From the Executive Director...

The ASA Secretariat is pleased to report that despite the inevitable initial glitches, the online membership system is serving the ASA extremely well! Members appreciate its ease of use, and, along with the new department email and designated telephone extensions on the ASA website, the online membership system is already contributing to increased efficiency at the secretariat, which consequently improves the secretariat's ability to respond more effectively to ASA constituent needs. If you have not already had the opportunity to do so, please visit www.africanstudies.org and click on the link to access the online membership system to update your personal information, including your password and any address changes, or to make Annual Meeting preregistration and subscription payments or endowment or other contributions.

The Secretariat has noted that some members have left portions of the hard copy and electronic membership form blank. The incomplete information has several repercussions. For example, membership data that is as complete, as accurate, and as current as possible will allow the ASA to better analyze its membership profile (e.g., regarding such demographics as age range and gender, and members' professional career paths, areas of interest, and language abilities) and thus undertake initiatives that support the membership's concerns and goals. In addition, the ASA provides membership data to the National Council of Area Studies Associations (NCASA), which consists of the ASA, the American Association for the Advancement of Slavic Studies, the Association for Asian Studies, the Latin American Studies Association, and the Middle East Studies Association, and to the American Council of Learned Societies (ACLS), which is comprised of sixty-seven scholarly organizations with missions that encompass a variety of different professions, disciplines, geographic locations, and time periods. The ASA maintains membership in the ACLS. ASA membership data thus not only permits the ASA to learn more about itself internally and in comparison to other learned societies, but it also helps to construct a profile of the larger communities of learned societies to which the ASA belongs. Your efforts in completing the personal sections of the membership form are thus an important contribution not only to the ASA in particular, but also to learned societies in general.

The Board of Directors has launched a Membership Campaign. Please encourage your colleagues and students to visit the ASA website to discover the Top Ten Reasons to Become an ASA Member and to join!

The biographical and candidacy statements for the 2004 Board of Directors elections are included in this newsletter. The candidates' statements and the ballots will be mailed to ASA members who renewed on or before the March 15 deadline. Members whose renewals are processed between March 16 and August 15 will also receive ballots. The returned ballots must be postmarked on or before September 1. Remember to vote!

Finally - please watch the web site for up-to-date information about the 2004 Annual Meeting!

Copyright African Studies Association Apr 2004
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