The purpose of this chapter shall be to foster in the broadest manner statistics and statistical applications, and to promote unity and effectiveness of effort among all groups in the state of Nevada having an interest in or being concerned with statistics. The chapter shall sponsor educational, professional and scientific activities that benefit professional statisticians and students of statistics in Nevada. Furthermore, the chapter will foster communication between the statistical community and other scientific organizations and the general public.

YEAR 1

In Year 1 the chapter will concentrate on building membership and unity in each of the Northern and Southern Regions. Our activities will concentrate in those areas that meet the most immediate needs of local statisticians and students of statistics- raising the level of meaningful professional dialogue among local statisticians and increasing students' exposure to career opportunities. We are a particularly diverse membership and plan to focus on learning about each other's interests in order to establish commonalities prior to implementing major outreach activities.

The Membership Committee will formulate and implement plans for regional growth. Meetings are intended to be informal vehicles for bringing local statisticians in industry, government, and academia together on a regular basis. They may be held over lunch, dinner, or at other convenient times during the week. The Program Committee will survey members to determine appropriate meeting times and venues. Speakers will be primarily from our local area, again to faciliate local members getting better acquainted. Contact between the regions will largely be between the two Vice-Presidents, who will coordinate the time and venue for the first Annual Meeting in October.

YEAR 2

Year 2 activities include continuing Year 1 activities and the launch of several initiatives intended to serve audiences in addition to professional statisticians and university students. After having established local connections in Year 1, we will focus in Year 2 on strengthening ties between Northern and Southern Nevada.

Careers Day

This annual event will be an opportunity for students to learn about career options as statisticians. Patterned after successful events held by other Chapters, we will have several Nevada statisticians give presentations to students about their careers and how they came to choose them. Speakers will represent a spectrum of professional interests, including academia, defense, health care, gaming, and the hotel industry. We will hold events in both Northern and Southern Nevada, with speakers from each area.

Additional activities may include workshops on resume writing and interviewing skills, and information sessions in which professional statisticians in different fields describe their work environment, preparation for entry-level positions, and current and future career opportunities.

Speaker's Bureau

Representatives of the media (newspapers, radio, television) often encounter statistical questions in their work and have few resources for obtaining reliable answers. Many contact local universities and experience varying degrees of success via that route. By maintaining a Speaker's Bureau, the local chapter will serve as a first point of contact and a referral service for inquiries from the media, as well as requests from educational and nonprofit organizations for presentations from statisticians. The national organization's creation of an Office of Outreach and Public Affairs underscores the importance of our interactions with the general public, and especially members of the media, in affecting the public perception of statisticians and our discipline.

YEAR 3

Year 3 activities include continuing Year 1 and 2 activities and the launch of several initiatives undertaken in cooperation with neighboring ASA chapters.

K-12 Outreach

The development of the Advanced Placement course in Statistics, as well as other innovations to bring statistics more prominently into K-12 education, provides professional statisticians with expanding opportunities to influence the K-12 curriculum and stimulate interest in statistics among elementary, intermediate, and high school students. Statisticians at local universities have already been approached for assistance in curriculum development, and the development of a local chapter will provide a means for organizing responses to such requests and expanding the network of local statisticians to facilitate their contributions to K-12 statistical education.

Regional Outreach: Special Events - Workshops, National Speakers, etc.

The large Southern California chapter currently holds several annual events in the Los Angeles area, including a fall kickoff meeting and applied statistics workshop in the spring. Such events might constructively take place instead at alternate neighboring locations, sponsored by regional chapters on a rotating basis each year. In addition, as occasions arise, the Nevada Chapter may wish to add special events to its regular schedule of activities. The geographic proximity of chapters in neighboring states will also enable us to sponsor traveling courses in subjects of interest to statisticians in the region. Such courses will enhance professional development opportunities for local statisticians and increase the audience for, and thereby the viability of, such courses in Nevada and neighboring regions.

 

November 12, 2001