Minutes from the General Assembly, Reykjavik 2015

The minutes from the 2013 Assembly in Ljubljana were agreed without changes.

President’s report.
Patrick Sturgis noted that ESRA is going from strength to strength. This year’s conference has over 150 more delegates than in 2013. The ESRA committee has a better gender balance now, which is to be welcomed. Plans are in place for a review of procedures and structure. There will be in the future conference bursaries for early career or PhD researchers. The general strategy of the association is proving successful and continuity is the expectation for the next two years.

Treasurer report.
Jon Burton presented the Treasurer’s report.

Survey Research Methods report.
Ulrich Kohler presented the report of ESRA’s journal.

Incoming Conference Chair.
Annelies Blom presented plans for the 2017 conference and invited proposals from potential hosts. She emphasised the need for reasonable costs, sufficient rooms and good accommodation.

New rule.
Patrick Sturgis introduced a motion about new term lengths. The proposal was to increase to eight years maximum service on the committee for a person who serves as president. This is to ensure that potential presidential candidates are not disbarred from eligibility if they have served four years on the committee. This motion was passed by the assembly.

Elections.
All candidates were elected unopposed.

President
Eldad Davidov
University of Zurich

Vice-President
Bart Meueleman
Catholic University of Leuven

Chair of the Scientific Committee
Annelies Blom
University of Mannheim

Vice-Chair of the Scientific Committee
Caroline Roberts
University of Lausanne

General Secretary
Nick Allum
University of Essex

Treasurer
Jon Burton
University of Essex

Representative of the Survey Research Methods Journal
Ulrich Kohler
University of Potsdam

Committee member (bursaries)
Annette Scherpenzeel
SHARE – Survey of Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe, Munich

Committee member (prizes)
Malcolm Fairbrother
University of Bristol

Committee member (Membership chair)
Stephanie Eckman
RTI International

Committee member (Communications)
Alexandru Cernat
University of Manchester

Committee member (prizes)
Matthias Schonlau
University of Waterloo

Committee member
Jelke Bethelehem
Leiden University

Committee member
Gerry Nicolaas
Ipsos MORI

New President’s address.
Eldad Davidov, the incoming president, discussed future of ESRA and presented a thank-you present of Icelandic schnapps to Patrick Sturgis in recognition of his work as President.

Meeting closed.