ISP Update / November & December, 2006
GREETINGS
Greetings to all ISP members.......this will be the Nov/Dec. ISP Update 06 and I hope you have a little time to read it at this very busy time of the year. My best wishes to each of you for the holidays that you celebrate. But here are some items to consider now and into the new year, 2007.
An ISP dues and membership mailing went out in November, asking each of you to pay or renew your annual $25 dues. Please send in the form and a check payable to ISP. Your dollars make it possible for us to motivate and reward students, develop new videos, and promote social work's presence at the state level policy arena. Don't forget.......or I will remind you!!
Eight ISP judges are finalizing their assessments of four PhD dissertation award proposals received last month. We continue to try to encourage doctoral students to consider state policy as an arena for study and this year is no different. The selection will be announced in January, 07.
Here's a link to an article that illustrates the importance of state elections and governance. It is worth a reading. http://www.brookings.edu/printme.wbs?page=/pagedefs/639417247e2cff4080007d720a1415cb.xml. (Thanks to Tony Mallon for suggesting this article)
With the change in CSWE's annual program to October, 2007 in San Francisco, ISP will also be making its annual meeting plans to be held there. We most likely will give our annual student contest awards there too. Go to CSWE's website for info on submissions to the conference program: apm@cswe.org.
Please be engaged in involving your students in visiting the upcoming state legislative sessions and keeping a head count for ISP. Last year, we went down to 6,000+ visiting the legislature and we want to get those figures back up.
The 2007 Annual ISP Contest is underway......get students and faculty at your programs and agencies informed and involved. I can send you flyers, but go to: http://www.statepolicy.org/contest/official-rules.html and see what is required. Early May is the deadline and this year is the first year for online submissions....so read the directions carefully.
Script-writing for the new ISP video on Coalition Building will begin soon. Production will begin in the spring and perhaps by fall, 2007, we will be able to deliver our 6th video to you. Don't forget: our other five videos are a part of your membership and if you have lost one or two, are missing one or all of them, let me know and I will get them to you. Go to for more info: http://www.statepolicy.org/media/index.html#videos
We have some homework to do on other issues and the website and I will get that effort better organized in January. If any of you come across articles that would be useful to ISP members on state policy advocacy or examples of state policies that would be of interest to our members (as the one above), please forward to me and I will put them in the monthly update. If you would like to write something for publication in the Update or if your students or school have achieved some victory, please write it up and let me publish it.
The ISP website has had over 84,000+ hits......keep encouraging your students and colleagues to use it.
Finally....please recall the ISP mission: social workers should be participating in the state policy arena, not sitting on the sidelines. We have the knowledge that legislators want. We can develop the skills necessary to influence policy in the state capitals. We must educate ourselves and our students now and for the future. ISP is about advocacy and each of our states offers us much to advocate for. Pick your issue! All the best......Bob Schneider, National Chairperson, Influencing State Policy.
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