NAPA Annual Report January

NAPA Annual Report
January - December 2002
Submitted by Susan Squires & Ed Liebow

Elected Officers - the elected officers serving during the year included Susan Squires, President (tactics@inreach.com); Ed Liebow, President-elect (liebow@policycenter.com); Peter Van Arsdale, Past President (pvanarsd@aol.com); Kathi Kitner, Secretary (kathi.kitner@safmc.noaa.gov); Linda Lampl, Treasurer (llampl@lampl-herbert.com); Patricia Sachs, Member-at-Large (pascha@social-solutions.com); Judy Tso, Member-at-Large (judytso@ahasolutions.org); Mary Odell Butler, Member-at-Large (butlerm@BATTELLE.ORG); and Alayne Unterburger, Student Representative (aunterbe@hsc.usf.edu). Other persons, in appointed and voluntary positions, played vital roles as well.

Finances -NAPA remains financially solid. As of the end of November, NAPA's fund balance was $93,886.92, with gross revenues of $26,050.50. The Board approved a one-time deficit budget for 2002 to invest in the development of a NAPA web site. However, delays in securing a contractor, along with changes in the NAPA Bulletin production schedule and a slight increase in membership resulted in an overall gain in net assets during the year of $18,990. Membership remained relatively steady between January 2002 and November 2002, averaging 716 members, with a high of 733 and low of 705. The average membership increased slightly from the previous year's 706. Linda Lampl has successfully implemented an updated budget process, working with Suzanne Mattingly to consolidate cost centers in the NAPA budget. The Board approved changes in budget policies concerning the reimbursement of board members and workshop presenters.

Nominations/Elections -James Beebe was elected to fill the Member-at-Large positions, Douglas Feldman was elected to become NAPA's new Treasurer, Alex Costley was elected to the Student's seat on the Governing Board, and Madelyn Iris was chosen as NAPA's new President-Elect. We at NAPA were all pleased when former President Linda Bennett was elected to the AAA's Executive Board.

Program Linkages and Communications - Many activities and initiatives were consolidated this past year through the collaborative work of the NAPA Communications Committee. There are two subcommittees of the overall Communications Committee: the Web Site Development subcommittee and the Marketing/Outreach subcommittee. Each of these groups worked diligently during the year to develop a coordinated, unified NAPA image and informational content on the Worldwide Web as well as in print and other public outreach and awareness media. A contractor was selected to work under the Communications Committee's guidance to develop a new web site, consolidating NAPA content that was previously distributed among several different servers. The goal of the web site is to provide a centralized entry point for a variety of information and linkages for NAPA members. At the request of the AAA/SfAA Commission on Applied/Practicing Anthropology, NAPA has agreed to have this web site become a central node in web content that supports the wider anthropological community and general public. In addition to linking with the AAA and SfAA Commission through Van Arsdale, Squires, and Liebow, Liebow will attend the International Congress of Anthropological and Ethnological Sciences in July 2003, participating in the IUAES Commission on Policy and Practice.

Employment and Professional Development - The Marketing/Outreach subcommittee of the Communication Committee worked with AAA to provide systematic content and informational material for public relations and media outreach. Building on its success at the 2001 Annual Meeting, NAPA sponsored "instant mentoring" and ad hoc presentations by professional anthropologists working in a variety of career areas at the Annual Meeting of the Society for Applied Anthropology in March, 2002. Plans are underway to repeat the outreach work at the 2003 SfAA Annual Meeting and at the AAA Annual Meeting in Chicago.

NAPA Bulletin - The Board conducted a search for new general series co-editors, and selected Tim Wallace and Alayne Unterberger to replace Dennis Wiedman and Linda Bennett. During the past year no new issues of the NAPA Bulletin were published, but at least two volumes are slated for release in 2003. Sales of NAPA Bulletins in 2002 generated $4917 in revenue for NAPA. The Board authorized reprinting of several recent volumes that have sold out their print runs. Some older volumes that remain popular will be available on request through a digital document retrieval service.

Workshop Committee - Under the notable supervision of Leni Bohren NAPA sponsored 8 workshops at the 2002 AAA meetings in New Orleans, generating $2,955 in registration fees:

* Ethnographic Field School Organization and Leadership
* Becoming a Practicing Anthropologist: A Workshop for Students Seeking Non-Academic Careers
* Evaluation of Comprehensive/Collaborative Community Initiatives
* Rapid Assessment Process (RAP): Team-based Qualitative Research
* Beyond Marketing: Informed Decision Making for Qualitative Software Choice and Use
* Meet the Press: Anthropologists Talk with Science Writers
* Bringing Practice In: A Workshop for Faculty Seeking Ways to Improve Training for Applied and Practice Oriented Students
* Tourism Research: Workshop in New Theories, Methods and Practice
Program Committee - Alexandra Mack chaired this committee in 2002, and the committee's work included developing NAPA program offerings for both the AAA Annual Meeting in New Orleans, and the SfAA Annual Meeting to be held in Portland, OR in March 2003. NAPA held sponsored sessions at the AAA meetings in New Orleans, including:
* Creating Evaluation Anthropology Futures: Defining an Emerging Sub-Field
* Cultural Issues in Biomedicine: What Kind of Competence is Needed? (co-sponsored with the Society for Medical Anthropology)
* Practicing Anthropology: Ethnography Inside and Outside the Discipline
* Why Do Binational Research? Lessons and New Directions
In addition, the NAPA Program Committee reviewed the following sessions that appeared on the meeting program:
* Applied Anthropology in Post-Soviet States
* Selling Culture: A Dialogue Between Critical and Applied Approaches to Marketing in Health
* Collaboration, Criticism, and Consequences: Examining the Boundaries of Business, Government, and Practicing Anthropology
* Consultants Network: Open Forum
* Interdisciplinary Approaches to Developing and Evaluating Culturally Framed Preventive Interventions in Public Schools
* NGO Research: Methodological and Ethical Challenges
* Anthropology and Innovation in the High-Tech Sector
* Case Studies in Anthropological Practice
* Transformational Leadership: The Idea and Reality of a Sustainable Future
* Poster Session: Methods for Applied Anthropology

NAPA's Councillor Program - NAPA's Councillor Program has four university affiliates: Northern Arizona University (through Walter Vannette), Central Washington University (through Darby Stapp), California State University - Long Beach (through Bob Harman), and the University of North Texas (through Ann Jordan). Peter Van Arsdale and Darby Stapp continue to coordinate the overall initiative.

NAPA Mentor Program - Mentor Program Committee consists of: Ed Liebow and Cris Johnsrud, co-chairs, Elizabeth Briody, Judith Benson, Christina Wasson, Micki Iris, Cathleen Crain, and John Omohundro. The program received 59 inquiries via email, phone, and postal mail in 2002. These inquiries sought general information about careers in practicing anthropology (16), internship / practicum opportunities (18), and mentor matches (25). We made 22 mentor matches during the year. Mentors were acknowledged publicly in an Anthropology News column. New program coordinators will be recommended to the Governing Board at its March 2003 meeting in Portland.

Student Outreach and Support - Under NAPA student board member Alayne Unterberger, NAPA's student outreach and support continues as a priority. This year NAPA held social gatherings at the SfAA Annual Meeting in March, and at the AAA Annual Meeting in November. At both get-togethers students and practicing anthropologists had a chance to meet and informally discuss a wide range of career topics.

NAPA Student Award - In 2002, we received 15 award submissions. The overall quality of submissions was very strong, and the three-person judging committee decided to award first and second runner-up prizes in addition to the overall winner. The award winning paper was by Gordon Roe (Simon Fraser U), entitled "The VANDU Health Network Research Project." Gordon received a $300 cash prize. The paper receiving the $50 first runner-up prize was entitled "Engaging Anthropological Praxis: Student Applications at a Youth Enrichment Center," by Wendy Hathaway and James Kuzin (U of South Florida). The second runner-up paper was entitled "The Philani Experience: Gender Equality and Empowerment of Women in South Africa by Alexandra Kenny, Connie Lira, and Conny Camenzind (George Washington U).

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