PAA is a non-profit, scientific, professional organization that promotes research on population issues.
PAA Fund Campaign
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PAA Fund Campaign—Supported Activities (2008-2010)

December 2010

The PAA Board considered spending priority ideas submitted by PAA committees and the general membership at the 2008 Fall Board meeting, the 2009 Spring and Fall Board meetings and the 2010 Fall Board meeting.  Listed below are Board-approved priorities for PAA Fund Campaign support, organized by substantive area.

International Outreach:

  1. $43,400 to increase travel awards for the 2009 Annual Meeting for scholars from lower-income countries and regional population associations, especially Sub-Saharan Africa. Specifically, to provide 50 rather than 25 travel awards for the 2009 meeting and $2,400 for clerical assistance for John Casterline, Chair of the International Outreach Committee (IOC). [Full amount actually covered by a Hewlett Foundation grant awarded in November 2008] At the 2009 PAA Annual Meeting, the IOC received 164 applications (double the number for the 2008 meeting) and awarded 53 travel awards (22 for scholars from Sub-Saharan Africa).
  2. $82,000 to increase travel awards from 50 to 70 to support attendance at the 2010 Annual Meeting of scholars from lower-income countries, especially Sub-Saharan Africa. At the 2010 PAA Annual Meeting, the IOC received 165 applications and awarded 75 travel awards (25 for scholars from Sub-Saharan Africa).
  3. $64,000 was approved in Fall 2010 to support, in combination with funds from a Hewlett Foundation grant, travel of 61 scholars from developing countries to the 2011 PAA meeting in Washington, D.C.
  4. $36,000 (approved in Fall 2010) to support partnerships with the regional population associations of Latin America [ALAP], Africa [UAPS], and Asia [APA].  Funds would be used to support travel of representatives of all three regional associations to attend the IOC business meeting during the 2011 PAA meeting, to support a joint IOC-ALAP session at the 2011 PAA meeting, and to fund PAA contributions to the regional associations’ annual meetings.
  5. Continuing subsidy of PAA memberships of individuals from developing countries.

Publications:

  1. Up to $10,000 for 32 supplemental pages to Demography (approved April 2009).
  2. Deposit the entire contents of Demography into PubMed with a one-year lag between publications and the deposit. PAA would cover incremental costs associated with arranging for this file transfer.
  3. Up to $20,500 for 80 supplemental pages to Demography (approved Fall 2009).
  4. $1,500 to support travel to the 2011 PAA Annual Meeting for the Demography Editorial Assistant. Attendance at the meeting would allow the Editorial Assistant to survey sessions for potential Demography submissions and develop contacts with authors and reviewers.

10.  $1,000 to support travel to the 2011 PAA Annual Meeting for two Demography graduate interns, who assist in the daily operation of the journal but are not compensated for the service.

Government and Public Affairs:

11.  Up to $20,000 (approved in Fall 2008) to fund two Capitol Hill briefings. This funding covers the costs of the speakers’ travel and lodging, presentation and promotional materials, catering, and additional PAA staff time.

  1. The first briefing was held on February 23, 2009, “The Ailing Economy: How do Census Data Help?” The purpose of the briefing was to educate congressional and Executive Branch officials on how census data are used to allocate programmatic funds, make marketing and investment decisions, and analyze developments in the U.S. housing market. Over 50 congressional staff attended.
  2. On June 5, 2009 PAA sponsored a second congressional briefing on population and reproductive health in sub-Saharan Africa (attended by over 70 congressional staff, Executive Branch officials and representatives of think tanks and interest groups). The briefing highlighted three issues: (1) trends in population growth, contraceptive use, and maternal mortality in African countries, (2) the low levels of international assistance for reproductive health services (aside from HIV-related programs) in African countries, and (3) the consequences “on the ground” for family planning and reproductive health services and for women and men of these low levels of funding.

12.  Another $20,000 was approved in Spring 2009 to fund two further Capitol Hill briefings.

  1. On April 9, 2010, PAA sponsored a congressional briefing entitled “Hot Times in the City: The Impact of Climate Change in an Increasingly Urban World,” highlighting issues around climate change and its effects on urban regions.  Dr. Mark Montgomery, Population Council and State University of New York-Stony Brook, Dr. Deborah Balk, City University of New York, and Dr. Brian O’Neill, National Center for Atmospheric Research, participated. Ms. Juliet Eilperin from the Washington Post moderated. Over 60 people from Capitol Hill, federal agencies and outside organizations attended the briefing.
  2. On July 12, 2010 the Capitol Hill briefing “Recession and Recovery: How Are Americans Affected?” was held featuring three PAA speakers: Dr. Greg Duncan, University of California-Irvine, Dr. Kathleen Mullan Harris, UNC-Chapel Hill, and Dr. Michael Hurd, RAND. Over 90 congressional staff, federal agency officials, and organization representatives attended the briefing.

13.  $27,000 was approved in Fall 2010 to continue and expand the Capitol Hill Briefings program.  Attendance at the 2010 briefings exceeded expectations and so additional funds were approved to accommodate larger crowds for briefings in 2011.  Proposed funds will be used to cover the costs of speakers’ travel and lodging, presentation and promotional materials, catering, and additional PAA staff time in support of two briefings in 2011.

14.  Up to $30,000 to produce and distribute six policy-relevant fact sheets (two approved each in Fall 2008, Spring 2009 and Fall 2010). The purpose of the fact sheets is to reinforce information presented at the briefings and demonstrate both where the federal funding for research goes and how the research helps inform policy. Fact sheets are given to briefing attendees, congressional staff and federal officials during annual GPAC delegation visits. Recent fact sheets include:  “Hot Times in the City: The Impact of Climate Change in an Increasingly Urban World”; “The National Institutes of Health: Investing in Population Sciences to Improve Health”; and “Meeting the Need: Reproductive Health in Africa.” Fact sheets are available on the PAA website:  http://www.populationassociation.org/government-affairs/gpac-communications/.

15.  Establish an award to recognize supporters on Capitol Hill and federal agencies. In light of the fact there was no cash payment associated with the award, the Board waived the endowment associated with other new awards.

16.  $45,000 ($10,000 approved in 2009 and $35,000 in 2010) to sponsor American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) Science and Technology fellowships. PAA is partnering with AAAS to participate in their Science and Technology Policy Fellowships program to sponsor one or two fellows to work in a federal agency for a term of one year. PAA members who are early and mid-career professionals are eligible to apply. The funds cover annual AAAS fees and contributions toward the salary of two early- to mid-career professionals during a year-long fellowship in the National Institute of Aging. The PAA Fellowship Committee (Greg Duncan, Jeffrey Evans, Jennifer Glass, Doug Wolf and Juliane Baron) has recommended cost sharing with NIA and the proposed funds would be used to cover the PAA portion of the cost-sharing arrangement.

17.  $8,000 (approved in 2009) for a Seminar Series for the Congressional Research Service (CRS). The PAA Government and Public Affairs Committee works with CRS staff in the Domestic Social Policy Division to identify appropriate seminar topics and PAA speakers for briefings with interested analysts on the chosen topics.

  1. The first workshop was held on December 9, 2009 when two PAA members, Dr. David Weir and Dr. Kandice Kapinos, presented on the Health and Retirement Study.  CRS analysts, who cover a diverse range of topics, including pensions, health care, taxes, and welfare, selected the workshop topic. Thirteen analysts, including the Deputy Assistant Director of the Division, attended.
  2. The second research workshop for CRS policy analysts was held July 12, 2010.  The seminar “The Long-Term Implications of Recession and Recovery” featured two former PAA presidents, Dr. Greg Duncan, of the University of California at Irvine, and Dr. Kathleen Mullan Harris, of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.  Mr. Gene Falk, Specialist in Social Legislation, CRS, provided commentary.  Over 50 analysts from the CRS Domestic Social Policy Division, as well as other CRS divisions, attended the seminar.

18.  $9,000 (approved in Fall 2010) for a new Congressional Budget Office and/or the Government Accounting Office (CBO/GAO) bi-annual seminar series for analysts. The PAA Government and Public Affairs Committee will work with CBO and/or GAO staff to identify appropriate seminar topics and speakers.  PAA will bring these speakers to CBO and/or GAO to meet with interested analysts and conduct an off-the-record briefing on chosen topics twice a year.

19.  $4,000 to establish an undergraduate or graduate summer internship program in the PAA/APC Office of Government and Public Affairs. The intern would attend congressional hearings, NIH advisory council meetings, coalition meetings, conduct research, and work on projects to further the mission of the office.  The summer internship program would provide emerging leaders from the PAA community with the opportunity to learn firsthand about how federal policy and programs are formulated and how researchers can play a role.

20.  $2,000 for professionally designed and produced materials (banner, brochure, tabletop signs) for GPAC to use at events such as the booth at the PAA annual meeting, the annual CNSF Exhibition, and Capitol Hill seminars.

21.  $2,200 (approved in Fall 2009) to elevate PAA’s membership in the Consortium of Social Science Associations (COSSA) from regular member status to full governing member.

22.  $15,000 for “PAA Capitol Hill Day” at 2011 PAA Annual Meeting: A series of meetings on Capitol Hill will be held for a large group of PAA members on March 30, the day before the 2011 PAA Annual Meeting.  Groups of no more than three to four PAA members will attend a half-day series of meetings on Capitol Hill to educate members and staff about population research and the agencies that support it.  GPAC will work with Soap Box Consulting to schedule the meetings, conduct training for the participants, prepare information packets for the meetings, and manage follow-up activities.

Committee on Population Statistics (COPS):

23.  $13,500 for three training workshops on the Census and other federal data sets at the 2009, 2010 and 2011 Annual Meetings (one half-day workshop at each meeting). COPS conducted a Census/American Community Survey half-day workshop on the Wednesday preceding the 2009 and 2010 PAA meetings in Detroit and Dallas, respectively. In 2009, 33 people attended the workshop; 50 attended in 2010.

24.  $39,605 for a “Census@School” Program ($20,000 approved in Spring 2009 and $19,605 approved in Fall 2010). The Census@School Program (http://www.censusatschool.atu.ac.uk) is an internationally-developed school program for grades 4 through 12 that is now fully operative in the United Kingdom, New Zealand, Australia, Canada, South Africa and Japan. It has been successfully demonstrated that the program improves the understanding of school age children of surveys and censuses as well as their collective statistical literacy. This program would provide a comprehensive introduction to students throughout the U.S. to surveys and censuses and issues related to data collection and handling. Through analyzing their own data, students learn about the results of surveys and statistical concepts, and they also learn about children from other places as they expand their analyses nationally and internationally. PAA is partnering with the American Statistical Association (which has already committed $20,000) to pilot this program with 13 public middle schools in Washington, DC where the ASA Office of Statistical Education has established contacts.

Applied Demography:

25.  $2,500 to expand both the print and online versions of the Applied Demography newsletter. The bi-annual newsletter serves to link applied demographers to the PAA by encouraging paper submissions and attendance at the annual meetings.

26.  $3,500 to support the Applied Demography reception and Applied Demography Breakfast. The reception provides a unique opportunity for students and professionals to network in an informal atmosphere, learning about jobs and internships. The Applied Demography Breakfast meeting, currently paid for by registration fees, provides a similar function. $2,500 would be used for both travel/honorarium support of the breakfast meeting speaker and to pay for, or at least subsidize, the cost of the breakfast for qualified students.

27.  $5,000 for travel awards for international applied demographers to attend the PAA Annual Meeting. The awards would strengthen links among applied demographers working primarily with U.S. data and issues and those whose work is primarily outside of the U.S. Applied demography is enriched by collaboration among those approaching similar issues in different cultural contexts. These awards are complementary to those from the International Outreach Committee, which focuses on support for non-US. academicians.

Research seed grant program:

28.  $110,000 [$60,000 in 2009 and $50,000 in Fall 2010] for member-initiated proposals that address the PAA’s strategic objectives through small conferences, study groups, training or other activities. PAA’s strategic objectives are: a) promoting and supporting demographic research and training; b) expanding the public profile of the PAA; c) broadening the international activities of the PAA; and d) promoting the integrity of population data.  The funded conferences and study groups from the first open call to all PAA members in 2009 were:

  1. Integrating Genetics and the Social Sciences: Promise and Pitfalls – The two-day conference at the University of Colorado-Boulder in June 2010 presented new findings and discussed new directions in using genetic information to advance knowledge on important social science questions. This conference brought together demographers, sociologists, economists and other social scientists currently working on problems that involve the use of genetic data or genetically informative study designs to exchange ideas and build interdisciplinary teams to leverage the many new developments in data availability, statistical techniques, and conceptualizations of the exciting and quickly increasing merging of genetic information and social science inquiry.  The conference was a success and the organizers report that funding from other sources has been approved to continue the conference for at least two more years.
  2. Study Group and Training Workshop in Latin America Mortality: Technical and Substantive Approaches – The project will make publicly available an easy to use large database on mortality in Latin America. The project will also train students, researchers and policy makers in Brazil and Colombia to work with demographic methods with emphasis on mortality and quality of vital registration systems methods, and encourage the use of the database to study mortality patterns in several countries.  (12/2011 estimated completion date)
  3. The National Survey of Fertility Barriers (NSFB) – A hands-on data workshop was held April 17, 2010 at the PAA annual meeting. The primary goal of the workshop was to introduce new users to the structure, content, and methodology of the NSFB and to offer hands-on opportunities to analyze data. The NSFB is a nationally-representative dataset recently released for public use. It is the only contemporary longitudinal study of fertility and fertility barriers among women of reproductive age and combines two-waves, partners, detailed fertility information, fertility desires, detailed fertility helpseeking behaviors, attitudes and psychological variables. Nearly 40 people registered for the workshop and 26 people attended.  Prolific scholars from several countries were represented at the workshop and the workshop organizers have had ongoing contact with several people who are already working towards publications with the NSFB data. Nearly 20 people registered and downloaded the data from the Pennsylvania State University Population Research Institute website in the few months before and after the conference.
  4. New Relationships from a Comparative Perspective – Western societies have witnessed the emergence of new types of couple relationships alongside marriage, most notably cohabitation and living-apart-together relationships.  A workshop was held September 10-11, 2010 to bring together country experts to work on a comparative project about new relationships and to produce a research agenda specifying studies that can be done with existing data, pilot studies to be done and future cross-national data collection and research. An edited volume/special issue is planned for presenting findings from existing data and the pilot studies to an audience of family scholars and, eventually, future cross-national data collection.

Beginning in 2011, member-initiated proposals in response to an RFP would be assessed by the PAA Initiatives Committee and awards would be made after the PAA meeting with Board approval.

Mentoring and recognition:

29.  Up to $3,000 to expand mentoring contact for early-career professionals at the annual meeting. The existing mentor lunch would focus on post-docs, assistant professors and their nonacademic equivalents and a new event, perhaps a breakfast or reception, would be developed for current graduate students (and consider a focus on academic and non-academic careers).

30.  $1,000 to start off the PAA Early Achievement Award, which recognizes the career of a promising scholar who is a member of PAA. The award will be given biennially in even years to scholars who have made distinguished contributions to population research during the first ten years after receipt of the Ph.D.

Outreach:

31.  Up to $30,000 for adding material and making user-friendly revisions to the PAA website, including web-based appendices to articles published in Demography and to provide periodic data on the volume and nature of use. The Board established an Ad-Hoc Committee on the PAA Website to guide these changes. [Substantial amount covered by a grant from the Hewlett Foundation for organizational effectiveness awarded in November 2008]

New website is now: www.populationassociation.org

Development:

32.  $65,000 approved in Fall 2010 to renew the Development Officer position for one year to work with the PAA Development Committee to set further fundraising goals, coordinate and implement the PAA Fund campaign to raise matching funds from the PAA membership, track individual donor contacts and contributions, and develop and produce fund-raising materials and update to the PAA membership about the Fund.  [Up to $60,000 was also approved in Fall 2008 but the position was funded for the first year by a grant from the Hewlett Foundation for organizational effectiveness awarded in November 2008].