And
we have been having fun at AUPHA. This year has been a good one on many fronts.
We’ve seen unprecedented membership growth, primarily within the graduate
program membership, and almost entirely from programs that intend to seek
accreditation. While we recognize that our new membership may be your new
competition, it is our responsibility as an association to represent the
interests of all programs that want to and are eligible to be members. It is
our mission to improve healthcare management through university-based
education, and the larger our reach, the more effectively we can accomplish
that mission.
However,
we have not forgotten our roots, nor have we lost sight of the value of peer
review and the recognition that comes from that. Our full member programs that
have achieved accreditation or certification will remain our primary focus, and
moving all members towards that goal will continue to be a priority. As we join
many of our member programs in celebrating significant anniversaries, we are
well aware that many of you have been with us from the beginning and we are
grateful for your loyalty and support over the years.
In
addition to being a year of significant growth for AUPHA, it has also been a
year for building and strengthening our member services. The AUPHA Network
(network.aupha.org) has become a key resource for many of our members. Every
month we see increasing activity in and usage of the message boards,
downloading and uploading of materials, and ongoing member engagement. The
Network is becoming the place where our members can meet and connect between
face-to-face meetings, and we are delighted that you are using it for that
purpose and more.
New
to our portfolio of member services is the Centralized Application Service
(CAS) that AUPHA will be launching in the fall of 2011. The decision to pursue
the development of a CAS was one that took nearly a year to finalize, and was
reached after months of discussion and research. Many of you participated on
the webinars that were held over the summer to address questions regarding the
service. Over the next several months an advisory group comprised of Daniel
Gentry, as chair, Lanis Hicks; Diana Hilberman;; Kelley Moseley; and Andrew
Sumner will be working to develop the application and associated processes and
policies, with a view to having the CAS ready for the 2011-12 application
cycle. Liane Kluge (lianep.kluge@aupha.org)
will be leading this effort, so please get in touch with her if you would like
more information on the CAS and how you can participate.
Another
addition to AUPHA’s member offerings in 2010 has been the webinar series that
was launched following the AUPHA Annual Meeting. Four webinars have now been
offered through the Annual Meeting series, in addition to two Program Director
Orientation webinars held in the spring and a Network training earlier this
month. This fall we will be offering webinars on how to use the AUPHA Network.
Additional Annual Meeting webinars will continue through the winter of 2011. We
would like to offer a monthly webinar and will be putting out a general call
for proposals to the membership soon. If you would be interested in presenting
via webinar, please look for that announcement and send in your ideas.
Over
the summer you may recall that we communicated an upcoming transition in
volunteer leadership for AUPHA. In January, 2011, Grant Savage, Chair of the
AUPHA Board, will be resigning his position. Grant will be assuming a faculty
position at the University of Alabama at Birmingham in their school of
business. This will make him ineligible to serve on the Board. In accordance
with our bylaws, Peter Fitzpatrick (Clayton State University) will become Chair
upon Grant’s resignation. Additionally, Grant’s departure creates a vacancy on
the Executive Committee as the Board is currently without a Past Chair. As we
communicated over the summer, a task force was appointed to recommend a chair
elect, as well as a former past chair who might be appointed to the Board to
fill Grant’s vacated seat and complete the Executive Committee. The Task Force met
in September and has recommended that Sharon Schweikhart (Ohio State
University) be appointed Chair Elect on and that Diana Hilberman (University of
California, Los Angeles) be appointed Past Chair on January 2. The bylaws allow
both appointments to be made by the Chair to fill vacancies until the next
Business Meeting. At that time these individuals may be proposed for election
to these seats.
Finally,
I want to mention that by now you should have received your dues invoices for 2011
and will have noted that after 3 years of a freeze on dues increases, the Board
has approved a modest dues increase for 2011. The amount of this increase (3%)
will change a program’s dues between $65 and $100 depending on membership
level.
Looking
forward to2011, we are excited at the prospect of really getting to work on our
Healthcare IT Curriculum Grant. This three-year, $225,000 grant will allow
AUPHA and CAHME to work in partnership with our members to develop a
comprehensive Healthcare IT curriculum for use in our graduate and
undergraduate member programs. Many of you have already volunteered to be
involved and to give strong consideration to utilizing the materials when they
are developed. We will be seeking more involvement and support in the months to
come, and are confident that you will find these materials to be an essential
addition to your existing HIT offerings. Stay tuned for more on this in the
near future!
So
things are busy and exciting at AUPHA, and we are energized by your engagement
and support as we seek new ways to provide you value from your membership.
Please don’t hesitate to contact me or anyone else on the AUPHA Staff or Board
if we can be of assistance to you. We are here to serve your needs and are
happy to help in any way we can.
All
the best for a happy holiday season.