Message from the President

I am proud to be elected president by my peers to serve this organization and its members. Along with the opportunities come responsibilities. Like most of you, I have a full time job and I have chosen to add Society leadership to my list of tasks for the coming year. Here’s my challenge.

 

The theme for the Board of Directors for the coming year will be building. I don’t mean building on the past, although we conservationists are always doing that. I mean building for the future. The many conservation issues we deal with do not go away, they only get more challenging as our demand for more food, fiber, fuel, etc., increases with population growth.

 

In addition to our duties as your Board of Directors, I will ask the Board to focus on three areas that we need to strengthen and build. The Board of Directors is elected to govern the Society, but the duty to build a strong organization and structure applies to all—Board, staff, chapter leaders, and individual and corporate members.

 

First, we need to build membership. We will discuss creative ways to engage new members and improve retention. We need to develop new recruitment materials and ideas. Along with a recruitment effort, we must build a diverse membership. Professionals in soil and water conservation are a diverse group, working in both the public and private sectors, and engaged in a wide array or projects and activities. The membership of this Society must be equally diverse. Potential members must be able to look at the SWCS and see themselves in it, even before they join.

 

Second, we need to build stronger chapters. I will ask the Board to establish an ad hoc committee of chapter and board members to design and implement a member survey. We’ve conducted surveys before and the results were useful. It’s time to ask new questions that focus on ways to ensure that chapters are current, relevant, and effective. I will ask Board and staff to reach out and engage members and chapters to identify activities, products and services that our members value. We will continue to provide high quality learning and networking opportunities through the Journal, annual and special conferences, and Web-based activities. For a professional organization, chapters are our best organizational tool at the local level and I would like us to encourage greater chapter communication and idea exchanges.

 

Third, we need to build organizational credibility. We need to increase our presence in Washington, DC and Ottawa. As a nonprofit organization, we cannot lobby, but the representatives of the people must know who the SWCS is and what we stand for. We want them to know the SWCS as a source of information as well as an organization of professionals. We need greater engagement in international policy discussions about soil erosion, land productivity, water quality protection, climate, and biofuels. We must cultivate relationships with partner organizations to expand outreach and idea exchange.

 

The SWCS has a good foundation on which we can build. Like any successful organization, we must remain focused on our core purpose, while constantly searching for new and better ways to achieve our objectives. I look forward to a year aimed at increasing SWCS membership and building an even stronger, more effective Society to address resource conservation challenges. With you help we can make it happen.