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Remember that TV commercial where an off-screen voice whispers with a hint of embarrassment, "I want to talk to you about…" then pauses, before finishing the sentence by quietly uttering the word "diarrhea"?  Well, in many respects, I think a discussion about ISA structure holds the same degree of excitement for ISA members as that commercial did for viewers  -- maybe even less!  At least the TV commercial had some shock appeal and a bit of  twisted humor.  The embarrassed, off-screen TV voice might have suggested concern for the listeners’ discomfort with the subject, but my fear in tackling the topic of ISA structure is that it just might not provoke any interest on behalf of the audience.

In my "Officer Speaks" column in August 2002, I discussed the passion that is the nature and character of us arborists.  I dare say, of all the various things about which arborists are passionate, a discussion of ISA structure would not likely be included!   In that same article, I referred to the challenge one faces when attempting to answer the layman’s question "what is an arborist?" or "what is arboriculture?" or when trying to describe an arborist conference to a non-arborist.  Perhaps an equally difficult task is presented to the ISA member who attempts to understand  ISA’s structure.  And  I find myself given the job of untangling the web that includes officers, directors, staff, chapters, professional affiliates, boards, committees, etc. 

Even if you’ve never really concerned yourself with understanding ISA’s structure, you’ve probably run up against a similar dilemma on a more practical level.  Whom do you call to get a question answered -- your chapter executive or the ISA office in Champaign?  To whom do you direct concerns you might have about ISA’s certification program?  To your chapter president, or your chapter executive, or your chapter's board representative, or your chapter’s certification liaison, or the certification board, or the Certification Test Committee, or the Certification Department at ISA’s Champaign office?  And what about questions that arise concerning the new TREE Fund or the ITCC?

Want to be really confused?  Ponder these questions.  What’s the relationship between the ISA’s executive director, the ISA Board of Directors, and the Executive Committee?  If you’re a commercial arborist in Ohio and an ISA member, does that mean you’re a member of the Society of Commercial Arborists and/or a member of the Ohio Chapter of ISA?  If you’re an ISA Certified Arborist does that mean that you are an ISA member?

Recent changes bring even more questions.  How many officers does ISA have now? Four? Seven?  Who elects them? The general membership? The Board of Directors?  Why is our chapter being asked to apprve and sign a Memorandum of Understanding? And how do all these parts of the ISA puzzle fit together and relate to each other?

Therein lies the need for a discussion about ISA’s structure!

To facilitate appropriate initiatives, it must reflect the group’s history and mission.  Therefore, I believe a discussion of  ISA’s structure must start with a brief look at its history and its mission.  And in looking at an organization’s history and mission, one hopefully should find some logical connection between the two.

Certainly the complex nature of ISA’s structure (see ISA functional diagram.) is not all that surprising when one considers the phenomenal growth and changes that ISA has undergone since its beginnings over 75 years ago.  What started as an information exchange conference quickly grew into a national organization, eventually sprouting regional chapters and professional affiliates and flourishing into an international professional society.