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Dear Colleagues,

I am writing to you today to share with you both past and recent events at AUPHA that will impact the leadership of the Association. The Board and I are dedicated to acting with transparency as we seek to identify best practices in governance to guide our actions, and to keeping you, our membership, fully informed. For that reason I want to share this information with you and invite you to continue this conversation should follow-up be desired.

As we communicated to you a few weeks ago, the AUPHA Board of Directors will be undergoing a leadership transition in January, 2011, when our Chair, Grant Savage, steps down from the AUPHA Board and is replaced by Peter Fitzpatrick, the current Chair Elect. In anticipation of this transition, the Executive Committee tasked the Governance Committee* with reviewing the AUPHA Bylaws to determine the best course of action that the Board should take to comply with our bylaws and ensure the appropriate leadership structure. 

The bylaws are clear that the Chair Elect (Peter Fitzpatrick) automatically assumes the Chair position when it is vacated mid-term. Peter has generously accepted this role. The Governance Committee was tasked with making recommendations as to (1) when and how to fill the vacant Chair Elect seat and (2) how the Board might address a shortage of members on the Executive Committee (created by a vacancy in the Past Chair position).

The Governance Committee met in late June and discussed many possible actions and outcomes. They provided the following recommendations to the Board:

• That Grant Savage should remain as Chair of the Board of Directors until his planned resignation date of January 1, 2011;
• That the Board should appoint a Chair Elect effective January 1 through June 30, 2011. That person will be eligible for election to that seat by the membership in June, 2011;
• That the Board should appoint a previous past chair to fill Grant's Board seat for 6 months. That person would serve in the Past Chair officer role;
• That the Board should delay the start of the strategic planning process until Peter Fitzpatrick takes over the Chair role in January; and
• That the Governance Committee will meet in the spring of 2011 to revisit the issue of whether or not to recommend inclusion of a Past Chair on the Board slate for the 2011 election cycle.

The full Board met on July 2nd to discuss these recommendations. There was unanimous agreement among Board members that we, as an organization, had not adequately communicated Board transitions to the AUPHA community and that we need to strive to be more transparent in our future actions and communications. The Board reviewed each of the Governance Committee recommendations in turn and voted to accept each one. 

Before I discuss next steps, I want to ensure that all members of the AUPHA community are clear about decisions made by the Nominating Committee, Executive Committee, and Board over the past year that brought us to this point. In 2009, the Nominating Committee identified two potential candidates for the Chair Elect position. Both individuals were completing the third year of their first term on the Board-the time when a Past Chair is typically identified. Due to significant commitments that each had at his or her own university, neither were able to accept the invitation to serve in a leadership capacity. The Nominating Committee then turned to individuals completing the second year of their first term on the Board. However, due to the resignation of two Board members prior to the conclusion of their terms, the only individual in that class of Board members was the practitioner member of the Board who is not eligible to serve as Board Chair. The Nominating Committee then turned its attention to individuals completing their first year of Board service as potential candidates for Chair Elect. 

Because of the substantial learning curve required of a Chair and Chair Elect, the Executive Committee and Nominating Committee agreed to recommend that the incoming Chair (Grant Savage) be nominated to serve two one-year terms as Chair, which is allowed in the Bylaws. The Committees further agreed that Peter Fitzpatrick should be nominated as Chair Elect, with the understanding that (1) he would have 2 years to prepare for the Chair role and (2) another individual would be asked to serve as Annual Meeting Planning Committee Chair in 2010. Through this course of action there would also be leadership continuity for a major strategic initiative (the AUPHA Network). This series of decisions was addressed in the context of the Nominating Committee report at the 2009 Annual Meeting; however, we failed to provide further detail in our written communications.

The next significant event occurred during the 2010 Nominations process, when the Governance Committee was asked to consider whether it was necessary for John Lowe, Immediate Past Chair, to serve another year in that capacity, or whether that seat might be vacated to open another seat on the Board. The Governance Committee recommended and the Nominating Committee agreed that John had served two successful 3-year terms and that the Board would be adequately led with an executive committee of 3 individuals for the one year that the Past Chair seat was vacant.

So that brings us to July, 2010, and Grant Savage's announcement that, effective January 1, 2011, he will be leaving the AUPHA-member program at the University of Missouri to become a faculty member at the University of Alabama at Birmingham School of Business, which is not an AUPHA Member program. This transition makes Grant ineligible to serve on the Board after that date. Given the decisions described above, Grant's departure in January will leave the Board Chair and Past Chair seats vacant.

During its June 2nd meeting, the Board determined that a subcommittee consisting of the Executive Committee and other Board members would be appointed to identify two individuals to serve as Chair Elect and Past Chair. That work will take place in the next 2-3 months and the subcommittee's recommendations will be widely communicated to AUPHA members. 

I realize that this has been a lengthy explanation of a complex situation. However, I am confident that our Board has acted with thoughtfulness and transparency in determining the best approach to securing the appropriate leadership for the Association. 

If you have any questions at all, please don't hesitate to call or email me. If I fail at some point in the future to adequately explain something that AUPHA is doing, please let me know. AUPHA Board members are also available to answer your questions and address your concerns. You can find the Board members and their contact info in the AUPHA Network under "All Communities." Above all, we want to ensure that you are comfortable that the Association, its Board and staff are all operating in the best interest of our membership and the field.

All the best for a relaxing and joyful summer, 

Lydia

*The Governance Committee is chaired by Jon Thompson, PhD of James Madison University and includes the following individuals: 

• Sharon Buchbinder, RN, PhD, Towson University
• Robert Burke, PhD, George Washington University
• Richard Culbertson, PhD, Tulane University
• Samuel Friede, FACHE, University of Pittsburgh
• Kanak Gautam, PhD, St. Louis University
• Sara Johnson, FACHE, Indiana University
• Sandra Potthoff, PhD, University of Minnesota