News and Views

Board of Directors News

Purpose and Structure of the Retreat
A. The central purpose of the retreat meeting to conduct the five year review of the Division’s priories that is required and state in our Policies and Procedures Manual. The priorities form the basis for the Division’s allocation of resources and inform the development of budget requests of the committees, task forces, and special projects. The priorities then guide the Finance Committee in establishing a budget, and the Board in planning activities.

B. Apart from the need to set priories, this meeting comes at a particularly good time because of the challenges that the Division and its members face. Postings to the Division’s listserv indicate concern including issues of inclusion in governance, communication and responsiveness to membership, fiscal responsibility, and relationships with other groups within APA. The postings also point to concern about how the Division can effectively and proactively influence decisions that affect independent practitioners. The postings reflect serious matters confronted by any membership organization. Effective organizations must periodically thoughtfully consider its direction, priorities, organization, policies, and procedures and develop strategies, plans, and actions to address its mission.

C. In preparing the agenda the Priorities Task Force has reviewed candidate statements published in the Independent Practitioner over the past five years, consulted with recent presidents, conducted a survey of the leadership regarding goals and priorities, and reviewed the results of surveys of members. We have developed a set of goals based on this assessment and grouped them into four categories. These are:

  • Membership Services and Benefits
  • Organizational and Structural Issues
  • Relationships with Other Groups
  • Communications

Clearly there are overlapping issues, and there must be coordination in evaluating and planning.

The Task Force has developed an overall plan designed to:

  1. Provide background information to the participants that will focus efforts and inform deliberations. Some of the background information is included in this agenda book; other information and an opportunity for discussion will be provided during an initial plenary session at the beginning of the retreat.
  2. Allow the review of goals, setting of priorities, and the development of strategies and action plans through breakout groups that focus on issues in the categories listed above.
  3. Coordinate efforts and develop consensus through a final plenary session that will review and discuss the work of each group.

The Task Force recognizes that there are many issues that immediately confront the Division and demand attention. However, we believe that we must set these considerations aside during this retreat and give our full attention to intermediate and long-term issues that will insure continued effectiveness and success of the Division.
Return to Board of Directors Contents Page