1) It was announced that Deanna Barch was elected as the new SRP secretary, and that Ann Kring and Michael Pogue-Guile were elected as new Board Members.
2) Treasurer’s report: Michael Young stated that we are in good shape financially. He noted that the ability to use credit cards has been perceived very positively by the membership, and that many people used this option for this year’s conference registration. However, he also reminded the membership that there is a fee for using credit cards that we are currently absorbing.
3) Development Committee: The development committee (chaired by Michael Green) reported that they were able to obtain educational grants this year from Pfizer ($5000), BMS ($10,000) and from Janssen ($5000), as well as from the Department of Psychology at Washington University ($5000). Michael Green reported that Mike Raulin’s attempt to solicit publisher’s ads for the program was unsuccessful. Mike Raulin is willing to try again next year, but asked SRP members who had publisher’s to put in a word suggesting that it would be helpful to advertise next year. Michael Green also reported on the possibility of a conference grant submission lead by Stuart Steinhauer.
4) The Board recommended that SRP join the Federation for one year at the reduced rate, and determine if we find it helpful or useful. However, the board recommended that we do this only if there was an SRP member enthusiastic about being the representative. Two members strongly urged that SRP decided to join and there was a unanimous vote to do so. Following the meeting, Dr. Green got Eric Turkheimer to agree to be the SRP representative to the Federation Board.
5) Website Committee. The board recommended that SRP permanently adopt a standing Website committee that consists of a chair and 2 committee members. The membership approved unanimously, and Angus MacDonald will be the first chair. LeeAnna Clark has agreed to serve as one of the members for one year, and Kenneth Subotnick will serve as a member for two years. The membership agreed unanimously.
6) NARSAD: The board presented the proposal that we partner with NARSAD to help present an educational symposium following each at SRP meeting, that would be useful in terms of fundraising for NARSAD. The plan would be to see if either free additional space for such a program could be obtained from the hotel hosting the SRP conference (for the Sunday afternoon following the conference), or if NARSAD could pay for the space. One or more of SRP members could then be solicited to present as part of the program. The membership agreed unanimously. Deanna Barch agreed to follow up with NARSAD to determine the feasibility of this plan.
7) Definition of Associate Member: The board suggested that the definition of an Associate Member be broadened to include individuals not in graduate programs who had shown consistent involvement in research. The membership agreed unanimously.
8) Flyer Table: The board proposed the idea that next year we have a table available during the conference where members could put flyers about upcoming books, jobs, or conferences. The membership agreed unanimously.