Since my last message, we have continued to work on improving the Governance of the CAP and are well into phase two of the three-phase project. The Governance Committee has been established and templates for Terms of Reference, Policies, and Procedures are being prepared before rolling them out to the Board portfolios, committees, and divisions for completion. The Board has approved the establishment of a Student Council, which will have a direct reporting relationship to the Board (see call for student volunteers below). Also, the Chair of the CAP Advisory Council will now be elected from and by the members of the Council, thereby moving away from the President of the CAP chairing both the Advisory Council and the Board. These two specific changes are designed to try to ensure that the CAP gets broad input from, and is focused on meeting the needs of its members, no matter what stage of their career they are at, where they live, or in what field of physics they practice.
As part of our ongoing effort to make the organization operate effectively, the Division of Industrial and Applied Physics (DIAP) and the Division of Instrumentation and Measurement Physics (DIMP) have been amalgamated to form the Division of Applied Physics and Instrumentation (DAPI)/Division de la physique appliquée et de l’instrumentation (DPAI) effective 2018 January 1. Please join me in wishing the new executive all the best in their future endeavors.
We continue to make good progress improving benefits to our members and to the broader physics community with enhanced communication to you and by lobbying the Canadian government on your behalf. The CAP is the only national physics organization that will do this for you. These efforts are contingent on increasing our membership and thus our overall representation and reach. Many of the initiatives that we have put in place are not sustainable if we cannot meet our membership goals (see ‘Help us Reach 2020 by 2020’ below). I ask that every member encourage a colleague or student to join our association or to renew their membership if they have lapsed.
Similarly, we need capable volunteers to help steer the association to greater achievements. I recognize too well how busy our members are but please share this link and visit https://cap.ca/about-us/cap-leadership/call-nominations-2017-2018/ to either nominate yourself or someone else to serve on one of the vacant Board and Council positions. Becoming involved on the Board or Council is a great opportunity to make a difference. Please act NOW. We need your involvement.
Stephen Pistorius, Ph.D., P.Phys.