As we bring closure to another productive year of ARPAS activities, we remain thankful for what our organization accomplished in 2016 and look toward what 2017 has in store.

The Strategic Planning Committee of ARPAS is actively involved in the identification of goals for 2017–2021. We thank everyone who responded and completed the strategic planning survey in October. There were 285 surveys completed by members in 40 states. Characteristics of the responders are as follows: 61% have been ARPAS members for more than 10 years, consulting and industry are the professional service or activity of 64% of the members, and 24% are from academia, and the major species of interest are dairy and beef. The most valuable activity or service provided by ARPAS are The Professional Animal Scientist (PAS), registration of credentials, and interaction with peers. 

I hope everyone has a wonderful holiday season and happy new year.
As the President of ACAS, I believe there are 3 major challenges for the coming year: 1) increase our membership, 2) revise and develop exams for applicants, and 3) increase the benefits and impact of ACAS to its members and to the fields of animal science.
As to membership, many of our newest members have applied through the “Highly Qualified Individual” designation. I am sure we all know highly qualified ARPAS members who would qualify for ACAS membership as a “Highly Qualified Individual.” Please take the time to urge them to apply through this route and to provide them with a letter of nomination. Applicants simply complete and submit the Notice of Interest for ACSA on the ARPAS web site (www.arpas.org). They will then be asked to complete an application, provide copies of their transcripts and publications, the application fee ($200), and 2 letters of nomination. Many of you will also know recent graduates who could qualify for membership through the exam route. Please urge them to apply as well. If you have any questions, just check out the ACAS section on the ARPAS website.
As for exams, a number of our exams need to be updated. If you would like to help with these duties, or if you have ideas or questions for discipline exams or practicums, please contact the appropriate Discipline Director (www.arpas.org/acas_officers.asp). 
Third, as to impact and benefits, please demonstrate the importance of ARPAS and ACAS membership by displaying them prominently on your business cards and correspondence. 
As a reminder, the 2017 ACAS business meeting will be held next July in Baltimore in during the ASAS–CSAS and ARPAS annual meetings. The ARPAS members who are not members of ASAS or CSAS will be allowed to pay the member registration fee. Hope to see a good crowd in Baltimore next July. 

Our chapter has had 4 meetings this fall. For our September meeting, Bill Price talked about US Feed production and the top states for livestock production in the US. For our October meeting, the speaker was Kristen L. Parker Gaddis, University of Florida postdoctoral researcher (USDA Visiting Scientist), Animal Genomics and Improvement Laboratory, ARS, USDA. The subject of the talk was Genetic Improvement of Dairy Cattle Health Traits. For the November meeting Glenn Carpenter, Poultry Economist with NRCS talked about the NRCS and how it relates to current practices. For the December meeting, Lowell Randal of the Randal Group talked about animal agriculture issues before the US Congress and probable impact of the new Administration. The Chapter sponsors a scholarship at the University of Maryland, College Park, for a student studying animal sciences. This year’s winner, Aaron Caplan, came to our November meeting and learned about ARPAS and its activities.