Address
James Hill, OTR, OTR-L
I am recently back from AOTA in New
Orleans. I enjoyed good music, good food, and a
good conference. It was nice to see a lot of people
from Illinois while there. Prior to the conference I
attended two days of meetings for the Affiliated State
Association Presidents (ASAP), representing ILOTA
while learning with and from other presidents from
state organizations. One focal point this year was
strategic planning. This was great timing as we were
scheduled to review and revise ILOTA’s strategic plan
3 days after my return.
One general trend related to AOTA’s strategic
planning is movement towards defining a more
general and flexible plan with less emphasis on
specific goals. Specific goals can sometimes lose their
relevance as context changes. They can also assume
more capacity to exert control than really exists.
Defining more generally directions that we would like
to move and possible ways we might move in these
directions allows the flexibility needed to respond as
things change.
ILOTA, in reviewing our strategic plan, adopted
many of these ideas. We strived to use less specific
and more aspirational language, simplify reporting
responsibilities, while at the same time identify
objectives, possible goals, and progress measures to
help evaluate our effectiveness. I hope our members
will take the time to look at our strategic plan on the
ILOTA website. You are always welcome to send us
your comments or attend quarterly board meetings if
there are issues you would
like us to focus on.
In addition to strategic
planning, ILOTA has been
exploring the potential
to introduce a blog to
improve our ability to
communicate in a timely
manner with a wider
community. Also, we have
purchased and are in the
process of building a learning management system
to provide our members with quality, web-based,
continued education options. Please stay tuned to
learn more as these advances emerge over then next
several months.
My hope is to present many of these new
membership benefits at our annual conference
scheduled for October 4 and 5 at Tinley Park
Convention Center. Our board is excited about the
convention center and has been meeting regularly
to make this year’s conference one to remember. Of
course the heart and soul of any conference is the
people who attend so I would like to encourage you
to save the date on your calendar if you have not
already.
As always I want to express my heartfelt gratitude
for your support of ILOTA and our mission to
advance best practice in Occupational Therapy in
Illinois.
Volunteering Opportunities
According to the State of Illinois Rules for earning CEUs (2018), one can complete any of the following to
earn CEUs:
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Volunteer your time
Use your time and talents to enhance or better the organization
State conference is always looking for assistance
Develop a Grant
Professional Writing
First time publication, including an article for ILOTA
Fieldwork Supervision
Mentoring a new Clinician
Please review the rules and complete guidelines at https://www.idpfr.com/profs/occtherapy.asp
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