Transformation Update 2013 Annual General Meeting Grant Williamson RPF 173

Public Member Comments Burk Strehlke

Key Aspects - Transformation Committee Final Report – Feb.2012 Expansion  Become more inclusive of related / allied professional organizations.  Develop Specialists Pathway.  Develop Certification Pathways.  Consider Exclusive Scope of Practice.

Key Aspects – Transformation Committee Final Report – Feb.2012 Promotion;  Recognized the need for both external and internal promotion.  CAPF / RPF’s are not well known in the public arena.  It is not clear what value CAPF brings to members.  Not perceived as green / environmental organization.

Key Aspects – Transformation Committee Final Report – Feb Re-organization  Currently not organized for development / promotional activities.  Hire Director of Planning.  Re-organize to address expansion issues.  Consider re-organizing committee structure.

Work Completed to Date  Interview CAPF members, public members, Gov’t staff, industry staff, ACR, Environmental Groups.  Review options with Director of Professions and Occupations (Department of Enterprise and Advanced Education).  Collect member input through the “Where Are We Now” survey.  Collect member input through Feb. workshops in Grande Prairie, Whitecourt and Edmonton.  Met with University of Alberta to review options for strengthening Forestry enrollment.

Work Completed to Date, con’t.  Decision made to look at opportunities to strengthen the College through partnerships and mergers.  Memorandum of Understanding with CAPFT which includes Principles for the Partnership Initiative.  Initial meetings with Association of the Chemical Profession of Alberta, Alberta Society of Professional Biologists. Extended invitation to Alberta Institute of Agrology.  Looking at specialized role or an Associate Member Category and how to accommodate this role within the current Act in the short and long term.

Interview Process  Public Members  Senior Government Staff  Senior Industry Staff  Environmental Groups  University  TC Committee Members  Alberta Chamber of Resources

Common Themes  Recognize the need to adapt to maintain a vibrant organization.  We need to find ways to make the accredited Forestry Programs more attractive to students.  Need to be pro-active with respect to public awareness of the College and we need to reinforce our role as stewards of the public resource.  We need to identify and reinforce value to our employers and market that value accordingly.  Need to identify value to our members. There should be value outside of a regulate and govern role.  Need to look at our Mission, Vision, and Objectives Statement and evaluate if these are still relevant and/or do we need to refocus on these Statements.

Public Member Input Inclusive Theme;  “We need to sit down with other Associations (i.e. Agrologists) and look at opportunities that will make us more; efficient, effective, and relevant.”  “We need to ensure we keep a good relationship between CAPF and CAPFT as we need to work hand in hand going forward.”  “We should have partnerships and build relationships where there are parallels in the work that we do.”  “CAPF should consider merger options; makes sense to look at technologists as we have common interests.”

Public Member Input Protection of the public interest;  “We need to think about the positive reasons for having an Association. These should be developed with input from the members.”  “With all the added pressures on the land base, we need to be strong in our commitment to looking after public lands”  “We need to make sure the public is aware of our role and the good job we are doing on the public land base.”  “There are many educational opportunities that we should take advantage of; e.g., develop interpretative stops and / or signage for major events such as the Slave Lake fire”.

COLLEGE OF ALBERTA PROFESSIONAL FORESTERS “Where Are We Now Survey”

Do you plan to retire or change career paths in the next…

How would you describe the value of being a member of the College?

Common Themes  Clear requirement for marketing strategy  Strong consent regarding Forest Stewardship  Strong support for re-defining our scope of practice  Strong support for inclusion of other disciplines.  Recognition that we need to address enrollment in Forestry Program at UofA

February Workshops  Grande Prairie  Whitecourt  Edmonton

Exclusive Scope of Practice; We should not pursue at this time – it is not a good use of our resources if there is no political will to consider Exclusive Scope of Practice. We should be more inclusive and increase the breadth and scope of the organization.

Become a more inclusive College; At the Workshops we discussed a number of options involving; Biologists, Chemists, Agrologists, ENCS grads and CAPFT. “Don’t start with the easy stuff”. Message was to ensure we do not preclude our options by starting with an easy merger that limits our ability to achieve our long term goals. General message was that we should look at the big picture and that we should lead the process. i.e. “College of Natural Resource Professionals”.

Why Establish a Broader Organization  Better ability to meet our primary goal with respect to protection of the public interest.  The public will have a better understanding of the accountability of Natural Resource Science professionals and their regulatory colleges through common processes to register professionals, ensure ethical and competent practice and act as an advocate for the profession.  Natural Resource Science professionals will have more opportunity to network and public concerns could be discussed within a broader forum.  Advantage of size with respect to efficiency, program delivery, market opportunity, and influence.  Issues that affect Natural Resource Sciences as a whole can be more easily addressed by the larger Association.  Professions and Occupations have provided comment that this is a more sustainable model and support the initiative.

Going Forward;  Have met with CAPFT, Association of the Chemical Profession of Alberta and Alberta Society of Professional Biologists.  All three organizations are like minded with respect to becoming more inclusive.  An outstanding concern with all three professional organizations is long-term sustainability.  It is important to put people within a professional organization that best respects their training and their job description.

CAPF(T) Partnership Agreement  Task Force / Working Group to identify Principles / Process.  Council has determined there is enough traction to move forward.  Goal is to develop a proposal with enough detail to put before respective memberships.  Ratification process to be determined.

Memorandum of Understanding between College of Alberta Professional Foresters and College of Alberta Professional Forest Technologists

Principles 1. Common Scope of Practice 2. Retain Title 3. Long-term Goals 4. Communication 5. Process Review

Principles 6. Governance 7. Funding 8. Membership Categories 9. Council Structure 10. Negotiating Authority 11. Existing Staff

Transformation Initiative – Going Forward

Associate Member Category -Natural Resource Professional “A key step in the Transformation Committee’s plan is to create a specialist designation that would encourage/allow other professionals to become RPF’s.” (Feb Transformation Committee Report).

Concern University graduates from allied natural resource science programs, and some Professionals with a graduate degree(s) that are working within the “practice of forestry” (as defined by the Regulated Forestry Profession Act) are unable to register with the College of Alberta Professional Foresters (CAPF).

Associate Member Category  College is considering an Associate Member Category for Natural Resource Professionals to ensure they have an avenue for registration within CAPF.  Intent of the strategy is to be more inclusive, attract more members, and to provide a home for those natural resource professionals who are working within the practice of forestry.

Associate Member Category  Current Act / Regulation will not accommodate the creation of an Associate Member Category as a regulated category; however, the Bylaws would allow for the creation of this category as an unregulated category.  The intent of this initiative is to create an immediate opportunity for Registration while the Act and Regulation undergo change.

Associate Member Category Value to employers - the Associate Member will be subject to the Code of Ethics as well as the General Registration requirements as per regulated members. Value to the Associate Member - they will have the advantage of professional association, networking, as well as professional development opportunities

Associate Member Category  Applicants for the Associate Member Category would be reviewed by the Registration Committee and approved by Council.  It will be the longer term goal to create the Associate Member Category as a regulated category when the Act and Regulation are opened up for change.

Thank You Any Questions?