A monthly update on activities occurring on behalf of the members of the American Society for Clinical Laboratory Science
Society News Now
A monthly update on activities occurring on behalf of the members of the American Society for Clinical Laboratory Science
Issue 7 March 2015
In this Issue:
Legislative Symposium │ ASCLS Board of Directors Strategic Planning Session
ASCLS Board of Directors Interim Board Meeting │ Product Development Committee
Promotion of the Profession Committee │ Membership Committee │ Announcements
Legislative Symposium
Thanks to the efforts of our EVP, Elissa Passiment, and the Government Affairs Committee, with Rick Panning as Chair, the Legislative Symposium held in Alexandria, VA on March 16 and 17 was another huge success. Over 130 participants from ASCLS, CLMA, ASCP, AMT, and AGT learned about the latest issues impacting our profession, and gained the skills necessary for their Hill visits. There were many first time attendees, many students, and many folks who continue to come each year to advocate for our profession. This year, one of the “asks” was to consider being a co-sponsor on a bill being put forward by ASCLS that would provide specific funding for the clinical laboratory science profession through Title VII of the Public Health Service Act. This would be in addition to the allied health grants currently in place (but unfunded for the past few years) under Title VII.
ASCLS Board of Directors Strategic Planning Session
The ASCLS Board met on March 14 for a strategic planning session facilitated by Barbara Snyderman, ASCLS President-Elect. Among many things, there was excellent discussion around the best ways for ASCLS to communicate with our multi-generational members and leaders, and some talking points were generated to help folks address questions when they are recruiting members to ASCLS. Thanks to Barbara for organizing a great Planning Day.
ASCLS Board of Directors Interim Board Meeting
On March 15 the Board of Directors held their interim board meeting to continue the work of ASCLS, and address the requests for action and items of concern brought forth by our members. The Regional Directors will be reporting back the deliberations that took place on these issues. Members can read all of the interim reports that were submitted for this meeting by visiting the Leaders page on the ASCLS website. Many of the appointments for the 2015-16 year were approved, as was the revised ASCLS Investment Policy statement which provides us with a little more flexibility in our conservative investment stance. The slate of candidates for ASCLS 2015-16 was also approved – to avoid a “spoiler alert”, watch for your upcoming ASCLS Today for details on the candidates.
Product Development Committee (PDC)
The PDC has been given approval to move forward on a project that will form a team and propose a budget to look into the development of a laboratory-based app designed for mobile devices. This mobile app would go beyond what is provided by labtestsonline.org and would strive to improve laboratory test utilization by providing healthcare professionals with accepted algorithms for selecting the correct test at the appropriate time for their patients. More to come on this exciting possibility.
Promotion of the Profession Committee (PPC)
Remember that Medical Laboratory Professional Week is April 19-25, 2015 and the PPC has developed a fun social media campaign. Each day will have a different topic for your response on Facebook. You can also post your MLPW activities to Twitter, Facebook and other social medial using #lab4life. Use this hashtag to show others how you are celebrating MLPW and follow what others are doing for their festivities.
The PPC is also helping to judge the ASCLS logo contest. Over 25 entries were received to update the ASCLS logo, and incorporate our new tag lines – ASCLS: One Voice, One Vision, and Providing the Science of Medicine. The top entries will be open to a vote of the membership so stay tuned to the ASCLS website for details on how to vote for your favorite.
Membership Committee
ASCLS now has 8,140 members, up from 6,990 at this time last year. This is a great upward trend, and thanks goes to the Membership Committee and ASCLS staff for providing you with the tools to help you recruit. Many of these new members are students, so now is the time to show these new members the benefits of membership in ASCLS. Spring meetings are starting, so in addition to recruiting new members using the Spring Membership Campaign, use this opportunity to retain the members we currently have. If you need promotional materials for your event, order them in our online store. Please take the time to visit your Membership Booth and help promote the value of ASCLS membership at your spring meeting – and throughout the year. Let’s continue to keep those membership numbers climbing!
Announcements
April 1 is the deadline for submitting your You Tube video to promote ASCLS. Check the ASCLS website for details – and I think you could have a couple of days grace period, since my newsletter is a little late this month.
April 24 is the deadline for the Beckman Student Travel Grants, allowing deserving students the opportunity to attend the ASCLS Annual Meeting in Atlanta. Details and the travel grant application can be downloaded at the ASCLS Annual Meeting webpage.
April 30 is the deadline for the Key to the Future award, which recognizes and rewards ASCLS members who have demonstrated their leadership potential to the organization, and to provide these members with structured mentoring.
April 30 is the deadline to submit a proposal for an educational session at CLEC 2016. Visit the CLEC website for more details.
May 1 is the deadline for student members to submit a research paper or case study for the ESA Student Paper Award. Visit http://www.ascls.org/education-scientific-assembly-student-paper-award for more details.
May 15 is the deadline to submit your application for the Beckman Coulter Student Forum Travel Grant. http://ascls.org/student-forum-travel-scholarship
May 22 is the deadline to submit your application for the Student Forum Travel Award.
http://ascls.org/student-forum-travel-scholarship