Biophysical Society Bulletin | December 2021

President’s Message

Fall Council Accepts Task Force Reports on Ethics and Subgroups

announced the 2024 Annual Meeting co-chairs: Ibrahim Cissé and Elizabeth Villa . Day 2 of Fall Council kicked off with two weighty topics: BPS Ethics Guidelines and an Awards and Fellows Revocation Policy, which were presaged in the October Bulletin (https:/ www.biophysics.org/bps-bulletin/be-excellent-to-each- other). These policies are essential to BPS’s ability to create a safe, welcoming, and inclusive community as well as to confirm expectations that members adhere to high ethical standards. The revocation policy provides a mechanism to review and remove a bestowed honor if the recipient fails to adhere to the Ethics Guidelines. These items are published on the BPS website (https:/www.biophysics.org/About-BPS/ Governance). Recommendations from the Subgroup Task Force were discussed and accepted on Day 2 also. Recommendations include limiting the number of Subgroups to 18 (primarily due to space and time limitations at the Annual Meeting), formally evaluating the Subgroups on an annual basis, providing a best practices guide to Subgroup Chairs, establishing an incubator program to support emerging topics, and changing the application requirements for new Subgroup applications. More details and updates to the Subgroup website (https:/www.biophysics.org/subgroups) will be forthcoming. The Membership Committee sent a proposal to Council for regular incremental dues increases and a multi-year mem- bership option. The first item would help the Society manage increasing expenses as we continue to develop and improve programs for members. The second item provides a conve- nient way for members to renew for multiple years in one transaction while also providing a financial benefit of “locking in” the current year’s membership rate. Council unanimously approved both proposals. BPS Councilor and Nominating Committee Chair Henry Colecraft presented the slate containing two candidates for President, one candidate for Secretary, and eight candidates for Council for the 2022 election. We collectively approved the slate, which will be presented to members when the election opens on June 1, 2022. The third and final day of Fall Council focused on the finances of the Society. The majority of BPS revenues typically come from the Annual Meeting, Biophysical Journal , and member dues. However, with the cancellation of the Boston meeting earlier this year, expenses related to the virtual meeting, and

The Biophysical Society (BPS) Council met virtually, once again, for Fall Council. We spent the last three working days of October discussing the many issues at hand for BPS and our members.

Frances Separovic

Day 1 opened with an update on BPS diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) activities, including BPS’s ongoing participation in the Alliance to Catalyze Change for Equity in STEM Suc- cess (ACCESS) and their new ACCESS+ initiative, which helps participants prepare action plans to guide their DEI change work and creates a Community of Practice for the alliance participants. The Justice for Underrepresented Scholars Train- ing in Biophysics (JUST-B) Poster Session development was reviewed as well, and we are very excited about the inaugural event taking place at BPS 2022 in San Francisco. Council turned lively with the presentation of the Awards and Fellows nominee and winner data. While efforts from the Committee on Professional Opportunities for Women (CPOW) Awards Subcommittee have positively impacted the number of women nominated for BPS Awards and Fellows, the num- ber of international members being nominated is quite low and not reflective of the international composition of the Society. Council agreed that we need to do much more to ensure diversity in nominations and provided several sugges- tions that will be pursued as we move into the next awards cycle. The BPS Annual Meeting is always a central topic at Council meetings, and this session was no different. The abstract sort for the 2022 Annual Meeting took place the day prior to the start of our meeting, so program co-chairs Elizabeth Komives and Art Palmer were able to provide an update on the full pro- gram. There are 96 outstanding invited speakers, and many symposia originated from member submissions or incorpo- rated their suggestions. The meeting will also feature about 500 posters per day. An ePoster gallery will be available to attendees so they can view posters online in advance of the meeting. The ePoster gallery and recordings of the Subgroup Symposia, BPS Lecture, Award talks, and the Workshops will be available on-demand after the Annual Meeting for those unable to attend in person. Program co-chairs for the 2023 Annual Meeting, Baron Chan- da and Janice Robertson , provided us with an early overview of the next meeting, and President-Elect-Elect Taekjip Ha

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