Minutes of the May 2011 DLS Executive Committee Meeting
(from Anne Kelley, Secretary/Treasurer of DLS)
Minutes from DLS Executive Committee meeting at CLEO
Sheraton Inner Harbor Hotel, Baltimore, MD
May 2, 2011
Present: Steve Cundiff (Chair), Carlos Stroud (Chair-Elect), Henry Kapteyn (Vice-Chair), Warren Warren (Past Chair), Anne Kelley (Secretary-Treasurer), Nora Berrah (Member-At-Large), Paul Berman (Member-At-Large), Anthony Johnson (Councilor).
The meeting was called to order by Steve Cundiff at 9:04 am.
Steve introduced the new Executive Committee members present—Henry, Anthony, and Nora.
The minutes from the EC meeting at FiO/LS in October 2010 were approved.
Anne gave a Treasurer’s report. The total assets of the Division are holding approximately steady at about $400K over the past few years, but are no longer increasing due to the reduced revenue from CLEO and the lower investment income. In 2010 the Division spent $43,539. Membership is currently at 2.94% of APS total, a small increase over last year. We are still just below the 3% nominal threshold for Division status, but we are not the smallest Division.
Anne reported on the Student Travel Grants program. For CLEO 2011, ten grants of $500 each were made. Although students presenting at any part of meeting were eligible as long as they were DLS members, a majority of the recipients were presenting at CLEO:QELS. For this round, preference was given to students whose advisors were DLS members but it was not required. It was agreed to maintain the same general format for the 2011: students may present at either FiO or Laser Science, and preference will be given to applicants whose advisors are DLS members. It was agreed to approve a higher level of funding if we have enough deserving applicants. The committee voted to approve up to $7500 for Student Travel Grants at FiO/LS.
Anne summarized the new DLS Fellows, as well as Fellows who are DLS members but were nominated through other Divisions. Steve announced this year’s Fellowship committee: Carlos Stroud, Henry Kapteyn, Mike Raymer (1 yr term), Fred Raab (2 yr term), Nancy Levinger (2 yr term). EC members are encouraged to promote/nominate deserving members for Fellowship.
Steve announced progress on this year’s Nominating Committee: Duncan Steel and Laurie Butler have agreed, with the third member to be chosen by APS.
Laser Science 2011 (San Jose): Report sent by program chairs Roseanne Sension and Bob Boyd. The program looks good with ten symposia. Nominally the DLS chair appoints the program chairs for 2012, but Carlos will be DLS chair at that time so Steve and Carlos should do this together. Gordon Biersch was agreed to for the banquet location, as people were happy with it last time. Suggestions for after-dinner speakers should go to Steve.
Steve reported on the 2010 New Laser Scientists Conference. This is run as a satellite to LS, sole sponsor is DLS. It is open to new faculty in their 1st or 2nd year, including some who have accepted but not started faculty positions yet. They give talks and meet with program managers. Dan Stamper-Kurn was vice-chair this year and will run the next meeting. Comments from participants were generally positive, but one noted a need for child care and others found it too AMO- and/or Colorado-centered. It was proposed that a call be put out to all DLS members for nominations and self-nominations to improve the transparency of the invitation process.
Hal Metcalf reported on the 2010 Symposium on Undergrad Research, also held in conjunction with the Laser Science meeting. The total cost to DLS was only $5585, much less than the $8000 allocated. NSF provided $7000 in support and that is expected to be repeated this year. Several companies also provided support. Most travel was paid by advisors or universities. All agreed that this is an excellent program that greatly benefits the student participants.
Anthony Johnson reported from APS Council. Total APS membership is up to 48,263. An open-access all–electronic journal, Phys. Rev. X, is coming this fall. APS investments are doing remarkably well given the current economic climate. A new topical group on physics of climate is being formed with the goal of focusing on physics, not politics. An audit committee report gave APS a clean bill of health on its finances. Plans for physical plant expansion of APS Ridge operations are being delayed owing to concerns related to environmental impact. An APS public opinion poll finds that the mood of electorate is very pessimistic, with decreasing support for scientific research. APS is undertaking a strategic planning exercise for the first time and has hired Ross Simon, who performed a similar service recently for the American Chemical Society.
Wendell Hill reported for JCQE. There has been a change in the selection method for QELS program chairs. The previous chairs now select four people, from whom the committee selects the two chairs. Toni Taylor is now JQCE chair. Wendell’s term is ending, and names of possible successors should be sent to Steve. Nick Bigelow and Hailin Wang are the other continuing members.
Distinguished Traveling Lecturer program: Chair Rainer Grobe provided a written report. It was suggested that this program be advertised more widely to small schools in particular, perhaps via AAPT. It was also suggested that some people who have been on the committee for a long time be replaced, possibly including someone from a small college. Suggestions should be sent to Steve, who will transmit to Rainer. Also, lecturers who have been on the list for a while but have not received invitations to lecture might be replaced, perhaps by more bio-oriented people.
Schawlow prize financials: Due to decreasing investment income, DLS has been warned by APS that the Schawlow Prize is no longer on firm financial footing. Several remedies were suggested, the most palatable being that DLS pick up travel and certificate costs associated with the award. It was also agreed to put in the newsletter, and e-mail to DLS members, a request to DLS members to raise money to support the prize. Steve will contact the APS Development Office for help on how to do this. The APS web page has a list of prizes to which contributions may be designated, but the Schawlow Prize is not currently included. The committee voted to have DLS assume the travel and certificate costs associated with the Schawlow Prize for the next 3 years.
The committee met with Liz Rogan (OSA), Chad Stark (OSA), Rich Linke (IEEE), and Nick Bigelow on the phone. CLEO 2011 was discussed. Overall number of papers has been nearly constant from 2009-2011, with a larger share for QELS this year. Contributed papers are considerably down for CLEO, but up for QELS (compared with 2009 & 2010). Estimated 2011 attendance is about constant compared with ’09 and ’10. But number of full technical registrants is decreasing with increase in student attendance, and increase in student submissions.
The CLEO management contract with OSA for next 3 years was discussed. Kate Kirby will continue to be the contact person for negotiations with OSA. There is general agreement that the proposed new contract is a considerable improvement over the old one in that the management fee is now tied to revenues. There are still some issues of discomfort, but the general feeling is that the April 4 draft contract is going in the right direction and that Kate has done an excellent job of negotiating. The following resolution was passed by unanimous vote: We authorize Kate Kirby, APS Executive Officer, to act on behalf of the Division of Laser Science in negotiating the management contract for the CLEO conference through 2014, with the proposal dated April 4, 2011 as a starting point. The DLS leadership stands ready to provide the APS Executive Officer with advice and guidance as desired. The DLS leadership asks to be kept informed of progress and issues.
The CISA International Travel Grant award program run by APS was discussed. Nearly all other APS Divisions have made some financial contribution to this program, and it was agreed that DLS should too. Nora Berrah expressed willingness to serve as the DLS representative on the program selection committee. The committee voted to contribute $1000 per year to this program for two years, then reevaluate our position.
The Committee on the Status of Women in Physics had written to us suggesting that we consider providing some support for child care for parents with young children attending conferences. There was some discussion of what forms such support might take and what is realistic for DLS to do. It was proposed to run a small pilot project for the upcoming Laser Science 2011 meeting modeled on the Student Travel Grant program. DLS members attending the meeting could submit requests for reimbursement of costs which might include paying a child care provider, travel costs to the meeting for another adult to assist with care, or travel costs for the child. The maximum grant would be $500. The committee voted to commit $1000 for a one-time trial child care grant program at LS 2011. Steve will communicate to OSA that we are doing this. Anne will write a trial call for requests and circulate to the committee for comment prior to sending it out to DLS members.
The National Academy is preparing a followup to its “Harnessing Light” report on opportunities in laser and photonics related fields, informally dubbed “Harnessing Light II”. Funding has fallen short of needs and DLS is being approached about funding it. This report is not coming from board on Physics & Astronomy but from the Materials & Manufacturing board and there is some question about whether its emphasis will be well aligned with that of DLS. There is also a question of whether having a society like DLS fund such a study will produce an appearance of bias that will limit the impact of its recommendations. The funding shortfall is more than $100,000 so a small contribution from DLS is unlikely to have much effect. The sense of the committee is that the risks of funding this undertaking outweigh the potential benefits. Members also wanted to know the makeup of the committee that will write the report. Steve will draft a response summarizing our concerns and stating that we will be happy to help with dissemination of the final report.
New business: DLS is listed as a sponsor of the March meeting and has the right to organize sessions, but in recent years we have not done so. This was discussed and it was agreed that it would be a good idea for DLS to have some presence at the March meeting. Nominally this task is supposed to fall to the chair-elect. Steve will find out what we need to do to organize sessions at the 2012 March meeting and then discuss with Carlos.
The meeting was adjourned at 2:52 pm