Affiliate: Texas Society of Radiologic Technologists
Term: 2006-2007
ASRT Activities attended for 2007 House of Delegates
Grass-roots Meeting:
Saturday, June 2nd, at 12:00, I
attended the Grass-roots Luncheon. Presentations were made to the outstanding
affiliate society, North Carolina. Two members were named outstanding advocates, Tom Davis of South Dakota
and David LeClair of Massachusetts. ASRT lobbyists, Bill and Dave, gave updates on the progress of both the House and Senate version and indicated
that the bills were very strong this year. They stated that co-sponsors increase
weekly. The name had been changed and sonography societies had been added to
the alliance. RT in DC 2008 will hopefully be a celebration!
ASRT Update:
Saturday, June 2nd, at 10:00, I
attended the ASRT Update. A brief overview of ASRT and ASRT Foundation matters
was given. Lynn
May spoke about the direction ASRT will be headed, making a “good” organization “great”. He talked about making the things that ASRT currently offers better.
ASRT has a new mission statement and vision statement to align with the changes.
Time for questions brought up some interesting points. Delegate funding
was an issue and the board indicated they were working on it. Questions about
how to get new people involved if the annual meeting was getting smaller and/or CE were not concurrent with the House of Delegates. Connie Mitchell indicated that it was up to individual chapters to recruit members
to run for their chapters and mentor them. She also indicated that ASRT was NOT
going to separate the CE from the governance portion of the meeting.
ASRT Delegate Check In:
Saturday, June 2nd, at 5:00, I checked
in as an affiliate delegate for the Texas Society. I presented my credentials
and received my coupons for mandatory meeting. I had to sign in again on Sunday,
June 3rdat 7:00, and then again on Monday, June 4th,
at 7:00
Delegate Orientation:
Sunday, June 3rd, at 8:00, I attended
the Delegate Orientation as part of the First House of Delegates Session the lasted until 10:30.
Commission Hearing:
Sunday, June 3rd, at 1:00, I attended
the Commission Hearing. Three resolutions were presented from last year’s
House of Delegates. Thirty-seven were introduced from the commission. One late resolution was introduces during the First House of Delegates and it was voted to hear the resolution. There was much discussion on some of the resolution and some were just editorial changes. A full report of the consensus vote for each resolution is included in my Delegate
Report that is attached.
Open Forum on Bylaws:
Sunday, June 3rd, at 2:30, I attended
the Open Forum on Bylaws. Each bylaw change was discussed and the rational for
the change. A consensus vote was taken on each change. Major points were the decisions that required board votes and how many member of the board would make the
vote. No consensus could be reached on several changes that included language
about the Board of Directors and their vote. Another point that was argued was
allowing other “state modality-specific professional societies” in as an alternate to affiliates for the requirements
of office and delegates.
Open Forums:
ARRT Report:
Sunday, June 3rd, at 3:30, I attended
the ARRT Report. Greater detail about the generous half million dollar donation
to the ASRT Foundations for education on CR/DR was discussed. An announcement
of the new requirements for 2011 was made. The pathway for RPA’s to take
the RRA certification has been extended until then. And, starting that year,
all new certificates will have a ten year limit with a requirement to demonstrate qualification to continue to hold the certification. Details are still being developed. Currently,
there are pilot tests that will give preliminary results after completion, with the final results mailed in four weeks. This is only offered on limited exams.
Certification exams are evaluated every three years with major changes made every six years.
JRCERT Report:
I did not attend this forum.
Chapter Meeting:
Mammography:
Sunday, June 3rd, at 6:30, I attended
the Mammography Chapter Meeting. The current Steering Committee Chair, Donita
Shipman, was the facilitator for the meeting. ASRT staff assigned to this chapter
was Becky Kruse. There were approximately 15 mammography technologists present
and two men (interested parties). All delegates were in attendance, as we still
have some carry-overs from the transition. Both newly elected delegates were
also in attendance. We discussed articles for the Scanner and other areas. We discussed speakers for the next conference and were informed that all classes would
be very generic and not focused. This is because the number of classes will be
limited and they need to attract as many participants as possible. So it will
be unlikely to see a class specific to mammography.
There were two resolutions that effected mammography. We
discussed both and felt they were acceptable. Donita Shipman remained the Steering
Committee Chairman and Deborah Berry was appointed the Vice-chair. We gathered
three names of individuals to run for National Delegates for 2008. However, with
the passage of the new resolution we will need at least four. Donita will contact
those that ran last year and see if they are still interested.
Our biggest issue is communication within our chapter. With
the annual conference getting shorter and having less opportunity to network, we are worried about how we can keep mammographers
from across the country in contact and make sure the National Delegates are their voice.
Voting Record for the House:
Please find attached document, ASRT Delegate Summary Report.
House Issues:
Sunday, June 3rd, at 8:00, I attended
the first seating of the House of Delegates. I found it to be very inefficient
and disorganized. We did not start on time and could not get a proper count of
delegates present for quit some time. I believe the final count was 156 delegates
of a possible 201 available to sit. I’m not sure why things were not communicated
clearly for the check in process. It seemed like many times delegates voted and
did not know what they were voting for.
The Speaker did report back on Resolution 06-3.01 from the 2006 House. She reported that there has been two summit meetings with the parties involved in the RA/RPA unification
issue, one in October 2006 and one in January 2007. Because of confidentiality
agreements signed by all parties, none of the information may be discussed and an agreement has not been reached yet. The next summit meeting has not been scheduled.
Ten states currently have laws for RA practice. She introduced the
student interns and explained that the committee selected less and the criteria were higher.
There were only six interns. Three members were nominated for Vice-speaker. There are as follows: Allen Coat, Dawn
McNeil and Donna Thaler Long. Cathy Kucek was nominated for Speaker.
Monday, June 4th, at 8:00, I attended
the second seating of the House of Delegates. Unfortunately, things did not get
better. I found it difficult to understand the Speaker at times. Time limits and speaking only once to a point were stressed in the orientation, but not followed during
the business. Susan Cazaux was added to the nomination list for Vice-Speaker. The run off election was between Donna Thaler Long and Susan Cazaux.
Issues that will affect my affiliate directly are the number of delegates and time in which we
must turn in the information to ASRT. This may require some changes in our affiliate
business.
Issues that I have a strong opinion on are the Bylaws changes that reduce the vote by the Board
of Directors from unanimous to ¾ for Life and Honorary Members. These are individuals
that are granted this membership for exceptional service to the organization and the profession. I don’t think that less than a unanimous vote should award such an honor. I was glad to see this go back to the committee for reconsideration.
Professional
Issues:
At this time, I do not have any issue that should be considered for next year.
House Election Results:
Speaker: Cathy Kucek
Vice
Speaker: Donna Thaler Long
Miscellaneous Professional Issues:
At the 2006 ASRT conference, Region 3 was very concerned about how National Chapter Delegates would
be nominated and put on the ballot. This year at the conference, I learned that
the Nomination Committee does not oversee the National Chapter Delegates. They
only nominate the officers. I feel that this is part of the existing problem
for chapters that are currently on probation. Also, there is no over site and
members can run for multiple chapters, which could cause more problems. There
is no language in the Bylaws or anywhere regarding this matter.
Educational Courses:
I did not attend any educational courses.
Fellows and Life Member Ceremony:
Friday, June 2nd, at 6:00 I attended
the Fellow Elevation Ceremony. Dr. Nadia Bugg, Anita Slechta, and Tim Wescott
were all elevated to Fellows. Joan Parsons and Neta McKnight were granted Life
Membership. This was my first Fellows Ceremony and I was quit moved as the individuals
were presented with their lists of accomplishments. It reminds one of what a
wonderful profession we are in and what outstanding individuals we have among us.
President’s Reception:
Monday, June 4th, 6:30 I attended
the President’s Reception and Installation of Officers. The military gave
their usual honorary flag and filled the room with tears. The changing of the
Chief brings a new face to our leadership and new direction to the ASRT. Hopefully,
affiliates will be rejuvenated and the CARE bill will pass!
Respectfully submitted,
Stephanie Johnston, BS RT (R)(M)
Texas Affiliate Delegate
