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2005 Committee on Committees Report

The Committee on Committees is composed of representatives elected by the Steering Committees of each of the 12 APS sections, as well as two Councillors.  Its primary duty is to nominate individuals to serve on other APS standing committees, as well as to outside bodies where the APS is represented.

Process: The Committee on Committees (COC) continued with the new nomination process that had been instituted in 2003. The Committee members remain dedicated to the concept that their role is two-fold—to identify and promote members of their section who might serve on committees, but then to set aside section affiliations to work with the committee as a whole to nominate the best-qualified individuals to serve the society, keeping in mind the desire to promote diversity and the involvement of younger members in the committee structure. Two sources of information are available to the committee in discharging this responsibility. First, the two-page Candidate Information form, which those interested in committee service can complete as a self-nomination, includes information about prior activities relevant to the committee on which the individual wishes to serve, a statement of interest, information about prior APS service, and citations to two recent publications, as well as a statement of academic interests. This is then supplemented by the one-page Endorsement Form, which is used by someone who knows the candidate, to comment on the ability of that individual to carry out committee responsibilities. Only one Endorsement form is accepted per nominee.  Candidates can secure their own endorser, or submit their information without an endorsement.  In this latter case, the primary section with which the interested party is affiliated is asked to provide an endorsement from among their leadership or membership. This task falls primarily to the sectional representative to the COC, who is an excellent resource to those interested in serving the Society and/or seeking information as to the charge of a given committee. Forms and submission is electronic, thus facilitating the application process. Both Candidate Information and Endorsement forms are available on the APS website, as well as links to the “job descriptions” for each of the society’s standing committees. This year the link to the nomination form was moved to the APS home-page under a section for deadlines in an effort to bring visibility to the nomination process. Each Section Chair and Section Representative to the COC was contacted by phone to assure that the nomination process was understood and to seek input regarding suitable nominees. Then, each was emailed copies of the nomination and endorsement forms to assure their access to the materials. No nominees are removed from consideration prior to the Committee’s face-to-face meeting, thus providing the broadest pool of candidates from which to choose.

Results: The COC remains pleased with the new system which has seen a 39 percent increase in nominations overall in 2005 from 2004 and an 8 percent increase in nominations of members less than 45 years old. Nominations are distributed among sections with two sections failing to nominate any candidates in 2005 (Comparative and Respiration). One nomination from the Respiration Section was considered to serve on a committee for which there were no nominations. The COC remains committed to identifying candidates interested in serving the Society. At its meeting at the IUPS Congress/EB 2005, the COC worked to identify those most qualified to serve, setting aside any parochial sectional loyalties. However, when section representation is reviewed across all APS standing committees, all sections have at least one representative on at least one committee. Disparity in section representation results, in part, from the relative size of particular sections and, thus, the size of pool from which to nominate qualified individuals who are willing to serve. Section representatives expressed concern that with the new nomination process there was no mechanism to track section members that self-nominated and who obtained endorsements from persons outside their section (i.e., department chairs). This concern will be addressed by having names of nominees automatically forwarded to the COC section representative as they are received.

Based on the process described above and the Committee’s deliberations at the Experimental Biology meeting, the Committee on Committees recommended individuals to fill vacancies on the following APS standing committees:

            Committee                                          Number of Positions

            Animal Care and Experimentation                     3

            Awards                                                           6

            Career Opportunities in Physiology                    2

            Communications                                              3

            Ray G. Daggs                                                  1

            Education                                                        6

Finance                                                          Recommendation for Chair and replacement candidate

            International Physiology                                   2

            Long-Range Planning                                       3

            Membership                                                    3

            Perkins Memorial Fellowship                             0

            Porter Physiology Development                        2

            Public Affairs                                                   3 plus chair

            Publications                                                     2

            Senior Physiologist                                           2

            Women in Physiology                                        4

            AAAS                                                               0

            AAMC                                                               0

            FASEB Research Conference Advisory                 1

            US National Com. Biomechanics                          1

            TOTAL                                                             45

The COC charge, as discussed above, is to identify the best individuals to fill committee vacancies, regardless of sectional affiliation.  However, all other things being equal, the committee seeks to instill diversity in the committee structure on the basis of section of membership, geography, gender and seniority.  Thus, the APS members nominated to fill vacancies had the following sectional affiliations:

            Cardiovascular Section                                   12

            Cell & Molecular Physiology Section                   6

            Central Nervous System Section                       4

            Comparative Physiology Section                       0

            Endocrinology & Metabolism Section                  3

            Environmental & Exercise                                 2
               Physiology Section

            Gastrointestinal & Liver                                    1
               Physiology Section

            Neural Control & Autonomic                              2
               Regulation Section

            Renal Section                                                  2

            Respiration Section                                          1

            Teaching of Physiology Section                         2

            Water & Electrolyte                                          7
               Homeostasis Section

            No section selected                                          3                                 

For those members nominated, excluding alternate positions, 11 were less than 45 years of age, an increase of two over 2004.  For women, 15 (excluding alternate position nominations) were nominated from a pool of 19 women candidates. Women represent 39 percent of the total nominations including alternate candidates from 2004 but 26 percent of total new candidates for 2005.  While the number and percentage of women nominated for committees may appear to be representative of women in the Society (28 percent which declare a gender-identity as female), it should be emphasized that new nominations for women on committees are disproportionately distributed (about 50 percent) to two committees, i.e., Education (4) and Women in Physiology (3).

We hope that many members will consider serving the society as a member of one of its standing committees.  Applications can be submitted via the APS website, and are due (with or without an accompanying endorsement form) by January 14, 2006, although earlier submissions are welcome. Applications received without an endorsement will be forwarded to the section of primary affiliation for support. Nominations are then reviewed by chairs of committees on which there are vacancies, and by the Committee on Committees as a whole. At its meeting at Experimental Biology, the Committee on Committees develops its recommendations for each committee vacancy, along with alternates, and submits this for approval by Council at its July meeting.  Approved nominees begin their term of appointment the following January. 

Those candidates who are unsuccessful at securing a committee appointment initially are encouraged to re-submit their credentials for consideration for the same or another committee in the next cycle and those placed as alternates will be re-considered without re-nomination.

Thomas E. Lohmeier, Chair

Council Actions

• Council accepted the report of the Committee on Committees.

• Council approved the slate of nominees for committee vacancies with minor exceptions.