President's Report for April/May/June 2005
April/May 2005
- ASWB Boston Meeting in April 7-10 I attended the ASWB (Association of Social Work Board Meetings) and found the meeting informative in terms of regulation related issues across North American. I was struck by the challenge most of the provinces in Canada have with orofessional associations linked with regulation. In the states, as you know, the regulation function is clearly separated from professional associations. We have the challenge of carrying out the regulation function with out losing site of our professional association responsibilities to the profession and social policy.
- May 3-5 Alberta Health Symposium I represented ACSW at the Alberta Health Symposium. The importance of a social work voice in the symposium to keep before the attendees the importance of a focus on social determinants of health was clear and along with my participation in bringing this before the participants, Parkland Institute represented this point of view very well. One of the clear messages of this symposium was that privatization should not be considered as the option for Alberta’s “third way”. The dominant recommendation was to build on what works with what we are doing now in health care policy. There were 400+ invited participants and 20+ presentations from at least six different countries. Overall I found this to be one of the more informative and engaging conferences I have attended.
- Information Sessions with Past Presidents I have met with both Jake and Emily to chat with them about their experiences in the role of president of ACSW and I also asked Jake about his view of CASW. The chats with Jake and Emily have been useful and I appreciate the time each were able to give me. It is clear that we each bring our different strengths to the role and hopefully in the process are able to move ACSW in a positive direction working in consort with Council and staff.
- Health Sciences Professions AGM May 26th, on behalf of ACSW, I will attend a reception for the AGM of the Health Science Profession group. I will not be able to attend their meetings because of a conference I am involved with in Calgary
- Public Interest Alberta Erin Gray, along with Rod and Jessica from the office, is going to attend the May 28th AGM of this group on my behalf. Emily was nominated for the board by Council earlier in the year. Erin will be able to report on the meeting at our June 24 Council meeting.
- Conferences with Rod Adachi Starting in April, Rod and I have had three phone conferences and a face to face meeting, each at least an hour in length, often two hours, to discuss ACSW business, upcoming meetings and items that Council will need to consider during our June meeting. This is a good time for Rod and I to talk about meetings that are going to occur or that we need to set up. We will continue to have regular conferences to facilitate the work of ACSW. In between our meetings we have an ongoing exchange of information through e-mail.
June Activities
- June 1 (Wednesday) Executive meeting The executive group for Council (Erin, Linda ,Richard and I) will meet for the morning at ACSW offices to go over the following (note other items may be added to the draft agenda outlined below):
- Set the draft agenda for our Council meeting to send to Council members by the latest June 13.
- For presentation to the Council June 24 a draft outline of our retreat with on a theme with goals for the retreat, possible days and times, location, who should be included (staff and committee chairs as well as Council members?) and a method for facilitation of the work of the retreat—should we hire someone or do it in in-house?.
- Go over the year in terms of the role of the executive in working with Rod and I to provide leadership to the Council. Give direction in terms of how we will “meet” in between Council meetings, i.e., face to face, phone conference, e-mail, Blackboard web site, a combination? Also, think about how to facilitate communication among Council members.
- Last item...the past Council approved an executive assistance for Rod but due to a number of factors that position has not been filled as yet. There is a budget item for the position. One of the responsibilities for that position is to take Council minutes which will then be approved by the Council secretary. We need that position filled as soon as possible to facilitate Council as well as staff business. The team will decide on the process for filling the position in a timely manner.
- June 9 Meeting with Minister of Children Services in Calgary The Calgary ACSW children services committee will meet with the Minister of Children Services at the YW and I will participate as ACSW President in the meeting.
- June 15-18 CASW AGM Rod and I will attend the CASW AGM in Vancouver area and we will report on the meeting during our June 24 Council meeting. The CASW 2005 Code of Ethics will be formally acknowledged at this meeting and I am sending an e-mail to Council about the acknowledgment before leaving for the AGM.
- June 23 Meeting with New Council Members Rod and I will meet with our new Council members at the ACSW office to go over the topic items we have previously sent to you.
- June 24 Council meeting
- In July I will plan out times to meet individually with ACSW committee chairs in the fall and also think about fall trips to meet with ACSW members across the province.
