Igniting, Elevating, and Influencing Our Profession: The Impact of Investing Time

As I consider the investment of time that the role of American Physical Therapy Association (APTA) Academy of Education's presidency demanded, a wave of deep gratitude washes over me. In this moment, I pause to humbly express my sincere appreciation to the APTA Academy of Education's Executive Committee, Board of Directors, our partners at Nardone et al including current and past presidents for the support they have provided over the past several years. I would also like to share my heartfelt thank you to Dr. Keshrie Naidoo for the opportunity to convey closing thoughts. When I was considering running for the APTA Academy of Education's presidency, several of my colleagues asked me if I would have the time to do this. My response simply was, “When is it ever the right time?” We tend to have our professional calendars filled to the brim which frequently leads to long, drawn-out days but when we find the time for our “passion projects” it lightens our load, and time tends to go quickly. In making the choice to run, I was so thankful for the pause this question demanded and for the intentional acts that followed. Upon being elected as the inaugural president-elect for the Academy, I could quickly see it was incredibly beneficial to be able to build upon the strong foundation set by our immediate past president, Dr. Pam Levangie. From this foundation, the timing was right to set the trajectory for the years ahead. When asked if I enjoyed my time in this role, I have jokingly said the first few hours were glorious and then the Students for Fair Admissions v. Harvard Supreme Court decision was announced.1 The Academy's work in that moment of time, where there was immediate communication among leaders in physical therapy education, truly set the tone for the necessary collaborative work that lied ahead. As leaders, we worked together to explore the next steps, made impactful decisions, and provided transparent messaging to the physical therapy education community. The importance of this timely collaboration was an immensely impactful lesson for me. As an Academy, we have taken the time to truly strengthen the membership voice, enhance our ability to timely respond to membership needs and to promote transparency of the Academy's work. It is through cultivating each of these tenets that have produced exemplary outcomes. Strengthening membership voice was personified through an Academy-wide needs assessment and the inception of “Table Talks” at our annual meetings. Through these interactions and data gathering across the Academy, the empty chair in the 2024 strategic planning session in Atlanta represented over 900+ member voices. The commanding voice from that empty chair provided the guidance the Board required to set the Academy on the unshakable trajectory it currently enjoys. Enhancing our ability to respond to membership needs in more timely, efficient ways has delivered substantial gains for our members. For example, by creating the new networking community infrastructure, members who do the ground level work that leads to innovation and connection can be a part of a group where folks of similar passion can interact. Through the development of structured taskforce charges over the past 2 years, the Academy was able to drive significantly impactful, actionable outcomes through the work of each taskforce assembled. When pinpointing the need for increased transparency and communication, updating our technology was an imperative next step. We transitioned to a new web-based platform with significantly enhanced navigation and advanced interactive, online tools. With wisely invested time, Academy volunteers came together to intentionally innovate and act. These are the outcomes that resulted from listening to strengthened membership voices, demanding enhanced responsiveness and promoting communication transparency: In the realm of scholarship: - Responded to membership by creating a new Board position, Director of Scholarly Endeavors - Created small research grants for scholars who desire smaller amounts to perform their research - Supported JOPTE through being Medline indexed and its application for Web of Science indexing - Established an online venue for published abstracts from Education Leadership Conference and Combined Sections Meeting In the realm of service: - Experienced a 14% increase in membership over the past 3 years - Graduated the Fellowship in Higher Education Leadership's inaugural class of 22 fellows - Extended the work from the Academy-sponsored Physical Therapist Assistant (PTA) Summit where there has been implementation of the PTA National Honor Society - Appointed our first PTA delegate for the House of Delegates - Developed our first, web-based, public facing dashboard for members to be able to directly see what the Academy has recently accomplished and is currently addressing In the realm of structural leadership: - Responded to membership demand for actionable professional development resources by developing the Education Impact Initiative (EII2) awards - Created a standing committee whose primary work is justice, equity, diversity, and inclusion - Developed a new Special Interest Group (SIG), the Interprofessional Education and Practice SIG - Formalized networking communities with the addition of 2 new communities, Simulation and Admissions - Transitioned to a new, higher functionality web site and initiated a new online discussion board - Formalized taskforce charges and structures with our Student Engagement taskforce's work leading to the Academy offering free student membership beginning in 2026 This is a noncomprehensive list of the achievements the Academy has made during my time as President. It reflects the work of 125+ volunteers and countless members. This clearly demonstrates what happens when folks of similar passion take the time to come together, to innovate, to create, to lead, and to serve. Where will the Academy be investing its time moving forward? You can count on the Academy to continually build our collaborations both internally and externally to the APTA community. You will see the Excellence in Education certificate become a tremendous resource and stepping stone for our members. The EII2 awards will truly accelerate the professional trajectory of our members. As we observe the Academy's evolution and its laser focus being the premier resource for physical therapist and physical therapist assistant educators, the deeper question for each of us becomes, where do we choose to invest our time? Time has become the currency that drives how we allocate the work we do. Where do you invest your time? In this moment, I ask that you pause and strive to find the time to do work that ignites your passion, elevates your spirit and influences our profession so that we see a brighter future because of how you chose to invest your time today.