NASW business meeting

By Ashley Carnifax

After a good night’s rest following Friday’s conference kick-off, science writers from across the country gathered at the NASW business meeting Saturday morning for updates on the work the committees have been doing over the past year and their visions for the future.

Robin Marantz Henig, current NASW president, opened the meeting by thanking all those who volunteer as members of the executive board and committees, and recognized those retiring board members who have served the organization.

Jill Adams, treasurer and member of the finance committee, announced that they have approved the audited NASW financial statements and received the highest possible rating. She said more details are going to be available in the winter issue of ScienceWriters. By Ashley Carnifax

The grants committee, headed by Robin Lloyd, reiterated that they are looking for proposals for their Idea Grant program, which helps fund projects to help advance science writing and science writers. Since 2010, the committee has given out more than $350,000 in funding and hopes to award an addition $125,000 through this year’s program. More info is available at the NASW site, but Lloyd emphasized that the most successful applications have detailed budget line info and show that the applicants plan to use the money wisely. She recommended applicants try to keep requests at or below the $5,000 mark, as they have fewer levels of approvals to go through and are more likely to be funded.

The internet and membership committees are under new leadership, and plan to reach out to NASW members via email for ideas and suggestions for the coming year.

Two new committees were formed this year: the diversity committee and the fairness committee. The diversity committee’s main goal is to increase diversity in science writing, both in writers and their sources. They hosted Friday’s diversity mixer, which got higher than expected attendance, and are next planning to work on a source book to increase the diversity of sources used by science writers.

The fairness committee was an outgrowth of last year’s “The XX Question” panel, where creating a safe and professional environment for women in science writing was discussed. One of the things the committee plans to focus on is a Writer’s Bill of Rights, which will outline the way NASW expects writers to be treated by their sources and employers.

The final items discussed at the meeting were the creation of the Code of Conduct and Code of Ethics, both of which were voted on during Friday’s Executive Board meeting. The Code of Conduct was mostly revised from the previous Code of Ethics and focuses on how members should behave in respect to the organization. The Code of Ethics is an outline of how the organization expects its members to behave in their professional and personal lives.

The overarching message from the meeting is that board and committee leaders value members’ opinions and encourage anyone who is interested to participate in committee activity. The list of committees and contact people can be found here.