Title: Membership Deployment Simplified
Author:
Section/SPIG: Community Health Planning and Policy Development
Issue Date:
Having just returned from our first Executive Board meeting of the year, I have good news to report! Executive Board members agreed that in order to get much broader participation in membership deployment, a few changes are needed immediately. They include:
- Speaking in plain English. Of about 65 APHA leaders queried in mid-January about membership deployment, many said they didn’t know what the term means. Membership deployment refers to the process we use to solicit nominations for individuals to serve on APHA’s many Boards and committees (Action Board, Equal Health Opportunity Committee, AJPH Editorial Board, Constitution and Bylaws, etc.) and for making appointments to them. The Executive Board agreed that if so many members didn’t understand the terminology, we should change it. The agreed-on new term is ‘leadership appointment process.’
- Communicating better. A majority of those queried also said they knew too little about the leadership appointment process to participate meaningfully in helping to identify good nominees to fill vacancies on our Boards and committees. The Executive Board agreed that, using a variety of methods like The Nation’s Health (see p. 5 of the December/January issue), Executive Board liaisons to the sections, caucuses and SPIGs, and more personal contacts, we would make increasing the number and quality of nominations to fill vacancies a higher priority. Board members also agreed that improving communication with nominees both prior to and after making leadership appointments was important.
- Selection will be thoroughly researched and better informed. APHA’s Constitution gives the Executive Board the responsibility for making leadership appointments. The President-elect, assisted by the Executive Director and staff, after reviewing all the nominations, makes recommendations for leadership appointments to the Executive Board. Though the Board can question or reject any of these recommendations, as a practical matter, the issue is usually a consent agenda item not subject to discussion unless a Board member requests the item be removed from the consent agenda. The Board agreed that the selection committee must ‘do its homework’ and make the most informed decision possible for every appointment, including contacting Committee Chairs and others to gather additional information when needed.
Executive Board members acknowledged that leadership appointments are a primary opportunity for interested members to become more engaged in APHA, and present a way to identify, nurture and mentor tomorrow’s leaders. Improving the leadership appointment process is critical to APHA’s ongoing success and future.
This year’s deadline for submitting Board and committee nominations is April 15. The leadership appointment nomination form and more information about vacancies can be found in the ‘members only’ section of APHA’s web site at <www.apha.org/private>. CHPPD members need to be thinking NOW about who among us we’d like to nominate to which Boards and committees. Those interested in serving should let our Chair, Tom Piper, know.