Call for an Investigation into the Recent and Rapid Turnover of APA Executive Directors

 

Whereas the APA has had to replace four Executive Directors in the past five years,

 

Whereas replacing Executive Directors is costly to the APA membership in terms of both the loss of leadership and services, and the necessary cash outlays (expenditures for ads, search committees, multiple salaries to cover overlapping ED contracts, termination settlements, moving EDs to Delaware, staff turnover as a result of ED turnover, and so on),

 

Whereas the recent and rapid ED turnover may point to structural problems in the APA that interfere with its ability to address issues in the profession which require attention at the national level,    

 

Whereas the Report of the Ad Hoc Committee on Priorities and Problems of the APA (Proceedings and Addresses, Vol. 73, No. 5, May 2000) recommended additional study of and possible changes in the structure of the APA to make the Board of Officers “at once more agile and responsive and more representative,”

 

Therefore, be it resolved that the Board of Officers appoint an ad hoc committee of twelve APA members to investigate the nature of the problems that have resulted in rapid ED turnover, and

 

Be it also resolved that the Board of Officers (a) solicit nominations from all APA members for serving on this ad hoc committee, (b) select nominees who represent the geographic, disciplinary, institutional, and cultural diversity of our profession, (c) select nominees who have relatively few conflicts of interest in serving on this committee, such as members who have not recently served as divisional officers, board members, or as Executive Director, and (d) make available the list of nominees to any APA member who requests it, and

 

Be it further resolved that the ad hoc investigation committee (a) be established by July 1, 2005 and that a call for nominations be sent by email to all APA members by June 1, 2005,

Finally, be it resolved that the APA not hire a new Executive Director until the investigation committee has (a) held meetings with members at the divisional meetings to inform members of its work and to gather input, and (b) provided a report and set of recommendations to the Board of Officers, the interim Executive Director, and the members of the organization within a year from the appointment of members of the committee.

 

 

[sent to Karen Hanson, Chair, APA Board of Officers on 4/26/05 by a group of APA members]