4-07-09
AOTA Assesses How To Improve Member Participation
As an outgrowth of the Centennial Vision and its strategic directions for the profession, AOTA is undertaking a new initiative to assess member participation in the Association. The objective is to explore how the Association can create greater value for members and volunteer leaders, while moving the profession forward toward the Centennial Vision. The project will evaluate the Association’s decision-making processes, member involvement opportunities, and governance structure to assess how effective they are at supporting AOTA’s strategic direction and its ability to respond to the changing needs of the profession, the membership, and the external environment.
As part of this participation review, AOTA President Penny Moyers Cleveland has appointed an ad hoc group co-chaired by AOTA’s incoming vice president, Ginny Stoffel, and former speaker of the Representative Assembly, Kate Loukas, to evaluate current Association practices and develop recommendations for consideration by the Board of Directors. In announcing the initiative, President Moyers Cleveland said, “Ginny Stoffel and Kate Loukas both have tremendous experience participating in different leadership and governance roles within the Association, including the Board of Directors, the Special Interest Sections, and the Representative Assembly. They and other members of the ad hoc group will bring valuable perspectives to the critical questions of how members want to participate in the Association and how they want to have an impact on issues that make a difference to the profession and its future.”
The responsibilities of the ad hoc group will be to review current trends and best practices being used by other professional societies; evaluate the results of research currently being gathered through qualitative phone interviews, surveys, and focus groups among a broad cross-section of Association members; and develop a set of recommendations for consideration by the AOTA Board of Directors.
The motion approved by the Board of Directors authorizing this project called for “a comprehensive review of current methods and processes that support member participation in the Association, including governance, workforce, and networking opportunities and structures” and directed that the review should assess “the participation needs and desires of members, and models for participation that will align with and support pursuit of Centennial Vision objectives.”
In addition to the co-chairs, other AOTA members appointed to the ad hoc group include Patrick Bloom, chair of the Affiliated State Association Presidents; Janet Wright, president of the New Hampshire Occupational Therapy Association; Tim Wolf, chair of the Emerging Leaders Development Ad Hoc Committee; Claudette Reid, member of the Representative Assembly; Kim Hartmann, chairperson of the AOTA Technology Special Interest Section; Kristi Voelkerding, past member of the Commission on Practice; and Shannon Lindsay, a member of the Assembly of Student Delegates Steering Committee. The ad hoc group will begin its work in June.