Core services task force update.

Core services is a concept that was coined during ACA's recent strategic planning process when many concerns surrounding the current system for delivering member and camp services surfaced.

One of those major concerns related to the fact that, for the same membership dollar, members in some sections do not receive services provided in other sections. Yet sections are a very important channel for the delivery of many member benefits and services. The size and resources of sections vary enormously, resulting in a highly unequal distribution of member benefits and services across the organization.

Additionally, the strategic planning committee believed that the current system of service delivery needs careful study because of: 1) conflicts among sections and between sections and national; and 2) concerns that the organization's effectiveness and ability to communicate to the public may be limited by its historic (since 1921) section boundaries.

With those concerns in mind, the two following strategic initiatives were adopted: 1. Define the core services to be provided

to all members by the national

organization and sections. Note: It is

understood that the core services provided

by sections would be approved

by the Council of Delegates through

their power to approve the section

chartering document. 2. Review the current delivery system to

be sure it provides the optimal delivery

of those core services to members

and to camps and conference centers

that are accredited. If changes result

from such a review of the current delivery

system, ACA's governance

structure may also require change.

The ACA National Board has moved forward on many of the 28 strategic initiatives in the 1993-96 plan, including the provision of start-up funding for the Core Services Task Force, which National President Connie Coutelber appointed.

Our First Meeting

The core services task force had its first meeting in Indianapolis late in January, 1994. I will describe for you the process we went through at that meeting, what we plan to accomplish in the future, and how we invite your participation.

We came to the meeting thinking that our task was simple: prepare a list of services that we could be confident every ACA member would receive, regardless of the section to which they belong. Then that list could be incorporated into the section chartering document and our job would be finished.

Feedback from the presidents elect' fall 1993 conference led us to question whether the concept of core services is really the issue to be addressed. Our facilitator helped us to ask whether the problems we were looking at might all be symptoms of a much deeper or systemic problem.

We gave ourselves permission to step back from the task we thought we had been assigned to address. We wanted to take a broad look at ACA's operating environment and structure, and to think creatively about ACA in the future. Futurist Joel Barker's video, called Discovering the Future: the Business of Paradigms, introduced us to the concept of how paradigms influence a person's view of the world. More importantly, we learned how paradigms can limit progress and the acceptance of new ideas. We believe our task force has an opportunity, indeed an obligation, to help prepare ACA for the future by examining our paradigms and thinking creatively about that future.

Our facilitator provided a problem-analysis model that structured our deliberations throughout the meeting. We reviewed data from ACA's 1992 member survey and learned about the challenges posed for ACA by members and sections as they adapt to the rapidly changing environment in which we all operate.

We challenged ourselves to not just "treat the symptoms," but to probe deeper, looking for the sources of our association's discomfort. We identified symptoms, examined possible underlying causes of those symptoms, and finally wrote three draft problem statements underlying ACA's service delivery system.

Furthermore, we developed the idea that core services should be based on the association's mission statement. The term mission-based core services was adopted and a preliminary list of those services was developed. We also identified essential functions (other than delivery of the mission-based core service) that ACA sections provide for the welfare and governance of the association.

Our Plans for the Future

We ended our meeting with plans to seek preliminary feedback in April from ACA members who initially expressed interest in this project. We will be asking if our work is on target.

Following that preliminary feedback loop, our next report in Camping Magazine will present the draft problem statements, mission-based core services, and sections' essential functions. Widespread member input will be requested prior to our fall 1994 meeting.

Additionally, we will develop a strong communication link with the Council of Delegates for maximum involvement and dialogue among the leaders of our association. We reported briefly to the Council of Delegates at the International Camping Congress in Toronto, and will follow up in the months ahead with detailed written reports inviting discussion.

Finally, in preparation for that meeting, a sub-group of our task force will study ACA's current resource allocation system.

We will continue to provide updates like this one in Camping Magazine. At the 1995 national conference in Orlando, there will be open hearings on the concepts developed for charter agreement. A section chartering document will be presented to the Council of Delegates at the San Diego conference in 1996.

An Invitation to Participate

Many ACA members have volunteered to assist in the process of reviewing the problem statements, fist of mission-based core services, and essential functions of sections. If you would like to add your thoughts at any point in the process please write to the task force chair, Ann Sheets, CCD, at Camp Fire, 2700 Meacham Blvd., Ft. Worth, TX 76137-4699; or Dave VanDerWege, ACA director of member and field services, at the ACA National Office; or any member of the task force. All communications will be shared with the entire task force. Core Services Task Force: Ann Sheets, CCD, Chair, Southern Region Helen Brodie Baldwin, CCD, National Vice President Connie Coutellier, National President Pat Hammond, ACA staff Katheryn Heidrich, Ph.D., CCD, task force facilitator Peter Kerns, New England Region William Key, CCD, Mid-America Region John Lee, III, Mid-America Region Ron Martin, Mid-Atlantic Region John Miller, ACA Staff David Silverstein, Mid-Atlantic Region Posie Merritt Taylor, New England Region Virginia Thompson, Western Region Dave VanDerWege, ACA Staff Shirley Walch, Western Region.