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ASHA Executive Director updates are provided throughout the year to give ASHA members a more in-depth view of various National Office units, their key member services, and the names and roles of ASHA staff in those units. Information about staff changes and ASHA National Office recognitions/awards.
Many thanks to those of you who have provided feedback regarding the previous updates or suggestions for future ED updates.
This update focuses on 2008 ASHA National Office Cost Savings and Efficiencies.
As we've done in past (for example, see the February 27, 2008 ED Update), we continue to look for ways to reduce costs—even more so given the current economic challenges. The Web, e-mail, and SharePoint sites continue to prove to be very effective in enhancing communication and reducing expenses. And, we hope that these tools also make it easier for volunteer leaders and members to find information. A few specific 2008 examples are:
- CE Administrators can now download the most up-to-date forms online.
- The use of e-mail as the primary means of communication with 524 CE Providers saved over $8,000 in postage, envelopes and paper.
- Board of Ethics (BOE) meeting materials are now provided on CD-ROM and/or the board's collaborative SharePoint site in place of binders and print copies—saving paper, reprographics and mailing costs.
- ACE Awards lists are now posted online instead of mailed to each state association.
- The Special Interest Divisions now distribute Perspectives online eliminating copying and mailing costs, which were almost $250,000 in 2007.
- Authors can now use an online tool to submit their articles, eliminating faxing, e-mail and Fed Express charges.
- Survey and Information Team (SIT):
- Continues to save money by using a low cost Web-based survey package at a cost of $200 per year. The cost per response is about $0.05 compared to the previous cost of more than $5 per paper survey respondent. Since its implementation in 2004, the use of Survey Monkey has saved approximately $250,000.
- Has staff whose expertise includes the conduct of focus groups. As a result, ASHA is less dependent on external focus group moderators. SIT staff conducted eight focus groups in 2008—at a savings of over $32,000.
- Assisted with the instrument design and will take full responsibility for the fielding of the 2009 Speech-Language Pathology Skills Validation Study (a project that was contracted out in its entirety in previous years), which will save thousands of dollars in contracting fees.
- A variety of cost saving measures reduced the expense of producing and mailing the ASHA Catalog and Back to School catalog by almost $30,000.
- Brochures and other items are printed in groups (i.e., "gang printing") whenever possible; for example, the cost for gang printing four brochures in December was $4,676 vs. $8,300.
- Numerous contracts were renegotiated and some expenses were eliminated:
- Changed vendors for video production services, saving $8,000 on each of three video self-studies produced in 2008, for a total savings of $24,000.
- Negotiated a new foreign and Canadian mail contract at the end of 2007, for a savings of $1,600.
- Leases on copy machines were renegotiated at an annual savings of $65,000.
- Eliminated the message center at the Convention—$20,000 savings
- Eliminated a printed schedule for the Convention—$7,000 savings
- Negotiated audio visual contract for the Schools conference $5,000 savings
- Stopped using print for recruitment advertising—switched to all electronic—broader dissemination and saved $14,000 per year.
Green Initiatives
- The new ASHA building (Gold LEED status) continues to be energy efficient—with lower energy costs and water bills.
- Continued use of recycled paper for printing The Leader and other ASHA printed products.
- By changing to environmentally friendly cutlery and cups, we save approximately $2,000 annually.
National Office Staff Updates
The following individuals are new to the ASHA staff since December 4, 2008:
- Barbara (Lecker) Pahygiannis, Director, Assets & Corporate Partnerships
- Brandi Scott, Manager, CE Provider Records
- Steven Kip Shapiro, Building Engineer
The following individuals have left ASHA to pursue other opportunities:
- Pat Gardner, Project Manager, Clinical Trials
- Lili Mendizabal, Office Services Specialist
- Dee Shafer, Assistant Manager, Editor
The Next Executive Director Update: Federal and Political Advocacy
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