President's Message

T.R. Lin

The Training Conference

I am very excited about our upcoming conference in Newport Beach, California. Thanks to Bronda and Kadee and the entire Program Committee for doing such a wonderful job. As reported in this issue's conference news by Program Co-Chair Bronda Silva, this year's conference includes more than 45 presentations, in addition to four keynote speeches, several special programs, and six full-day and half-day pre-conference workshops. By the time you receive this newsletter, you should have received the conference brochure. Only you can judge the content. I urge you to take a pen and circle all the sessions in the program which are of special interest to you. I am sure if you are an assessment specialist, you will want to join us in Newport Beach, California. Call the hotel and airlines and book your reservations today!

I would like to thanks WRIPAC, MAPAC, and the various regional Personnel Testing Councils for their sponsoring invited speakers and social events. In addition to excellent programs, we will also have sponsored receptions and social events every evening of the conference. Craig Hands and his Host Committee have done an excellent job of ensuring that no one will feel left out, including newcomers, spouse, and friends. Don't forget to join me, the IPMAAC Board of Directors, and all the Committee Chairs for a warm welcome reception for both first-time attendees and all our old friends.

The President-Elect/Board of Directors Election

Past-president Kristine Smith's Nomination Committee has provided a ballot consisting of outstanding candidates for both President-Elect and Board of Directors. Expect to receive your ballot by mail in April. Please give this year's ballot and candidate statements careful consideration.

The IPMAAC Budget

2000 marks another year of accumulating surplus funds. Specifically, our total income for calendar year 2000 was 99% of the budgeted amount, while expenses were 93% of the budgeted amount. The total 2000 surplus was $7,203, partly due to the fact that we only printed three issues of Assessment Council Newsletter instead of the six issues which were budgeted. This brings our grand total general fund balance to $44,562. We will continue to work to arrange for pre-conference workshops and exhibitors, because , in addition to serving the professional needs of our members, they serve as excellent income sources for our organization.

The IPMAAC Committees

Five submissions were received by Ilene Gast, Chair of the Innovations in Assessment Award, and they are being evaluated by the committee. As I indicated in the last ACN, we thought we would have received enough entries for the Student Paper Competition. Unfortunately, we did not. After a discussion with the committee chair Lee Friedman and Kelli Sheets, we decided to send out another call for submission to all registered student members of the Society for Industrial and Organizational Psychology-more than 1,800 of them! I hope we will get substantial submissions by the new deadline-March 23. Training Committee Chair Mike Willihnganz indicated that the re-packing and re-formatting of the Exam Planning and the T&E training classes will be done by the end of April. The next step is to update the content of these two classes, in addition to the Oral Exam class. The Professional/Scientific Affairs Committee Chair and his committee will be looking into the relative merit of physical ability test for firefighters at national level. The Board is reviewing the potential Bemis Award nominees submitted by Charles Sproule.

The ACN Content and Format

In last column, I asked you to let me know your favorite future ACN format. So far, I have received only praises regarding the content and hard-copy format of our newsletter. This will be a discussion item for our next board meeting. Your input is very much appreciated.

The Next Board Meeting

The IPMAAC Board of Directors will meet on Sunday, June 10, 2001, at the Hyatt Newporter, Newport Beach, California. This will be the day prior to the start of the formal conference program at the same location. The exact time of the meeting will be determined by the length of the agenda, which the Board of Directors and I will be developing in early May. IPMAAC board meetings are open to all members. If you would like to attend this meeting and/or suggest an agenda item, please contact me or any member of the Board prior to May 10.