AMERICAN SOCIETY
OF EXERCISE PHYSIOLOGISTS
Founded, 1997

President's Report
December 1998

I hope that you all had a joyous Christmas-New Year break. Unfortunately, December was not a month that allowed me to make the progress that I would have liked. Of course, the demands of the end of a semester and the Christmas-New Year celebrations seemed to sap a considerable portion of my time. Nevertheless, I did make strides towards structuring the next annual meeting, and experimented with new formats for JEPonline.

The new year provides me with the opportunity to re-establish commitment to ASEP from individuals who have not renewed membership, and from editors to JEPonline who are still not members. In addition, I will be continuing progress on letters to all committees, to fellow exercise physiologists who are not yet members of ASEP, and to organizations associated with exercise physiology. As usual, I will detail progress in the sections that follow.

1999 Annual Meeting

During the second week in December I informed the Wyndham Hotel that they would be the site for the 2nd Annual Meeting of ASEP on October 14-16, 1999. The Wyndham Hotel has a web site from which you can do the following; · complete reservations · see photographs of the amenities · see a map of the conference facilities · see a map of Albuquerque · obtain tips for travel and recreation within and surrounding Albuquerque

I have completed a preliminary web page for the conference, along with a tentative schedule. Tommy will post it to the web-site shortly. I would encourage you to look at the schedule, and provide feedback to me on any changes (omissions or inclusions) you feel would improve the meeting. You will see that I have no concurrent sessions scheduled as yet. If we receive a volume of submissions, and appear to have enough registered participants, I can make alterations as needed.

I am still struggling with acquiring a Key Note speaker. My first choice declined my offer, and I am currently awaiting feedback from my second choice. I have several options left to pursue, but if you have any suggestions of a suitable candidate (any focal figure in exercise physiology who is supportive of ASEP) please let me know.

Journal of Exercise Physiologyonline

As previously indicated, I am working on a new format for the journal. I will be requesting that Tommy post one of the articles of the January issue in both the current version, and the version I have developed. You will notice that the new version is an Adobe Acrobat file, and hence requires Adobe Acrobat Reader. Adobe Acrobat Reader is free software that can be downloaded from the Adobe website, or will be downloaded automatically when you try to view the Adobe Acrobat file. If you have the latest version of Netscape Navigator you will be able to retrieve the document as a multiple page file. Those with an older version of Navigator will need to update to a more recent version to better access this format.

When you compare the documents (current vs new) you will see that the new version emulates the traditional publication format with double columns and formatted tables and figures within columns or across both columns. Of course, the added benefit is to use color, have a wrap-around text feature that accommodates different sized tables and figures, and has future potential for downloading figures as separate files for use in presentations and lectures (perhaps a future members only option). In addition, the local feedback I have received to date indicates that most people will be more willing to submit to an electronic journal if it more closely resembles the appearance of a traditional form of publication.

The point of providing a comparison is for you to give feedback to Tommy and myself. Tommy and I are not sold on either format, but need additional feedback to better direct our efforts. Let us know what you think, and of any other format suggestions!

The first Special Issue is taking shape. I have several members organized to write manuscripts concerning topics within statistics and research design. I will be formalizing this arrangement during January so authors know more about their topics(s) and the topics of other manuscripts. We are still aiming for an issue date of October 1999.

Letters to Other Organizations

I am a little behind in my letters to other organizations. I have letters being mailed as we speak to additional authors of textbooks of or related to exercise physiology. Now that the 1999 annual meeting is taking shape, these letters and related phone calls need to be my priority for January.

We have still not had responses from the national or regional offices of ACSM.

Committee Functions

I have spoken to a few committee chairs during December, and I need to send updated letters to each committee and have Tommy submit copies of these letters to the web site. I have still not heard from any committee chair other than Joseph Weir (research) since the last meeting, so I urge those concerned to contact me if you require immediate assistance or direction.

We still need a new chair for the Regional Societies Committee. I am having trouble filling this position. If anybody would like to volunteer their time to function as this chair please let me know.

ASEP Student Representative Organizations

I have been disappointed at our own membership drive here at UNM. However, our student chapter president and additional committee members are working hard on following up contacts made at the first student meeting. In addition, I am getting more involved in our undergraduate program and continue to promote ASEP to these students. Many students have expressed excitement toward the potential for certification during 1999, so this feature of ASEP has the potential to be a major draw card for membership.

As with last month, I encourage faculty from universities across the country to develop student chapters of ASEP. Everything you and your student representatives need is posted on the ASEP website. Yes, these developments do take some time, but once developed, student chapters are self-sufficient and would require little faculty time. Remember, your students will have the opportunity to become ASEP certified exercise physiologists after October 1999. However, this can only happen if they are members!

Membership and a Realistic Goal for October 1999

It is still my expectation that by October 1999 ASEP membership should exceed 1,000.

We all need to work at promoting ASEP to our colleagues and students. We appear to be ending the 1998 year with a total membership of approximately 205. Thus, to reach a total of over 1000 members by October 1999, we need a growth of 80/month. Keep apprised of the membership totals each month and do your share of work in making this figure grow.

Committee For the 2000 Annual Meeting

As you are aware, we are currently expecting the President to preside over the organization, as well as organize the next year's annual meeting. In addition to this, I must also edit our research journal JEPonline. As ASEP grows, which it is doing as we speak, it becomes more unrealistic to expect the President to also organize the annual meeting. To enable the President to better perform duties, I think it is important that we form a committee that just concerns itself with the annual meeting. It is clear to me that I have had to spend more time working on the meeting than performing more traditional duties of the President. The time demands for this job will increase in the months prior to the meeting, further detracting from the remaining duties of the President. This time conflict should be prevented from happening again.

There are many questions that still need answering. For example, should we change the meeting location every year? Should the meeting location be in the same city as the President? Do the benefits of the same location out-weigh the potential benefits of the added exposure and promotion of ASEP by moving the conference around the country? Is there added exposure and promotion of ASEP by moving the conference around the country? Do we need a full committee to organize the meeting, or just one individual supported by an ASEP student chapter organization? Should the President select this committee or committee chair?

As always, I encourage you to provide feedback to me.

International Issues

I am currently drafting a manuscript of my talk at the conference last October. In addition, I am including sections that concern ASEP's mission to promote an international meeting, and to strengthen ties with organizations with Canada and other countries.

Well, that's all for now. I hope everybody has been able to recharge their batteries, and are ready for a productive January.

Robert Robergs, Ph.D., FASEP
President - ASEP