The MORS EVP
Dick Wiles, MORS Executive Vice President

Having been at MORS over fifteen years and just turned 70 in February, I have decided that MORS should have new blood in the top position on the paid staff. President Bob Sheldon and I have agreed that my last day at MORS will be 31 July 2000. I will retire on that day and Ginny and I will take up residence in our new home on Hilton Head Island, South Carolina. An EVP Transition Committee (ETC) chaired by past president "Bex" Bexfield, FS has been appointed and charged with recommending to the Board of Directors at its meeting on 18 June 2000 a person to take over the reins of the MORS staff.

Bob and Bex have asked me to prepare an article on a day in the life of the EVP. Seldom are any two (or more) days as EVP the same. Consequently, the day I describe will be a composite one. As the chief staff executive, the more important tasks involve the MORS Sponsors, Board of Directors (BoD) and other members.

Approximately half of MORS’ income is provided by our six Sponsors (the Army, Marine Corps, Navy, Air Force, Joint Staff and Office Secretary of Defense). For its entire thirty-four year existence, MORS has had a contract with the Office of Naval Research funded by the Sponsors. The contract requires MORS to hold an annual symposium and up to three special meetings (mini-symposia, workshops and colloquia) during the year. Additionally, the contract provides funding for reproducing and mailing PHALANX and Military Operations Research to those persons and organizations designated by the Sponsors. The EVP prepares the proposal for and negotiates the contract. Once awarded, he manages its execution in accordance with its requirements.

The MORS BoD has delegated oversight of MORS’ management to the Management Committee (MC) chaired by the elected Vice President for Finance and Management (VPFM). The EVP is the recorder and a voting member of the MC. He prepares the annual budgets for approval by the MC and provides monthly reports on their execution. The annual budget process focuses on three principal parts. MORS’ biggest expense, like most OR organizations, is the pay of its staff. The EVP recommends staff salaries, wages and bonuses to the MC. The MC sets the salaries and bonuses of the paid officers (EVP and Vice President for Administration (VPA-Natalie)). The MC also approves a pool of money from which the EVP can set the wages and bonuses of the junior staff. The second element of the annual budget process is the Capital Budget. Office equipment with a cost of over $1,000 is capitalized and expensed (depreciated) over its useful life. In any one year the Capital Budget will provide for replacement of any one or more of the following: computers, copiers, printers, furniture, telephone systems, postage meters and other office machines and equipment. The final element is an Expense Budget. Salaries and wages and depreciation of capitalized equipment are included in the expense budget. The budget process begins in earnest in late September or early October and culminates in December when the MC approves the salaries and wages, the capital budget and the expense budget.

MORS’ elected leadership changes every year. The elected officers plus the Immediate Past President and EVP constitute the MORS Executive Council (EC). One of the jobs of the EVP is to help the new officers spin-up quickly so that they will have an effective year. The EVP is a voting member of the EC and BoD where, after his/her break-in period, he/she will provide "institutional memory." The EVP recommends new policies for council and board consideration and provides advice on recommended policies from other sources.

Each of the MORS Sponsors has a designated representative. These Sponsors’ Representatives are invited to and usually attend all meetings of the EC and BoD. The Sponsors’ Reps are the EVP’s main contact within the Sponsors offices. The EVP maintains continuous contact with them to ensure that MORS is responsive to the Sponsors’ needs.

When they reach my age, the EVP becomes one of MORS’ elder statesmen. At all times the EVP is one of MORS’ two official spokespersons (the other is the President). The EVP establishes liaison with and participates in meetings of sister and allied associations. The most obvious is the Military Application Society of the Institute for Operations Research and the Management Sciences (InfORms/MAS). In addition, I have been elected a trustee of the Washington Institute for Operations Research and the Management Sciences (WINFORMS), a chapter of InfORms. I am also a director (and a past chairman) of The Military Conflict Institute (TMCI). MORS encourages and supports my involvement in these and other outside activities.

MORS maintains its membership and meeting registration records in a Microsoft Access database. The chief architect of the database is a volunteer, Army LTC Addison Woods. One of the EVP’s jobs is to maintain the structure of the database and make additions and changes when required. Some of the code is written in Visual Basic for Applications (VBA) and some in Sequential Query Language (SQL). Facility with these languages is useful.

Including the EVP, the MORS staff is five persons. Natalie (VPA) in addition to being chief administrator, is chief meeting planner. Cynthia is Natalie’s assistant. The EVP participates in most meeting planning sessions providing his perspective not only from the standpoint of MORS management but also from his background as an OR professional. Corrina (Communications Manager (CM)) is the MORS publisher. She helps editors and program chairs get their written products into print (traditional and/or electronic). She is assisted by Jarvey who is also our telephone receptionist. The EVP also pitches in reading papers and articles from the standpoint of a technical editor. We have a lot to do and little depth. At any given time, Corrina and Jarvey will help Natalie with meetings. At other times Natalie and Cynthia will help Corrina with publications. The EVP gets to help with all.

At the beginning of this article I said that no two days at MORS are the same. I hope that I have demonstrated the variety and challenge of being the chief staff executive of MORS. The ETC is looking for outstanding candidates for the position. Each day brings new challenges. My over fifteen years at MORS have been interesting and professionally and personally rewarding. I have enjoyed every (well … almost every) day. If you believe that you have outstanding management, diplomatic and analytic skills that you can bring to MORS and are ready to accept the challenge, contact Bex Bexfield at jbexfiel@ida.org.