NAASC membership community feedback & input
Rationale for creating NAASC membership
For our community to continue to grow and flourish, we require, among other things, stable funding.  A move to a membership model for the North American Arabidopsis Steering Committee will allow us to keep the cost of attending the North American ICAR meetings low and enable us to make strategic plans for the future. Like many other scientific societies, membership dues are vital to support current and future NAASCs activities.

NAASC membership will enable us to better communicate with the plant science community and facilitate dialog, so that our efforts better represent the needs and priorities of our community.  A key focus in the next  year+ is to develop ICAR 2024-San Diego (California, July 15-19). NAASC made radical changes to the planning and implementation of ICAR 2020/2021 which fundamentally moved the program towards a more democratic and community-driven experience. This new, more inclusive model was very successful; future ICAR organizers, and even other societies, have adopted many of its components.

NAASC seeks your input and feedback into our membership planning so that we can be as equitable and inclusive as possible. The input gathering phase (September-December, 2022) will be followed by a free year of membership (January-December, 2023). Membership will be open to all scientists interested in Arabidopsis anywhere in the world. We will hold discussion & listening sessions via Zoom with interested community members. 
* You can sign up to be notified about listening sessions at the end of this survey or via this anonymous  link https://forms.gle/ikzYWTDriHf4kATK9
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-Significantly discounted registration fee for North American ICARs In the US, as long as the difference in cost for member/non-member meeting registration is larger than the membership fee itself, the cost can be charged to a federal grant. -In years where ICAR is abroad, instead of a discounted fee, we will offer a networking session during ICAR for NAASC members that are attending, and invite company representatives that are attending. If the ICAR has a virtual/hybrid component, and there is sufficient interest, we will hold a virtual session for NAASC members. -Eligibility to apply for and/or be nominated for new NAASC Awards at all career stages -Member-only access to an Arabidopsis Reddit community board for sharing state-of-the-art protocols, best practices, gear and reagent advice, resources, solutions to common problems Free job, REU, grad program, conference, workshop, seminar, etc. board listings on the NAASC Reddit board Access to special science & career development seminars and workshops -Listening sessions, town halls, community dialog with other members and NAASC. -5% of total income will go into "NAASC Equity Fund" to support needed programs. This Equity Fund will be established to provide direct support to minoritized plant scientists to participate in NAASC activities including ICAR. These funds will deepen & expand NAASC’s long-standing commitment to broadening participation in plant science. -NAASC advocating for fundamental plant biology and developing community-supportive activities (including seeking additional funding to support such activities) * North American members only: eligible to be elected to NAASC and vote in annual elections
Which of these listed membership benefits would you find valuable? *
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Your suggestions for additional or alternative benefits you'd like NAASC to consider
Proposed ANNUAL NAASC membership fees and ONE-TIME lifetime membership fee
Are the proposed fees reasonable? Note that the discount for North American ICARs for members would exceed the cost of the annual membership. *
Please share any feedback, input, concerns, or questions on NAASC's membership plan
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NAASC is composed of an elected 10 member Board of Directors that serve volunteer 5 year terms in support of the North American Arabidopisis community. NAASC also supports the international Arabidopsis community via organizing North American ICARs and other collaborations. NAASC funding is derived primarily from federal grants & sponsorship of North American ICAR meetings held once every three years. Because we strive to keep meeting registration costs as low as possible, NAASC does not earn revenue from ICAR, apart from fees and sponsorships paid by external organizations and companies if they exceed meeting expenses. Depending on extenuating circumstances, (e.g., Covid-19 pandemic), some ICARs have net negative financial balance. As NAASC’s community-supportive mission has broadened beyond planning the North American ICAR meetings, the lack of stable funding has become an area of serious concern. Our nearly-finished grant, secured by previous NAASC members, raised NAASC’s visibility. The associated activities have contributed enormously to international conversations around pursuing excellence in plant science research and equitable practices. However, these grants are not renewable, and NSF’s move away from long-term support of any organization means we cannot rely on these funds to continue our work.
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NAASC was formed to forge relationships and communication among North American Arabidopsis scientists, and provide North American representation to the international Arabidopsis community. NAASC members volunteer in service to the community by: organizing many International Conferences on Arabidopsis Research (ICAR, NAASC has organized 15 out of 29 ICAR since 1990); promoting fundamental plant biology including through publications and talking with funders about the value of Arabidopsis work; regularly submitting grant proposals to award community fellowships and travel awards to all ICARs for early career scientists and members of diverse groups; leading and supporting initiatives to broaden our networks (e.g. the DiversifyPlantSci database); and holding community workshops that produce actionable plans to improve Arabidopsis research and education (1). A particular focus of NAASC is continually raising the bar for excellence in our conferences (e.g., the revamped ICAR format in 2020/2021, development of the ICAR code of conduct, workshops for professional development and enhancing communication with NAASC) and in community-building (e.g., Inclusivity Scholars Program, Early Career Scholars awards, Front & Center Project, among other initiatives). The objective of these efforts is to ensure a self-renewing and strong Arabidopsis community that represents the true diversity of all its members. (1) A subset of recent NAASC workshops with accompanying publications includes “Computational Training of Plant Biologists for the 21st Century” (https://doi.org/10.1104/pp.17.01490); “Emerging Genomics Techniques” (https://doi.org/10.1002/pld3.133) ; “Broadening the Impact of Plant Science Through Innovative, Integrative, and Inclusive Outreach” (https://doi.org/10.1002/pld3.316)
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The primary functions of the NAASC Executive Director: Leads & implements all NAASC activities including, but not limited to: Organizes North American ICARs; Coordinates annual ICAR-related award programs (early career & members of US under-represented groups); Coordinates & leads working groups and implements activities under NAASC direction; Leads development of grant proposals for ICAR & activity funding, Manages reporting & award functions; Coordinates annual elections; Coordinates business meetings; Maintains webpage; Manages memberships; Serves as liaison to various groups: MASC (Multinational Arabidopsis Steering Committee); Community groups (ICAR organizers, ASPB collaborations, etc.) Manages NAASC non-profit & financial accounts (oversight by NAASC Treasurer) including accounting, filing annual taxes, coordinates with legal representation to keep legally compliant.
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