As I close out my time as President of ARPAS, it seems we have been very busy, but still have a lot that needs to be done.
Membership in ARPAS is still down, but the fall in membership last year was only about 40% of the reduction from the year prior. The reduction in Professional Member category was 60% of the total, which is problematic for the long-term sustainability of the organization. In the past-year we have added a new route to membership we are calling the Highly Qualified Individual membership route. The Bylaws have been updated to reflect this change and the Membership Committee has been repopulated to begin evaluating these nominations. The current Membership committee consists of Shelby Filley (Chair), Beth Kegley, Peter Erickson, James Quigley, Ryon Walker, Greg Martin, and Matt Beck. Thank you for your service to ARPAS.
Individuals who qualify for PAS Full Membership, and who are widely recognized for research, extension, teaching, or accomplishments in the animal science field, may qualify without examination based on credentials and experience. Eligibility for membership in ARPAS through the HQI route can be found at www.arpas.org/Becoming-a-Member/Membership-Information. Please identify and nominate eligible outstanding individuals for ARPAS membership; this can be a great way to recognize deserving younger faculty readying themselves for promotion and tenure. So far, we have two outstanding nominations for HQI membership and we hope to have many more in the near future!
Along with these new efforts to reinvigorate ARPAS membership, we have been working toward repopulating our standing committees that have become vacant as committee member’s terms have ended. Thank you to our Regional Directors; Aaron Park, Midwest chairing the Ethics Committee; Tom Hickley, Northeast chairing the Publications Committee; Shelby Filley, Western chairing the Membership Committee; and Jenny Jennings, Southern chairing the Professional Relations Committee) who have been working to refill these ARPAS standing committees. We have refilled the Membership committee but have vacancies on other committees, please consider volunteering for this important service to ARPAS.
Finally, thanks should be extended to members willing to serve ARPAS in various roles: Kristen Hales as President-Elect; Patrick French as NE director/Publications Committee chair; Neil Andrew as representative to PAACO board, and Jordan Adams as Graduate Student Representative.