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Division 42 Finance Committee Report, Fall 2004

Division News and Notes

Ilene Serlin, PhD, Fellows Committee

Spring 2004 - Table of Contents

Contents

Editorial

President’s Message/Ronald Fox

From the Editor/Martin H. Williams

Professional Practice

Finding In-Network Mental Health Services: A Phantom Network Odyssey/Russell Holstein

Self-Pay Clients, Not Insurance Companies, Deserve a Discount/Ivan J. Miller

Child and Family Interventions in the Forensic Setting: A Second Opinion/T. Richard Saunders

Advocacy

A Maturing Profession in Challenging Times/Pat DeLeon

Washington Update—On Being a Medical Patient/Ronald F. Levant

Psychology and Political Action/T. Richard Saunders

Students/Early Career Professionals

The Mentor’s Corner/Miguel E. Gallardo and Michael Murphy

Book Reviews

Essentials of Private Practice: Streamlining Costs, Procedures, and Policies for Less Stress, by Holly A. Hunt, Ph.D/ Reviewed by Sandra Levy Ceren

Humor

Sunday Ramblings/Frank Froman

I want to thank: the Finance Committee members (Lisa Grossman, Barry Anton, Carol Goodheart, Katie Klehr, and Sandy Shullman); our Treasurer, Bonnie Markham; Jeannie Beeaff of the Central Office and our Executive Committee members for their assistance and guidance to me in my first year as Finance Chair.

A major task of the Finance Committee is the preparation of a preliminary budget for the Board of Directors to consider. That budget must be responsive to the needs of the Division’s members, address the goals and objectives of the Division and at the same time reflect responsible stewardship of the Division’s resources.

While we have a total of 5430 members and are still the largest APA division, our numbers have decreased significantly over the last several years, as has been the case with other practice divisions as well. In 2004 we collected division dues from 4124 of those members. We have 903 Life Members who are dues exempt. As our members continue to age, we will have fewer members paying dues unless we are able to replace them with new members. We did gain 110 new members in 2004. You will be hearing more from our Membership Committee about those issues. But, for the time being, we have to plan our budget around the dues income we can reasonably project in addition to other sources of non-dues revenue.

The Division’s Board approved a dues increase effective in 2005. Division dues will be raised to $50.00 for members. In recognition of and response to the extra financial concerns of Early Career Professionals and students, the Finance Committee will develop a proposal to address a graduated dues structure for those members. We have not had a dues increase or even a cost of living increase in 8 years. And the recent and current financial marketplaces have not provided the kinds of investment earnings we had been used to having to supplement our operating budget. Having worked with a bare bones budget over the past several years, the Board has worked very efficiently, but has not had the resources to be more creative and responsive to the needs of its membership. The dues increase should give the Board that flexibility. For example, President Ron Fox has established the Task Force on Protection and Enhancement of Practitioner Income. While the 2005 budget needs for that group are minimal, with most of the work being done through electronic communication, this is the kind of project that may result in initiatives that will need significant funding.

The Division is also committed to generating sources of non-dues income, including wiser investment of our resources. The Finance committee has been hard at work this year in an effort to generate more income from our investments and to make our operating cash also yield income for us. We will be investing our cash accounts in a number of highly liquid instruments including laddered certificates of deposit, institutional funds, auction rate securities, other commercial paper, or other instruments designed to give us the highest overall yield and lowest risk while remaining highly liquid. And we will be reassessing our current long-term investments with an eye on increasing yield while minimizing risk. In light of the importance of this Finance Committee charge, finance and investment experience in APA or other organizations will be an essential criterion for membership. Terms of members will be lengthened to provide the needed expertise and continuity to effectively carry out this charge. You will hear more about these activities in future columns.

There are other non-dues revenue generating projects in the Division. The Resource Development Task Force that was a 2003 Presidential Initiative of Dr. Jean Carter has developed revenue-producing activities that are beginning to generate income while providing tangible benefits to the members. The Public Relations and Public Education Committee is also moving toward a self-funding model. The chairs of those committees will be providing more detailed reports of their activities.

A copy of the preliminary 2005 Division Budget is included at the end of this column. It does reflect Membership Dues Income based upon the approved dues increase for 2005. There has been no increase in division administrative office expense, including salaries. No large or unusual expenditures are projected for 2005. In fact, most expenditures continue at the 2004 level. There is an increase in the cost of the Mid-Year Board meeting, which will be held on the west coast immediately following the Multicultural Summit in January. To offset this expense, no in-person Board meeting will be held in the fall. You will notice the Division’s $5000.00 donation in support of the National Multicultural Conference and Summit as a Benefactor. This is part of our division’s diversity initiative, which you will be hearing more about from our president, Jeff Barnett. With the 2005 dues increase, we are projecting a small surplus of $15,000.00, which assumes all dues are collected, that projected non-dues income is on target, and that expenses will not overshoot the projections.

I invite your questions, comments, or concerns about the 2005 Preliminary Budget that follows. Please feel free to contact me at knordal@vicksburg.com

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