TO: CoSIDA Membership
FROM: Nick Joos, 2008-09 CoSIDA President 
DATE: November 10th, 2008
RE: CoSIDA/NACDA Relationship Proposal

On October 23rd, after several weeks of discussions, I received a formal proposal from Joan Cronan, current President of NACDA, and Bob Vecchione, Sr. Assoc. Executive Director of NACDA, relative to establishing what is now being referred to by the leadership of both CoSIDA and NACDA as a unique “hybrid association relationship” concept between the two organizations. The CoSIDA BOD then held a teleconference with Joan and Bob on this proposal on Oct. 29th which included an extensive Q&A between our leadership group and those two NACDA officials.

From Oct. 29th- Nov 6th the BOD then had other calls and completed a "pro/con" analysis relative to this unique proposal. Based on how those BOD conversations have gone as well the overall merits that have been advanced on its behalf, Anne Abicht, a CD rep from St. Cloud State University, made a motion on Nov. 6th, which was unanimously passed by the BOD, that this proposal should be forwarded to the membership for review and input prior to the BOD conducting a final vote on the matter in mid-December.

I would encourage each of you to go to CoSIDA.com and review a copy of the formal proposal from NACDA as well as several supporting documents that were supplied by them as part of the presentation and others that have been compiled by the BOD as part of the evaluation process and now membership review/input process. As part of that membership review/input process you have an opportunity, which the Board encourages, to respond to a few questions with regard to your thoughts on the proposal.

I believe that there are a few things that I should point out as you hopefully prepare to closely review this proposal and provide your thoughts.

• This proposal is distinctly different from the one that was presented by NACDA to us in Nashville in 2006. Several members of the current BOD who were on the Board at that time have commented that this proposal and its presentation from NACDA was “night-and-day different” from 2006.

• This proposal enables us to fully run our own association as we always have.

• This proposal enables us to fully run our own convention in all areas, including setting the registration fee, as we have always done. The only difference is that our event now takes place along with other management association group gatherings and we thus benefit tremendously by all the “synergy aspects” that can take place from that relative to not only our convention, but also as it relates to our profession and organization. Please review the agenda document from the ’08 NACDA convention that is part of the NACDA presentation so you can clearly see and understand how our convention would be handled in this proposed arrangement.

• It places us as part of what has become the single most influential gathering of intercollegiate administrators on a yearly basis, covering all aspects of the enterprise of college athletics.

• This proposal enables us to have the long-sought “leadership seat at the table” to strategically attack and advance our agenda, with the needed help of other administrative groups, relative to many issues and challenges facing our profession. That “leadership seat” is a must if we are going to advance multiple aspects of our strategic plan as it relates to improved professional understanding, respect and value.

• This is a “Let’s Try It” proposal concept. We can try this for just a few years and if the future leadership/membership of CoSIDA does not believe it is appropriate to establish a more long-term relationship/affiliation we can remove ourselves from this arrangement with no financial penalties and go back to the way things currently are. In short, there is very little risk in this proposal from a CoSIDA standpoint.

In closing, I ask that each of you please review this proposal with an open mind and within the context and conviction of placing “Profession First” at the very head of your thinking on this discussion matter. That is what the Board has tried to do in its evaluation.

I can not emphasize enough that this proposal is significantly different from other NACDA based discussions in the past as it provides us with a very high level of independence and self-management in addition to allowing us to try this arrangement for a few years rather than making a long-term commitment. It enables us to fully keep our identity and association self-management while also providing us the opportunity to use our “leadership seat at the table” to be significantly more pro-active than any time in our history in advancing our profession, organization and membership.

Many of us on the Board believe that this leadership opportunity before us ranks among the most significant in the history of our profession and organization. We have, in my opinion, an opportunity to significantly advance our profession, membership- both collectively and individually- and the organization in a manner that has not been possible now for quite some time. We have a significant opportunity I believe to change the course of our fortunes and status.

Please take time to review the materials and provide feedback to the Board by Monday, Dec. 1.

Thank you in advance for your consideration and time in reviewing this proposal.