History of Workforce Development

This week I concentrated mostly on updating the History of Workforce Development WPDP study guide. As I reported earlier, the Board approved dividing up each 100+ page study guide into 4 modules, and then dividing each the 100-question test into four 25-question tests to correspond with each module. It has been a few years since the History study guide was updated, so I have spent quite a bit of time researching workforce events of the last few years. And as you know, it's been quite a ride these past few years! This week I put all those hours of research into editing the information into a usable format. Next I will need to send it to a few SMEs (subject matter experts) to review it and see if I covered everything that needs to be covered. It will also need to be proofed for typos. After the review and proofing, I will need develop additional test questions to cover the added material. Finally, I will put the exam online and the History modules will be ready to go. I anticipate it will be late spring before all the History modules are complete and placed online. It's quite a task to get this upgrade complete.

December Board Meeting

Today I participated in a conference call board meeting. The primary purpose of the meeting was to discuss the St. Louis International Conference. Conference Planning Committee Chair, Laura Coburn gave us an overview of some of the conference activities and re-emphasized that this conference would be "creative and different" because for the first time, the conference would be done completely without help from a local chapter or workforce agency. She specifically asked board members to help solicit donations to cover conference training and entertainment. Laura also asked each district to be responsible for a carnival game at the Missouri Night function (sounds fun!). Laura indicated that the agenda for the conference will be posted on the IAWP Web site in January. There are many assignments that still need people to cover and those opportunities will also be posted on the site. The board will meet again on January 20, 2011 for a regular board meeting.

Strategic Planning

A strategic planning committee was formed to look at developing a 3-year plan for IAWP. I did some research on strategic planning and then contacted the members of the committee for input on what they believed were IAWP greatest asset and what sets us apart from other organizations. Most everyone agreed that our membership is our greatest asset and that our educational programs set us apart from other associations.

For the next step I researched past planning documents and reviewed our mission statement. A survey of chapter presidents was conducted in 2008-2009 and it provided a great deal of insight into the strategic planning process. Based on the survey results I am suggesting 6 strategic goals covering Education, Communication, Chapter Development, Recognition and Marketing. I have asked the committee to review the proposed strategic goals along with specific strategies and get back to me in early January. I will keep you posted on the progress.

How can it be?

How can it be that it's been 3 and a half weeks since I last blogged. I think it's just that time of the year when I get really busy with holiday activities and other things that divert my attention. Maybe I need to make a New Years resolution to keep up with the blog better.

Despite the fact I have blogged, I have been busy with my IAWP efforts. I reviewed the results of the survey for the individual and group awards and recommended changes based on the survey. The Redesign Team and officers had additional suggestions and those were incorporated into the final recommendations. I composed an e-mail to distribute to the same people that get the Countdown and asked for input on the proposal by the end of the year so we can take the final, final proposal to the board of directors in January for approval. Also in the awards arena, I wrote an article for the next Workforce Professional outlining the new membership awards. We wanted to get them announced to the new members right away.