Change of Governance Structure

On July 10, 1970, Henry Wagner, Jr., then president of the Society of Nuclear Medicine, announced that he had confirmed the appointments to the first Technologist Section executive committee. These included the first chair (later to be known as president) of the Technologist Section, James F. Cooper. It was during that first meeting that the formation of the national council was discussed and that the structure and representation, which were outlined in the Technologist Section chartering, were reviewed. Discussion followed on how to obtain chapter representation. The first meeting of the national council was held on June 27, 1971, during the annual meeting in Los Angeles, CA.

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Since its inception in 1970, the Technologist Section had a bicameral governance structure, with the national council and the executive board (originally known as the executive committee). The national council served as the representative body of the Technologist Section in that it included representation from the chapters as well as the elected officers of the Technologist Section (president, president-elect, secretary, treasurer/finance committee chair, and historian). The executive committee included the officers of the section, as well as representatives from various standing committees within the Technologist Section. The national council was the decision-making body in which all resolutions and major discussion points had to be considered, whereas the executive committee served as the deliberating body that would discuss and research options and conduct more vigorous reviews of programs before presenting them to the national council.

In 2003, a task force on reorganization was formed as a result of the Technologist Section’s new strategic plan. A specific goal that had been added to the strategic plan called for the Technologist Section to “have a flexible organizational structure that is able to quickly respond to issues and changes in the profession and provide relevant information to the membership in a timely manner.” Interestingly, this was not the first reorganization task force that the Technologist Section had initiated. In 1990, a restructuring team identified 5 recommendations that the section needed to focus on: responding faster to changes in our environment, improving communication, working in a more cost-effective manner, keeping leadership accountable, and improving the mentoring process. The 2003, the task force acknowledged that the issues identified in 1990 were still relevant and that changes were necessary.

The task force on reorganization outlined a comprehensive plan that would essentially reverse the roles of the national council and executive committee, making the executive committee the governing body with decision-making power. Additionally, the national council and executive committee would be expanded to include general representation from members of the Technologist Section. The national council would also add elected representatives from 6 specialty areas: cardiology, education, emerging technologies, industry, managers, and students. Working as a team to implement the new governance structure, the task force on reorganization, bylaws committee, executive board, and national council fast-tracked the proposed amendments to the bylaws, initiating the reorganization. The June 2004 national council meeting was the last time the Technologist Section president served as chair of the national council. It was also at that time that the first national council speaker, David J. Perry, CNMT, was elected. Under this new structure, the Technologist Section governance now included the following:

• Executive Board: The executive board, led by the SNM-TS president, will serve as the governing body of the SNM-TS, approving individual projects, programs, and the budget.

• National Council: The national council (renamed national council of representatives [NCOR]), led by an elected speaker of the house, will serve as an organizational think tank, sounding board, and conduit for membership opinions. The NCOR will discuss professional and organizational issues and funnel information and thoughts from the grassroots membership.

• Committees: Committees were restructured and defined as standing committees, which have continuing assignments; special committees, which undertake long-term assignments, make policy recommendations to the NCOR and the executive board, and perform the day-to-day work of the SNM-TS; and task forces, which focus on following special projects to completion.

For the past 16 y, this new governance structure has provided the necessary structure to provide flexibility in adapting to changes and the resilient strength to keep the organization moving forward.