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Members Take Action in Face of Uncertainty and Disasters

The 2017 year has been a difficult one. To enumerate the ways in which the world has changed in the past 12 months would be overwhelming. To languish in despair, after taking time to digest and assimilate new information, serves little purpose. Most of us seem to go on doing the best we can and, in increasing numbers, seeking ways that we can make a positive difference in the world.

NCFR member Tammy Henderson let us know that her church had taken on a major role in the Hurricane Harvey disaster relief effort, and we let you know how you could help. Member Wendy Middlemiss launched a campaign to purchase bedside infant bassinets for donation so parents and their babies could sleep next to one another in the Houston storm shelters, and she was able to spread the word through NCFR’s member-group emails. There are probably scores of stories like this involving NCFR members who chose to make a difference in the wake of tragedies throughout our world in 2017.

Mass shootings, storms, floods, earthquakes, fires, and real and threatened policy changes combine in what has become a regular assault on our safety and security and on the welfare of families. Parents are doing their best to hold steady for the sake of their children while the world undergoes change at an unimaginable pace. Faces of the homeless, the helpless, and the hopeless surround us everywhere we turn.

Making Family Science Matter More in the World

It is understandable that NCFR members want to increase their impact on global society. Some have found ways to do so through their work, and others through their avocational passions. Still others turn to the organizations with which they’re affiliated, to help those organizations serve as platforms through which they can accomplish change.

In the last issue of NCFR Report, the NCFR Board of Directors articulated a process to use to determine the circumstances under which NCFR might involve itself organizationally in policy advocacy. The Oct. 11, 2017, edition of Zippy News (NCFR’s weekly email newsletter) included a video that described how the National Science Foundation involved social scientists in a project with the National Weather Service to develop early warning messages intended to save lives when severe storms threaten communities. Research published in NCFR journals has informed decisions about practices and policies throughout the world.

As we come to the close of another calendar year, we want to extend our heartfelt thank you and best wishes to all members of the NCFR community.

NCFR’s board members, staff, and many members have been examining ways to increase the impact of Family Science on these and other societal issues. We have resumed production and distribution of policy briefs. We have proposed a new program of developing and distributing translational briefs that are based on selected NCFR journal articles. We continue to work on the branding of Family Science and on advocacy for Family Science professionals, defined broadly as academics, therapists, researchers, theorists, Family Life Educators, and others whose work affects families (see wearefamilyscience.org).

Volunteers Key to NCFR’s Ability to Make a Difference

From annual conference submission reviewers to board members, NCFR is only as strong as its volunteers. Each November we thank those whose terms in elected office are ending and welcome those who are stepping in to serve in these valuable roles. We want to thank Bill Allen, outgoing NCFR board president, for his four years of service to the board, and we welcome Anisa Zvonkovic as our new board president. Other board members who have completed their terms include Nate Cottle, Jennifer Kerpelman, Karen Seccombe, and Sandra Stith. Thank you all for your dedication to leading NCFR.

We welcome new board members Leigh Leslie (president-elect), April Few-Demo (member-at-large), Brian Ogolsky (member-at-large), Bethany Letiecq (member-at-large), Andrea Roach (Students and New Professionals representative-elect), and Tammy Harpel (affiliate councils president-elect).

Each November, half of our section chairs end their terms. We want to thank Brenda Lohman, Tara Saathoff-Wells, Yan Ruth Xia, and Christine Proulx for their leadership, and we welcome Anne Farrell, Abbie Goldberg, Mihaela Robila, and Kari Adamsons to the section chair positions. Thank you to Mike Goodson, who is serving a three-year term as chair for the Religion, Spirituality, and Family Section.

So many students and new professionals serve important leadership roles. Thanks to all of you, and we hope the leadership experience serves you well as you begin your careers in Family Science.

Two other recent notable board actions are the appointment of Brad van Eeden Moorefield as the program chair for the 2020 NCFR conference in St. Louis, Missouri, and Mark Fine as the incoming editor of Journal of Family Theory & Review. More about both of these appointments will appear in a future issue of NCFR Report. Congratulations to Brad and Mark. We look forward to working with both of them.

State Policies Affect Conference Site Selection

Finally, as we have written about in past NCFR Report columns, conference site selection is a complex task. It is made more difficult by the changing political landscape and state policies that contradict NCFR’s diversity values. Once selected, sites are difficult to change. States can pass laws in short order, making a once-suitable site less suitable. For example, recent legislation in California forbids reimbursement for costs incurred while traveling on business to certain states with policies found unfavorable by the California legislators.

NCFR has members in just about every state and, by its governance bylaws, is supposed to host its annual conferences in locations where members live and work. Some members have suggested that by avoiding states with laws that are inconsistent with NCFR’s values of diversity, we miss out on opportunities to be ambassadors of change in the very areas where it is needed most. Other members suggest that by avoiding those states we withhold financial support, which may be another way to influence policy changes. The NCFR Board of Directors is kept informed of the changing policy landscape of states already chosen and under consideration as sites for future NCFR conferences. This issue is so widespread that associations, including NCFR, are now adding clauses in their hotel contracts stipulating that changes in state laws may be cause to invoke a force majeure clause that allows for alterations to the contract. There is still the matter, however, of finding a replacement hotel in short order. We’ll continue our work in this area.

As we come to the close of another calendar year, we want to extend our heartfelt thank you and best wishes to all members of the NCFR community. Together, you form the core of a discipline that makes the world a better place, that gives hope to many families, and that brings research and knowledge to bear on improving all societies.