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Association News
On the 10th anniversary of the APSA Centennial Center for Political Science and Public Affairs, it seems appropriate to go back to the genesis--to the decisions made by the 1998 APSA Council--to remind ourselves of their expectations.
This historical backdrop draws heavily on then APSA executive director Catherine Rudder's "Executive Director's Report" to the council. In anticipation of the association's 100th anniversary in 2003, it was decided that APSA should launch an historic endeavor to create a Center for Political Science in Washington and establish Professional Opportunity Grants. Both the Center and the grants program would be available to assist members in their teaching and research. Political scientists in all fields and at all ranks, including graduate students and scholars from abroad, would be the beneficiaries of this effort. Rudder's report noted that "because the Center and grants will be supported by a permanent endowment, the fruits of this Campaign will assist not only political scientists currently engaged in the study of politics but also generations of scholars and teachers into the foreseeable future.... We should, in short, celebrate the past by investing in the future, a plan that has become the catchphrase of the Centennial Campaign." The council agreed that APSA would undertake a fundraising campaign as a centerpiece of the celebration. The goal would be to raise $3 million--$1 million from APSA members and friends and an additional $2 million by leveraging internal resources, for example, by allocating annual budget surpluses to the Campaign fund, and by seeking funding outside the immediate political science community.
With the endowment in place, APSA planned to create a Centennial Center for Political Science. "The Association could open a floor that was currently rented at its national headquarters [in other words, APSA would forego the revenue stream represented by renting or leasing the third-floor office space] and put that space into service for as many as 30 scholars each year [10 residential scholars at any one time] for all research in all fields of political science and cognate areas. The endowment could also help fund members' basic research and pedagogical activities through Professional Opportunity Grants. These grants would be coupled (but not co-mingled) with APSA's existing grant programs (for...