DAAS Newsletter Editorials
Dominica Academy of Arts and Sciences Review
2008 is DAAS election year, which brings to an end the first official, elected management team. Today, as co-founder, I feel obligated to share my review of the past three (3) years with the membership and friends. This kind of exercise is necessary to evaluate how well we have performed in terms of achieving our mission and objectives. I will look at DAAS in four sections: as the website, the organisation, its achievements and its interactive community.
DAAS Website
The website, as we know, originated from a section of 'Sir Raglan Presents', where submissions were sought from Dominicans on ideas for the development of our homeland. These submissions, which can be accessed at da-academy.org/papers.html, were subject to discussion on the DAAS Forum. This section was further expanded to include a Membership Directory.
These three web pages above still form the foundation of the DAAS website. However, organisation demands resulted in greater expansion as we can see in our Sitemap. Today, all aspects of DAAS are recorded in an attempt to inform members, friends and affiliates of DAAS as a vibrant organisation.
It is my assessment, as the DAAS Webmaster, that the website has functioned adequately and provides a complete online expression of a real, working voluntary organisation.
The Organisation
The present shape of DAAS was the result of a collaborative effort of a group of dedicated members who volunteered to serve as a Steering Committee, under the leadership of Dr. Clayton A. Shillingford, DAAS first President. From 2000 to 2005 they laid a solid foundation for the Academy, including:
- The preparation of a set of Bylaws
- Setting up a comprehensive operational committee system
- Gaining 501 (c) tax exempt non-profit status in the USA and Charitable status in Dominica.
On November 13th. 2005, DAAS elected its first, democratic Board of Directors and Executive Committee, which will have completed its first term in November 2008.
It is my view that the elected team has performed well in spite of several challenges brought about mainly from dissent, and inactivity. Dissent came from within the management team as well as from the membership. Within management, I discerned the following:
- Leadership style was a bone of contention. The forthright, no-nonsense approach by the President was not well-received by some
- Some disagreed with the interpretation of the non-partisanship policy adopted. Where to draw the line between anti- and pro- government is still under dispute
- The authority of the President has been given little respect, even today. Requests and decisions are not taken seriously, causing unnecessary frustration
- Some officers plainly neglect to fulfill the obligations of their office.
It is most discouraging that some members of the team have accepted their positions, voluntarily, yet do not perform as would be expected. This leaves one to ask 'why accept responsibility if you do not carry them out faithfully?' or wonder 'what motive or agenda prompts this behaviour?'
Dissent from the general membership includes the following expressed on the Discussion Board from a known few:
- They complain that they are left out of the decision-making process
- That there is a division between the elite membership and the ordinary membership
- That their opinions are not considered by the management team
- That management is dictatorial.
In my estimation, none of these complaints are founded in fact, but only perceived. The problem appears to be that members who complain fail to operate within the operational system provided. These members have utilised the Discussion Board to air their apparent grievances rather than present them to management to get them clarified. The Discussion Board, which will be considered under Interactive Community, is not the medium where DAAS decisions are made. Those who complain know that, but ignore it.
Inactivity has been the disappointing hallmark of our organisation due to the failure of its core operating system, the Committee System. Committees are basic tools, which all organisations employ to coordinate and execute their work to achieve their objectives. Of the thirteen (13) committees established in DAAS, detailed at da-academy.org/daascommittee.html, only few have made concerted efforts at serious activity. The majority have simply refused to get engaged. Consequently, the lack of action or inertia experienced by DAAS falls squarely on the shoulders of the Chairpersons of those disengaged committees.
As Committees' Coordinator, I have tried relentlessly to rouse our committee chairpersons into action, but with no response. Consequently, I came to the unflattering conclusion that maybe most chairpersons view a committee chair as some status symbol of psychological advantage. Unfortunately, this is clearly not the case with DAAS, a voluntary organisation. I must confess I am baffled that anyone would accept or volunteer for a position to occupy it and 'sit on their hands' doing little else! The solution is clear. Relinquish the position to let someone else who is serious undertake the responsibilities.
Achievements
However, in spite of the current inactivity of our Committees, DAAS, in collaboration with its affiliates, has produced a tremendous amount of positive work, most of which is chronicled from page da-academy.org/daaschronicle01.html onward. How many members are aware of these achievements? I would encourage those who would see DAAS as a talk-shop, from what takes place on our current Group Discussion Board, to view these pages. Here are a few items of note:
- RDF Symposium #1, New York - Oct. 2001; (a collaborative effort)
- National Opinion Poll on Socio-Economic Conditions in Dominica - 2001/2
- RDF Symposium #2, Roseau - Nov. 2002; (a collaborative effort)
- Youth Mentoring Programme 2003/Ongoing
- Promoting Dominican Literary Artists - 2004/Ongoing
- Draft Diaspora-Dominica Policy Paper - 2004/Ongoing
- Launched the Dominica Botanic Gardens Website, April 2005
- International Youth Soccer Tournament and Educational Camp, July 2005
- IT Development in Dominica's Schools - 2005
Item #6, Draft Diaspora-Dominica Policy Paper, is perhaps the most significant achievement, particularly as it was commissioned by our Government. Regrettably, implementation of its recommendations has been slow.
Interactive Community
The DAAS Forum mentioned above is our first Interactive Community with theme 'Strategies for Development'. This was and still is a controlled Forum to allow discussion on relevant issues submitted in various papers. It was successful initially, but I am still unsure of the reasons for its fallen use. Previous entries have been deleted.
We opted for the more popular format of Yahoo Discussion Groups, which is still in operation, though not for long, hopefully. This Board has seen some disparaging comments from some irresponsible members, who claim the right of free and unencumbered expression. This has caused an exodus of member participation and only a handful remain, who discuss matters not directly related to the stated Mission and Objectives of DAAS. The misuse of the Board led management to direct that it be brought under control and restricted to paid-up membership only. This directive had been challenged by the Membership Chair, who advised that a more appropriate and secure alternative would be set up.
This alternative was presented to management recently for evaluation prior to releasing to paid-up members. So far only twenty-four (24) paid-up members of a total of nearly seventy (70) have registered. Here are my comments on this new alternative, which must be considered seriously:
- It is a more sophisticated system, providing not only a Forum, but also facilities for individual member blogs, photo galleries, member database, etc.
- The technically minded member may welcome it as state-of-the-art. But, the majority may shy away from fully utilising it.
- It is truly interactive, which some less Internet-savvy members may find difficult to operate. Most members, therefore, would require some operational training.
My candid opinion is that, for DAAS operational purposes, what we need is the secure, controlled, password protected DAAS Forum mentioned above. This new Online Community is superfluous in that it provides several other facilities, apart from a Forum, which most members will not use. Therefore, I would recommend the following:
- Let us return to our original DAAS Forum as the Official Discussion Board of our organisation.
- Utilise the new Online Community as the site for coordinating membership affairs and official DAAS Business.
- Remove the Yahoo Group Board immediately.
The objective is to separate the Discussion Forum from the Online Community.
In Conclusion
I am also submitting this review as an interim report by the DAAS Webmaster and Committees Coordinator. It is sent in good faith as a co-founder of this organisation who is very much concerned about its future. It reports only my perception of the state of affairs of DAAS and offers possible reasons for it. Hopefully, it will shed light on the future course of action to be taken to correct the failures to which it alludes.
Submitted by:
Raglan Riviere, B.Sc.(Soc); M.H.A.
DAAS Webmaster, Co-Founder & Committees Coordinator.
Submission to the Editorial is open to all members. Your words of exhortation to members and affiliates are welcome. Therefpre, you are encouraged to send in your submissions to the Editorial Board for consideration.