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President’s Report: Theta Alpha, March 1, 2006 We did not hold elections in 2005, but I did have to make a few emergency appointments to fill some very important positions. During the Fall of 2005, Susan DeSanto Madeya was appointed First Vice President, and Marina Donahue was named Secretary. Jennifer Rifenburg, a recent inductee (2004), has been learning the role of treasurer from current Treasurer Marion Winfrey, and she plans to run for that position in March 2006. The position of President-Elect remains vacant for the time being, but we are looking for candidates to run for that office in the upcoming elections. Our chapter has a strong, hard-working and committed core of leaders, but they cannot remain in office forever. We have always managed to find members, especially UMASS Boston CNHS faculty, to serve as guest speakers and help us sporadically with an ad hoc committee, a project, or task, but we are having a particularly difficult time finding new leaders to conduct the day to day business of our chapter. It has been a daunting task for our Leadership Succession Committee finding candidates to put on the ballot for the March 1, 2006 election. When approached, potential candidates tell us that they are too busy and just cannot commit themselves to one more thing. Over the years, the chapter has managed to function with a handful of officers and a few understaffed committees of one to three members doing all the work, but one has to wonder how long this can continue. If burn out won’t catch up with these dedicated folks, then term limits will. It is well past the time for new leaders to emerge. In the meantime, we will increase our efforts to recruit and entice chapter members to step up and take on a more active leadership role. Despite the above concerns, we have had our share of accomplishments during the past year. Our by-laws were revised, and the roles of officers were more clearly defined. Susan Frazier, chair of the Leader Succession Committee, took on the formation and reorganization of subcommittees. I will leave the details to Susan, but thanks to her, more members than ever are being reached by email. And as a result, our membership is now better informed through email announcements and newsletters from our chapter and STTI. Susan managed to write, edit, and get out our chapter newsletter (the snail mail version) prior to the Christmas holiday rush. And on December 7, 2006, our chapter enjoyed one its best attended educational programs in recent memory, featuring two distinguished and accomplished nursing leaders, Dean Greer Glazer of the College of Nursing and Health Sciences, UMASS Boston, and Pat Reid Ponte, Chief of Nursing and Patient Care Services at Dana Farber Cancer Institute. They discussed the first and very exciting collaboration between their respective institutions, which were jointly awarded a $4.3 million grant from the National Institutes of Health. The funding will be used to combat health disparities in the Boston area. And many thanks to Susan Frazier (again) and Marsha Fonteyn, a DFCI nurse and a Theta Alpha member, for organizing an excellent program. This year’s (2006) big project and new challenge, the online induction management system, is a work in progress. I will leave the details to Karen Dick, but this is uncharted territory for us, and we are counting on things, specifically STTI’s technology and our adaptation to it, to go smoothly. Further complicating this project is a new system at UMASS that delayed the availability of updated student grades. We are especially indebted and grateful to Elizabeth Garcia for tracking things and making the information available to us. In the long term, the induction management system will save our chapter, especially the faculty advisors, the treasurer, and the secretary a lot of work. No more collecting forms and money from the candidates and tracking their jewelry and guest lists. As I near the end of my term, I plan to devote more time to big picture issues, specifically the pressing issue of continuity and the recruitment of new leaders as we transition the leadership of our chapter to a new board and committee chiefs. We may need an extra meeting or two to address some of these issues, but our priority at this time has to be our 22nd annual induction and award ceremony on April 22. We also have Research Day, and I will let Susan DeSanto Madeya update us on that upcoming May 2006 event. And finally, it has been my pleasure and my privilege serving our chapter and its members as President. I look forward to induction day for the opportunity to formally thank everyone. Till then, thank you to all of you for your help, support and your dedication to our chapter. Respectfully submitted, Richard Ruel President (2004-2006) Theta Alpha Chapter Sigma Theta Tau International