Two Votes for the Future of ARCOS / Special Election & AOA/CORD Collab

[Laurel Lewis]

Hello Members!

Over the last three years, the ARCOS Board of Directors (BOD) has been struggling with planning the Annual Conference.  For many years, we had a great working relationship with AAOS in securing our hotel space in the city that they contracted to host their annual meeting.  This is not the case any longer.  After numerous meetings with the AAOS planning team, we have been unsuccessful in convincing them that we should continue to be recognized as an AAOS affiliate organization.  This has made the planning of the ARCOS Conference challenging.  ARCOS has been prevented from making our hotel selections until very late in the year due to the AAOS hold on hotels in each city.  We call numerous hotels until we find one that will work with us and then the hotel must get permission from the AAOS to allow ARCOS to have a conference there.  This pushes our conference planning back every year because the location is critical to many components of the conference, including timely communication with members so that you can make your arrangements.

However, AOA/CORD does recognize ARCOS and has asked us to enter a collaboration with them beginning in 2025.  The BOD has been contemplating this collaboration and decided to reach out to you based on the following:

• AAOS no longer recognizes ARCOS as an affiliate organization
• AAOS will not help us acquire hotel, conference space, or room block
• AAOS chooses big cities with high expenses for their annual meeting
• Now that ARCOS has become a free-standing annual conference, we have seen a significant increase in costs to host our conference in conjunction with  AAOS over the last three years – since we were dropped as a recognized affiliate organization by AAOS
• In contrast, AOA/CORD approached us for collaboration in conjunction with their meeting separation from AAOS as they work to reduce the cost of        their CORD Conference.

How does this benefit ARCOS? 

• Increased educational opportunities for ARCOS to partner with AOA/CORD (our Program Directors) that we do not have with AAOS
• AOA/CORD recognizes ARCOS as an important educational entity for Coordinators.  They have expressed excitement in meetings with their leadership about the opportunity to collaborate with ARCOS!
• AOA/CORD has proven their commitment to ARCOS by establishing the Coordinator of the Year Award for our members and including coordinators on their sub committees and workgroups
• Conferences in smaller cities with similar amenities, which we hope will make expenses fair for membership to attend conferences, including lower rates for room blocks and other shared expenses with CORD.  Yes, they want to go to a fun location as well!!

The overall goal is that ARCOS and AOA/CORD want to collaborate to avoid big cities with big expenses to benefit all our members.  The ARCOS BOD is committed to keeping costs reasonable due to everchanging budgets, both for your institution and for the ARCOS Conference.

The BOD believes the collaboration with AOA/CORD is the right step to ensure the best educational experience for our members and make it financially possible for you to continue to attend the annual conference.  ARCOS will continue to operate independently as a not-for-profit organization. We are not changing who we are or joining AOA/CORD, but simply expanding our opportunities with this collaboration.

Therefore, due to this change, we must call for your vote to accept the proposed changes to the ARCOS Bylaws.  Please review the attached draft of the Bylaws highlighted in yellow on page 2, Article III – Meetings, number 2. Annual Conference.  Then vote to accept (YES) or not to accept (NO) the proposed updates to the ARCOS Bylaws using the link below.

In addition, we are holding a special election for the position of President-Elect. 

In the best interest of ARCOS, our current President-Elect, Joni Roberts, has decided to step down, but continue as a Member-at-Large on the BOD.  Please click the voting link below to view candidate CV and video.

The link to vote for ARCOS President-Elect and to change the ARCOS Bylaws is here: https://www.arcosonline.org/vote or click the link on the ARCOS website home page.

The window to review, ask questions, and cast your votes will be Friday, April 5, 2024, through April 19, 2024, by midnight.

Questions regarding the ARCOS Special Election contact Kim Reising:  kim.weingartner@uc.edu

Questions regarding the ARCOS Bylaws change and/or the ARCOS/AOA/CORD Collaboration contact Laurel Lewis:  llewis8@wellspan.org

Thank you for taking the time to vote on these critical matters that affect ARCOS!   I know we are all busy all the time!

~Laurel, and the ARCOS Board of Directors

[Laurel Lewis]

Hello, Everyone!

Just a note to clear up the timeline for this collaboration with CORD.  We will NOT be having the ARCOS Conference in June!  The dates being considered are January/February to avoid the ACGME Conference.  Please feel free to contact us via email with your questions!

Questions regarding the ARCOS Special Election contact Kim Reising:  kim.weingartner@uc.edu

Questions regarding the ARCOS Bylaws change and/or the ARCOS/AOA/CORD Collaboration contact Laurel Lewis:  llewis8@wellspan.org

The link to vote for ARCOS President-Elect and to change the ARCOS Bylaws is here: https://www.arcosonline.org/vote or click the link on the ARCOS website home page.

~Laurel

[Laurel Lewis]

This is a friendly reminder to cast your vote on the proposed bylaws change and to vote for our future president-elect!!

Your participation is crucial in shaping the future of ARCOS.

 

Voting and Inquiries Deadline: This Friday, April 19, 2024 at Midnight

The link to vote for ARCOS President-Elect and to change the ARCOS Bylaws is here: https://www.arcosonline.org/vote or click the link on the ARCOS website home page.

Questions regarding the ARCOS Special Election contact Kim Reising:  kim.weingartner@uc.edu

Questions regarding the ARCOS Bylaws change and/or the ARCOS/AOA/CORD Collaboration contact Laurel Lewis:  llewis8@wellspan.org

Best,

~Laurel

[Rhonda B Smith]

Hi Laurel.  I would like to throw out a suggestion.  Is there any way that we could start a campaign to have the AAOS membership contact whoever is making these decisions?  I know that there isn’t a resident that has been through our program that would not contact the AAOS on our behalf out of respect for Dr. Meyer.  They all know how hard Dr. Meyer worked to get ARCOS off the ground because he always did the same for them.  I’m just having a hard time trying to wrap my head around the fact that they do not respect our organization and the effort we put in to do our jobs.  How many program directors would not contact AAOS on our behalf?  How many of our residents wouldn’t be willing to do the same?  While we may be a small group in their eyes, if we rally the troops I think we would have a pretty loud voice.  Just my two cents.

[Vicky Norton]

Hi Rhonda,

Thank you for sharing this.  As someone very fond of Dr. Meyer, I feel 100% with you.  Dr. Meyer was so supportive.  He said we always paved our own way, however, we felt his support in a strong way.  I wondered if other PD’s would step up, too.  A special task force might be a good option.

[Christine Steinberger]

Good afternoon,

I think a task force is an excellent option. All of you who were there from the beginning with Dr. Meyer paved the way for all of the other coordinator groups.  I would hate to see us move away from our national meeting as I believe it highlights the importance of our role. If there is anything we can do, please keep us informed.

 

[Laurel Lewis]

Hi Rhonda and Vicky,

Thank you for your suggestions.  Dr Meyer was a wonderful advocate and mentor, and it is our hope that we make him proud of how we are keeping ARCOS standing on its own as a Not-For-Profit, National Organization and doing what is best for membership!

The ARCOS Board was approached by CORD, after CORD surveyed program directors and ARCOS membership for this collaboration to move our conferences together for fiscal and educational reasons.  It is quite a comfort to know that our program directors in CORD respect us for what we do and are excited to work with us!

We have spoken to the AAOS Housing and Meetings Leadership, and they continuously told us that we do not fall under their guidelines and that there will not be any changes for 2025.  We board members were taken aback (shocked) as well when we were told more than once, specifically, we are not recognized as an AAOS Committee, Affiliate/Alumni, or Specialty Society under their guidelines.

Another reason for moving our conference is that the AAOS monopolizes all the hotel/conference space in each city.  As a result, our conference planning is delayed, and we find ourselves struggling to secure a location at competitive rates.  The costs for ARCOS and for membership to attend conferences is also a big concern.  We want to make the conference available to as many members as possible.  Additionally, as I mentioned in my original post, we are also responding to requests from our post-conference surveys that ask for lower costs for rooms and affordable locations.

Thank you for your support of the board as we continue to work hard to make the ARCOS Conference available and educational for all our members!

For further discussion on this hot topic, several of Board of Directors have cleared their schedule so that we may have an open discussion tomorrow, Wednesday, April 17, at 1:30PM Eastern Time.  Please use this link and add the time to your calendars!  https://us06web.zoom.us/j/84012379797?pwd=wZs16uIeZ3OPY47ItNWnnlReLJ4tXJ.1

Thank you and we look forward to further discussion,

~ARCOS Executive Board

• This reply was modified 7 months ago by Laurel Lewis.

[Mara Sweet]

Is there a passcode for the zoom?

[Laurel Lewis]

Mara, can you use the link?

 

[Mara Sweet]

I don’t have zoom on my work computer and trying to join from browser it wants the passcode.

[Maia Knox, C-TAGME]

Here you go 🙂

Meeting ID: 840 1237 9797
Passcode: 773453

[Maia Knox, C-TAGME]

Here you go 🙂

Meeting ID: 840 1237 9797
Passcode: 773453

[Starla Pathak]

Hello Everyone –

I would like to offer a perspective in support of the Board’s decision to bring this collaboration with AOA/CORD.  In my previous role (many years ago) as one of the founding members and 1st Chair of the ObGyn Coordinators organization, we were welcomed into ACOG (same as AAOS is to Orthopaedics) where we didn’t have to pay separately for meeting space or for food for our meetings.  The difference being is that the Educational Department of ACOG is where the Program Director’s organization (CREOG) is “housed”.  In ObGyn, the PDs organization was not and is not a stand-alone organization, like AOA-CORD.  As a result, the ACOG/Educational Division provided support for not only the PDs to have their meetings (Spring meeting and summer meeting), but also for ARCOG (Program Coordinator’s organization) to have their meetings in conjunction with the PDs where Education of our Residents, Faculty and Coordinators/Administrators was the sole focus and meeting space was provided at no cost.  These CREOG meetings are traditionally 3-4 days in length and allowed much more interaction between the coordinators, PDs and RRC members. etc.

For this reason, I think that moving forward with a solid collaboration with AOA/CORD where we are all able to focus on education, collaboration and support of our programs is an outstanding move.  I know that many of us have enjoyed being able to go to the larger AAOS meetings, but honestly, we don’t interact with the PDs that often and the opportunities to learn at AAOS Annual meeting itself are non-existant – by collaborating with AOA-CORD, I believe we will have better meetings in locations that are not as expensive or cost prohibitive as the cities that can accommodate the larger AAOS Annual meeting and we will have an opportunity to really grow the education enterprise.

Starla Pathak
Tufts Orthopaedics

 

[Maia Knox, C-TAGME]

Here you go 🙂

Meeting ID: 840 1237 9797
Passcode: 773453

[Melissa Gara]

Hi-

I was unable to attend. Was the meeting recorded?

Thank you!

[Author]

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