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February 17 , 2009 March 1, 2009 Student Writing Contest Submission Deadline March 12-14, 2009 GLATA Winter Meeting March 25, 2009 WATA Legislative Day April 10, 2009 WATA Meeting July 31, 2009 WATA Golf Outing In This Issue: President Vice President Treasurer Secretary Member at Large Southwest Representative Northeast Representative Southeast Representative Finance Governmental Affairs Honors and Awards Leadership Development Professional Education Public Relations Reimbursement & Employment Research Student Affairs Website WATA Past Newsletters:
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Fellow WATA Members, I hope our WATA Winter Newsletter finds all of you doing well. Hopefully we are just about out of the deep freeze. Your Board of Directors had a very productive meeting last weekend and we continue to make progress on many fronts. Very importantly, we continue to make progress on our financial plan and are re-investing funds in important initiatives to advance our strategic plan broadly. I think you will be proud of the work we are doing and our Board is excited to share all the details with you at our upcoming WATA Business Meeting and Symposium in Madison this April. I am going to keep my message brief today as there are many important items in this newsletter to address. You will hear a great deal shortly from Mike Van Veghel and myself regarding the pending introduction of our legislation. It is an exciting time and we need the support of our entire membership to help tell the story of athletic training in Wisconsin to our legislators. Students, I would like to especially call upon all of you to organize assistance in this effort. More guidance and information is being prepared, but please pay particular attention to Mike Van Veghel's communications in this newsletter. Finally, I couldn't be more excited about our new committee composition and the leadership that is being provided by our chairs. Our communication and collaboration across committees continues to improve. We have a new WATA Public Relations Committee Chair in Jolene Strifler, and a new Southeast Regional Representative in Kenny Wilka. We couldn't be happier to have them aboard. I do want to publicly thank our outgoing Southeast Regional Representative, Jeff Sischo, for his service to the WATA. As always, please feel free to contact me about any and all issues. There is a great deal happening in our association right now and I am happy to answer any of your questions. Please get involved in whatever capacity you can. Your association needs your energy and enthusiasm more than ever over the next few months. Sincerely, Joe Greene |
Registration is now open for the 2009 WATA Annual Meeting and Symposium. This year's program, themed "Adding Value to Your Practice," allows you to earn up to 16 CEU's with the new three day format. Our featured speaker is Dr. Michael Collins from the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center. He will present a series of presentations on head injuries and managing sports concussions. A variety of other speakers will present as well. Several focused workshops are also available. Don't miss the Annual Business Meeting, Awards Banquet, and other activities over the course of meeting. We hope to see you there. |
Mike Van Veghel, WATA Governmental Affairs Chair WATA Legislative Day Wednesday, March 25th, 2005 Morning Session: 9:00 AM - 12:00 PM - Concourse Hotel Afternoon Session: 1:30 - 3:30 - State Capitol Offices Conduit Social: 4:00 - ? Registration: Please provide Mindy with the following information: Purpose: An important part of the current WATA strategic plan involves amending and improving our current practice act. This process has been ongoing for nearly two years and has involved input from our WATA leadership and committees, WATA membership, district representatives and national association personnel. We have met with legal counsel, members of industry and have even considered opinions from outside professional associations. After much discussion and debate the Governmental Affairs Committee is ready to introduce our amendments to the Legislature. As our practice act rolls through the capitol we will need YOU and your active involvement to solicit your local legislators for support of our bill. The WATA Legislative Day provides a collective means for you to not only become current regarding legislation affecting LATs but for you to voice concerns directly with elected representatives and their staff. Currently, the primary objective is to present our updated practice act to your legislators and urge them to sponsor and support its passage. This will be accomplished through face to face meetings where you will have the opportunity to educate your Legislators on who we are, what we do, where we do it and how effective our model of health care is when applied to an active population. What can I do? Make every effort to attend! Consider a donation to the WATA Conduit! Practice Act Update On February 16th, the WATA Executive Committee approved the amended LAT practice act as submitted by the Governmental Affairs Committee. The amended practice act will be presented to the Legislative Review Board (LRB) for authorship. In an effort to promote collegial dialogue across a variety of health professions we will welcome comment from interested parties over the next few weeks. This has included consistent dialogue and information exchange between the Presidents and Legislative committees of the WATA /and WPTA. While this in no way ensures broad support of our language it does represent at least a small and positive political paradigm shift regarding proactive inter-association negotiation and dialogue. While I do not have an official document to share at this time, it is our goal to have the practice act authored and in your hands prior to our legislative day in March. I can assure you that this process has been thorough and has been driven by the utmost respect for the comprehensive vitality and viability of our profession. We will keep you informed of the progress regarding this important initiative. What can I do? Get involved! Get to know your legislators - especially those have been newly elected and those on the senate and assembly health committees which can be found on the WATA Legislative Web Page. We will be bringing forth our act in the next few weeks and it will be your legislators who will have a stake in its passage! Keep an eye out for future communications which will include sample letters, general talking points and other fundraising/meet and greet opportunities. Licensure Fees We still have no definitive word regarding the exact increase of our Licensure fees. New State law requires the DRL to adjust licensure fees as necessary to account for the costs associated with administration and enforcement of each professional license. The DRL has sent their recommendations to the joint finance committee who has until 2/18/09 to comment on the proposed fee increases. When finalized there will be notice placed on the DRL web page which can be found at: http://drl.wi.gov/index.htm. Fee increases will take effect beginning on July 1, 2009. Did you know: The Department issues over nearly 50,000 new credentials and renews approximately 350,000 credential holders each biennium. The agency also provides centralized administrative services to 64 boards, councils, and advisory committees. The Department of Regulation and Licensing protects the citizens of Wisconsin by ensuring the safe and competent practice of licensed professionals through regulation, education, experience, examination, practice standards, and compliance. Nass receives Unanimous Credentialing Board Appointment Congratulations to Steve Nass PT/LAT on his unanimous appointment to the AT affiliated credentialing board by both the Assembly and Senate. Steve is the current chair of the ATACB. Other board members who are athletic trainers include (current term expiration date): Vice chair Ryan Berry(07/09), Secretary Jeanne Brown(07/11) and James Nesbitt(07/10). We extend our thanks to each of these individuals for their dedicated service on behalf of Wisconsin's licensed athletic trainers and the many and varied populations that we serve. WATA Legislative Contacts The Governmental Affairs Committee and your lobbyists have been active in making the WATA presence known at various political events including those recognizing key political players including: Governor Doyle, Senate and Assembly Democratic leadership, Freshman Assembly Democrats and Senate and Assembly health related committee members. These opportunities have been made possible through the efforts of Stenger Governmental Relations and through application of YOUR CONDUIT CONTRIBUTIONS! This has allowed our association and various WATA representatives the valuable opportunity to directly meet and engage important Legislative members on behalf of our association and the athletic training profession. Keep an eye on the WATA Web page and future email updates regarding upcoming events across the state. Please consider taking the opportunity to directly or indirectly educate your legislators on who you are and all that you do for the physically active residents of Wisconsin! |
2009 WATA Board of Directors Election Nominations are now being accepted. The WATA would like to announce that the following WATA Board of Directors positions are up for election in 2009:
The regions are determined by state senate district. If you are unsure what WATA Region you are in, please check the region map and descriptions available on the WATA website. |
All student members of the WATA/NATA are encouraged to apply. Students should review the criteria carefully and submit their application. Applications for 2009 scholarships are due March 1st. Scholarship descriptions and applications are available on the WATA website by visiting the Scholarship Information page . |
The Athletic Training Student Writing Contest is an opportunity for athletic training students to compete to present a poster of a research project, clinical case, or clinical pearl at the WATA Annual Business Meeting and Symposium. Abstracts should be submitted by March 1, 2009. The top 6 (six) entries in each category will be accepted for inclusion at the meeting. The Student Education Committee will evaluate all entries and successful entrants will be notified by April 1, 2009. Please visit the Student Writing Contest on the WATA Website for more detailed information and how to apply. |
2009 WATA Free Communication Session
Research Grant Announcement Who is Eligible? If interested, please contact Research Committee Chair, David Bazett-Jones, at bazetthound@juno.com for an application. Research Grants Awarded |
The WATA would like to publicly acknowledge the outgoing GLATA Student Senator from Wisconsin, and GLATA Student Senate Vice Chair Chad Moeller (Concordia) for his work on the Student Senate. Chad has represented the WATA/Wisconsin exceptionally well. We are also pleased to announce that the incoming GLATA Student Senator from Wisconsin will be Natalie Kramer (UW-LaCrosse) who will be joining current Student Senator Shelly Holzer (UW-Stevens Point). Thank you Chad and we look forward to working with you Natalie! GLATA Student Senators play an integral role in planning the student educational program at the GLATA Winter Meeting. Each state is responsible for appointing two students to serve as Student Senators. In Wisconsin, the terms are staggered, with one student completing their term each year. Applications are generally accepted in November/December. In addition to their role within the district, these students also serve as members of the WATA Student Affairs Committee. |
Support NATA's 9th Annual National Athletic Training Month
Please go to www.nata.org/natm for more great ideas on how you can promote our profession during NATM! Send your NATM promotional activities to PR Committee Chair, Jolene Strifler at jstrifler@uwhealth.org. |
The NATA would like to announce the 2009-2011 cycle of the StarTRACKS Leadership Scholar program, developed by the NATA. The first year of the program has gone very well and the level of activity by the participants shows a sincere interest in helping the NATA and GLATA move forward in the future. The GLATA is supporting two individuals again this year with a competitive grant program that will cover up to $350 of expenses associated with the program. The deadline for applications is April 1, 2009. Information including application requirements, an overview of the selection criteria for the grant, eligibility requirements, scholar responsibilities, and the application forms can be accessed here by viewing the GLATA StarTRACKS Info and Application. More information can be found on the NATA website. Please contact District Director Mark Gibson at gibson.mark@uwlax.edu for more information. |
Make sure you save the date for this summers WATA Golf Outing. We hope to see a big turnout to raise funds for our WATA Scholarships. Friday, July 31st, 2009 Help is needed and appreciated! Please contact Mike Van Veghel at mvanveghel@uwhealth.org with questions, event ideas and course recommendations, or if you are interested in assisting with the organization of the outing. |
"Research to Reality"- Grand Wayne Center/Hilton Hotel - Fort Wayne, IN Registration is now open for the 2009 GLATA Winter Meeting, with 17 CEUs available. More information can be found online at the GLATA Winter Meeting page including registration, program, and hotel information. Hope to see you in Fort Wayne! |
The WATA Board Meeting Minutes will now be available to members via links in the WATA Newsletter and WATA Updates. Minutes that have been approved by the Board will be made available only thru the newsletters and updates. Please click on the following link to view the most recently approved minutes: |
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