President's Update: January 2021

President’s Update: January 2021

by Courtney Landoll, PLA, LEED AP

Hello and Happy New Year! Welcome to the second installment of our new monthly newsletter, your source for all things NCASLA and landscape architecture related items in our state. Each month, this report will serve to let you know how your Executive Committee has been serving you, what we are working on currently, and what is coming up in the future. Over the last month, the Executive Committee:

  • Conducted strategic planning

  • Approved our annual budget

  • Approved changes to our Bylaws to be consistent with ASLA’s Bylaws

  • Approved the 2021 Conference to be virtual

  • Welcomed a new Mountain Section Chair, Rose Tanksley

  • Reviewed the 2020 Membership Survey from September

Of particular importance, I want to spend some time sharing the results of our Membership Survey. Our survey received 147 responses. The majority of the respondents were Full members with ten years of experience or more, though we did have a high percentage of our Associate members respond. The majority of respondents were from the Triangle region. Here is what you told us:

  • Dues: 48% responded their employer paid their dues , 36% paid their own dues, the remainder were either free (Students and Emeritus), or a combination

  • At that time, COVID had not impacted most of the respondents membership, except some reported missed educational and social opportunities. Most respondents intended to renew their membership.

  • Respondents said NCASLA should focus our efforts on

    • Protection of the practice (31%)

    • Providing educational webinars (26%)

    • Advocacy for initiatives supporting the practice of landscape architecture (21%)

  • In order, the top three topics of educational interest included

    • Resiliency/Climate Change (32%)

    • Green Stormwater Infrastructure/LID (18%)

    • Regional Development Issues or Trends (7%)

  • Continuing Education Expenses: 52% paid their own, 45% said their employer paid

  • Respondents preferred email communication over social media

  • Respondents would choose to actively participate in NCASLA for the following reasons

    • Passion for the profession

    • Protecting the practice/advocacy

    • Networking

    • Increasing educational offerings

I want to let you all know that we are listening and shaping our year ahead according to your interests. This newsletter is one way we are providing direct email communication, as requested. We are also going to be providing details related to our April Advocacy Blitz in the coming the months and are working to provide five webinars, not including our educational awards program, throughout 2021. We could use your help with these initiatives, however. If you are interested in volunteering, and we hope you are, please contact manager@asla.org.

During the month of January, NCASLA Executive Committee will be:

  • Approving Fellows nominee applications and sending them on to National

  • Continuing to plan for a virtual 2021 Conference

  • Initiating conversations with our fellow Southeast Regional Conference Members related to the Southeast Regional Conference slated for in 2022 in Savannah, Georgia

  • Defining and Updating Committee Descriptions for the website

  • Updating Executive Committee Position Descriptions for the website

  • Meeting with representatives of the North Carolina Board of Landscape Architects

  • Releasing another Call for Proposals for the 2021 Conference

  • Issuing the Call for Entries for the NCASLA Awards

  • And much, much more!

To learn more about what the NCASLA Executive Committee is up to, please read all the articles found in the January 2021 newsletter.