As was indicated earlier, strategic planning revolves around asking, and answering, tough questions regarding the future direction and vision for GLACUHO. During our earliest strategic planning discussions with Dr. Parker, we were quickly educated that implementing an ongoing plan with changes would take five to ten years to complete.
The following is an outline of the key issues that GLACUHO sought to address following the November 1998 Conference. They directed much of our meeting time and agenda development. They are not listed in order of importance, but rather from broad to narrow.
- Defining our Constituents: Now that we have identified that GLACUHO housing officers include residential life, residential services, residential facilities and dining services, we now need to make sure that all aspects of the Association reflect the needs of these constituents. Currently, most of our efforts have been focused on residential life professionals; leaving out a significant number of other housing officers.
- Educational Opportunities: As we have been reminded of the broader purposes of GLACUHO, we have defined a need to be “more than an annual conference.” Currently, most of the board and committee time is spent on events and issues surrounding this event. What are the services and needs that can be met yearlong, outside the annual conference? How does this change/adapt the work of the board and committees? What happened to the association's use of drive-in workshops to meet this need?
- Review and Update all Documents: As the purpose statements were re-aligned, so too must all other documents reflecting the Association. The purpose statements have an obvious trickle down effect on our by-laws and operations manual, our brochures and pamphlets, our Trends newsmagazine, conference manual, etc. As we progress, there must be continued efforts to update these documents to reflect our changes.
- Communication with the Membership: How we communicate with the membership, and the mediums we use to communicate, need to grow for the Association to prosper. Some initiatives to consider include: development of a web page and web master to keep information timely and easily accessible; the use of a listserv to seek the opinions of the membership on various issues; utilization of e-mail for state delegate communication with constituents; advisory boards and task forces for specific projects; continued update of the Trends to reflect the all inclusive components of the housing field; yearly updates to the strategic planning guide to reflect the vision of the new President and board, and GLACUHO program session at the Annual Conference.
- Senior Experience: The association has come to recognize that a predominance of the housing professionals in the Association are grad, entry and mid-level housing officers. As it has been reviewed and researched, much of this may be attributed to the intentional development of the regional housing association. As senior housing officers became more involved in ACUHO-I, other mid-level housing officers wanted a more accessible professional development experience that could be attained at the regional level. While we have taken note of our membership make-up, we do not want to lose the contributions of those more senior housing officers as their experience and perspectives are greatly valued. Therefore, consideration must be given regarding how to continually involve senior housing officers in GLACUHO. Some suggestions include: seeking their involvement in writing articles for Trends ; providing roundtable discussions and programs addressing their needs at the annual conference; and utilizing them in advisory capacities.
- Organizational Structure: As we continue to assess how to meet the needs of our residential life, residential services, residential facilities and dining services housing officers, we need to make sure that the structure of our Association is supportive of these professionals. As a result, the organization and purpose of the Annual Conference and committees needs to be discussed and evaluated. The outcomes of these discussions may have long-term implications for what GLACUHO looks like in the future. As is evidenced by the nature of these questions, if change is needed, this will be a long process.
- Contributions to the Association: There is a need to more broadly recognize contributions to GLACUHO. In our current recognition structure, we focus the majority of our attention on residential life contributions, leaving out residential services, residential facilities and dining services officers. In addition, the scope and quality of our recognition needs to be explored. Ideas to explore include: a diversity award, recognition pins, letters to supervisors of involved GLACUHO members, contributions to the Trends newsmagazine; etc.
- Finances: As we continue to make progress on our financial goals, we have a variety of questions to consider regarding reserve monies, membership dues, revenue, insurance, catastrophic management, etc. To assist the Association in researching and considering these areas, we are in the process of creating a Financial Advisory Board. This board will reflect experience with GLACUHO, strong knowledge of the housing profession and best financial practices, and senior housing officer involvement.
- Diversity and Inclusivity: At the 1998 Annual Conference, we edited our diversity statement to update language and to more accurately reflect the values of the Association. In following with this theme, we are asking ourselves two questions: What additional programs or tasks should committees consider adopting in order to meet the needs of traditionally under-represented housing officers? And, what programs and services can each committee offer that meet the needs of populations other than the committee's targeted constituency?
- Policy Development: From year to year, a tremendous amount of rich dialogue takes place regarding Association values as they relate to policies. Unfortunately, much of the dialogue and outcome of these conversations is lost from year to year. In line with other progressive Associations, GLACUHO has a need to write down and develop policies that reflect its values and decisions on a number of topics. Some of these policies include: the use of alcohol, exhibitors as program session presenters, exhibitor sponsorship, etc. Putting these policies in writing will broaden the functionality of our operations manual.
- Holding Committee Members More Accountable: As we have made progress on accountability for committee chairs, we also need to find ways to hold committee members accountable. Since this is a volunteer association, and we traditionally turn away GLACUHO members who cannot be placed due to numbers, we need to value that privilege. We also recognize that the work of committees is the “life line” of the Association and directly affects future prosperity.
- Conference Planning: Creating a conference manual, for bidding institutions, is an initiative that began a few years back. Since the Annual Conference is such a defining event for the Association, it is crucial that institutions interested in bidding and hosting have a guide for success. We also need to consider a post-bid conference meeting that allows the host institution, two full years out, to have an on-site visit with designated board members.
- Candidate Nomination Path: For a few years, the board has discussed how involvement in GLACUHO is perceived by the Association's membership. A reflection on our findings suggests that we need to make sure that leadership opportunities and involvement are open to ALL members of the Association. In addition, the manner in which individuals are nominated, contacted and educated on involvement, and finally voted or appointed, needs to be detailed and broadened in it's outreach.