Changes are afoot in the association. With the membership’s approval, and this is yet to be sought, we will be “regionalising” within two years. This message is a first step in bringing the possibility of this to your attention. We will consult with you in detail before any changes occur. Nothing will happen without your approval through a ballot.
As long ago as the IECA Annual Conference in Atlanta, GA, in 1995, past IECA President Doug Wimble and I brought forward the idea that the association needed to do more to become truly international in nature. We led considerable discussion in the following years. However, it was not until 2006, when the topic was taken up by the International Development Committee (IDC) under Julie Etra’s leadership as chair, that things really got moving.
In short, we wanted to see a truly international association that was all-inclusive of members, without the North American membership losing any of its current benefits. After all, North Americans comprise the vast majority of the association members, and we do not wish to alienate any of them.
Membership Survey
Consequently, in June 2007, we surveyed the membership to see what they felt about where we were at as an association and where we were going in this regard. Ten questions were canvassed. One of the questions had to do with whether you considered IECA as being “a North American association with members outside North America whose unique needs are served through local chapters or developing affiliate relationships with erosion and sediment control organizations in other countries.“ Most of you who responded said “yes” to this key question.
From other questions, it also became clear that you wanted to “expand membership around the world to have a greater network of colleagues“ and to find “more ways for members to share expertise and network.“
Most importantly, you said that the “IECA should be a global association with membership spread equally over many regions, with the board of directors made up of representatives of those regions, with each representative being elected from his or her region. Further, face-to-face meetings should be rotated between regions. The organization should have a preeminent brand and role in education, quality, and advocacy around the world.”
The IDC has worked very hard to develop ideas as to how this might come to fruition since the results of the survey were released.
Where We Are With This Process
This message is to inform you where we are with this process right now. Based on our earlier discussions and the survey, Executive Director Russ Adsit suggested for organizational purposes that we split the world into two “regions,” having one based in Denver, CO, in the USA, and the other in Picton in Australia. Region 1 would comprise North and South America and Europe, while Region 2 would comprise the rest of the world. Each of these regions would have its own board of directors and operate under a separate IECA board whose role would be to administer the association at a global level. Of course, the directors of the Australasian Chapter have been kept in the loop and have agreed to the suggested changes in principle as do the current IECA board members.
It is not my intention to explain all the details here-just to inform you of a consultative process that is about to start. The association’s members can expect to be given details in the coming months explaining in much more detail how regionalization might work. We have formed an IDC subcommittee to prepare the draft Plan, comprising Executive Director Russ Adsit and directors Julie Etra, Sandy Mathews, and me.
Proposed Itinerary
Our proposed itinerary is as follows:
- The IDC subcommittee will prepare a draft transition plan for regionalization for approval at the October 2010 IECA Board of Directors’ meeting.
- Assuming the draft transition plan is approved, it will be circulated to the membership for consideration along with an outline explaining how regionalization might work and how it might affect the current membership (if at all).
- We will hold an open forum at the 2011 Annual Conference in Orlando, FL-a plenary session when everyone can be in attendance. This will be the IDC subcommittee’s opportunity to explain the proposal to you in more detail and your opportunity to ask questions.
- Assuming nothing comes out of the plenary session that causes us to change course, we will request our membership to vote on two things over the following 50 days.
i. Whether you approve of the regionalization proposal. I suspect that it will be a simple “yes” or “no” to whether you do or not. Of course, if most of the voting membership does not like the proposal, we will scrap the whole deal.
ii. Whether you approve of revised constitutions and bylaws should regionalization move forward. All members will vote on the IECA Constitution and Bylaws as well as those applying to their own region. - If approved, we will finalize the transition plan. Alternately, we will make changes and resubmit it to our membership for your further consideration later.
- Assuming everything goes relatively smoothly and the necessary approvals are received, we will elect the IECA and two regional boards in November 2011. At this stage, we plan for these folks to take up their new positions at the 2012 Las Vegas conference. All members of the existing IECA Board of Directors will stand down then.
Stay Tuned
Please be looking for the information on this matter coming to our members towards the end of this year and exercise your democratic right to vote early in 2011. Please, we need to hear your voice. It is your association-we wish to ensure your needs are met.