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From the Desk of the President

Colleagues,

Your Society has had significant accomplishments in the months following our last Annual Meeting. Often with organizations such as ours, the work behind the scenes doesn't get much notice, but the generous time and resource commitment of individuals is worthy of note as this set of remarks is going to press.

After considerable evaluation, debate, and effort, the SIVB Board has decided to publish both of our journals with one major publishing house, Springer (See www.springer.com ), starting in January 2007. Springer publishes more than 1,200 journals in the sciences, technology, and medicine sector, and the key immediate change will be broader distribution of our journals to libraries and better attention to marketing. The agreement includes full editorial control by SIVB, guaranteed annual revenues, a $30,000 sign-on bonus, editorial office support, and first-year special marketing allocation of $25,000 above general marketing support. I want to thank the Publications Committee for their effort, and particularly Michael Horn who has managed the process to find a new publisher. Springer's stated goal is to increase each journal's impact factor by 1.0 over the four years of our contract, and the addition of truly professional marketing will keep our journals as a standard of excellence and help us to build upon their current standing.

On a related issue, the SIVB Board has earmarked the sign-on bonus to be added to investments and NOT to be part of balancing our budget either this year or next. This action was only possible because the SIVB has stayed within a balanced budget for the first time in many years under the current Board's new policies, and we were able to reverse prior draw-downs from the reserves. Again, the key individuals in making sound fiscal policy have been the Executive Committee (Nancy Reichert, Paul Price, Marietta Ellis, and me); our Treasurer, Richard Heller; and Vice President, David Songstad. This team is also working hard to make next year's meeting and SIVB activities successful.

Our education initiatives have been a great source of pride in the unique characteristics of our Society. With more than 100 students attending our Annual Meeting for each of the last two years, SIVB has shown its commitment to the stated mission of our organization. I can also announce that Land O'Lakes, Inc. is the most recent corporate contributor with a grant of $10,000, joining UST Inc. and others to help new professionals find the means to participate in meetings. Again, some of the key people have been David Songstad, Dennis Laska, and Mark Jordan who are organizing the meetings well in advance to assist the development effort.

Additionally, SIVB will hold elections at the end of 2005, and we can all be pleased that many fine individuals have made the commitment to run for office, and to serve if elected by the membership. Special thanks go out to all candidates, but I also wish to thank Delia Bethell for agreeing to serve as Chair of the Ad Hoc Committee to put together the slate on short notice. I encourage everyone to consider the candidates' statements and record, and then to participate by voting when the materials arrive in the mail.

Regards,
David Altman
SIVB President
Email: president@sivb.org