2001-02-09: Winter 2001

February 9, 2001

California State University, Los Angeles

 

Minutes

 

Present: Ted Anagnoson (Los Angeles), Elliott Barkan (San Bernardino), Nan Chico (Hayward), Don Dixon (Sonoma), Jon Ebeling (Chico), Gerry Hanley (Chancellor’s Office), Tony Hernandez (SSDBA), Jay Emenhiser (Humboldt), Phil Gianos (Fullerton), John Korey (Pomona), Ted Lascher (Sacramento), Mike McLean (Chancellor’s Office), Ed Nelson (Fresno), Jim Ross (Bakersfield), Dick Shaffer (San Luis Obispo), Rich Taketa (San Jose), Gene Turner (Northridge)

 

The meeting was called to order by the chair (Lascher) at 10 a.m.

 


1.                 

Introductions. The Council welcomed Mike McLean (Chief of Staff, Information Technology Services, Chancellor’s Office, 562/951-4125, mmclean@calstate.edu) and Gerry Hanley (Acting Senior Director, Academic Technology Services, Information Technology Services, Chancellor’s Office, 562-951-4259, ghanley@calstate.edu).

 


2.                 

Minutes. M/S/P to approve as distributed the minutes of the Fall meeting.

 


3.                 

Funding of Data Bases. McLean and Hanley discussed the fact that funding for social science and other databases has in recent years come from sources used to meet short-term needs. It is of utmost importance that the CSU develops a funding strategy for the long term.

 

The council had a lengthy discussion of the importance of a stable funding source and the need to avoid yearly fights regarding this issue. Nelson stressed the chancellor's office public commitment (before a legislative committee) to support for data base funding.

 

This issue will be discussed at next week’s Academic Information Resources Council (AIRC) meeting. The AIRC is no longer an advisory body to the Chancellor’s Office, but still serves as a useful way for representatives of discipline councils and specialty centers to communicate. Nelson is currently AIRC chair.

 

Another potentially useful line of communication is the Academic Technology Advisory Committee (ATAC). Lascher will email Hanley to try to arrange for a presentation at the next ATAC meeting by Nelson.

 

4.                 

Council Membership. Richard Serpe (San Marcos) is no longer on the Council and is looking for a replacement. There will also likely be a new representative from Stanislaus.

 

Responding to suggestions from the fall 2000 meeting, Lascher shared draft letters to deans on campuses where there were either participating or non-participating SSRIC representatives. The Council expressed its general support for sending "thank you" type letters to deans on campuses with participating representatives, and suggesting appointments of alternates if none had been designated. Before sending the letter, Lascher will consult with the OR to tailor the letter to specific needs. The Council also supported sending dean letters urging campuses without representatives (e.g., the Maritime Academy) to make appointments. The Council did not want letters sent to campuses with representatives who had not been participating; Lascher was encouraged to contact such people personally.

 

The Council also asked next year’s chair to send a letter to deans next fall confirming the (re)appointment of the campus OR.

 

5. Communication. Lascher will send updates to the Council’s email distribution list to Addison Ching. He will also distribute an updated membership roster to the Council, and will ask Hernandez to post a similar list (but without home phone or cell phone numbers) to the SSRIC website, along with other website updates such as the minutes of Council meetings.

 

Nelson asked for updates to the list of CSU research-oriented faculty.

 

6. Student Research Conference. Lascher distributed posters and flyers for this year’s conference, to be held at Sacramento State on May 4. Joint faculty-student papers are acceptable, provided that the student was a genuine partner in the research. Coauthored student works are also welcome, as are multimedia presentations. Abstracts will be accepted, but presentations lacking full papers (not exceeding journal article length) will not be considered for prizes. Papers from students who've graduated are acceptable provided they've been completed within the academic year.

 

The group expressed its support for allowing poster sessions, but expressed some uncertainty about the extent of interest and how specifics would be handled. It was agreed that poster sessions might be appropriate for work in the early stages, and that poster session presenters should have a few minutes to provide an oral overview of their work. Gerry Hanley will send Lascher some information on poster sessions that might be appropriate for the web link.

 

 

 

Various possible keynote speakers were discussed; Lascher will contact them. Additionally, depending on the number of student presentations we may also include a faculty workshop by Barkan or Lascher (as the 1999-00 Field Fellow).

 

There is a link to the Conference web page at http://gilbert.calstatela.edu/stdconf00/. Online Conference registration is available at this address.

 


7.                 

ICPSR Summer Program. M/S/P to reappoint Ebeling as Summer Program Tsar.

 

8.                 

Social Science Data Base Archive (SSDBA). Hernandez reported on several new or upcoming additions to the SSDBA.

 

There is now a new automated account maintenance program. The Council recommends that student accounts be set expire at the end of the academic year, except that 1) requests for longer term accounts (e.g., for students working on masters theses) be honored, and that 2) students and their faculty sponsors be sent a reminder notice asking them if they wish to have the accounts renewed for the following year.

 

The Survey Documentation Analysis (SDA) program, providing for online analysis of selected datasets, has been operational for about a year.

 

The archive of databases that are in-house but not online can be searched, and data made available via either email or FTP (depending on file size). In the relatively near future, it will be possible to do a single search for data that are available either online or in the archive.

 

Hernandez is working with Taketa to put together a workshop at San Jose.

 


9.                 

California Social Survey. Korey presented a draft proposal for an annual statewide survey patterned after the General Social Survey and containing many of the same questions, supplemented by California-specific items. A consortium of campus survey research centers would conduct the interviews.

 

Before the spring meeting, we need to address funding (for a cost estimated at about $40 per interview) and questionnaire content. Barkan, Dixon, Ebeling, McLean, and Nelson agreed to check into possible funding sources, and to send the results of their inquiries to Korey. Korey (in consultation with Ebeling, Lascher, and Nelson) will expand the draft proposal to include question categories, sample design, and budget.

 


10.             

The Field Institute (TFI).

 

June 8 is the most likely date for this year’s Field Workshop.

 

The 2000 polls, and the first of the 2001 polls, should be available by the end of February or early March.

 

The Field Committee (Nelson [chair], Barkan, and Korey) recommended that the Field Fellowship be awarded to Robert Wassmer (Sacramento), and that the question credits be awarded to Melissa Michelson (Fresno). M/S/P to approve these recommendations

 

M/S/P to combine the RFPs for the fellowship and the question credits into a single document. Applicants for the fellowship would be asked if they would be willing to accept the question credits in the event that they did not receive the fellowship and, if so, to indicate which six questions they would retain. Applicants could also apply for the question credits alone. The Committee will draft a revised document for consideration at the Spring meeting.

 

M/S/P to replace Korey with Ebeling on the Committee.

 

There were no applicants for the Penny Crane Student Internship. The Council will recommend to Field that the stipend (currently $7/hr) be increased.

 


11.             

Institute for Teaching and Learning (ITL). We have received funding for workshops on “Web-based Resources to Improve Quantitative Reasoning in the Social Sciences” at Sacramento (March 12, presented by Chico, Ed Nelson, and Elizabeth Nelson) and Pomona (April 7, presented by Gerber, Korey, and Ross). Information and online registration are available at http://www.csubak.edu/ssric/itlworkshop/.

 


12.             

National Science Foundation Grant. We did not receive funding, and will likely resubmit.

 


13.             

Election of Chair for AY 2001-2002. Barkan was chosen by acclamation.

 


14.             

Meetings for AY 2001-2002.

 

Fall: Humboldt, October 5-6.

Winter: Greater Fresno, February 8-9.

Spring: San Bernardino, April 26-27 or May 3-4.

 


15.             

SSIMS. Barkan reported that there is still $403 in the account. It could be used to help defray the costs of the Winter meeting.

 

The meeting was adjourned at 4 p.m.