Meeting Minutes

March 16, 2010

Business Meeting Minutes

In attendance: Eric Heller, Arthur Suits, Birgitta Whaley, Andrew Rappe, David Leitner, Jim Skinner, Tamar Seideman, Jim Lisy, David Nesbitt, Nancy Levinger, Kate Kirby, Marsha Lester, students receiving travel awards.

1. Kate Kirby: new executive officer APS

   1. The DCP attendees welcome our new executive officer.

   2. The DCP has various ideas for making the APS March meeting more amenable to the DCP clientele. Kate Kirby's experience with DCP and DAMOP through her research pedigree should assist with discussion of these concerns.

   3. Kate Kirby invited our focus session chair and sorters to attend the sorting pre-meeting the day before the sorting meeting, to facilitate accommodation of DCP preferences for APS March meeting room sizes and other arrangements.

   4. Favorable large attendance at DCP focus sessions was brought to Kate Kirby's attention. The DCP executive committee expressed the hope that larger rooms can be allocated to perennially popular DCP symposia and focus sessions.

2. Changes to the executive committee

3. Congratulations to Eric Heller ending his term as chair (3/2010).

   • Congratulations to Jim Skinner ending his term as member at large (3/2010).

   • Congratulations to Andrew Rappe ending his term as secretary/treasurer (3/2010).

   • Welcome to Don Truhlar starting his term as vice chair (3/2010).

   • Welcome to David Nesbitt starting his term as member at large (3/2010).

   • Welcome to David Leitner starting his term as councilor (3/2010).

   • Thanks to Eric Heller for presiding at this meeting.

4. New 2009 APS fellows were announced both at the DCP Awards reception and at this business meeting.

5. The Plyler prize winner was announced. The DCP Executive Committee expresses gratitude and excitement about the arrangement with Marsha Lester and JCP to sponsor the Plyler prize for the next five years.

6. Marsha Lester spoke about her vision for the growing partnership between the DCP and the JCP. Her ideas include spotlight sections in JCP that call attention to DCP APS focus session topics, Plyler prize winners, and other topics that raise awareness of the DCP in JCP and vice versa.

7. GSTA Travel award winners were recognized and given award checks. It is now required for students to complete W9 forms in advance of being issued checks.

8. No DCCA award was made this year. Beller lectureship awarded to DCP speaker was recognized.

9. The DCP executive committee thanks Tamar Seideman for running the inaugural DCP graduate student poster award competition. She and her team of judges awarded two first-prizes and two honorable mentions, and the division plans to continue this activity and improve visibility and conditions of the DCP poster session. Next year's plans include ensuring that the DCP poster session occurs before the Awards reception to permit announcement there of the winners. In addition, the winners must be firmly encouraged to attend the reception.

10. Financial report was made by secretary/treasurer. As stated last year, the DCP is currently spending more than it takes in, by several thousand dollars per year. This trend will need to be reversed soon to keep the divisions finances healthy.

11. The slight downward trend in DCP membership overall and as a percentage of the society was also documented and discussed. The new initiatives launched this year (March Meeting DCP poster mailed to division members, poster session, coupon to join DCP free for first year) and in earlier years (printed DCP brochures at the APS meeting, participation in Fellows and Awards reception) were discussed and should be continually evaluated.

12. Chair-elect Arthur Suits reported on this year's Focus Sessions. Consensus opinion seemed to be that topics relating to water and electronic structure theory were very popular.

13. Attendees and all DCP members are encouraged to send ideas for focus sessions to incoming Program Chair and incoming Chair-elect Birgitta Whaley.

14. Opinions for improving the APS March meeting were solicited; a sampling of responses follows:

    Nancy Levinger: can DCP talks be scheduled to offer a true lunch break?

    Tamar Seideman: can the DCP poster session be located more prominently (currently behind the expo)? Why must refreshments be placed so they draw visitors away from the poster session into the hallway (can't refreshments be offered *in* the poster session area)? Can the poster session be offered at a time that does not conflict with the DCP focus sessions?