Executive Committee in Marathon Session Looks Beyond IECA to the Future of the Profession

August 21, 2009 | no comments

by Mark Sklarow, IECA Executive Director

The PLAN for Thursday was for the Executive Board to meet through the morning, and then break for lunch and some fresh air. We’d plan to re-group by 1:30 or so, work until 5:30 and break until dinner.

The REALITY of the day was a meeting that started at 9:00 a.m. and worked straight through 7:00 p.m., missing dinner reservations and finally breaking as the marathon session gave way to a quick sandwich in the hotel bar.

The work of the Board, as always, included an examination of ethics, membership outreach, member services, education, training, conferences, leadership development, finances, the operations at the national office and our communications plan.

Yet the most interesting and exciting part of the day certainly put the “important” ahead of the “urgent” (see my blog of 8/19). The IECA officers spent considerable time looking not just at the Association, but the entire profession of educational consulting, including professional training, continuing education, developing the first-ever certificate program specifically in independent educational consulting by UC-Irvine in coordination with IECA, professional ethics, and our belief that IECA must maintain its status as the leading voice and trendsetter in the field.

Every IECA member would have been pleased and every school and college reassured by our assertion of total commitment to professional competence, ethical and educational knowledge, and student-centric approach that we believe must remain central to the work of every consultant.

Next week you’ll hear from IECA President Diane Geller on some of the specific recommendations that grew from the meeting, that continues today.