Volume 38 Number 3 2012
prospectus The New Way
By Thomas J. Landry, OD, President INSIDE THIS ISSUE Your New Board of Directors..................2 Upcoming CE-NY Events...................2 ED Report to the Membership............3 Win a Trip to Vision Expo East!..........4 Letter from Denise Whittam, OD......5 Classified Ads.......................................5 Getting the Optometric Word Out.........9 Transitions Optical Awards Grant........... 1 0 SUNY Names CDC Director..............1 0 2012 NYSOA PAC Supporters...........1 4 2011 CVC Contributors.......................1 6 Annual Banquet Photos.......................1 8 2012 Award Winners...........................1 9 Annual Congress Photos .....................2 0 CE-NY Photos.....................................2 1 SUNY Names Department Chair.......2 1 Commencement Photos.......................2 2 38th Commencement Held..................2 3 Welcome New Members......................2 3 NYSOA Business Partners...................2 4 Contact Information.............................2 4
Prospectus (ISSN 1055-7407) is published by the New York State Optometric Association, Inc., 119 Washington Avenue, 2nd Floor, Albany, NY 12210. Postage paid at Albany, New York. Yearly subscriptions $25.00, single copies $5.50. The views and opinions expressed are those of the signed author and in no way should be construed to reflect the opinions or position of the editorial staff of Prospectus, or the New York State Optometric Association, its officers, local affiliate societies, or administrative staff. All submissions are subject to editorial change with regard to clarity or length. Final decision regarding acceptance or rejection of any submission lies with the editor.
By now, most of you have heard that the NYSOA is changing our structure for governance. These changes are taking place right now, as you are reading this article. A few years ago, the NYSOA Board of Trustees and their consultants Thomas Landry, OD started to evaluate how the NYSOA was governed and began making recommendations to implement these changes, which were being made for many reasons. Under the old system, each executive officer position was held for a two year term. For a volunteer to go through each office, including serving as an appointed vice president and as a past president meant a 12 to 14-year commitment to the NYSOA. Fortunately, we have had very committed colleagues who were willing to give of their time and talent. Unfortunately, a number of qualified individuals were unwilling or unable to commit that amount of time. Additionally, while researching the governance structure of other states, we found that we were one of the last that had two year terms for their officers. Effective next year, in 2013, each executive officer position will be held for a one year term. This will now afford more of our members the opportunity to serve their profession and hopefully will prevent any of our future officers from burn out. Another issue that had become a concern was the difficulty some societies were experiencing with finding members who had the time to serve as a society president. All of our society presidents were doing a great job in organizing their local meetings and building membership, but it was becoming difficult to find doctors who were willing and able to travel to state board meetings or even the annual House of Delegates meeting. Now, under this new structure, all NYSOA local
societies are represented by Regional Trustees. This past spring we held elections for trustees in the three regions of the state. The newly elected trustees will be responsible for attending all association meetings and conference calls. Each trustee has already volunteered to serve and advise in various areas that affect our profession. Your trustee will be responsible for keeping their regional members informed through email and by attending society meetings. Please contact one of your trustees directly for any issues you may have regarding your practice or membership. I do ask that you continue to support the NYSOA by attending your local society meetings and continue to read all correspondence you receive from both the AOA and the NYSOA. Please also consider informing your regional trustee if there is a committee or group that you would be interested in helping with. We have already held numerous conference calls and accomplished a great deal in the first few weeks with this new system. Moving forward, we expect to come across problems and issues which will be solved as we go. As we get accustomed to this new system of governance, we are also hoping that it will become more cost effective for the association. The NYSOA will still continue to engage our consultants that assist us with third party issues, legal and legislative issues as well as our Business Partners program. Initially this new system of governance will be considerably time consuming for your officers, trustees and consultants, but I can honestly say that each of us is enthusiastically and diligently working for our members and our patients. Please contact any of us if you have any concerns or questions. Thank you again for the opportunity to serve all of you on behalf of our profession. I hope you and your families have a safe and pleasant summer.