Seeing “draft presidential message” hover at the top of my to-do list for the past two (three?) months is a good reminder that much of the work in the POD Network is done by volunteers.

Volunteers who, of course, have jobs, families, communities, and other obligations that they balance with the commitments they’ve made to support the POD Network’s service to its members and the field of educational development. Volunteers whose dedication and passion have made this past year serving as President an incredibly meaningful one to me, especially in the midst of the continuing crises happening within higher education and around the world.

Before I pass the presidential baton over to Christine Rener’s capable hands on Monday, I’d like to provide one last update about the work of some of those volunteer leaders and their continuing efforts to build the POD Network’s capacity to further its mission and values. I’m particularly proud of POD’s efforts to lower barriers to participation: passing a budget that maintains current fee levels for members; investing more in needs-based financial assistance; increasing transparency in decision-making; and pursuing new options for online programming.

If any of what I share below inspires you to volunteer your time, please reach out to a member of the Core Committee — or a chair of one of our many Standing Committees or Special Interest Groups (SIGs) — and ask how you can get involved. I hope you’ll join me in making the POD Network the organization that we need it to be.

Warmly,

Stacy Grooters
POD Network President

Chicago Conference Plans

The Conference Committee has been hard at work since November planning our 2024 Annual Conference, being held November 10-14 in Chicago. The conference team was stunned by the number of proposals they received — over 500 — and are grateful to the many members who stepped up to help review submissions. Proposal decisions will be going out soon!

Mandy McGrew, Chair of the Conference Committee and Program Co-Chairs, Danielle Lusk and Chris Hakala, completed their site visit to the Hyatt Regency in April, where they also had the chance to host a gathering of Chicago-area POD Network members, who are eager to welcome us to their hometown. The team is especially excited that the shift to lunchtime events at this year’s conference leaves evenings open for attendees to explore the city and all it has to offer. Conference registration is expected to launch in July.

FY25 Budget & Other Core Committee Actions

The Finance and Core Committees met repeatedly over the past six months to pass a balanced budget of $1,089,541 for the coming fiscal year. About a third of POD’s budget goes to personnel, a third to conference costs, and the rest funds programs, publications, and other expenses related to running the organization. This year’s budget includes funding to establish a (much-needed) Program Manager within the POD Office and over $77,000 to support the work of Committees and SIGs. The budget was designed to maintain membership fees ($150) and conference fees for members ($715 early-bird) at the same rates as last year.

Additionally, the Finance Committee and POD Office collaborated with professional financial advisors to reconfigure the POD Network’s investments of its operating reserves and investment funds (as detailed in the Governance Manual). In its first six months, this new investment strategy has already generated increased earnings, $40,000 of which has been set aside to fund a continuation of the Needs-Based Financial Aid program in 2024 (compared to the $25,000 allotted in 2023). I am grateful to Chad Hershock for his careful stewardship of POD’s finances during his tenure as Finance Chair, and I am eager to see Gloria Niles bring her own vision to the work as she steps into that role.

Other initiatives that the Executive and Core Committees advanced this year:

  • Began efforts to re-establish the Organizational Development Institute in collaboration with the AAC&U for 2025;
  • Approved the establishment of two new Special Interest Groups: the Community and Technical Colleges SIG and the Supporting Mentorship Practices and Programs SIG;
  • Developed priorities to guide decisions about conference locations and clarified the POD Network’s principles for working with venues that employ union labor;
  • Adopted the Affirmation of Care, Dialogue, and Accountability guidance as values grounding our expectations for members at the conference;
  • Clarified expectations for how Committees & SIGs should involve the Core Committee in decision-making about their projects; and
  • Submitted a $1 million grant proposal to the IDEA Fund to establish a regranting program for Students as Partners initiatives that will advance equity in teaching and learning at colleges and universities.

I have immense respect for the members of the Core Committee and POD’s other Administrative Committees, who bring such dedication to their roles and the organization. When you have the opportunity, please take a moment to thank them for their service to the POD Network.

Virtual Program Committee

The final development I want to highlight is the establishment of the Spring 2025 Virtual Program Ad Hoc Committee, charged with proposing a new virtual conference (or similar program) to be held early in 2025. The ad hoc promises to play a key role in the POD Network’s commitment to expand access through greater online offerings.

The committee grew out of a decision POD’s leadership made in the fall — based on input from past Conference Committees as well as attendee feedback — that our experiment of offering concurrent on-site and online conferences was not sustainable given the organization’s capacity, nor was it fully meeting member needs. The Core Committee instead approved a strategy of expanding hybrid opportunities at the 2024 conference and building the POD Office’s capacity to support online programming in future years (the new Program Manager position is part of that strategy).

At the same time, however, members — most notably from the Disabled Affinity Group — raised concerns that the lack of a concurrent online conference in 2024 fell short of the POD Network’s commitment to accessibility and urged quicker and more decisive action. The Core Committee thus approved the ad hoc, co-chaired by Teresa Focarile and Kevin Guidry, to pursue a more ambitious timeline for piloting a new online program. I extend my sincere gratitude to all the members who have advocated for this change as well as those who have volunteered to contribute to this important initiative.