Board Enacts Big Reduction in Governance Structure

At the close of this year's annual meeting on May 21, APA will institute a major reform of its governance structure, the major feature of which is the termination of more than two-thirds of the 90 or so standing committees.

The number of councils, the components to which the committees have reported, will be reduced from 14 to nine, though some councils' membership will be increased to reflect the broadened scope of their work, as they assume some of the tasks of their subsidiary committees. To replace the dozens of standing committees, which had widely varying workloads, goals, and products, the councils will appoint “rapid-fire, short-term, product/goal-oriented work groups to address issues of importance to the field.” These new ad hoc groups will meet electronically, thus saving the ever-escalating cost and travel time of face-to-face meetings.

Commenting on the structure changes, APA President Nada Stotland, M.D., said in an e-mail to members, “The Board recognizes that these actions will change long-established practices. Our committees have enabled many dedicated APA members to get together to draft policies, plan presentations, and discuss important issues. However, our future success as an organization requires us to adapt to changing fiscal and market realities. Individuals who have served on components, on the Board, and in the Assembly are valued and valuable contributors to the organization and will be invited to continue their active involvement with the APA.” She indicated that APA is developing a Web-based service through which all APA members can raise and discuss issues that concern them.

The restructuring “provides an opportunity for a streamlined but better staffed and more effective component structure,” with the councils forming task-focused work groups when an issue needs to be addressed in a timely manner and with a tangible product, commented APA President-elect Alan Schatzberg, M.D., who chaired the Work Group on Governance Reorganization.

Board to Downsize

In voting to reduce the size of APA's governance structure, the Board of Trustees did not ignore its own size and functioning. The Trustees decided as well to eliminate three of the Board's voting positions—the vice president and two of the three trustee-at-large positions. These positions will be terminated at the end of the terms of the incumbents.

Recognizing the importance of attracting and retaining younger psychiatrists as APA members, the Board elected to retain the one at-large position that is designated for an early career psychiatrist. It also added a second voting position for a member-in-training (MIT) and made the existing and additional MIT positions two-year terms, with one of the two positions up for election each year.

A representative from minority and underrepresented groups will also gain a vote on the Board. The new voting Board member will be the elected chair of the Assembly Committee of Representatives of Minority/Underrepresented Groups. This member will take the place of the representative of the Committee of Black Psychiatrists, who was a nonvoting member of the Board and the only minority-group representative with a Board position.

In addition, the Board will hold one fewer meeting each year and voted to stop funding the attendance of nonvoting past APA presidents at Board meetings. They will still be able to attend meetings, but at their own expense. The former presidents affected by this change are those elected prior to 2000. An APA Bylaws change in 1999 ended funding for ex-presidents elected from 2000 on, except for the three immediate past presidents, who continue to serve as voting members of the Board.

The Bylaws Committee has been instructed to develop wording for the necessary Bylaws changes to implement the new structure by the Board's September meeting.

Assembly Changes Not Decided

Schatzberg's governance reorganization work group also grappled with whether to recommend changing the size and role of the APA Assembly. It decided to leave that up to the Assembly Executive Committee, which discussed it at its January meeting. That committee did not, however, agree on a new structure, only on a recommendation that the Board charge the Assembly with determining how it will reorganize itself within the budgetary constraints the Board sets for the next Assembly budget.

The work group recommended a 40 percent cut in the Assembly's 2010 budget, but the Board voted to reduce the cut to 20 percent from the 2008 level.

When Stotland appointed the Ad Hoc Work Group on Governance Reorganization last year, she explained that its charge was to analyze the governance and component structures and to recommend strategies for reducing the more than 90 councils and committees APA funds. It had become too difficult to manage the work of that many committees—far more than any other medical organization has. As Stotland explained, “Although saving money was not the original intent of the working group, decreased revenues since its appointment have made finances an issue as well.”

After approving these changes, the Board voted to appoint an APA Remodeling Committee, consisting of representatives from the Board and Assembly, to look at an APA reorganization that goes beyond the steps taken at last month's meeting. The new committee's charge, according to Area 1 Trustee Jeffrey Geller, M.D., who proposed it, is to “look at ways that APA can reorganize itself to meet the needs of the 21st century.” The committee will seek input from district branch officers and psychiatric specialty organizations, and, to minimize expenses, all meetings will be held electronically. A Web site will be established for APA members to suggest ideas to the committee. ▪