The North Central Branch of the ESA has been justly proud of its past accomplishments. However, in today's fast paced world, the maxim on a plaque in my office, "Those who don't think in the future, may not have one." is quite true.
Today, I want to report to you the process the North Central Branch began last year to assure that we will have a bright and prosperous future. The process has involved two major foci: 1) determination of a strategic plan for the Branch and 2) understanding the role and strategic direction for our Executive Committee in accomplishing that plan. This was done utilizing a Wilson Learning Approach beginning with an understanding of customers or stakeholders, refining our mission and vision for the future and then determining the major issues that hinder us from accomplishing our mission. From this process, several plans have been developed that should help us attain success with our vision.
The process Branch-wide began with input from the membership following my June 1993 letter to our membership. Although the response was low, the spectrum was striking. Geographically, we covered most of the states of the North Central with input from as far away as Sweden. We also covered all the sections and most of our unique functions as well. There were a few people that objected to this sort of procedure, but all seemed familiar with the process and most had gone through it at their place of employment. In the responses, I was struck by the diversity of focus that characterizes the ESA, but given this, our customers fit into several well-defined areas with only a few exceptions.
There were many good ideas put forward by the membership for topics of interest to these customers. Many of these were incorporated into the program at Springfield, Illinois in March 1994. We invited many of the key customers mentioned to be present during that week to begin a dialog on such topics as Innovative Teaching Methods and Techniques, Practical Information on Pest Control, Delivery of Simplified Research and Education Tools to Primary and Secondary School Educators, Insect Management, Insect Biology, etc.
Most of our members had formal missions on the job. Increased quality of our meetings kept coming up in the survey as the critical way the North Central Branch could better help them accomplish their missions. It was critical to all that the format facilitate the gathering of new information that could be of value to our customers. Our programs needed to be inclusive, cultivating an environment of public service rather than "ivory tower" research. In planning our 1994 meeting in Springfield, we kept all this in mind.
The theme of our March 1994 meeting was, "The North Central Branch of the ESA -- A Society Serving Society." In this era of increasing accountability and scrutiny of public servants across all sectors of our society, it may not come as a surprise to many entomologists that this theme surfaced as the driving force behind an ESA-sponsored conference. After all, it seems as if the discipline of entomology is constantly being challenged to justify its very existence. The 1994 NCB-ESA Program Planning Committee actively promoted the involvement of a wide cross section of customers in plenary sessions, symposia, and a teacher workshop. I want to go over: Who was invited? What did our clientele have to say? How did we, as entomologists, react?
Who was invited? In an effort to begin a constructive dialogue with clientele, plenary session organizers asked non-ESA speakers to respond to the following question: The Issues: How Can the ESA Better Serve Your Needs? The non-ESA speakers wore many "different hats" and included: the Director of the Illinois Sustainable Agriculture Network, a professional crop consultant, a field development specialist from a chemical manufacturer, a research animal scientist, an independent businessman who supplied biological control agents to home gardeners through a mail order business, a farmer, and a private citizen who is actively involved with state governmental affairs. After listening in the first plenary session to how the ESA could better serve customers needs, the chairpersons of the various symposia had an opportunity to respond the following day in the second plenary session. Chairpersons of each symposium also endeavored to actively involve non-ESA participants as speakers in their respective sessions. Not all non-ESA speakers echoed the same concerns even though many had similar backgrounds and occupations. For instance, in the Section F Symposium, one producer representing the Iowa Corn Growers Association, took issue with many of the comments made by another speaker, a grower with the Practical Farmers of Iowa. A large, but often forgotten segment of our customers, public school teachers, also took part in our branch meeting by sharing with other teachers innovative approaches to using insects in their science classes.
What did our clientele have to say? In general terms, what our clientele consistently told us is that prior to their invitation to attend our meeting, they were not even aware that a professional society of entomologists existed. For sure, some knew that they could call an extension entomologist at a university for a pest control recommendation; however, most of our invited customers seemed to agree that the discipline of entomology is barely a blip on the radar screen of public awareness. We also were told that entomologists should consider publishing more often in journals outside our society (or at the very least, advertise our ESA publications in those journals). Why? Because many segments of our clientele are much more likely to tap into other sources of information, at least initially. To cite a specific example, to many entomologists' amazement, an agronomist who was invited to attend our meeting was unaware that the ESA publishes the results of efficacy trials in the Arthropod Management Tests. Yet, once made aware of this publication, he indicated that he, as well as other agronomists, would likely subscribe to and use this valuable resource. Specific recommendations were passed along to the chairpersons of the various symposia, and some, such as Don Mahr (Section C), Extension Entomologist at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, were able to compile an impressive list of customer-based issues and needs. The bottom line is the ESA as a professional society needs to aggressively market who we are and the services we provide. Secondly, entomologists, not just extension entomologists, must accept this responsibility.
How did we as entomologists react? Based upon the return program evaluations, most entomologists agreed (average score of 4.1 on a 1 to 5 scale; 1 = strongly disagree, 5 = strongly agree) that clientele involvement in the plenary sessions and symposia was on target. In addition, entomologists agreed (average score of 4.4) that clientele should be involved again in future North Central Branch Meetings of the ESA. I hope this increased willingness of some ESA members to listen to our customers and respond accordingly will generate renewed support for the profession of entomology within our public institutions. I'm fearful that many entomologists can't identify their customers, or worse, choose not to listen to them.
I hope you will agree with me that Mike Gray and the Program Committee made an excellent start at fulfilling the needs of our customers at the Springfield meeting.
However, as the North Central Branch Executive Committee, our strategic planning didn't stop with the membership survey. We met at the National ESA Meeting in Indy in December 1993 and defined our customers as the members and potential members of the North Central Branch of the ESA. As a group, we provide an opportunity for a meeting at which to exchange ideas, plan, provide resources for the support of professionals such as scholarships and awards, and we also provide leadership for the Branch and the greater ESA. The mission of the NCB/ESA Executive Committee is to provide for the continuity of leadership and the long-term viability of the NCB/ESA. We are a forum for change and representatives of the membership. We discussed the issues that hinder us from achieving our mission and identified two priority issues to address. They are:
The Annual Meeting responsibility consumes the President's time, resulting in fewer other projects being accomplished.
The long term viability of the Branch, including:
To
assure the long-term viability of the Branch, the Executive Committee
will:
The Executive Committee is also looking into broadening our resource base through foundations, study grants, and industry grants. As a direct response to this process, the Executive Committee decided to begin meeting at the national ESA meetings to allow more time for discussion of issues and decision making separate from the regional meeting. We also had an extra opportunity in Springfield and since to consider the customer input from that meeting and apply it to the future. Hopefully, these actions on the part of the executive committee will insure the future success of the branch. The NCB Executive Committee is working hard to think in the future so the North Central Branch will have a bright one.
Thank you for your attention.