ASSOCIATION
From the president: Your voice matters By Katie Garrett, DVM, DACVS
The ancient Greek philoso- pher Heraclitus observed, “the only constant in life is change.” As an organization, we—the AAEP—must be sure that we adapt to change or risk losing our relevance.
Dr. Katie Garrett
In the spirit of Heraclitus and as part of a larger review of AAEP governance to ensure we are serving our membership effectively, the AAEP in January created a task force to review our
Articles of Incorporation and Bylaws. This diverse group comprises members representing different career stages, practice types, ages and history of involvement with the AAEP, among other traits.
Over the course of multiple meetings, the task force created a draft set of recommended revisions to these foundational documents. The draft recommendations have been posted for member comment, and you should have received an email on May 16 inviting you to review the recommendations and provide feedback. If you did not receive this email, please contact the AAEP office at
aaepoffice@aaep.org for a supplemental invitation. The deadline for member comment is June 17.
After the comment period closes, the task force will review all feedback and create a final set of recommended revisions to submit to the board of directors for their con- sideration at the July board meeting. The board will approve a final set of revisions that will be posted for member review. As per the current Bylaws, voting on the revisions will occur at the General Membership Meeting at the AAEP Annual Convention in December in Orlando, Fla.
Many of the draft revisions address relatively small points, such as amending the language to be more reflective of how the organization operates currently and to address advances in technology and how communication occurs in the present day (and how it may occur in the future). However, there are some more substantial draft revisions that I would like to highlight for your consideration.
One of the draft recommendations is to alter the means of amending the Articles of Incorporation and Bylaws. Currently, these documents can only be revised by a vote of the members present at the General Membership Meeting. This limits the voting on amendments to a very small percentage (0.01%) of the active membership of the organization. The draft recommendation would change the
voting procedure for future amendments to an online vote. This would allow all active members the opportunity to vote, rather than just those able to attend the annual convention and General Membership Meeting in person.
Another draft recommendation is to change the process by which the AAEP vice president is elected. The Nominating Committee will continue to select the final slate of candidates for the office after careful consideration of all eligible candidates. The only requirement for the office is previous service on the board of directors; however, a wide variety of factors are also evaluated, including the current needs of the organization, the ability of the candidates to represent the organization, and previous AAEP service.
Currently, the board of directors votes on the name(s) selected by the Nominating Committee to elect the vice president. The draft recommendation calls for the general membership (instead of the board) to vote on two candidates selected by the Nominating Committee. As part of creating this draft recommendation, the task force surveyed the entire AAEP membership. Fifty-seven percent of respondents favored the general membership voting on the slate prepared by the Nominating Committee, 27% of respondents favored the status quo with the board of directors voting on the slate prepared by the Nominating Committee, and 16% of respondents indicated no strong opinion.
The board of directors’ commitment to effective governance also extends to review of our committees as a whole to make sure these volunteer work groups are serving the organization as efficiently as possible. Improved committee member onboarding is a related goal of this effort.
The Member Engagement Committee, as always, strives to involve additional members in committees, student outreach, task forces and other volunteer efforts. We are unique among member organizations in that we have many more people who want to volunteer than we have current volunteer opportunities. It is an incredible strength of the organization that we have so many engaged members, but we also understand that it can be frustrating if you have not yet received a volunteer assignment. Please know that we continue our efforts to involve as many members as possible as volunteers.
Again, I invite you to read the draft recommendations to the Articles of Incorporation and Bylaws document and provide feedback to the task force. As a member, this is your organization and we value your opinion. Please always feel free to reach out to the AAEP office at
aaepoffice@aaep.org or to me at
kgarrett@roodandriddle.com.
AAEP News June 2024 III
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76 |
Page 77 |
Page 78 |
Page 79 |
Page 80 |
Page 81 |
Page 82 |
Page 83 |
Page 84 |
Page 85 |
Page 86 |
Page 87 |
Page 88
