President's Report December 2005

Calgary and Edmonton Christmas Gatherings, High Prairie

As most of you know I was able to attend both the Calgary and Edmonton ACSW Christmas events in November and used the occasions to talk about our goals for strategic planning.  During the Edmonton gathering I was able to acknowledge John Mould's contribution to the profession and formally present him with the 2004 CASW national service award.  The focus of my presentation for the Calgary meeting was primarily our four goals and changes to our conference and AGM for 2006.  Because of weather conditions I was not able to travel to Laduc or Lethbridge for their Christmas gatherings.

 

December 20 I was able to travel to High Prairie and meet with a group of twelve or fifteen ACSW members to talk about our goals as well as respond to their questions about ACSW.  Competency requirements came up as a point of discussion with questions raised about how we developed the current model and two members expressed concerns that it is too complex for at least some members.  I was able to go over the history of how the current model was developed with focus groups of members and explained the pilot concept.  All expressed an appreciation for having me come to their meeting and listen and respond to their questions.  Several of the members indicated that they would be at the conference in March and I encouraged them to come to the AGM as well as lunch with President and Council.

They all expressed support for our goals and in particular the goal of promoting the profession (raising the profile of the profession), in particular, resonated with them.  I encouraged them to meet to discuss what raising the profile of the profession would mean in the High Prairie area and I agreed to return in the spring, present a three hour A level workshop, as well as get an update from them on their ideas about profiling the profession in the area.

 

 

 

I have a January 26 trip to Fort McMurray scheduled.  I will be giving a three hour A workshop in Fort McMurray as well as present our goals and strategies for discussion.  January 25th Rod and I will speak about both CASW and ACSW goals and strategies at a retired social workers meeting in Edmonton.  I have committed myself to attending March social work week events in Medicine Hat , Lethbridge and Calgary.  I have also communicated that I can be available to go to Laduc in the spring as well as Peace River.  My plan is to spend time in Peace River and then go to High Prairie for the follow up session, probably in April. 

I think this is a good use of my time and hopefully will help us both engage members in ACSW and have them identify how we can support them in projects important for their areas.

 

 

The executive group met to go over Rod's draft summary of our planning work on Dec 16.  Once we get Marci's summary of our work we will be able to finalize a draft of the summary to send to Council early January along with the draft agenda for our January 13 meeting.  The executive group identified two action steps that it is going to recommend to Council for Goal 1 (ACSW is an inclusive and cohesive organization, etc.) and Goal 3 (ACSW is an effective agent for social change and social justice).  The executive group discussed each goal with its strategies to identify budget implications for the 2006 budget and in the process identified two action steps to recommend to Council.  We have allotted significant Council time at the beginning of our January 13 meeting for discussion of the goals and strategies leading to a motion for acceptance of the planning document in principle.  Motions for approval of our suggested action steps will be made after the discussion of the goal under which the action step is being proposed by the executive group. 
The other important items on our agenda for January 13 include:  Budget for 2006, AGM and Conference updates; Dates for May Retreat/Planning Session with new and retiring Council members; Social Work Forum-motion for approval to proceed with planning; Summary of beginning discussion of CASW appointment process recommendations by the executive group (we do not have a recommendation but I will let you know where we are in our attempts to come up with a recommendation for you to consider); Discussion and vote on requests by GEA and PIA requests for funding; Communication Committee Report.
We have other agenda items but those are ones I thought you would be interested in knowing are going to be on the agenda.

 

 

I will be away from the 25th to the 30th visiting my sister and her family as well as friends (OK---Yes, I do have friends!). See you in the New Year.