Background

The concept of field staffing was first introduced to the GCSAA membership in 1992 and has been floating around GCSAA for several years. At the spring 2005 meeting of the Chapter Relations Committee, it was agreed upon that there was a definite need for more personal communication and outreach from GCSAA to the chapters. The principle of field staff (chapter liaison) could serve as this conduit between the members, the chapter and GCSAA. The GCSAA Board of Directors agreed and approved the resources necessary to support two field staff members for the budget year of 2006. One of the positions was to be focused on organizational development, the other on association management.

Purpose

At GCSAA, we have a saying that “we serve our members through our chapters.” To that end, numerous programs and services have been developed and are in place to achieve this objective. We also know there is no substitute for personal communication. As such, a “field staffing” concept has been identified as the best way for GCSAA to outreach to its membership.

The Future

The field staffing concept, as it is presently laid out, is a pilot program. If successful, this program could expand so that all the affiliated chapters would in some form have individual/individuals that would be communicating and working with them on a regular basis.

Staff

Jim Cummins, Chapter Liaison – Organizational Development

Steve Randall, Chapter Liaison – Association Management

Ralph Dain, Chapter Liaison – Regional Representative (Florida)