Reorientation of ASHA's Governance

Policy documents that relate to both professions are acted on and approved by the entire Legislative Council.

Rationale: As a partner with the Executive Board in governing the Association and as the governing body entity representing the membership of the Association, the Legislative Council is responsible for approving the member-related policies of the Association.

NOTE: "Approve" in this context means that the Legislative Council has the official responsibility to determine what will be and what will not be Association policy. As part of the shared governance concept and its focus on issues of concern to the membership, the Council will approve Association policies that have an impact on the practice of the professions and the areas of the discipline.

Process: Resolutions related to Association policy are submitted to the Legislative Council for approval. Policies to be approved by the Council include the following: Association position statements, membership dues, changes in the Bylaws or Articles of Incorporation, Code of Ethics, official publications, parameters for establishing special interest divisions, and adding or deleting membership categories. Resolutions that relate only to one of the Assemblies are submitted to the Assembly for action. Such resolutions will include position statements on professional practice issues related to the specific Assembly. The Council will review the annual Association budget but will not approve the budget. If the Legislative Council determines that resources are being allocated to areas that are not in accordance with the agreed upon priorities and if two-thirds of the Council members agree that the budget should be modified, the Legislative Council can obtain a revised budget that is prepared in accordance with instructions provided by the Legislative Council for reallocation of resources.

Rationale: As a partner with the Legislative Council in governing the Association, as the governing body entity that has the fiduciary responsibility to ensure the well-being of the entire Association, and as the only governance body entity where all the voting members are elected by the total membership, the Executive Board is responsible for ratifying all policies of the Association.

NOTE: "Ratify" in this context means that the Executive Board reviews all policies approved by the Legislative Council to ensure that they are legal and appropriate for dissemination as official policy of the Association. As part of the shared governance concept, the Executive Board will be expected to ratify (i.e., officially sanction/confirm) all policies approved by the Legislative Council unless the policy to be ratified is clearly detrimental to the well-being of the Association. See Appendix F, question 2, for further discussion of this issue.

Process: Resolutions related to Association policy approved by the Legislative Council or Assemblies are submitted to the Executive Board for ratification. Other duties charged to the Executive Board include approval of the Association's budget, professional practice guidelines and technical reports; and establishment of standing committees and boards, ad hoc committees, and task forces. The Board also will establish, merge, and dissolve special interest divisions according to criteria established by the Council; recommend the Executive Director have National Office staff develop work plans related to priorities and develop progress reports related to those work plans; and consider any other item that requires official sanction for the good of the Association. The Executive Board will ratify all policy documents approved by the individual Assemblies of the Legislative Council and will ratify all policies approved by the Legislative Council to ensure that the documents have the necessary official standing for dissemination as official policy statements of the Association. See Appendix G for a list of Legislative Council and Executive Board shared governance activities.

NOTE: Major policy documents of the Association are approved by the Legislative Council and ratified by the Executive Board. Policy documents that relate only to audiology/hearing science or to speech-language pathology/speech or language science are approved by the appropriate Assembly and ratified by the Executive Board to make the documents are official and legal. Position statements that relate to both professions are acted on and approved by the entire Legislative Council and ratified by the Executive Board. See Appendix E for an explanation of a process for approving ASHA policy statements.

Rationale: To make policy decisions it will be important for the Legislative Council to have as much information available as possible during its deliberations. Limiting the Executive Board members' ability to speak during Legislative Council meetings deprives the Council of information the Executive Board members may have available as issues and resolutions are discussed. Requiring that Board members speak only when asked promotes an adversarial relationship between the Legislative Council and Executive Board that must be eliminated if the Council and Board are to have shared responsibilities related to governing the Association. Allowing an Executive Board member to participate freely in discussion of issues before the Legislative Council would minimize the probability that the Board would not ratify a decision or action taken by the Council. As the Legislative Council approves policy statements that have been developed by committees or boards, or as issues related to membership needs are discussed by the Council, it may be helpful to have a committee or board chair provide information directly to the Council without seeking permission or being asked to speak.

Process: Executive Board members will be allowed to enter into discussion just as any other Legislative Council member can. As the Council discusses resolutions or issues, committee and board chairs would be able to enter into discussion on resolutions or issues related to their committee or board just as any other Council member. In addition, the Executive Board and Legislative Council will communicate on an ongoing bases via email and Listserv.

Rationale: There is a critical need for the Association to identify reasonable priorities. In the past, there has been confusion as to which ASHA body, (LC or EB), or committee or board, was responsible for determining the Association's priorities. By having the Legislative Council and Executive Board develop the priorities of the Association using a collaborative process, confusion as to how priorities are developed and who has the responsibility for developing them is reduced. With the Legislative Council being accountable for submitting a reasonable list of ranked priorities to the Executive Board, and the Board being accountable to the Council for actions taken related to the priorities, a collaborative process for developing the Association's annual and multiyear priorities will be established.

Process: The Legislative Council is responsible for obtaining information on issues of concern to members, holding deliberative discussions on the issues, and identifying and ranking Association priorities based on member needs. The Executive Board is responsible for deriving annual and multiyear priorities for the Association from the list of ranked priorities submitted to them by the Council. If the ranked list of identified priorities submitted to the Board by the Council is reasonable, the Executive Board is duty bound to make every effort to implement strategies to address the ranked priorities.

NOTE: Ongoing Association programs, services, and operations carried out by the National Office such as maintaining the certification and accreditation program, lobbying on issues of importance to members, producing the Association's journals, providing professional practice consultation, and other infrastructure activities do not need to be identified as a priority unless there is something about the activity that elevates it beyond the day-to-day implementation.

Rationale: Provides an opportunity for the special interest divisions, state associations, Allied and Related Professional Organizations, and other formal advisory groups to provide information to the Legislative Council on issues of concern to members. This information is of particular importance to the priority setting process.

Process: The leadership of the Legislative Council will make a formal request of the various special interest divisions and advisory groups to submit information on member needs that should be considered by the Council as it identifies priorities. Special interest divisions and advisory groups also may initiate action to provide information to the Legislative Council on issues of concern.

Rationale: As the body that is representative of the membership, it is incumbent upon the Legislative Council to seek out and identify issues of concern to the membership, discuss and deliberate on those issues of concern, and identify a selected number of priorities that should be acted on over a period of one to three years.

Process: The Legislative Council will discuss and deliberate on issues of concern to the membership and develop a list of ranked priorities to be submitted to the Executive Board. Identification of issues will begin by gathering information from members, special interest divisions, advisory groups, and National Office staff. The Legislative Council, using the Assemblies for profession-specific issues, will discuss and deliberate on these issues and prepare a list of priority issues for submission to the Legislative Council as a whole.

Rationale: As a partner with the Legislative Council in governing the Association, the Executive Board will derive annual and multiyear priorities for the Association that can be implemented based on current need for action and the resources available.

Process: The Legislative Council submits a list that includes a selected number of ranked priorities based on identified member needs. The Executive Board reviews the list and determines the annual and multiyear priorities from the ranked list for which the National Office will develop work plans. The list of final priorities with explanation will be shared with the Legislative Council.

Rationale: The Legislative Council and the Executive Board determine WHAT the priorities of the Association should be, and the Executive Director and National Office staff indicate the strategies for HOW the outcomes related to the priorities should be achieved.

Process: The Executive Board forwards the final Association priorities and expected outcomes, along with any recommendations on specific implementation strategies that should be considered, to the Executive Director. The Executive Director and National Office staff develop a work plan for each priority, indicating the strategies that will be implemented to achieve the desired outcome and the allocation of staff and funds to complete the work plan.

Rationale: The Executive Board is accountable to the Legislative Council for taking action on the priorities identified by the Council. Periodic reports to the Legislative Council on progress being made in completing work plans will allow the Legislative Council to determine if they believe additional actions need to be taken.

Process: The Executive Director monitors work plan strategies assigned to National Office staff and provides periodic reports to the Executive Board. As part of the information provided to the Legislative Council by the Board, reports will be prepared using information obtained from committees and boards and from the National Office on the progress being made in implementing the work plans developed to achieve the outcomes related to the Association's priorities. Time also would be provided on the Legislative Council meeting agenda to receive verbal reports from the Executive Board on actions taken related to the Association's priorities.

Rationale: Because the Legislative Council uses information obtained from members to identify priorities, the Council must keep members informed of the progress being made on achieving the outcomes associated with the priorities. Legislative Council communication to ASHA members on progress being made on Association priorities establishes a closer tie between the members and their representative(s).

Process: Based on reports received from the Executive Board, the Legislative Council would use a variety of ASHA communication vehicles (e.g., ASHA Web site, Leader, Leader Extra, Asha, Town Meetings) to inform members about actions taken related to the identified priorities.

Rationale: The Assemblies provide a forum for speech-language pathologists/speech or language scientists, and audiologists/hearing scientists to discuss and vote on issues that relate directly to their profession or area of the discipline. They provide autonomy for the professions in making decisions on issues that only affect their profession and area of the discipline. Issues that are not profession specific or that cross professional/discipline areas will be addressed by the entire Legislative Council.

Process: Each audiologist/hearing scientist and speech-language pathologist/speech or language scientist elected to the Legislative Council will participate in the Assembly related to his or her profession or area of the discipline. Legislative Council members self-select the Assembly in which they will participate. It is expected that members of Legislative Council will self-select their Assembly affiliation based on their certification area (audiology or speech-language pathology) and/or their area of science and research activity (speech or language or hearing). Each Assembly will elect a Coordinator and Associate Coordinator of the Assembly. Each Assembly will be responsible for receiving and synthesizing information on member needs from members, Legislative Council caucuses, special interest divisions, advisory groups, and other sources, and will identify priorities related to its profession. The Assembly will be responsible for voting on resolutions and issues that relate solely to its profession and area of the discipline. All members of the Legislative Council will vote on resolutions and issues that are not specific to one of the Assemblies and will identify priorities related to the Association or the discipline as a whole.

Rationale: The current composition and portfolios of the Executive Board ensures that there will be representatives on the Board from various areas of the discipline including science and research, audiology, and speech-language pathology. Adding one additional audiologist to the Executive Board will facilitate having a diversity of views related to audiology on the Board. The position of Vice President for Quality of Service is split because the position deals with activities related to certification and accreditation of service providers and service agencies that have profession specific issues.

Process: Members of the Executive Board will be elected by the total membership with the exception of the Executive Director, who serves as an ex officio member of the Executive Board without vote.

Rationale: The creation of a caucus system allows Councilors and other members of the Association having like interests (e.g., science, public schools, multicultural issues) to meet together during the Council meeting to discuss issues and resolutions that will affect that interest area. It provides members of the Legislative Council with an avenue to discuss member needs and provide information to the Council on issues of concern. Further, it enables the caucus to review resolutions and develop proposals for amendments rather than having the resolution edited on the floor of Council.

Process: Any member of the Legislative Council could indicate his or her interest in establishing a caucus related to a specific segment of the membership or an issue or resolution to be discussed before the Council. Legislative Council members wishing to establish a caucus would register their intent with the Council floor managers, and a specific time and meeting place would be announced to the Council and other Association members. Nonmembers of the Legislative Council are welcome to participate in the caucus discussions. Decisions and recommendations made by the caucus may be submitted to the Legislative Council for consideration.

Rationale: There is a need to have continuous leadership in the Legislative Council who can work with the Chair of the Council, leadership of the Assemblies, and the Committee on Resolutions in establishing the Legislative Council agenda and ensuring that Council activities proceed in an orderly and timely manner.

Process: One floor manager from each Assembly would be selected in the year prior to the year they would serve.

Rationale: The Legislative Council represents the membership and, as the Association's governing entity representing ASHA's membership, discusses, deliberates, and identifies Association priorities based on member needs. There needs to be a sufficient number of members on the Legislative Council so that the diverse needs of the membership are represented. However, consideration must be given to having a Legislative Council of a size that it can operate efficiently as it does its business. This may involve consideration of a reduction in the size of the Legislative Council and how representatives are apportioned.

Process: Evaluation of apportionment, size, and representation in relationship to changes in governance process and structure will be completed by July 1, 1999. See the section of this plan on Future Studies for additional information on this study.

Rationale: The majority of Legislative Council members, members of the Association, and other Association leaders have indicated that having state representation in the Association's governance is important. State representation also enables Councilors to focus broadly on the issues affecting the professions and the Association, taking into account membership issues from all work settings and interests.

Process: ASHA members in each state will nominate and elect their Legislative Council members. International and NSSLHA representatives will be elected by the respective members.

Rationale: Decisions related to the practice of the professions and the good of the Association must be made in a timely manner. Procedures for discussing and debating issues and voting on resolutions throughout the year will allow for timely decision making.

Process: Procedures will be set up for the governing body to discuss and vote on issues that need to be acted on in a timely manner. The Legislative Council will meet twice per year and the Executive Board continues to meet regularly (up to four times per year) to act on Association business. During times that the entities of the governing body are not meeting, they would use enhanced communication technology to conduct the business of the Association.

Rationale: Technology can support and improve effective governance process. However, technology does not fix ineffective governance process and structure. Use of technology by a group usually reverts to the lowest common denominator-the person(s) with the most limited use of technology. As the Association makes incremental advances in the use of technology, it must do so by requiring technology when it has become commonly usable and acceptable (e.g. email and Listserv) and continuing to try state-of-the-art technology in special situations (e.g. use of chat rooms for editing documents). Electronic communications have become as vital means of communication as the telephone and written communication and are faster and more efficient methods of sharing information with multiple parties. To effectively govern the Association, all Councilors and Executive Board members must use this available technology.

Process: By January 1, 1998 each member of the Legislative Council and the Executive Board will have access to email and the Association's Listserv. National Office staff will provide technical assistance to Councilors and Executive Board members who need assistance in accessing and using email or Listservs. Appendix H provides information on the applicability of current technologies that can be used to support ASHA governance, the advantages and disadvantages of each technology, and the current cost to the user and the Association.

Rationale: By having two meetings per year, the Legislative Council will be able to conduct the business of ASHA in a more continuous manner. A second meeting will provide improved opportunities for planning, allow Councilors to engage in more face-to-face debate and deliberation on issues, receive more input from committees and boards, and become more accountable to the Association membership. It also would allow for the priorities identified by the Legislative Council to connect with the Association's planning and budgeting cycle. A second meeting could be held in conjunction with existing meetings (Leadership, State Policy Workshop) or the Legislative Council could meet in Washington, DC, and schedule an LC day on Capitol Hill). Councilors could be more involved in annual Convention activities if the number of days the Legislative Council meets during the Convention is reduced.

Process: The time of the additional meeting will be set to facilitate the financial planning and priority setting of the Association (e.g., March/April). In addition, the meeting could be held in conjunction with other planned meetings (i.e., National Office conferences, Legislative Council day on Capitol Hill). The first meeting of the calendar year would be where training of Councilors on the governance process will take place. The meeting would be scheduled on a weekend to minimize the loss of time from employment. All expenses for attending the meeting will be covered by the Association in accordance with ASHA travel policies. (See Appendix F, question 4, for information related to the cost of a second meeting of the Legislative Council.)

Rationale: All members of Legislative Council and Executive Board need to understand their responsibility as a steward of the individual interests of the members and the collective good of the professions, discipline, and the Association. As such, new and continuing members of the Legislative Council and Executive Board will participate in educational and orientation activities. Current Councilors and Board members also will need orientation in the new governance process and structure.

Process: An educational/orientation program for new and current Legislative Council and Executive Board members will be developed that includes multiple modalities: presentations by consultants in association governance, readings on governance, videotapes, discussions. Topics to be included are representational governance, legal/fiduciary responsibilities of a governance body, representation and solicitation of input from members and member groups, priority setting and planning, and ASHA's governance structure and process.

Rationale: The change in membership of the Committee on Resolutions reflects the need to include the leadership of the Legislative Council on the Committee on Resolutions. The leadership of the Legislative Council includes the Assembly Chairs representing the interests of the professions, and the floor managers of the Council. Members of the Executive Board will continue to be represented. The reduction in size of the Committee on Resolutions will result in a cost savings and should facilitate more efficient operation due to the smaller number of Committee members.

Process: The Committee on Resolutions, including members of the Legislative Council and Executive Board, would do the following:

Educate and assist members of the Association and the Legislative Council on effective processes for collection and referral of identified issues and concerns;

Review all resolutions to determine if they are policy and need to be acted on by the Legislative Council as a whole or one of its Assemblies and refer the resolution to the appropriate body;

Determine if resolutions should be sent for mail ballot, or placed on the consent or the regular agenda;

Develop and prepare specific resolutions for presentation;

Ensure that resolutions forwarded for action include all required information and are written in a clear and understandable manner;

Prepare the policy-making agenda for face-to-face meetings of the Legislative Council and the Assemblies; and

Provide for and coordinate the orientation and educational preparation for members of the Legislative Council and the Executive Board.

Members of the Committee on Resolutions will include the following:

Seven members from the Legislative Council

1. Coordinator, Audiology/Hearing Science Assembly
2. Coordinator, Speech-Language Pathology/Speech or Language Science Assembly
3. One member at large elected from the Audiology/Hearing Science Assembly
4. One member at large elected from the Speech-Language Pathology/Speech or Language Science Assembly
5-6.Two Co-Floor Managers of the Legislative Council, one from each Assembly
7. Chair of the Legislative Council Coordinating Committee

Seven members of the Executive Board

1. Past President (who will serve as chair of the Committee)
2. President
3-7. Five additional Executive Board members, selected by the Executive Board

Two ex officio members

1. Executive Director
2. Association's Parliamentarian

Rationale: Having an equal number of audiologists/hearing scientists and speech-language pathologists/speech or language scientists on the Committee on Nominations and Elections, who identify candidates for Executive Board offices specific to their profession, will provide autonomy in the determination of the Executive Board slate of candidates. Having each group identify the candidates for offices related to their specific profession provides a mechanism by which candidates within the respective professions will be selected on the basis of credentials that are best known by their professional peers. This mechanism at the Committee on Nominations and Elections level is a crucial element in ensuring that qualified members of each profession are on the slate of candidates. Because all Executive Board officers will continue to be elected by the entire ASHA membership, it is important that the profession-specific candidates for election are selected by members of the Committee on Nominations and Elections who are members of that profession. The length of term for members of the Committee will be two years to facilitate continuity in implementing improvements to the nominations and elections process. The terms of elected members will be staggered so that half of the members will be elected each year.

Process: The Committee on Nominations and Elections will be composed of seven members, including the following:

3 Audiologists or hearing scientists elected by the Audiology/Hearing Science Assembly.
3 Speech-language pathologists or speech or language scientists elected by the Speech-Language Pathology and Speech or Language Science Assembly.
1 Past President who will serve as the chair of the Committee.

The three audiologists or hearing scientists and the past president would identify candidates for the audiology/hearing science specific Executive Board offices (Vice President for Professional Practices in Audiology and Vice President for Quality of Service in Audiology). The three speech-language pathologists or speech or language scientists would identify candidates for the speech-language pathology and speech or language science specific positions (Vice President for Professional Practices in Speech-Language Pathology and Vice President for Quality of Service in Speech-Language Pathology). All members of the Committee on Nominations and Elections would identify candidates for the remaining offices of the Executive Board. In addition to the nominees included on the ballot by the Committee on Nominations and Elections, the respective Assemblies could add up to two nominees for the audiology/ hearing science and speech-language pathology/speech or language science offices- Vice Presidents for Professional Practice and Vice Presidents for Quality of Service. The entire Legislative Council could add up to two nominees for all other offices.