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MARCH 2, 2005, MINUTES OF ANNUAL MEETING Although our chapter holds no more than five or six meetings in the course of a year, there is much that goes on between sessions. The day to day work of the chapter needs to get done, and thankfully, we have a small but dynamic core group of dedicated officers and active members who attend to it individually, in committees and in task forces. Spring is always our busiest time of year with the Induction Ceremony, Research Day and other educational programs. Last year, (2004) we had barely concluded our Spring programs when we met in an unusual June meeting to induct and orient our newly elected officers and to begin planning for our Fall 2004 and Spring 2005 programs. This year, we have undertaken the following major projects to date:
Finally, I would like to thank people outside of our organization on behalf of our chapter. Their help and support has been vital in getting us off to a smooth start this year. First and foremost in the Friends of Theta Alpha category is Dorothy Blythe, the long time receptionist at CNHS, who once again, has been helping us track membership and award applications. Also, Alyssa Bottone of CNHS for helping us reserve this room and for ordering the food and securing a computer for the power point presentation. Elizabeth Garcia of CNHS for helping us get our announcements and blanket emails out to the students through the CNHS website. Chris Ruel whose cooking for our Fall meetings was certainly a factor in pumping up our attendance at the meetings, and to Emily Ruel for getting out the 900 newsletters. My daughter has conveyed to me that she does not want to see any kind of sticker or stamp until next Fall , when she will be home from college for Christmas break and looking for a job. And the most recent member of outside support network is a guy. His name is Jason, and he is the son of Judith Lee, our secretary. And one last comment. Thank you to all of you for your help, support and your dedication to our chapter. We still have a lot to get done before breaking up for the summer (yes I'm told there is still such a season). I look forward to working with all of you as we head toward induction and our annual research day, and I especially look forward to the challenges of pursuing new ideas to make our chapter even better. Respectfully submitted, Richard Ruel President Theta Alpha Chapter Leadership Succession Committee Report As there are no elections planned this year, the Succession Committee has focused on retaining and engaging members. To that end, we have:
Respectfully Submitted, Susan C. Frazier BSN RN Member Survey- Theta Alpha Chapter Surveys sent by email: 132 Surveys returned: 17 (13%) In the past year, 8 (47%) have visited Theta Alpha's website In the past two years, 12 (70%) have attended a Theta Alpha event The reasons for attendance were: wanting to hear the speaker (2), allegiance to the honor society (5), networking opportunities (2), socializing with colleagues (2), other (6: 3 were at their own Induction) The reasons for not attending were: conflict with professional obligations (3), conflict with personal obligations (3), not interested in the program (3) 7 (41%) had received the newsletter, 9 had not, 1 did not know (note: not all newsletters had been mailed) 14 (82%) members would be interested in being listed in a shared membership directory 6 (35%) members are interested in being a mentor, 4 (24%) in being mentored and 2 (12%) in both (total 70% interested in mentoring) 5 (29%) members are interested in serving on a committee Answers to "How can our chapter improve the experience for members?" Send a 2nd newsletter in the spring (& a real newsletter once per year). Seek more ways to involve the students while they're still on campus. For fairly recent grads provide mentoring in research utilization and leadership. For more seasoned members support publication and conducting their own research. It would be very helpful to have continuing ed on using statistics and on grantsmanship. Perhaps more programs; could, for example, co-sponsor the College Research Dialogues with the Office of Urban Family Health; be more visible at the Distinguished Scholar Lecture, which the chapter does co-sponsor with the PhD in Nursing Program I think the Chapter does a great job! Better communication- as a new member still in school I dont know where all this stuff goes on. Also, elections occurred, but members werent in on the nominating process and there was only one person running in each catagory- it started out already like a farce of group. It just seemed like another group with no interest in fresh energy or its pool of new members a few of which would have made a great officer. I think that good communication is key. Also, I enjoy when orginizations I am apart of send out emails on a monthly basis or so from the President or a committee member in charge of that to update and I feel in the loop with my local chapter. Comments: Only 132 good email addresses of 315 active members Many listed email addresses were no longer valid To improve communication between Board and members and to make a directory work, emails are crucial. AWARDS COMMITTEE REPORT March 2, 2005 To date, there has been one nomination formally submitted for the Pearl Rosendahl Nursing in Education Award. Three other informal nominations have been made. Feelers have been put out for all awards, and the response is pending. Traditionally, nominations have been slow, but we always manage to get them in on time, usually from a handful of sources i.e. board members and faculty. To speed up the process, I plan to do the following:
The deadline for nominations is March 21, 2005. (Update: It was extended to Friday, March 25, 2005.) Shortly following this deadline, the committee members (five excluding chair who has designated himself a non-voting member) will review all nominations and vote on the recipients of the awards to be presented at the Induction Ceremony on Saturday, April 23rd, 2005. Stephanie Devik has the certificates and covers and will coordinate the printing. Stephanie has also volunteered to take the plaques from the display case outside the school of nursing for engraving at a trophy shop in Plymouth as soon as we have determined the award winners. Research Committee Report To: Mr. Richard Ruel, MS, RN, President and The Membership of Theta Alpha Chapter From: Drs. Victoria K. Palmer-Erbs, PhD, ARRN, BC and Joanne Dalton, PhD, RN, BC Co-Chairs, Research Committee, 2004-2005 RE: Research Committee Activities 2004-2005: Report for the Theta Alpha Chapter 2005 Annual Business Meeting Date: February 27, 2005 The Theta Alpha Chapter Executive Board and the members of the Theta Alpha Research Committee are pleased to report on last year's activities and to announce the annual call for research proposals. A primary goal of Theta Alpha Chapter is to facilitate the development of nursing research and scholarship by chapter members. Those submitting proposals for funding must be current members of Theta Alpha Chapter. The Research Committee Co-chairs developed the packet for this year's research awards, including the application and criteria against which the applications will be evaluated. Proposal application materials are available at the College of Nursing Reception Desk, 2nd floor Science Center (8:30 a.m.- 5 p.m. Monday -Friday). We are pleased to announce that Theta Alpha's web site has also been a source of information for those members interested in downloading materials for the research application. This year, research grant award applications are due Monday, February 28, 2005 at 4:45 p.m. Three research awards were announced at Annual Research Day on Friday May 21, 2004. The following members received awards for their research proposals: The 2004 Sylvia Gendrop Theta Alpha Research Grant Award ($1,500) was presented to Dr. Diana M. L. Newman for "Measurement of Functional Status of Caregivers of Children with Cancer: An Instrument Development Study". The 2004 Brenda Cherry Theta Alpha Doctoral Research Grant Award ($2,000) was evenly divided between the following two recipients:
The Research Committee is planning to meet April 20, 2005 to review research proposals submitted for the annual Brenda S. Cherry Theta Alpha Chapter Doctoral Dissertation Research Award and the Anne Kibrick Research Grant Award. Special thanks in advance to all members and faculty who are able to assist the Research Committee with disseminating this year's call for proposals to Theta Alpha Chapter members or to those members who decide to send in a proposal about their own work. President Ruel is correct when he wrote in a recent President's Update on the Chapter's website: "Membership in an organization like Sigma Theta Tau occurs at different levels. You can be involved as much or as little as you want. . . We also recognize that your annual membership renewal is vital to the existence of our chapter and STTI, and we are deeply grateful for your support."The Committee recognized that it is the annual renewal of your membership that provides the funds for the Chapter's annual research awards. So many thanks to each of you, the members, once again for your dedication and commitment to this important work of the Chapter. Requests for funds to continue projects that were previously funded by Theta Alpha Chapter resources are also welcome each year. Do not hesitate to contact us with any questions about the Committee timelines or the annual application process. 2004-2005 Theta Alpha Chapter Research Committee Members: Katarina (Kaci) Carroll Ikels, RN, BSN kaci8725@hotmail.com Joanne Dalton, PhD. RN, BC jmdalton@adelphia.net Carol Hall Ellenbecker, PhD, RN carol.ellenbecker@umb.edu Maarit E. Kelvin, BS, RN, new graduate MKelvin@fenwayhealth.org ; maarit_kelvin@hotmail.com Judith Lee, BS, new graduate, Theta Alpha Board Member and Secretary ajjtleefish@aol.com Cynthia LaSalla, MS, RN LaSalaCAL@aol.com Marketa Rejtarova, BS, RN, new graduate marketa_zak@yahoo.com Richard Ruel, MS, RN, President, Rruel@aol.com Diane Tedeschi Gillis, MS, RN, Past President, Theta Alpha Chapter dmtgillis@aol.com M. Merrie Watters, RN, MS, Past President, Theta Alpha Chapter margaret.m.watters@lahey.org Dr. Victoria K. Palmer-Erbs, PhD, RN, CS, Co-Chair, Theta Alpha Chapter Research Committee victoria.palmererbs@umb.edu Joanne Dalton, PhD. RN, BC, Co-Chair, Theta Alpha Chapter Research Committee jmdalton@adelphia.net U Mass Boston College of Nursing & Health Sciences UMASS Boston Campus Center, 3rd floor, Room 3540 Library, 5:00 pm Review of minutes from February 2, 2005. Today's Education Program Many thanks to Carol Ellenbecker for her research presentation on home healthcare nurse job satisfaction and intention to stay ?.
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