The actual structure, composition, and responsibilities of the Board are provided by the Constitution of the Institute. The Constitution stipulates that the Board shall consist of: (1) the president, who serves one year and automatically becomes the past president; (2) the president-elect, who serves one year and automatically becomes the president; (3) the past-president who serves for the year and completes his/her responsibility on the Board, (4) the secretary and the treasurer, both of whom serve two-year staggered terms, and (5) vice-presidents, one elected by each of the regional subdivisions, and an equal number elected at-large by the Institute membership. All vice presidents serve two-year terms, and, similar to the secretary and treasurer positions, are staggered in time to assure some degree of continuity of the Board. In addition to the elected members, the executive director serves as an ex-officio member of the Board.

With the creation of the Asia-Pacific Region, the Board will eventually (after next year) consist of 18 members: the president (immediate), past president, president-elect, secretary, treasurer, 6 at-large vice presidents, 6 regionally elected vice presidents, and the executive director. The term of office for all elected officers of the Board is from April 1 of one year through March 31 of the following year.

The Executive Committee of the Board of Directors consists of the president, past-president, president-elect, treasurer, one vice president elected by the current vice presidents on the Board, and the executive director. The Executive Committee functions as an advisory committee to the Board. The meetings of the Board and the Executive Committee are chaired by the president.

The Board of Directors meets three times during the year: April, November, and January. (The Executive Committee meets the day before each Board meeting.) The April meeting, coinciding with the beginning of the newly elected officers' year, is focused on the annual budget, the appointment/establishment of the Institute committees, and the charging of the committees with specific tasks/responsibilities for the year. While the committee charges are of key importance, the first responsibility of the Board at the April meeting is the budget for the new year.

To assist in the budget review/evaluation, the Executive Committee meets in March and examines a "proposed" annual budget that has been developed by the executive director. Since the Institute is traditionally conservative in fiscal affairs, the executive director's approach in preparing the budget is to begin with a "stand-still (level)" budget from the previous year, and then incorporate any budget items resulting from Board actions from the previous year. The executive director, working in conjunction with the treasurer, also prepares a list of alternative revenue and expense items that the Board has previously indicated it may wish to consider. The proposed budget and the potential budget items are reviewed by the Executive Committee (at its March meeting) and a revised version of the budget is developed for presentation to the Board in April. At this year's March meeting, the Executive Committee will be going through the budget process to assure that we have a viable budget for 1995-96. Revenue from our annual meeting in Hawaii was less than budgeted; therefore the Committee has a most relevant task to address.

Obviously the budget is of key important to both the Executive Committee and the Board, but other issues and functions are also performed by the two groups. Since the Executive Committee always meets prior to the Board, its task (as noted in the above budget process) is to review all action items on the Board agenda in order to focus on key issues and thus expedite the deliberations of the Board. Most often the Executive Committee makes recommendations on specific items under consideration.

Prior to the April Board meeting, the Executive Committee will have met, reviewed the entire Board agenda, and developed recommendations for the Board. At the Board meeting the proposed budget will be reviewed and finalized, but, in addition (as noted earlier), the incoming president will provide his/her recommendations for various committee chairs, committee member appointments, and specific committee charges for the year. Currently, there are four constitutionally established committees: (1) the Executive Committee, (2) Nominating Committee, (3) Publications Committee, and (4) the Regional Activities Committee. Eight additional standing committees also exist: (1) the Alpha Iota Delta Liaison Committee, (2) Development Committee for Excellence in the Decision Sciences, (3) Doctoral Student Affairs Committee, (4) Fellows Committee, (5) Innovative Education Committee, (6) Member Services Committee, (7) Programs and Meetings Committee, and (8) the Committee on Strategic Planning for International Affairs.

Besides these "formal committees," the president has the discretion to create ad hoc committees as needed to carry out or address special projects or issues that do not fit within the existing committee structure. By constitutional direction, all committees, with the exception of specifically created ad hoc committees, must consist of at least five members; however, most of these formal committees have eight to ten members. Since committee members, similar to the majority of elected Board members, serve staggered two-year terms, during any one year approximately one-half of each committee's membership will change. The incoming president each year thus has the responsibility for nominating at least fifty percent of the committee membership for that year. The final approval of the composition of all "formal" committees is the responsibility of the Board; however, with only rare exceptions, most of the president's committee recommendations are accepted.

In addition to providing recommendations for committee appointments, it is the responsibility of the newly elected president to recommend committee chairs. The only exceptions to this rule are the Executive Committee, chaired by the president; the Nominating Committee, chaired by the past president; and the Regional Activities Committee, chaired by the president-elect. These chair appointments are set by mandate in the Constitution. As noted earlier, the president also has the responsibility, at the April Board meeting, of recommending a set of charges for each of the Institute's committees. All of the charges proposed by the president do not necessarily originate from his/her office; rather, quite often they come from multiple sources such as: (1) ideas/needs spawned by committee activity during the previous year, (2) individual Board member recommendations, (3) suggestions from the executive director, and (4) comments/needs/suggestions from members either directly, or indirectly, through a letter to an officer of the Institute or through conversations at meetings.

Regardless of the source of the committee charges and how they are formed, they are of vital importance since they set the agenda for all of the committees during the year. In addition the charges are the basis for most new initiatives and policies that ultimately become adopted by the Institute.

Other items of business that normally appear in the April Board agenda include: (1) recommendations for the appointment of the program chair for the annual meeting three years in the future, (2) discussions/recommendations for the Distinguished Service Award recipient for the incoming year, (3) review of the report and recommendations from the Fellows Committee, and (4) review of the annual report from the DECISION SCIENCES Journal editor.

After the April Board meeting the executive director notifies all the committee chairs and the committee members of their appointments. In addition, the chair of each committee is provided with the charges for his/her respective committee. The committee chair then becomes responsible for the committee activities and schedule during the coming year. The chair thus must take the initiative to make specific task assignments required to complete all charges assigned to the committee and must develop a procedure/mechanism for communicating among the committee members. Normally, the only opportunity the committee will have to meet formally will be during the annual meeting in November; therefore, the committee chair will generally establish a schedule of task and responsibilities such that the committee can complete all preliminary work between April and November. If the committee completes the initial work prior to the annual meeting, it can then use the committee meeting time to develop responses and recommendations for each charge. After the annual meeting, the committee chair has approximately one month to prepare a final report for the Board regarding the committee's charges. Upon completion, the report is forwarded to the executive director who includes it in the agenda of the January Board meeting.

The second meeting of the Board in November typically contains the shortest agenda of the year. The Board cannot logically consider committee responses to charges, since the committees are actually meeting during the same three-day period, therefore the meeting usually focuses on reviewing the Institute's operations, including the status of the budget. The Board also reviews the status of the meeting in terms of pre-registrations and paper submissions, and meets with the current program chair and the program chairs for the next two years to discuss and review plans for future meetings. Quite often the Board also takes this opportunity to meet with the DECISION SCIENCES journal editor to discuss issues of concern, such as the size of the backlog of papers awaiting publication, review editor issues and/or budgetary items. Also, since the November Board meeting is held in conjunction with the annual meeting, a formal "business meeting" is held for the entire membership so that a forum exists for "the exchange of information and discussion of ideas."

The final meeting of the Board of Directors for the Institute year occurs in mid-January. During this meeting the Board's primary task/responsibilities involve the various reports and recommendations from the committees provided in response to the original committee charges given the previous April. In the past, these recommendations have included new initiatives such as ways to internationalize the Institute, which came to the Board from the Committee on Strategic Planning for International Affairs this year. Other committee recommendations might include: (1) ways to improve paper competitions and workshops at the annual meeting, (2) mechanisms for enhancing communication between the Institute's regions, (3) ways the Institute can achieve better interaction and integration in the "decision-making process" at the annual meetings, and (4) nominations for individuals to serve in various capacities throughout the Institute. Many of the committee reports, and the Board's review/discussions of these items, result in the development of new charges (which are forwarded to the president-elect, to be considered for charging next year's committeesțat the April Board meeting). Any new programs and/or initiatives that are reviewed and considered for adoption by the Board are first evaluated for budget implications. If budget expenditures are tied to the recommendation, then quite often the recommendation is carried over without approval until the April Board meeting, at which time it can be determined whether the new budget can support the added activities.

At the conclusion of the January Board meeting the president has approximately two months to develop a summary report of the activities and accomplishments of the Board; work with the officers, the committee chairs, and the executive director on implementing recommendations adopted by the Board; and work with the president-elect on formulating new committee charges for the coming year.

The annual cycle of the Board begins anew in April, with new Board members, new committee members and chairs, and new charges. From this review it should now be evident that the Institute operates overall on a committee structure. The executive director provides the primary managerial, operational, and coordination role of the Institute, but the decision-making responsibility comes through the committee-Board process. The Board charges the committees, the committees address the charges and provide a response, the Board acts on these responses (which hopefully results in new initiatives and policies), and finally new charges result. The committee structure and the committee-Board process thus is an integral part of the Institute and is critical to the long-term viability and vitality of the organization. It is also critical to the success of the Institute that members take an active role on committees.

During my tenure as president and during the years in which I have served on the Board, I have always been impressed with the dedication of those members of the Institute who serve on various committees with only minimal recognition for their efforts. They are the individuals who work behind the scenes to make the Institute a success. It is also from these individuals that we develop the leaders for our future.

Thank you again for the opportunity to serve as president of the Institute for 1994-95. I have enjoyed the challenge and look forward to working with the new Board under the leadership of John Anderson.