Having gone through the GRAPA site, I decided to get some information from this organization.
First Email to info@grapatel.com (10-SEP-2010)
Hi,
I am new in the RA world and just learnt about GRAPA. I have a few questions having gone through the GRAPA site and a copy of the RA Standards 2009 that a friend of mine was kind enough to share with me.
I have a few queries before I decide whether to join GRAPA and would be glad if you can provide some answers:
If you have a copy of the GRAPA constitution (or any other suitable document that explains the workings and organization of GRAPA), please share this as I suspect it will go a long way in answering some of the questions below.
Running of GRAPA: What roles/responsibilities exist? I know from the GRAPA site that Rob Mattison is the president but what other roles/officials exist in the management of GRAPA? For example, I noted Chris Yesulis features on the standards ratification process. Are officials nominated (by whom) or elected (what’s the election process)?
What is the set term for officials to serve GRAPA? Is there a limit to the number of terms an official can serve? If there is such a limit, how often are they replaced?
How do regional GRAPA chairpersons come into being?
With regard to the process of revision of standards, the GRAPA site states: In September/October of each year, a "review committee" is established. It is the job of this committee to review organization and make recommendations for standards modification based upon the petitions and proposals. How is the review committee set up i.e. election, nomination etc? What are the qualifications of a person serving on such a committee? I have gone through the standards handbook and did not get this information.
Given that there is no membership fee, how are GRAPA operations funded?
How is financial oversight carried out?
Concerning the training curriculum, how is this governed i.e. what is the development process for the courses that GRAPA offers, along with quality assurance checks that are attendant to this process?
Town halls: is there quorum requirement for a town hall? The total number of town halls I could find archived on the GRAPA site is about 10 - is this all?
With regard to the RA standards, which I understand are the results a consultative process involving many RA professionals, I would imagine the copyright would be in the name of GRAPA and not an individual (Rob Mattison)? Or what is the rationale behind this arrangement?
Please expound on the continuing professional education (CPE) process of GRAPA.
No response.
So I drafted a second email (this time to dustin@grapatel.com) 13-SEP-2010
Dear Dustin,
I picked your email address from an old newsletter where you are listed Memberships Manager:
Would you be in a position to assist me with answers regarding the questions I have listed below? I have not received any response yet from info@grapatel.com
As expected, no response
Third email (to the collective email address, I imagine, grapateam@gmail.com) 14-SEP-2010
Hi GRAPA Team,
I am looking for the information below but I suspect there is a problem delivering email. Please review and get back to me when you can.
No response, hence I took the liberty to write to the President of GRAPA himself. 17-SEP-2010. Imagine me, mere mortal, writing to the President of a Global Association. I must admit, I felt intimidated. I was standing on hallowed ground, approaching the throne with trepidation and awe. History was being made here, my friends, and I was part of it. Precedence was being set, really. From this point on, anything could happen. I was acutely aware that by this single act, I could book my place in the annals of history and this is a prospect that was both exhilarating and daunting at the same time! I had deigned to write to a President who governs not just the United States of America but all RA professionals scattered across the globe, from Timbuktu to Tasmania, from Oslo to Ohio and from [wherever you, dear reader are] to [where I am].... But I took courage and typed a few words, taking care to be as reverent as possible lest I bring upon myself the wrath of His Excellency (His Majesty? His Worship?). I mean, this right here, is what my mother had always warned me about - never to question elders.
Dear Rob,
I hope you are well. I am seeking some info regarding GRAPA and have not been lucky with my enquiries so far. Would you mind sharing some of the info requested below?
Lo and behold, I receive a response from Rob Mattison on 18-SEP-2010. Thus spaketh the President:
I have seen your emails.
What exactly do you want to know and why? We have never had anyone ask these questions, so I would like to know who you are and why you are asking.
Membership is free, and joining GRAPA does not bind you in any way, so forgive me if I am confused.
Please provide us with a contact phone number, and a non-gmail email account and we will be happy to contact you.
And I responded on 22-SEP-2010:
Rob,
Many thanks for the reply. The reason I ask these questions is I can't find the information on the GRAPA site or on the RA standards handbook. Hence I imagined there may be some information that I am not privy to and that would be available upon request. I believe for a global professionals organization, these are and should be valid question for anybody contemplating membership, as I am.
My understanding is that a member would have certain obligations to the professional body and likewise, the professional body has certain obligations which I have enquired about below e.g. how curriculum is developed and quality assurance that goes into it, how financial oversight is maintained, how officials come into being and what durations they serve, the rigor of the CPE process, why copyright for RA standards copyright is in the name of an individual if in deed it was a collective process of ratification...in my view these are basic questions.
Even if GRAPA membership would not bind me in any way(which is strange, I would expect at least some code of conduct which as a professional I subscribe to), I am keen to understand how it works. However, I am reachable on my number +XXX XXX XXX XXX.
No response, so far. However, I am patiently waiting for the President. For I know he must be busy. Is he wont to tarry? Nobody knows...this much I know, his calendar is not one I could manage. After all, this is a global association we are talking about here.
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