APPNA CABL Committee had a Retreat the first weekend of November 2020 in Newark NJ. The Retreat was attended by all 9 members of the Committee — 7 in person and 2 virtually by zoom.
Having been entrusted with the important task of taking a complete and comprehensive look at the Constitution and By-Laws of the organization, the CABL Committee has been meting regularly every two weeks since its formation in February 2020.Realizing the enormity of the task and the breadth of the topics that needed to be discussed, the CABL Committee decided to have a weekend Retreat with the single minded focus on the task at hand. It was decided to have the Retreat November 6th to 8th in Newark NJ. All the members agreed to dedicate their entire weekend to reviewing the current CABL in its entirety, identify potential pitfalls/ problems and suggest remedies. This was a big ask and I am pleased to report that every single member willingly agreed to do so. All the members, barring two who were limited due to their call schedule in hospitals, travelled to Newark from all over the US — as far West as California and as far South as Louisiana.7 of the 9 attended the Retreat in person and the other 2 virtually by Zoom.
Our inaugural session was on Friday November 6th after dinner. We resumed our sessions next morning at 8am continuing till 6pm with an hour break for lunch. We resumed work after dinner and had a final session Sunday morning.
I am pleased to report that we covered a lot of ground with sessions dedicated to different areas of the CABL. The topics discussed included among others:
– Vision & Mission Statement
– Core Values (Aims & Objectives)
– Membership (Dues & Assessments)
– Internal Structure & Organization (component societies, alumni organizations, regional chapters, affiliate organizations)
– Governance (Board of Directors, Council, Trustees, House of delegates)
– Committees (composition, membership, duties)
– Elections (canvassing, duration, timing and process).
Suffice it to say that we had a very healthy and robust discussion and I feel optimistic about coming up with a draft document for presentation to and discussion in Council. As fellow APPNA members may realize this has to be a very deliberate process and cannot be rushed through. Any Constitution and By-Law changes/ modification will need the support of vast majority of the membership to be successful and have acceptance. With this in mind the CABL Committee and APPNA leadership, including President Dr. Naheed Usmani and President-Elect Dr. Rizwan Khalid, have committed to getting this done right. Our time line goes trough end of this year and into 2021, All the members of the CABL Committee are fully committed to getting it right, as best as we can see what is right, with the sole goal of having a CABL that serves APPNA for many many years to come.
I want to thank all the members for taking the time and attending the Retreat. They are as follows:
Dr. Mahmood Alam, New Jersey
Dr. Riaz Chaudhary, Louisiana
Dr. Haroon Durrani, New Jersey
Dr. Nasir Gondal, New York
Dr. Abdul Jabbar, Kentucky
Dr. Rizwan Khalid, Missouri
Dr. Raheel Rasheed Khan, West Virginia
Dr. Mubasher Rana, California
Respectfully submitted,
Zia Moiz Ahmad, MD
Chair, CABL Committee
PS: Special note of thanks to Dr. Mahmood Alam and Dr. Haroon Durrani for being gracious local hosts and taking care of the gastronomic needs of the Committee.
St. Louis, Missouri
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