The 2025 Program Planning Committee (PPC) met in New Orleans last week for an intense 1 ½ days to build the framework for the spring meeting.
The planners came to the meeting with programs tentatively selected and scheduled in the four Practice Area Groups they represent (Administration, Clinical Services, Health Promotion and Wellness, and Mental Health).
The group spent the first morning reviewing the selections from a number of perspectives:
- Are there needs/gaps that were high on your list that remain unaddressed by programming?
- Are there any programs that can be enhanced or combined so that they are stronger or more multidisciplinary?
- Are there any unselected programs that would meet an identified need if they were enhanced?
- What programs do you have that support the theme of Broadening Our Scope?
- Do we have variation in school representation? Small schools? Large schools? Private? Public?
- How does the big picture look in terms of balance in session topics?
They spent the afternoon and next morning going through each time block to make sure there was content appropriate for each Practice Area Group. To facilitate this process, we use large post-it wall charts – one for each time block of the meeting – and the session titles are printed on color-coded strips of paper that can be moved around as needed. This helps the committee see at a glance if all disciplines have adequate programming.
It is an extremely collaborative process, full of rich discussion and thought. The group will be working over the next few weeks to reach out to invited speakers to help fill the gaps in program content that were identified during the meeting. Everyone who submitted a program proposal will be emailed in mid-December about the status of their submission.
If you have any questions about the process, contact education@acha.org.
Post Type
Annual Meeting
