APS Council Report

The Council of Representatives (Council) is an essential part of the leadership of the APS, along with the Presidential Line (PL), and other Officers of the Society, the Board of Directors (Board), the Chief Executive Officer (CEO), and other senior APS staff. The Board has responsibility for all fiduciary matters and governance. The Council has responsibility for matters concerning the units, members, fellows, prizes and awards, meetings, publications and policy statements. In addition, most of the standing committees of APS are Council committees or Joint committees of the Council and Board. At the 2015 APS leadership convocation those units that do not have a Councilor requested more direct representation, and the Council Steering Committee (which was one of the changes that grew out of the APS governance reform) modified Council practice to ensure all APS units were represented.

All Divisions and larger Forums have a Councilor. There are two Section Councilors to represent the ten Sections. Two elect Councilors on a rotating basis so that a new Section Councilor is elected every 2 years. The other sections are assigned one of the two Section Councilors to act as their Council Representative. The Units who do not have their own Councilor (Topical Groups and small Forums such as FOEP) are assigned a Council Representative. In FOEP’s case, that is the Forum on Education Councilor. The Council last met in April. Some of the things we have approved this year include the approval of the transition of the Topical Group on Gravitation to Division status with the name and acronym Division of Gravitational Physics (DGRAV), and establishing a new Topical Group on Medical Physics with the acronym, GMED. Several Units are strongly involved in the APS April meeting, and there have been some concerns as to the vitality of that meeting. The Council created an April Meeting Subcommittee that worked with stakeholders and examined the results of earlier studies. The Council adopted their Subcommittee’s recommendation to establish a rotating Chair Line for the Program Committee to enhance continuity on the Program Committee. This continuity will enhance the ability to plan and organize successful meetings with interesting themes that are of significant value to the attendees. The structure went into place this year, and an exciting 2017 meeting is already taking shape. Note that in 2017, the “April” meeting will be January 28-31.

Remember, the Forums represent the cross-cutting interests of APS. The Forums now are all fully represented on Council, which concerns itself with the policy and scientific direction of the Society. Your Forum Executive Committee is a great way to share your ideas for making APS even better!

Contributed by: Gay Stewart