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    The Society for Advancement of Violence and Injury Research - Update

    May 01, 2006


    This is the second brief report about SAVIR-related activities.

    www.savirweb.org
    Bill O'Connell

    New Executive Officers Elected

    Your Board of Directors recently had its regular Executive Committee election. Charles Branas, PhD was elected to the office of President Elect; he will assume that position at the end of SAVIR's 2006 Annual Business Meeting on November 4th. Directors elected to the Office of President Elect remain on the Executive Committee for six years. So, once Charlie completes his term as President Elect in 2008, he will then succeed Hank Weiss, PhD, MPH as your President for two years and, following that, he will be your Past President for two additional years. At present, Charlie chairs your Advocacy and Public Policy Committee; his primary concern as the new President Elect is that SAVIR become an organization focused on the needs of researchers in the injury field. Want to know more about Charlie's background? See his biosketch contained in your ballot for the Director elections in May.

    The Directors also elected Jim Helmkamp, PhD to the office of Secretary Treasurer for another two years; this will be his second term as Secretary Treasurer. Members should know that this is one of the "unsung hero" positions of the Board. Jim works hard to ensure your money is spent wisely and that SAVIR is compliant with the rules governing nonprofit corporations. His reelection is evidence of the Directors' continuing confidence of his performance in this critical role.

    Upcoming Election for Three Directors

    This is a transition year for SAVIR during which you elect the majority of your Directors for the first time. In May you elected six out of twelve Directors to SAVIR's Board. This fall you will be voting for three more Directors, each for a term of three years. Candidates may be put forth by either the Nominating Committee or from the members at large. Next week you will receive information about how you may submit nominations for Board candidates; these will be due by September 4th.

    Annual Business Meeting

    You are Invited!

    Want an opportunity to meet your Directors and speak about issues for their consideration? You are welcome to attend SAVIR's Annual Business Meeting. This will be held in the Otis Room of the Westin Waterfront Hotel in Boston on November 4th from 8:00 am to 2:30 pm. This is just prior to APHA's annual meeting.

    Strategic Planning

    Hold the date; you are invited to this too!

    What should SAVIR be known for? accomplish in the next three years? offer as services to its members?

    Hold open Tuesday, September 12th from 1:00 to 3:00 pm EDT to participate in a web-based strategic planning dialogue considering SAVIR's mission, vision, and services. You will soon receive more information; for now, please hold your schedule open to participate.

    Progress Overview

    Membership Growth- SAVIR has gone from 12 members in November 2005 to 65! Your Board committed to reach 100 members by the Annual Meeting. With your help, we'll do it! Have a colleague you believe can help build this Society? Please click onto www.savirweb.org, select "Membership" to download an application. Your colleague can vote for new Directors, if you do this soon. Want to know who your fellow members are? Again, click onto www.savirweb.org, select "Membership" to view a directory of all SAVIR members.

    Committee Growth- With new members SAVIR comes alive through its committees! I am happy to report all your standing committees are up and running! You are invited to join any of them; let me know your interest and I will put you in touch with a committee chair. This is your opportunity to make SAVIR a valuable resource to the injury and violence research community. Want to know more? Click onto www.savirweb.org, select "Committees". What is happening through the work of these committees?

    • Advisory and Public Policy- Under Charlie Branas' leadership we are developing education materials for policy makers about the economic value of injury research, organizing a public education breakfast for Congressional staff about the economic value of injury research, working with other organizations to bring Congressional budget staff to CDC for first-hand learning about the valuable work done by NCIPC, cooperating with the IOM to establish a "roundtable" to promote increased understanding of the efficacy of injury research, considering seeking grant support for a study of what public and private policy makers need to learn for injury to be seen as a source of health care savings.
    • Injury Conference Programs- Huiyun Xiang has just begun to recruit his members to help stage an injury research methods conference in 2007.
    • Organization Development- Gary Lapidus and Anara Guard are leading this Committee to: oversee the improvement of your web site, guide our joining with Injury Prevention as the "official publication" of SAVIR, grow membership from 100 to 600 by mid-2008, ensure our membership growth is reinforcing the growth of diversity in the cohort of injury researchers.
    • Scientific Policy and Research- Lenora Olson and Steve Hargarten led this Committee to recently advise the research planning of the: National Academies' Transportation Research Bureau, NIH's Office of Behavioral and Social Sciences Research, CDC's "Healthy Communities" Goal Team.
    • Training and Infrastructure- Carol Runyan and Corrie Peek-Asa are co-chairing their Committee in planning for the future sustainability of NTI, designing an assessment of the training needs of injury and violence researchers and practitioners, identifying a variety of educational services SAVIR can provide to improve the preparation of the injury researcher community.