Sue Hale, President
The Board of Directors (BOD) of the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA) met June 26–28, 2009, at the ASHA National Office. Following are highlights of the Board's discussions and actions taken during the meeting.
President's Opening Remarks
President Sue Hale convened the meeting at 9:00 a.m., welcoming the Board members and again thanking them for their continued service to the professions and ASHA.
Executive Director Update
Besides the written summary provided to all Board members, Executive Director Arlene Pietranton updated the Board about a number of items:
- Schools Conference registration is on target for 2009
- ASHA has recently received a number of awards:
- The ASHA National Office is one of 19 Washington, DC area businesses to receive the first EcoLeadership Award from Alliance for Workplace Excellence
- The National Office received the Alliance's Workplace Excellence Seal of Approval, an honor given to ASHA every year since that award's inception in 1999
- The National Office also received our fifth consecutive Health & Wellness Trailblazer Award
Finally, the Board of Directors congratulated Arlene Pietranton, who will be recognized on July 16 as one of 25 female CEOs to receive the 2009 Brava Award from Washington Smart CEO. The Brava Women Business Achievement Awards celebrate women who are active leaders and role models, who believe in building companies that are resources for dependable products and relationships, and who provide services that people can and will rely upon.
State Association Outreach Plan
As part of the ASHA's Strategic Pathway to Excellence and approved by the Board of Directors, a state association outreach plan was undertaken in 2008 to increase interaction, communication, and collaboration between ASHA and recognized state speech-language-hearing associations (SSLHAs).
ASHA's new governance structure encourages ASHA members to access the Board directly with issues of concern. To formalize a Board of Directors Outreach program for 2010 and facilitate coordinated participation of the Board of Director visits, the following activities were discussed:
- Coordinating the development and maintenance of a Board member calendar of state association meetings
- Developing a planned rotation for the ASHA President and other board officers to visit state association annual meetings
- Publicizing the availability of Board members to participate in state association meetings
- Coordinating communication between states requesting board member attendance and the identified member of the board
- Continued briefing backgrounders for Board members traveling to state meetings
- Development of a survey tool for Board members to provide feedback and information on their state visits
Board members expressed strong support for the 2010 program and said they have found significant benefits in the past from state association visits.
Health Care Economics Committee Update
Stuart Trembath, Chair, Health Care Economics Committee (HCEC), and Dee Adams Nikjeh, Vice Chair of the HCEC, updated the Board regarding two issues. The first issue discussed was methods of continuing to enhance our collaborative efforts in representing the professions before the American Medical Association's (AMA) Current Procedural Terminology (CPT) Editorial Panel, which approves new procedural billing codes, and Relative Value Update Committee (RUC), which recommends payment values to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS). The second issue involved whether speech-language pathology procedure codes should be revised to reflect the time spent during the service. No decision was required by the Board at this time. The HCEC will continue to keep the Board up to date on these issues throughout the year.
Future Convention Sites
Cheryl Russell, Director of Convention and Meetings, presented information about the tentative convention sites between 2013 and 2021. She reminded the Board that we have committed to Philadelphia in 2010, San Diego in 2011, and Atlanta in 2012, and of course, we are excited about the 2009 Convention in New Orleans. Cheryl reviewed the complex set of criteria that must be considered when selecting a convention site, which include area of the country, year of most recent convention held there, size of convention facility, number of breakout rooms, number of hotel rooms and their proximity to the convention site, airport access of city, price, and other factors. Cities currently being considered for future sites include Orlando, Chicago, Phoenix, St. Louis, Boston, and Washington, DC.
Board Self Assessment Process
The Governance Vision, developed as part of ASHA's transition to a new governance structure, is for a governance structure that "meets current and future governance challenges." The Board of Directors appreciates that exceptional boards prepare themselves for these challenges by gathering feedback on their contribution and using the results of this feedback to strengthen board structures and practices. This is extremely important as the Board of Directors, the sole governing body of the association, faces greater accountability for its decisions in this era of heightened scrutiny and transparency.
The Board is committed to a self-assessment process that allows it to assess its strengths, identify areas requiring attention, and determine what actions are needed to close any gaps between desired and actual Board performance.
The self-assessment process includes four steps:
- overview
- questionnaire administration
- results tabulation and analysis
- review and development of priority setting.
At the June meeting, Step 1, the overview of the self assessment process that the Board will complete in 2009 was explained by President Sue Hale and Director of Surveys and Information Sarah Slater.
ASHA Web Site Enhancements Update
Tom Jelen, Director of Web & Knowledge Strategy, reviewed two significant changes to ASHA's Web site: the new design and the new search engine. Tom reported that early click-through data indicate that the new design has significantly improved navigation on the site. The new search engine, just launched this month, will be a major improvement over the old tool and should make finding site content much easier and faster for all site visitors.
Certification Maintenance Online Demo
Georgia McMann, Certification Administration Director, and Steve Ritch, IS Business Analyst, demonstrated the new maintenance module that allows members to view their continuing education maintenance hours and submit their compliance form online. One significant benefit of this module is for members who are audited and use the ASHA CE Registry, no further paperwork will be required. All CE data will be automatically submitted from the CE Registry.
Planning for the Future
Alison Lemke, Vice President for Planning, led the Board in a discussion of societal trends that will have an impact on ASHA and the professions in 2010 and beyond. ASHA's three-year strategic plan, the Strategic Pathway to Excellence, developed in 2007, will be updated in 2010. In preparation for crafting the 2011–2013 version of the plan, the Board began to evaluate societal trends early in 2009 and asked the Advisory Councils for their feedback on those trends at their March 2009 meeting. The Board reviewed the feedback provided by the Advisory Councils and explored additional issues pertinent to members for two areas of societal trends: Technology Trends and Socio-Demographic Trends. Additional trends will be discussed at the next Board meeting in August.
2009 Budget Update
Chief Staff Officer for Operations Chuck Cochran updated the Board regarding ASHA's financial performance through May of 2009. He reported that though dues income is slightly ahead of budget, non-dues revenue, which is 40% of ASHA's income, is showing the signs of the current recession. Anticipating the potential for a non-dues revenue shortfall, Chuck reported that ASHA's staff have already made significant spending reductions, including freezing hiring for selected open positions. He showed a list of both implemented and planned cost reduction and revenue enhancement activities for 2009. Though the economic downturn has had an impact on the Association's investments, ASHA has sufficient reserves to cover the shortfall in the 2009 budget in order to not reduce member services.
2010 Budget Forecast/2010 Membership Dues
The Board of Directors reviewed the 2010 budget forecast and the rationale for the Financial Planning Board's (FPB) recommendation for a dues increase in 2010. The FPB noted that ASHA has managed to hold dues flat for five years by carefully controlling costs and steadily increasing non-dues revenue. However, the current challenge to balancing the 2010 budget results from a combination of five years of inflation, increasing costs, a decrease in non-dues revenue that is the result of current economic conditions, and an ever-increasing demand for member services. As a result, the FPB unanimously recommended a dues increase for 2010. After lengthy discussion, the Board decided that the only alternative to a dues increase would be a significant decrease in programs and/or member services and the potential of losing the positive momentum gained for our two professions. The Board also took into consideration that even with a proposed dues increase, ASHA's dues would still be significantly lower than those of other organizations of similar scope. A dues increase that maintains member services and allows ASHA to have a balanced budget in 2010 was passed by the Board. The Board approved a $25 (approximately $2 per month) increase for 2010. The new dues amount will be reflected in dues notices distributed in August.
Audit Reports
The Board voted to accept two unqualified (the highest possible evaluation) financial audits conducted by Certified Public Accountants Grant Thornton LLP: the audit of American Speech-Language-Hearing Association and the audit of the Council on Academic Accreditation in Audiology and Speech-Language Pathology.
Property Update Review
Real estate consultants Larry Walker and Davor Kapelina, who are assisting ASHA with the sale of 10801 Rockville Pike, discussed various options for selling the property. The Board decided to move forward with a proposal to create a joint venture with a development company in order to maximize the return to the Association. The Board was reminded that the sale of the property does not impact the Association's operating budget since the building fund is not part of regular operations.
Committee on Committees
The Committee on Committees (CoC) reviewed and discussed appointments to a variety of committees for 2010.
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