Therefore, it is with a mixture of excitement and caution that the American Choral Directors Association moves forward over the next two years in a very important process of Strategic Planning. This is of utmost important to me, and it is my hope that it will be of great importance to all of our leaders, and to our membership at large.
Strategic planning is a systematic process that brings consensus regarding priorities among the organization’s leaders. Our ACDA Executive Committee is of one mind regarding this need and a course of action, and has chosen a strong Strategic Planning Committee to lead us in this important effort. These individuals are former ACDA Presidents Diana Leland, Mitzi Groom, and Michele Holt; former Technology Committee Chair and new ACDA Editorial Board member Philip Copeland; and ACDA President-Elect Karen Fulmer, who chairs the SPC.
The preparatory research for the Strategic Planning process is being done now, including a review of ACDA’s history, an assessment and administrative audit of the working of the National Office, and a self-study of administrative topics such as ACDA’s purpose, governance, staffing, communications, development, facilities, planning processes, decision making structure, and financial management.
We have recently finalized a complete financial audit of ACDA, conducted by the CPA firm Arledge & Associates, which is available on the ACDA website for review at www.acda.org ACDA members are invited to review this twenty-nine page document toward an understanding of this important area of our Association’s activity and management.
As the Strategic Planning Committee continues its work, those important buzzwords such as “mission statement”, “purposes”, “values”, “assessment”, and then “strategic plan” and “operational plan” will emerge from their review and analysis, and will take on vibrant meaning and vibrant implications. During this process, many efforts will be made to solicit views from our extensive ACDA leadership base, as well as our membership at large, regarding the present and future work of ACDA. I will be asking every stakeholder in ACDA to touch this effort at some place along the process. From all of this work, priorities and goals will be developed, which will guide our future program activities, our resources, and ultimately our achievements.
To help us in this process, I will ask every ACDA member to begin their own preparation for questions to be asked:
–What is the essence of ACDA? What makes ACDA unique?
–What are ACDA’s core values and beliefs?
–What is ACDA’s mission in the 21st Century?
–Who should ACDA serve?
–What does ACDA do best, and how does that relate to what is needed?
–What are ACDA’s strengths? What are ACDA’s weaknesses?
–What are the keys to ACDA’s successes?
–Of those factors making a difference in our choral world, what is changing in the environment and what can we learn from best-practices taking place in other organizations?
–How can ACDA make a positive difference in the lives of American choral directors?
–What activities are worth ACDA’s energy and commitment over the next three to five years?
These questions, along with others, will be presented in one form or other over the next 18 months, and the result of everyone's contribution to this process will be a realistic plan of action for ACDA’s future. ACDA members and leader-members will create the tool for ACDA to use to promote a better performance of a finer level of choral music.
So, when you see or hear of a Strategic Planning survey, questionnaire, forum, roundtable, video conference, conference call, board meeting, committee meeting, or in whatever form or forum information gathering requests come your way over the next year, please respond, and please respond expectantly, as we work together to create a stronger choral environment, and stronger choral education and performance leadership in the United States.
Ronald Richard Duquette says
Phillip Hesterman says
Michael McGlynn says