PRESIDENT'S LETTER

by Larry P. Ritzman, Boston College

NEW GROWTH FROM PREVIOUS GROWTH

I love the spring season. It's a time when there is new growth and a surge of activity in the world around us. There is new hope, such as finishing up some of those research papers and finding ways to improve how we will teach next year's course offerings. Surely with the long summer we can get caught up! There is an extra bounce in our step, and a sense of new direction. So it is with the Decision Sciences Institute. We have new officers, new members on the Board of Directors, new goals, new committees, and new committee charges.

The new growth that we hope for this season builds on the substantial growth of prior years. As Bill Perkins, Indiana University, reported in the last issue of Decision Line, the 1992-1993 year was a "smashing success" for the Institute. The Board of Directors' accomplishments were impressive indeed. April 1 marked the completion of Bill's term as president of the Institute. His steady hand, superb organizational skills, incredible memory, and love for the Institute have really made a difference. I certainly will rely heavily on his advice during the coming year, because he still serves on the Board of Directors as immediate past president.

Bob Markland, University of South Carolina, has just completed his three-year service as president-elect, president, and immediate past president. Vice presidents who just completed their two-year terms on the Board of Directors are Carl Gooding of Georgia Southern University, Chan Hahn of Bowling Green State University, Roy Martin of Southwest Texas State University (the first recipient of the Distinguished Service Award at the Southwest Decision Sciences Institute Region), Michael Parent of Utah State University, and Mike Showalter of Florida State University. Betty Whitten of the University of Georgia finished her term as Secretary, Clive Sanford of the University of North Texas concludes his service as placement services coordinator, and Terry Rakes of Virginia Tech steps down as program chair. Our committee chairs, who are key change agents for the Institute, are stepping down. We extend our heartfelt thanks for the outstanding contributions from all of these people.

Of course, their work is never really done. For example, Bob Markland and Chan Hahn are spearheading the Second International Meeting in Seoul, Korea. Mike Showalter is the next year's program chair, Clive Sanford is the new computer services coordinator, and Terry Rakes is the new editor of Decision Line. Committee chairs often move on to officer positions, and the beat goes on.

Sources of New Growth

The new growth for the 1993-1994 season comes from five sources. First, six members of the Board begin their second year of service. Terry Rakes continues to demonstrate his financial acumen as treasurer. Belva Cooley of Indiana State University, Les Digman of University of Nebraska-Lincoln, Jack Hayya of The Pennsylvania State University, Lee Krajewski (well into his role as the new editor of Decision Sciences) of The Ohio State University, and Mike Maggard of Northeastern University continue as vice presidents.

Second, we have six new colleagues joining the Board. Jim Evans, University of Cincinnati, will be the new Secretary (as if he didn't already have his idle hours consumed as the program chair for our Washington meeting). Jim Fitzsimmons of University of Texas at Austin, Lori Franz of the University of Missouri-Columbia, Ravi Nath of Memphis State University, Jim Pope of Shippensburg University, and John Rogers of California Polytechnic State University-San Luis Obispo are our new vice presidents.

Third, Roscoe Davis is our president-elect, finishing up after an outstanding job as Decision Line editor. He will sit on the Board and Executive Committee, while chairing the Regional Activities Committee.

Fourth, the new committees (Alpha Iota Delta Liaison, Development Committee for Excellence, Doctoral Student Affairs, Fellows, Innovative Education, Member Services, Nominating, Programs and Meetings, Publications, Regional Activities, International Affairs, and Common Membership Data Structure) will conduct much of the Institute's business, but will also be the incubator of new ideas for the Institute's continual improvement.

Fifth, we have the Home Office led by our outstanding executive director, Carol Latta. Carol is one of those wonderful persons always ready to help with warmth, style, and organizational ability. She makes the administrative aspects of our jobs, including meeting the latest deadline, almost fun. Elaine Wimberly, who just joined the Home Office, is already making a difference in our financial affairs.

Directions of New Growth

The new growth for the 1993-1994 season needs a sense of direction so that the new shoots are properly trained, providing the necessary stalks for growth in following seasons. To this end, the Board of Directors has a new set of objectives for this year. The full list is given below, but I would like to single out a few of them. Nothing may be more important than the Institute's continued international growth. The upcoming events in Korea, the possibility for new regions in Europe and Asia, and the development of a ten-year plan for international growth are exciting prospects. We must also assess how best to take advantage of the changes taking place in business education and research, and in the supply-demand statistics for new faculty jobs. I believe that we are strategically positioned to do very well, given our multi-disciplinary nature, strong regions, international growth, concern for good teaching, and emphasis on research that is both rigorous and relevant. The initiatives by the Programs and Meetings Committee and by the Fellows Committee should add another dimension to each track, so that we can expect high visibility sessions of top quality in each track, year after year. The possibility of joint endeavors with sister organizations offer new opportunities for improving the services to our members. Bench marking our campus representative programs at the regional levels, and finding someone to fill Bob Parson's large shoes as member services coordinator, are also important challenges.

As you can see, we have an ambitious program for this year. And yet, there are certainly other avenues that we should move forward on. Please give me your ideas and help in making this year one of good growth. Either write or call (617) 552-3961 or (508) 359-6758. Thanks for giving me this chance to serve the Institute as president. I am really honored, and am keenly aware of the responsibilities that come with the office. Above all, join us in Washington for the annual meeting in November, 1993. By then, you surely will have caught up on those articles and made those innovative changes in your course offerings. Right? The meeting in the capital city promises to be a great one. Jim Evans has a program put together that will not disappoint. See you there!

1993-94 Objectives for the Board of Directors

International Activities

1. Consider the possibility of a Coordinator of Global Development who would be the "champion" of international dimensions of the Institute, development a ten-year plan, and oversee its implementation.
2. Provide support to the European Region organizers.
3. Follow up the 1993 Decision Sciences Institute International Meeting in Seoul, Korea, with a goal of creating an Asian Region of the Institute.
4. Consider a more focused plan for facilitating the interchange of international scholars between universities.
5. Continue to investigate innovative ways to internationalize the Institute.

Meetings

1. Take steps to revitalize the Statistics, Decision Analysis, and Forecasting tracks.
2. Review the list of core tracks for the Annual Meeting and make recommendations on additions or deletions if necessary.
3. Take steps to highlight and publicize the new core tracks of (1) Quality and Productivity and (2) International Issues.
4. Monitor the progress made by the 1994 Accounting Track Chair to investigate and possibly offer CPE credit to members in the Accounting area.
5. Select a new Member Services Coordinator to take office in January, 1995.

Publications

1. Consider ways of publishing the works of all finalists for the Instructional Innovation Award.
2. Consider the feasibility of replacing the microfiche technology with PC disk technology for the 1994 Proceedings, while continuing to print hard copies.
3. Continue to promote and strengthen Decision Sciences's stature as a major force in the broadly-defined decision sciences, expressly including management information systems and decision support systems, operations management, and quantitative methods.
4. Encourage publication of special issues of Decision Sciences in areas other than our main-line areas of operations management, quantitative methods, and MIS/DSS.

Member Services

1. Under the leadership of the Member Services Coordinator, consider innovative ways of increasing the membership of the Institute and enhancing services to present members of the Institute.
2. Monitor and expand the Campus Representative Program, assessing progress in terms of selected benchmarks for each region.
3. Recommend how frequently membership surveys should be conducted at both national and regional meetings. Where appropriate, conduct new surveys and report the results to the Board of Directors.
4. Encourage continuing membership of those attending the Doctoral Student Consortium and New Faculty Consortium.
5. Consider ways to stimulate participation in the New Faculty Consortium.

Development

1. Identify trends in business education and research, and in the supply/demand for new faculty members. Consider what the Institute should do to best take advantage of these trends.
2. Investigate the desirability of joint endeavors with sister organizations, collecting information on the pros and cons. Give specific consideration to the possibility of joining an umbrella organization, having annual meetings at the same time and place.
3. Consider any other innovative new programs that might be instituted to further excellence in the decision sciences.

Alpha Iota Delta

1. Continue to establish more chapters of Alpha Iota Delta, setting short-term goals and a plan for achieving them.
2. Consider how to use Campus Representatives to promote the growth of Alpha Iota Delta nationally and internationally.
3. Design a database for Alpha Iota Delta that will be compatible with the Institute's database.

Doctoral Students

1. Assess trends in the supply and demand for new doctoral students. Consider strategies that the Institute should pursue to take advantage of these trends, taking advantage of distinctive competencies in the Doctoral Consortium and Placement Services.
2. Consider steps to attract more doctoral students into the Doctoral Consortium who are in disciplines other than MIS, operations management, and quantitative methods.
3. Maximize the impact of the new Elwood S. Buffa Doctoral Dissertation Award.
4. Take steps to involve nontraditional employers in the Placement Services process, including consulting firms, governmental agencies, and universities outside of the United States.

Fellows

1. Work with the 1994 Program Chair to design hot topic sessions, showcase fellows as discussants, organize invited sessions with leading experts, and prepare emerging research workshops. The goals are to have at least one high visibility session in each track and to involve fellows more fully in the sessions.
2. Institutionalize a close working relationship between the Fellows Committee Chair and the Program Chair.

Computer Services

1. Work with Al Avery in the adoption of the Convention Management System (CMS) as the standard option for regional and national conferences. Assess any special equipment needs for on-site use at meetings.
2. Monitor the computer needs of the Home Office, both in terms of hardware and software. Also consider developments in electronic access and imaging for use in the Institute's publications.