2010 Membership Survey Summary by Karlene Gullone Thank you to all of those who took the time to respond to the member survey this year, either online, on paper, or via e-mail. We only had 22 respondents (a mere 11% of the membership). Yet, there were quite a wide range of opinions offered, regarding OWA, the purpose of the organization, and the programs that it should offer. Some felt that OWA should provide more services, more focus on women’s issues, and more publicity for women designers. Others felt that the organization is trying to do too much. There are many other organizations that provide continuing education, youth programs, and exam study groups, for example. Perhaps OWA should focus on its mission and not try to support the members in every aspect of their professional needs? Susan Aitken has made it her goal in 2011 to work on making connections with other organizations, in order to minimize this kind of duplication of effort. The complete survey results are posted on the Forum, in the comment fields below the original request for input: https://owa-usa.org/forum.php?t=494 A summary of the actions taken by the steering committee as a result of the survey are below: The steering committee took note that 47% felt that the organization supports women in design fields only sometimes or never. As this is the core of our mission statement, we have given this some thought. While 70% felt that OWA promotes women professionals through mentorship, only 23% felt that the overall support for women in design fields was adequate. The majority was uncertain or felt the OWA was doing an inadequate job supporting women through scholarships, special research grants, internships, educational programs for youth, or pro-bono design/construction work. Yet, due to lack of time or other resources, members were hesitant to take on too many of these projects. The steering committee would therefore like to establish a scholarship and more formal mentorship program in the upcoming year. (76% of the membership thought a more structured mentorship program was a mid-to-high priority; for 57% providing scholarships to aspiring designers was also a mid-to-high priority.) As the 40th anniversary approaches, we also have long-range planning programs in place for a Symposium (a high priority for 70% of survey respondents), Exhibition (a high priority for 58%), a Gala Celebration (a high priority for 55%), Awards & Nominations (a high-to-mid priority for 68%), and Community Service Projects (a high-to-mid priority for 63%). Please contact Gilda Puente-Peters if you are interested in helping us achieve these goals. Based on the survey results, the Steering Committee with the help of our program coordinator, Leslie Golden, has chosen a line-up of events next year. We noted that 84% said they appreciated the Business Support programs, 75% voted for Design Tours, and 66% Green Building Presentations, and have scheduled at least one event focused on each of these topics. We have also chosen other programs which promote women designers or seem pertinent due to the current economic situation. Joanne Winship will continue to work tirelessly on OWA’s Policies & Procedures. Look for a special one-day planning retreat in the late Spring where we will work on fine-tuning the language for the goals and mission statement of the organization, and discussing how to better meet these goals for the membership. An overwhelming number (70%) said they are not interested in allowing members to mass e-mail the membership. We will continue offering the website forum and newsletter for disseminating information. Please send your newsletter contributions to Gabriela Chamu, starting in January 2011. At the same time, 55% would like OWA to increase our web presence. Bill Hocker, Karlene Gullone, and Dede Tave will continue upgrading the website and new Facebook page. Finally, 83% would like OWA to provide more continuing education programs. Gilda will continue to offer her accessibility seminar to satisfy the continuing education requirements for the architecture license. Please contact us with your suggestions for other programs or events you would like to see in the future. The majority of members are willing to pay a little more to accomplish OWA’s mission. The steering committee recently voted on this and may consider increasing the fees for some special events. We do not plan to increase membership dues at this time, but encourage those who are interested in contributing more to consider becoming supporting members. The steering committee was pleased to discover that an overwhelming amount of the membership was willing to help out with OWA programs from time to time. We pledge to put more effort into member outreach next year, and involve all who are interested in supporting OWA’s mission. Thanks again for your suggestions. Please don’t hesitate to contact a steering committee member or post on the website forum if you have questions or concerns. We appreciate your feedback throughout the year. |
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Newsletter | Nov/Dec 2010
