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LOCATION
ALCA's Executive Office is in
Livingston, Alabama. Contact information can be found
here.
PURPOSE
The office functions as the primary
facilitator for Association business and activities. It
also serves as the records and archives depository for the
Association. The Executive Director and his co-workers
maintain the continuity of the organization from year to year.
HISTORY
Since its inception in 1966, one of
the stated objectives of the Association was to establish a
central office and staff to maintain the continuity of the
organization and to insure an efficient, effective operation of
our activities. In 1986, Dr. Wilbur Tincher was chosen as
the Association's first executive secretary. Upon his
retirement in 1991, Dr. Ervin L. (Chip) Wood was named the
Association's second executive. The office was then moved
to Livingston where it currently resides. In 2000, the
title of chief executive was changed to Executive Director.
PHILOSOPHY
While the Executive Director's
office is the central office for the Association and serves as
the main facilitator of the activities of the Association, it,
like all of the other activities of the Association, is
primarily run through the contributing efforts of the
individuals involved. None of the central office staff are
full-time. All of them are committed to the counseling
profession and serve to help ALCA be effective and viable.
The Executive Director believes
the strength of our organization is its members and very much
adheres to that philosophy himself. It is very important
that counselors have a viable presence statewide and to
accomplish this the ALCA needed a person to organize, coordinate
and maintain continuity.
The Association's central office
is effective and efficient because it is highly organized.
Personnel and resources are limited. It is very important
that the members of the organization understand that the staff,
like themselves, are members of the Association who serve
because they want to and perform much of their work because of
caring about people and the Association.
STAFF
The Executive Office includes the
Executive Director and office manager. Some part-time help
is hired periodically to assist with specific projects.
The executive director is the conscience and stabilizing
influence of ALCA. He has experience in education,
counseling, and ALCA procedures, protocol, and issues.
FUNDING
The central office operates on a
total budget of approximately $54,000 including all salaries,
support for which it has to pay, and operational expenses.
This figure represents approximately 25% of the Association's
total budget. According to industry standards, normal
administrative overhead for an organization would run 50-75% of
the total budget. ALCA is able to do all of the things
that it does for its members because we have been able to hold
administrative costs to a minimum.
- OPERATION
The ALCA office operates full
time from 9:00 a.m. - 4:00 p.m. each day. The office
is well equipped including voice mail, e-mail, fax machine,
web page, computer support, and other standard office
equipment required to facilitate a well organized
Association operation. There are times when, because
of the part-time status of the people involved, the office
may transfer calls, switch to voice mail, etc., but in
general there is someone constantly monitoring the
activities of the organization.
WORK STYLE
The office staff is made up of
dedicated individuals who understand the things that need to be
done to make the organization effective, and they are able to
organize their abilities in such a way that what needs to be
done occurs in a timely and efficient manner. The office
is a facilitating office--not a "doing it for
everyone" office. The office is committed to helping
the volunteers for the organization figure out what they need to
do and then facilitating their being able to do it in the most
effective manner possible. As people tell you, if you want
something organized, call "Chip," and he will figure
out how to do it.
EFFECTIVENESS
The effectiveness of any office is
reflected by the perception of the people it serves. The
general feedback from the membership is that they recognize that
the Association is fortunate to have a well-organized, highly
efficient organization representing it. The office
responds in a timely manner to chapter/division/executive
council requests as well as individual requests from
members. There is turnover in the students and graduate
assistants, but the quality of these people make them quick
learners and hard workers. Dr. Wood and his staff are mainstays
of the organization because they, through their longevity, have
learned the policies, traditions, peculiarities and expectations
of the Association. Dr. Wood has been a member of the
Association for many years in basically every level of
operation, including president.
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