It is customary that the Spring Meeting of the BPS Council, one of four such meetings annually, is hosted by the President. It was a great pleasure and honor for me to share my love of Buffalo, New York, a place I have called home since 1992, with members of the BPS Council and staff who attended Spring Council this past May. In this column, I share with you a summary of discussions and decisions as they pertain to BPS governance. Also shared is a collage of the images my guests took with them from Buffalo, which perhaps will inspire you to discover the treasures of Western New York.
As you know, Council consists of 17 elected members (www.biophysics.org/About-BPS/Governance/leadership) and is collectively “responsible for the fulfillment of the scientific and business obligations of the Society,” according to the Society’s bylaws (www.biophysics.org/about-bps/governance/bylaws). However, the responsibility for carrying out day-to-day operations and execution of the strategic plan falls on our professional staff. The Spring Meeting is therefore a unique and necessary opportunity to convene leadership and staff, away from the excitement and demands of the BPS Annual Meeting, to reflect on how well our ongoing activities align with our values and whether they meet our goals. Therefore, at this meeting, our job was two-fold: to evaluate to what extent the Society operates effectively and lawfully and, if appropriate, to recommend changes that would improve this alignment and our effectiveness.
Strategic Plan. The first order of business was an in-depth discussion of the strategic plan (www.biophysics.org/about-bPS/strategy-finance), which has been in effect since 2022. To inform the discussion, staff prepared an inventory of all BPS activities and mapped these to the specific strategic goals each was designed to serve. In this summary, the Council found overall satisfactory alignment and identified two areas of potential growth. First, we decided to expand Student Chapters to include post-doctoral trainees. Second, we acknowledged a weakness in engaging K-12 students with biophysics. We will be directing relevant committees to consider activities that support our member participation in local K-12 programs to promote biophysics and inspire a new generation.
Branding Initiative. In last issue’s column, I shared with you the numbers that indicate a decline in membership over the past decade. Given the increased competition in the science publishing industry, and cultural changes in the wake of the global pandemic, BPS—and more generally biophysics—may benefit from more concerted and intentional actions that capitalize on our brand of quantitative rigor and historical authority. Jennifer Pesanelli, BPS Executive Officer, presented results from research of available professional offerings and, following a brief discussion, Council approved investing in a comprehensive research and strategy project that would include a branding audit. In light of our ongoing association management software upgrade, the project was deemed especially well-timed and was met with enthusiasm.
Meetings. The BPS Annual Meeting represents a major activity of the Society. Council reviewed statistics collected by staff, feedback from attendees and speakers, and formal surveys and informal comments and suggestions from members to evaluate how well the 2024 Annual Meeting reflected our values and fostered our mission. We especially considered the feedback we received on new programming initiated by Taekjip Ha, BPS Past President, and results from our fourth demographic and inclusion survey, which we decided to modify slightly and to continue.
In addition to the BPS Annual Meeting, the Society organizes BPS Conferences, which are small, recurring, multi-day scientific meetings located within the United States (www.biophysics.org/meetings-events/bps-conferences), and BPS Thematic Meetings, which are small, stand-alone scientific meetings located outside the United States (www.biophysics.org/thematic-meetings#/). While both activities continue to require BPS investment, they have been well received by attendees, and they support our mission and specific strategic goals. Council reaffirmed their support for the small meetings program.
Subgroups. Currently the BPS sponsors 18 Subgroups, which meet for a half-day session on the first day of each Annual Meeting. For many members the Subgroups have been the initial home and entryway into BPS. Many of our regular members identify strongly with and are actively engaged with a BPS Subgroup. Importantly, Subgroups mirror the dynamic ebb and flow of subdisciplines and specializations within biophysics and can be a valuable means to identify emerging fields. However, the limitations of time within the already packed schedule of the Annual Meeting and of space at the convention centers that house the meeting have set a hard ceiling on the practical number of Subgroups. The Council discussed options for accommodating additional Subgroups and decided to reconsider the issue more fully in the fall.
Awards. Council reviewed statistics on the number of nominations and the demographics of the nominees for the various categories of BPS Awards. It was apparent that both the number of nominees for certain awards and the overall diversity of nominees has decreased. Several potential causes and remedies were discussed, including more committee engagement in the nominations process and encouraging Subgroups to submit nominations.
Finance. A critical responsibility of Council is to ensure that the Society operates lawfully and is financially healthy. Harris Povich, BPS Director of Finance & Operations, worked with Gelman, Rosenberg & Freedman, an independent audit firm, on an annual audit of BPS’s finances. The 2023 audit was clean with no material weaknesses found.
Both the draft audit and the financial statements were discussed and approved by the Finance Committee chaired by BPS Treasurer Samantha Harris prior to the Spring Council Meeting. The report was presented to Council for further discussion and given final approval.
New appointments. It is customary that at Spring Meeting Council discusses nominations for open seats on committees and committee leadership. As has been the case over several past years, Council stressed the importance of transparency in the nomination process as well as inclusivity and representation across the broad diversity of expertise, career level, geography, gender, ethnicity, and life experience of our members, and approved committee rosters and new committee chair appointments.
Self-evaluation. Reflecting on the effectiveness of the meeting, a commonly held sentiment was that while we all recognize the value of continuing to hold the Spring Meeting in person, a one-day meeting might not justify its carbon footprint in air travel. We will consider options in more depth at Fall Council, which has been held online since 2020.
After concluding the Spring Council Meeting, it is my strongly held opinion that BPS is a highly functional organization, which continues to learn from its own practice and from governance experts on how to best adapt to a social, economic, and political environment that is rapidly changing. It is a privilege for me to be part of this vibrant community that supports science and scientists, as stated in our strategic plan, “to seek knowledge, improve the human condition, and preserve the planet for future generations.”
—Gabriela K. Popescu, President