FROM THE DESK OF THE PRESIDENT

9/29/2011

I am excited to announce that OWSA has added an Executive Director to our leadership team. In a recent board meeting, the officers of OWSA unanimously agreed that the addition of an Executive Director would enhance our organizational efforts to promote membership, expand membership benefits and extend OWSA's influence across the field of corrections. It took little discussion to identify current advisory member, Mark Saunders, as the perfect fit for this position. Mark is far from a stranger to correctional systems literally worldwide in addition to his vast experience in leading correctional organizations such as OWSA. Mark will oversee the daily operations of OWSA and will work closely with the officers to ensure the organizational mission is achieved with the most benefit to our membership and profession. You will hear more from our Executive Director in our fall newsletter. Please join me in welcoming Mark to his new role and lending him your support in his duties.

As mentioned in our summer newsletter, your board of officers has been hard at work beginning the planning of the 2012 training conference. In response to the feedback received from our conference evaluations, we will again be returning to Berlin, OH for our upcoming event on May 16 th – 18 th , 2012. Berlin Hotel and Suites has served as the most fiscally responsible selection in terms of amenities and availability to meet the goals of our training conferences. This year's conference may require attendees to take advantage of available agency reimbursement funds to offset conference cost and changes in grant funding. We are confident that with the commitment of our membership we will continually provide quality training, networking and vendor contact. We will provide further information and guidance to assist in making this process user friendly for our members. At this year's conference we will also hold our 2012 election of officers. In line with our organizational by-laws, a call for nominations will be sent to all active members prior to the conference. To review eligibility for nomination, please visit our constitution/by-law tab on this web page.

Once again, the members of OWSA have proven their benevolence through aiding our partners in Alabama and Mississippi. Following the spring training conference, facilities across Ohio continued fund raising events which raised an additional $7,572.94 bringing our grand total of aid funds to these states to $8,572.94. These funds were equally divided and sent to each state to assist in the relief efforts for the correctional staff. Thanks again to all that contributed, this truly validates our commitment to the field of corrections not only in Ohio but nationwide!

I am very excited about the future of our organization and have truly enjoyed my tenure as OWSA President. The upcoming months will be a very busy time for the OWSA board and we look forward to hearing your input on possible conference workshops or networking ideas. Be sure to mark your calendars for May 16 th – 18 th , 2012 and I will see you in Berlin!

 

Edward Banks

OWSA President