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Business Plan for 2008-2013

The mission of the Geological Association of Canada is to facilitate the scientific well being and professional development of its members, the learned discussion of geoscience in Canada, and the advancement, dissemination and wise use of geoscience in public, professional and academic life.

The vision of the GAC^® is is to be a multidisciplinary scientific society supportive of the entire scope of the geosciences in Canada. The GAC^® aims to be a geoscience community which is knowledgeable, professionally competent and respected, whose input and advice is relevant, widely sought and utilized, and whose vital contribution to the economic prosperity and social well being of the nation is widely acknowledged.

Geological Association of Canada

5-Year Business Plan: Background

June 2008: Preamble

GAC Council recognizes that many of the challenges it has identified in its annual operations plan (e.g. membership retention, publications, etc.) may be more effectively addressed by taking a longer-term approach to planning and priority setting. By changing from a one-year to a five-year cycle for business planning, individual councils will be able to identify incremental (annual) steps towards specific 5-year goals rather than face the daunting task on an annual basis of trying to address numerous issues. Additionally, a five-year approach to planning will help Council, made up of short-term volunteers, more effectively manage and plan for the medium- and long-term; and map out how GAC will progress and grow over the next ~decade in the current environment of shifting demographics and evolving geoscience disciplines. GAC Council has developed this five-year (2008-2013) business plan to guide its direction and give continuity to future councils as they move the organization forward.

Guiding this document at a high level are GAC’s vision and mission statements (below). This plan attempts to move GAC towards the long-term vision it has created for itself within the context of the current challenges facing Earth science organizations in Canada, including fragmentation, declining membership, shifting demographics, escalating costs, the changing requirements of professional development, etc. At the same time, the 5-year plan is consistent with the mission of GAC, and serves as a roadmap for identifying annual priorities for Councils and HQ staff.

GAC Vision: The vision of the GAC is to be a multidisciplinary scientific society supportive of the entire scope of the geosciences in Canada. The GAC aims to be a geoscience community which is knowledgeable, professionally competent and respected, whose input and advice is relevant, widely sought and utilized, and whose vital contribution to the economic prosperity and social well being of the nation is widely acknowledged.

GAC Mission: The mission of the GAC is to facilitate the scientific well being and professional development of its members, the learned discussion of geoscience in Canada, and the advancement, dissemination and wise use of geoscience in public, professional and academic life.

Long term Challenge

Over the past several years, GAC council has identified on an annual basis the issues that challenge its ability to fulfill its mission. In 2007, Council focused its efforts on addressing five issues: declining membership; de-fragmentation of Earth science organizations in Canada; fund-raising for students; professional development through conferences and short courses; and its publications. These issues still exist and will likely continue to capture Council’s attention; however, it was agreed that a longer-term view of these issues would provide a broader context to the activities identified as annual priorities by each council.

The 2008-2013 business plan identifies three priorities to focus on over the next five years, outlines some specific activities that Councils may undertake to address these priorities, and proposes some target achievements for 2013. A separate document outlines the first-year priorities for 2008 Council.

Why the change in approach now?

GAC has functioned well in the past based on the current (pre-2008) governance model and planning cycle, although the current Council feels that a 5-year approach to planning is necessary to meet new and emerging challenges, including:

- retirement of a significant proportion of members is causing both a decrease in membership and a loss of corporate memory within the organization;

- an increasing emphasis by government and non-government organizations (including insurers) on health and safety, liability and accountability issues are forcing GAC Council to manage more paperwork in order to run meetings, courses and field trips; a burden which is difficult to manage with part-time volunteers;

- a requirement for professional registration exists in almost every province and territory across Canada; the annual payment for professional registration deters many geoscientists from joining organizations like GAC;

- the requirement for professional registration has created a “niche market” for professional development that GAC has identified but hasn’t significantly tapped into;

- the practice of “geoscience” has expanded to include such topics as climate change, natural hazards, remote sensing, etc., requiring GAC’s publications to span a increasing range of subject matter;

- expectations of young geoscientists are sophisticated: they are business savvy and are used to instant access to information, electronic media, etc.

- the downsizing of GAC HQ in 2005 in response to financial pressures has made it difficult for current staff to maintain the breadth of services to GAC council and to GAC members that was done in the past. More responsibility has had to shift to Council, stretching the limits of volunteerism.

Is it possible to serve these shifting and expanding needs and still be “true” to GAC’s vision? Yes – if we can develop an ability to identify longer term opportunities for the organization and engage new members to provide input on their needs to Council.

Developing the 2008-2013 Business Plan

Three priority issues facing GAC are financial viability, liability/accountability and organizational capacity. The first is critical to GAC’s ability to continue as a functioning organization; the second is an external factor that increasingly influences GAC; and the third is viewed as a requirement if we are to continue to be relevant and useful to Canada’s geoscience community.

1. Financial viability

Based on discussions at the October 2007 and February 2008 Council meetings, our financial health is sustained by two main sources of income: publications and membership fees.

1a) Publications Strategy

A plan to strengthen the publications process was initiated two years ago when Sandra Barr agreed to take a lead role in managing and coordinating publications. This step has led to the clearing away of the backlog of publications that created financial uncertainties for Council at the time. A policy for balancing income with member needs and interests would be a logical next step to help Council make good decisions about GAC’s publications. The current budgeting process for publications is focussed on a one-year cycle, and Council makes decisions within the context of this relatively narrow financial window. A longer-term approach to budgeting for publications would help us to manage annual income fluctuations over a longer time period, balance publications with member interests, and make consistent decisions regarding publication approvals.

1b) Strong membership

The greatest area of GAC membership “leakage” is currently among recently graduated students. This fact points to the need to examine ways to generate loyalty among student members, and/or for Council to target recent graduates as new members. In 2007, significant fund-raising efforts successfully increased the value of the Logan Student Trust Fund. Networking opportunities were increased (e.g. GAC-sponsored breakfasts at annual meetings), helping with GAC’s visibility among undergraduate and undergraduate students, and GAC campus representatives have been identified in most Canadian Earth science departments. These initiatives need to continue in order to encourage students to continue their careers in the geosciences. Perhaps GAC could develop a standard presentation that council members could present opportunistically when travelling to Canadian Earth science departments. The presentation could outline the mandate and activities of GAC, and highlight the benefits of membership.

The 2007 business plan noted the potential benefit of establishing GAC as a source for professional development for provincial and territorial professional organizations. This is an excellent means to not only establish new and retain existing memberships, but also to provide an opportunity to increase corporate memberships, as companies want their employees to retain their professional status. Perhaps there is a role for Council’s short course coordinator to liaise between local GAC-MAC Organizing Committees and professional organizations to ensure that short courses are given appropriate professional development “credit”. Other activities that GAC undertakes which fulfill professional development requirements include conference presentations and student mentoring; it is not clear whether GAC is on the radar of professional organizations for providing these services, or whether GAC members are reporting these activities to their provincial/territorial organizations. As a starting point, GAC needs to find out this information.

A common means that many organizations use to increase membership is to charge non-members a higher registration fee for meetings. When the difference between the non-member and member fees is greater than the cost of a membership, delegates are generally willing to join the organization. While the net result of such an approach is an increase in total members, there are some downsides: enrolment at the annual meeting in May is out of sync with GAC’s fiscal year; there’s no guarantee that new members will renew their membership; and one-off, single-year members generate extra work (processing new memberships, updating email lists, etc.) without necessarily creating the benefit of steady, long-term memberships. However, if new members discover that membership in GAC helps to fulfill their professional development requirements, they may choose to stay in the organization.

There may be value to distributing a questionnaire to members to gauge their satisfaction with member services. Results from such surveys are generally difficult to interpret, as response rates are commonly low and questions that easily reflect opinions (e.g. via scores) but still generate thoughtful responses are difficult to develop. Nevertheless, if membership continues to decline, a survey might succeed in identifying key reasons, and help GAC to define solutions. The biggest challenge with undertaking a member survey will be finding one or more volunteers to develop questions and compile and interpret results. Given that Council currently feels that it understands the primary causes of membership decline, a survey is not considered an urgent priority. However, if membership continues to decline over the next few years in spite of actions undertaken as part of this business plan, or if one or more members of a future Council is interested in taking the lead on a survey, this may be a useful means to identify and address the key issues responsible for membership decline.

2) Liability/Accountability

In recent years, organizations are becoming more acutely aware of their legal responsibilities with respect to the well-being of their employees and members. Safety has not only become a key element of corporate best practice, but insurers are demanding proof of due diligence from their clients.

While GAC has clear guidelines regarding field trip safety, occupational health and safety practices are, in general, not embedded in our other events (meetings, conferences) to the extent that they are in some organizations. Council is currently developing a Risk Management Policy, and this document needs to be effectively communicated to members. Organizers of all GAC-sponsored events, ranging from annual conferences to division meetings to regional student events need to be aware of their responsibilities.

3) Organizational Capacity

GAC faces a significant challenge in providing strong leadership to its members. While the volunteers who manage GAC are individually very committed to the organization, collectively they are unable to dedicate the time required to properly manage GAC business and provide leadership to Headquarters staff. Furthermore, the short (3-year) tenure of a councillor precludes the undertaking of any major shifts in the organization’s business direction.

Recently Council was given an opportunity to engage Sandra Barr on a volunteer basis to provide some input on the risks and benefits of creating an executive director position. Currently, Dr. Barr is providing advice to Council on business matters and liaising with and assisting Headquarters staff.

Geological Association of Canada 5-Year Business Plan

2008-2013

June 2008 Plan

Three priority issues facing GAC are financial viability, liability/accountability and organizational capacity. The first is critical to GAC’s ability to continue as a functioning organization; the second is an external factor that increasingly influences GAC; and the third is viewed as a requirement if we are to continue to be relevant and useful to Canada’s geoscience community.

1. Financial viability

Our financial health is sustained by two main sources of income: publications and membership fees.

1a) Publications Strategy

The following actions are proposed:

1. continue to report publications-related expenses and income in the annual GAC budget, but create an additional, separate publications budget, “amortized” over five years so GAC can more comfortably manage large expenses associated with the release of major, high-cost publications;

2. develop guidelines for publications so that proponents are clear about GAC’s expectations regarding timelines and costs, and GAC has something against which to assess financial viability, timelines, etc.;

3. develop a policy – with embedded flexibility – for how to manage low-volume publications (e.g. e-distribution only), late publications (e.g. discretion for GAC to delay publication if required to balance budget) and publications that significantly underestimate costs;

4. develop additional sources of funding subsidies for publications so that the publication costs are not borne solely by the operating budget and external fund-raising by book authors, editors, and the Publications Committee. This strategy would lead to more income from publications.

1b) Membership

The following actions are proposed to address the issue of declining membership:

1. continue to strengthen GAC’s relationship with campus liaison representatives, inviting reps to attend Division/Section meetings at annual GAC conferences in order to ensure they feel linked to the organization;

2. develop a “canned” talk on GAC for presentation at universities, and make it available to council members (or even GAC members generally?) to present when opportunities arise;

3. initiate contact between Council and provincial/territorial professional organizations to discuss the potential for GAC to fulfill some of their members’ professional development needs. Council leads on this activity should be opportunistic: councillors who are registered professionals could liaise with their organizations; the Short Course Coordinator could be the overall contact point for liaison between annual meeting Organizing Committees and professional organizations; the President/Past President/Vice President could be responsible for written correspondence, etc.;

4. evaluate the impact on membership of “forcing” memberships on GAC® attendees at the annual meeting. This will likely take a few years, and will require that Council adopt a policy that future LOC’s establish registration fees that provide financial incentives for delegates to join as members.

5. continue efforts to increase corporate membership

2) Liability/Accountability

Proposed action items are:

1. complete and endorse a Risk Management Policy for GAC Council

2. developm a communication plan around the Policy to ensure to the information reaches members. This could entail posting of the policy on the GAC website, development of a short (one-page?) version of the document for distribution to members; advertisements in Geolog; or publication of an article in Geoscience Canada on risk management;

3. establish a Health and Safety chair on Council

3) Organizational Capacity

GAC needs to increase its organisational capacity. In the short term, a volunteer assistant to the president is charged with reviewing the functioning of GAC and providing advice to Council. This advice is to be provided to Council in the course of the year 2008-2009. Deliverables are to include a report covering the following:

1. assessment of the current HQ structure and the potential benefits of creating an executive director position.

2. the area(s) of responsibility for an executive director and proposed reporting (governance) structure;

3. cost estimates (full- vs. part-time salary; space requirements; travel; etc.)

4. examples of other non-profit organizations (e.g. MAC) who have an executive director (outlining their role, cost, etc.)

5. an outline of the potential benefits (e.g. corporate continuity) and risks (e.g. cost)

6. potential candidates who might serve

Targets for 2013

The following targets have been defined for the 2008-2013 business plan. Councils’ annual action plans will need to be defined to move GAC towards these 2013 targets.

Organizational Capacity:

GAC will have developed a functional structure such that affairs can be managed effectively and in a sustainable fashion.

Financial Viability - Membership:

1. Membership in 2013 will be 25% above 2008.

2. GAC will have developed the means to attract a significant portion of registered professionals.

Financial Viability - Publications:

The following will be developed by 2013:

1. Annual publications budget will be stabilized and predictable and publications will be a reliable source of income for GAC

2. mMnagement of publications will be businesslike and transparent to council

Liability/Accountability

1. Risk Management Policy is implemented throughout the organization

2. Accountability is established practice throughout the organization

3. GAC has attained a fair level of comfort with respect to all types of risks

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