REPORT OF THE PRIORITIES TASK FORCE ON THE DIVISION 42 2001 GOVERNANCE RETREAT

Task Force Members:

Jeffrey Barnett
Jean Carter – Co-Chair
Bonnie Markham
Michael Murphy – Co-Chair

Executive Summary

In March 2001 the Division 42 governance (including elected officers, Board members, Council Representatives, IP Editors, Website Editor, invited committee chairs, student member representative) met to consider key priorities and goals that would be the basis of the Division’s five-year plan beginning in 2002.

Widely ranging creative and exciting ideas came out of the intensive two and one half day meeting. The group also reaffirmed the value of many of the programs and policies that are already in place. Specific and detailed reports of the recommendations from the Retreat are presented in the Priorities Task Force Report and in the reports of the four Breakout Groups.

In August 2001 the Board of Directors will, having had an opportunity to participate in the Retreat and review the work products, vote on the particular priorities, goals, strategies, and action plans that will direct our activities. This summary presents the major themes and directions proposed to guide the Division in the next five years.

The Retreat process was developed by the Priorities Task Force (Jeffrey Barnett, Jean Carter – Co-Chair, Bonnie Markham, Michael Murphy – Co-Chair). Four Breakout Groups (Membership, Organizational and Structural Issues, Relationships with Other Groups, Communication) were formed to focus on the areas previously identified by the Board and membership as important to the efforts of the Division. The recommendations of all the Breakout Groups, developed independently, contained several common themes.

These common themes are:

1. The Division seeks to serve as the focal point for independently practicing psychologists in terms of identity, information, advocacy, networking, communication, and advancement of practice.
2. Psychologists in Independent Practice are diverse with regard to their areas of expertise, practice settings, organizational and other affiliations, ethnicity, culture, socioeconomic status, gender, age, sexual orientation, stage in their career development, and so forth. The Division seeks to represent all of these psychologists by inclusion in our membership and governance, and through our programming.
3. Central to the Division’s effectiveness are its leadership and its organizational structure. The Division needs to encourage new and diverse leadership while also benefiting from the experience of those who have served for a number of years. The structure of the Division should be designed to most effectively carryout its goals and priorities. The expenditure of human and fiscal resources should be used to accomplish those purposes.
4. Communication is vital to the success of the Division. An open channel between governance and membership, across members, with other related groups, and the public should be fostered. Division 42 serves as a conduit for interchange within, and between, various constituencies.

Many of the structures and activities are already in place that allow the Division to implement some aspects of each of the key themes. In other cases, new structures, procedures, and policies are required. In general, the Division will need to streamline its functioning in order to create opportunities for expansion of scope and advocacy in the independent practice arena.

New directions proposed include:

1. 1. Consideration of the creation of a companion C-6 organization to allow political advocacy, solicitation of funds, referral services, and other business-related activities that are now prohibited to us as a 501 C-3 organization.
2. 2. Creation of a membership category for practitioners who are not members of APA, institution of membership incentives to increase representation of the full range of diversity in the field, and encouragement of the participation in the Division by graduate students beginning early in their training.
3. 3. Opening governance to new leadership by having particular slates for those who have not yet served in an elected position, appointing committee and task force chairs from diverse groups, and ensuring leadership continuity and expertise through the establishment of a Past-Presidents Council that would have a number of crucial functions at all levels of the Division and would exclude running for Member-at-Large of the Board.
4. 4. Restructuring committees such that only standing committees would continue; professional issues committees would become Special Interest Groups emphasizing diversity, networking, and mentoring rather than governance; and restructuring task forces to have time-certain missions to be completed, in most cases, within a single presidential term.
5. 5. Expand and enhance all of our communication vehicles to maximize the use of the Independent Practitioner, website, brochures, books, PICK42, APA program time, and extend beyond these into inter-group programming at mid-winter and other times; develop other communication mechanisms including active involvement of liaisons who share membership in Division 42 and other relevant groups within and outside of APA and appoint liaisons to groups strategic to the Division’s mission for which there are no existing links.

This summary represents only the tip of the iceberg. A plethora of recommendations will need to be considered by the Board. Those most central to our developing mission will need to be ranked and prioritized with an associated action plan, timeline, and responsible individual or group. Means of follow-up and assessment will need to be established and budget lines created to fund these projects.

The Retreat recommendations offer a very ambitious agenda for the Division, and in their entirety are probably too ambitious and will need to be honed. As the plan is implemented over the next five years, new and unanticipated directions will emerge as the plan evolves and the leadership changes. Supporting these unforeseen projects and initiatives, while assuring the stability and continuity of the Division will challenge our fiscal resources and our paid and volunteer personnel. Hopefully, some of the new directions will also increase our resources. Nevertheless, as we lay the groundwork for our future we will need to modulate our wish for expansiveness with the reality of our limits.

The contributions of the Retreat participants have set the stage for the Division over the next five years. It is now the Board’s decision how to use these recommendations to best represent, enhance, and expand the opportunities for all of us in the field and all those who are touched by our work.

INTRODUCTION

The Task Force wishes to thank all of the participants and contributors to the Division 42 2001 Governance Retreat. The efforts produced a rich set of suggestions that challenge Division leaders to evaluate, organize, and implement the proposed strategies and actions.

The retreat produced strategies and actions that address various levels of the organization and operation of the Division and require a range of responses from by-law changes to immediate responses that could be taken by a chair or editor. The Task Force report is organized to layout the material in a manner that assigns strategies and actions to the appropriate group for consideration, development, and action. The system adopted organizes the strategies and actions into the following categories:

• Those goals, strategies, and actions that have general applicability to various groups and do not require Board action beyond endorsement;
• Those that require policy consideration at the Executive Committee and Board and By-Laws levels;
• Those that involve development and recommendations by current governance groups

For each of the three areas the Task Force has provided a summary of the breakout group recommendations and the Priorities Task Force’s recommendations for action to address them. The report also includes appendices containing the goals that guided the work of the groups and the complete report of each Breakout Group.

SECTION I

STRATEGIES AND ACTIONS TO BE TAKEN BY ALL GROUPS WITHIN THE DIVISION

The strategies and actions in this category identify several general principles involving inclusion; communication; and organizational structure, assessment, and monitoring. They state that all groups will:

1. Develop and maintain an organizational structure that is responsive to the Division’s priorities, assures continuity, and assesses, in an ongoing way, its effectiveness.
2. Take action that fosters inclusion of members in the activities of the Division with particular attention given to inclusion of members from diverse ethnic, cultural, and personal backgrounds and to students and new psychologists.
3. Solicit input from members regarding their needs, interests, and perceptions.
4. Disseminate information throughout the Division regarding activity on behalf of the Division or of interests to the Division’s governance or members.
5. Foster the use of multiple means of distribution of information including the website, the Independent Practitioner, and email list serves of various types.

Task Force Recommendation:

These goals, strategies and actions should be implemented and monitored by the Finance Committee through the budgeting process. It is recommended that the Finance Committee, consistent with the current policies and procedures of the Division, develop a budget request form that asks each group to describe:

1. How its work is linked to the stated goals of the Division;
2. The anticipated work product and its contribution to the work of the Division;
3. The means by which it will obtain input from members of the Division regarding its work;
4. The plan by which it will regularly provide updates on its activities and progress;
5. How the work product(s) will be distributed;
6. The outcomes of its efforts from the previous year’s plans and efforts; and
7. Its efforts and plans to provide broad membership participation, inclusion of new contributors to the governance, inclusion of members from all appropriate constituencies, and foster inclusion of new members and increase the diversity of participants.

The Finance Committee ensures that the group provides the information and has accomplished its plans from the previous year and uses the information to make a budget recommendation. If the Finance Committee is not able to document the sufficiency of the plan and accomplishments, it will not include the group in the annual budget. The group will be eligible to request funds from a contingency fund set aside by the Finance Committee that will be administered by action of the Board at the August meeting.

The Finance Committee coordinates with and forwards the communication plan to the Internet and IP Editors.

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