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It is gratifying to report to you some of
the positive developments
that have taken place with ICSD during the
past year. The
organization is continuing to grow and to
make tremendous progress
in achieving its goal of promoting social
justice throughout the world.
The 15th Biennial Symposium in
Hong Kong was a great success.
There was a record attendance at this
conference—over 700
participants from 40 countries and
territories. The keynote speaker
was Professor Amartya Sen, who holds the
Nobel Laureate in
Economics. His speech, along with the
presentations of plenary
speakers and session speakers, set a high
mark in quality. The
Symposium Chairs, Ce Shen, from Boston
College, and Angie Yuen,
from Hong Kong Polytechnic University, did
a remarkable job in
planning the event along with the help of
their committees. I am
grateful to Boston College for serving as
stateside sponsor of the
symposium, and to Hong Kong Polytechnic
University, for serving as
the local sponsor and host of the
conference. As host of the
conference, the University committed
significant financial resources
to make the symposium a success.
Planning is well
underway for the 16th Biennial Symposium, which
will be held in Monterrey, Mexico in 2009. The University
of Southern California (USC) will serve as stateside
sponsor of this conference, and the Autonomous University
of Nuevo Leon (UANL) will be the local sponsor and host.
Kristin Ferguson, from USC, is chairing the planning for
the event, in collaboration with co-chairs from UANL,
Hector Cuadra and Sandra Mancinas. Kristin and I visited
UANL in September, 2007 to meet with the local planning
committee. I was greatly impressed with the enthusiasm and
commitment of the planners and with the location of the
conference itself. UANL will be an excellent venue for
the meeting. I am confident that delegates to the
symposium will be struck by the beauty, culture, history
and cuisine of Monterrey and Mexico.
Several new officers
have been selected since the publication of our last
newsletter. Elected to the Board as Members-at-Large are
Michael Klassen, Antoinette Lombard, Brij Mohan, and Vijay
Pillai. European Branch representatives to the Board are
Roar Sundby and Nada Stropnik. Asia-Pacific Branch
representatives are Manohar Pawar and Ernest Chui Wing-Tak.
Karen Sowers has been appointed Treasurer of ICSD,
replacing Jan Hartman, who resigned because of health
reasons. In addition, Marilyn Flynn has been appointed as
Chair of the Board of Managers of Social
Development Issues, Joe Leung has been appointed
Editor of the journal, and Haluk Soyden has been appointed
to be the journal’s Book Review Editor. I have also
appointed Carol J. Williams as Director of Information
Technology and Dhrubodhi Mukherjee as Associate Director.
These are new positions, having been created to carry out
the tasks of webmaster and myriad other technology
activities that are now required to maintain the operation
of ICSD.
The ICSD Executive
Council and the Board met during the symposium in Hong
Kong in July and also during the Annual Program Meeting of
the Council on Social Work Education in San Francisco in
October. In addition, the Executive Council held “virtual
meetings” via conference calls on two occasions during the
past several months to deal with matters that needed
immediate attention.
One important
development that took place during the last Executive
Council and Board meetings was the approval of a new
system of membership record management. Lyceum Books,
which publishes Social Development Issues, has
graciously agreed to take on this responsibility. This
work will include maintaining a membership database,
sending out renewal notices on a rolling basis to
individual and institutional members, collecting
membership fees, and promoting membership growth. Given
the systems already in place at Lyceum Books to handle
such matters, all the members of ICSD throughout the world
should see a great improvement in membership the renewal
process. I am grateful to David Follmer, owner and CEO of
Lyceum Books, for his willingness to take on this
responsibility.
Another significant
recent achievement for ICSD is the attainment of
tax-exempt status with the U.S Government. Special thanks
goes to (former ICSD President) Chuck Cowger for handling
the long, complicated application process to make this
happen.
I am particularly
impressed with the progress being made by our Regional
Branches. As you will note elsewhere in this newsletter,
The European Branch is planning a symposium in Romania in
summer 2008, and the Asia-Pacific Branch is planning a
symposium in Nepal in fall 2008. There is growing
enthusiasm among the ICSD members from Latin America
regarding the development of a Branch for that region.
Hopefully this will occur with the 16th Biennial Symposium
in Mexico, if not before.
These and the other
accomplishments of ICSD would not occur without the
dedication and hard work of its volunteer leaders and the
support of other organizations. As President, I deeply
appreciate all the time, effort and talent devoted to ICSD
by its officers, board members, conference planners, and
other individuals who keep the organization alive and
well. I am also grateful for the support of our
Institutional Members whose contributions help ICSD extend
its services to persons and organizations throughout the
world, including those living in less favorable economic
situations. Finally, I am thankful for those schools of
social work that are “Partners” in the publishing of
Social Development Issues. Their financial
support enables ICSD to make the journal available to its
members without charging them exorbitant membership fees.
Frank B. Raymond
President |
