Results of the Non-Binding Name Change Survey

December 9, 2018

Results of the
Non-Binding Name Change Survey

There were 1001 votes in the survey and 975 valid votes
(there were 19 instances of double voting and 7 of invalid membership
numbers).  Five members clicked that they
were both in favor and not in favor of a name change. These were considered as
‘Yes’ votes on the basis of their comments.  

A total 2416 members were eligible to vote. Approximately
50% of the eligible regular and special members voted and 27% of the eligible
student members voted.

Summary of the
results:

  1. Just under 82% of those who voted, voted to change the name
    of the association.
  2. Of those who voted for a name change 66.9% preferred
    “American” in the title while 24.4% preferred no geographic term in the title.
  3. Of those who voted for a name change 59% voted for the American Association of Biological
    Anthropologists    . The next most popular name was Association of Biological
    Anthropologists, which had 9.1% of the vote, with Biological Anthropology
    Association receiving 7.8% of the vote and Society for Biological
    Anthropologists receiving 7.0% of the vote.

The Executive Committee takes these results as a mandate to
move forward with changing the name of the Association
to the American Association of Biological Anthropologists.

The next steps are:

  1. To hold a formal vote of the regular members of the
    association with the proposal to change the name of the association to the American Association of Biological
    Anthropologists    . Note that student and special members are not voting
    members of the AAPA.
  2. Depending on the result of the formal vote, the AAPA
    President on behalf of the Executive Committee will initiate the procedure to
    change the name of the association. In accordance with the APAA bylaws this is
    a two stage process. The proposal will be made at the 88th annual business
    meeting in Cleveland, Ohio (March 29, 2019). If a majority of those regular
    members in attendance at the business meeting vote to change the name to the American Association of Biological
    Anthropologists    , a final vote on name change will be held at the 89th
    annual business meeting in Los Angeles, CA (April 17, 2020). The results will
    again be dependent on a majority vote of those regular members in attendance at
    the business meeting.

Click here for a detailed breakdown of the survey statistics.