inaccessible .pdf format. Responding to complaints from some of its members, the Pacific Division Executive Committee will place the following item on the agenda of the APA Board of Officers:

Organizations that provide textual information to members, or to the public, ordinarily ensure accessibility for print disabled individuals by making the information available in an electronic form that can be read by special software packages known as screen-readers. Screen-readers can read text, word-processing and HTML files, but usually cannot read .pdf files or otherwise access graphics files.

APA members and the public who are print disabled should have equal access to APA information. Therefore, textual information made available by the APA to members or the public in hard copy or .pdf form should be made equally available in a form accessible to print-disabled individuals using ordinary screen-readers to the extent that the nature of the material makes this technically possible.

CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENTS: The package of constitutional amendments proposed by the APA Board of Officers, as amended at the 2004 Pacific Division Business Meeting, was narrowly defeated by Pacific Division voters. The most common complaint received from voters was that arguments by David Kaplan and Michael Kelly, edited by them for distribution with the ballot, both urged "no" votes, but their arguments addressed different parts of the package.

The Executive Committee will communicate with the Chair of the Board and propose that the items contained in the package be disaggregated. The "housekeeping" items adopted at the 2002 Board meeting, the item on graduate student membership adopted at the 2003 Board meeting, and the item on Canadian membership adopted at the 2003 Board meeting, should be returned to the voters of all three divisions as discrete amendments.

ADJOURNMENT: The meeting adjourned at 4:49 p.m.

Respectfully submitted,

Anita Silvers

Secretary-Treasurer