Greetings!

At this month’s Board meeting, held on April 15, the Board continued its work to consider current member-submitted resolutions. We will provide regular updates as this work moves ahead in the coming months. Below, please find a summary of outcomes and details regarding the deliberations thus far. 

Summary

Resolutions are formal requests submitted by members for consideration by the Board regarding significant issues affecting the association. The Board engages in careful consideration of member resolutions as part of its governance responsibilities. Resolutions are non-binding, should be one of multiple ways members can share feedback or raise questions with the Board, and are typically defined as focused on matters of broad importance or significant impact, versus operational questions or suggestions.

The Board incorporates consideration of resolutions into Board meeting agendas and deliberations may include additional conversation with the resolution maker, review and consideration of a range of member feedback, capacity to carry out the requested action, and more. The outcomes, rationale, and next steps are then conveyed to the membership.

April’s Board meeting included deliberation on three resolutions. Remaining resolutions will be considered during upcoming meetings and subsequent updates will be provided to membership.

Reinstate a Resolutions Committee whose responsibility would be to accept and consider formal member requests (“resolutions”), bring them first to the membership in a business or town hall meeting for discussion and debate, and then codify them into a motion for consideration by the AATA Board. The Board would then report back to members with its decision and/or update and rationale within one week following a Board meeting.

Context

AATA previously had a Resolutions Committee, with resolutions presented at the Annual Meeting of the Membership during the in-person conference. Over time, AATA’s approach to member engagement and input evolved:

• The Annual Meeting of the Membership transitioned to a December virtual meeting, allowing broader participation beyond conference attendees.
• Member engagement expanded to include multiple virtual meetings, email communication, Art Therapy Today, and the MyAATA community.
• In late 2025, members raised concerns during an All-Member Meeting that the process for bringing feedback to the Board felt unclear. In response, the Member Input Form was launched in early 2026.
• In early 2026, members brought forward a resolution requesting reinstatement of the Resolutions Committee.

Deliberation Outcome

• Resolution partially adopted
• Adopted: Reinstate a Resolutions Committee whose responsibility would be to accept and consider formal member requests (“resolutions”), bring them first to the membership in a business or town hall meeting for discussion and debate, and then codify them into a motion for consideration by the AATA Board.
• Not adopted: The Board would then report back to members with its decision and/or update and rationale within one week following a Board meeting.
• Modified: The Board will report progress on Resolution deliberations to members on an ongoing basis and will do so via multiple modes of communication.

Rationale

A resolutions committee provides a clear process for members to submit resolutions, helps make the resolutions process more accessible to members, supports member engagement by serving as one of the avenues available for members to raise issues of importance, and supports members’ successful engagement in efficient governance by helping ensure resolutions are well crafted.

In reaching its decision the Board considered member feedback shared during member meetings, the role of resolutions in organizational governance, efficacy of AATA’s past practices around resolutions, and member survey feedback (74% of survey respondents expressed interest in informal meetings with updates and discussion, 56% also indicated a desire for formal meetings with parliamentary procedures).


Next Steps

1. The Board will draft a committee charter outlining the committee’s scope, structure and processes.
2. A call for volunteers will be issued to help fill both committee member and Chair positions.
3. The Board will appoint a committee chair and assist the chair in filling committee slots as needed.
4. Resolution Committee members will finalize the committee manual and submit it to the board for approval.
5. The Committee’s formal launch will be communicated with membership.

AATA host monthly All-Member Meetings through July 2026.

Context

• AATA has held bi-monthly virtual meetings since 2021. These require significant planning and preparation and average around 100 attendees—less than 3% of membership.
• The 2026 Board issued a survey in March to gather Members' preferences regarding meeting content, format, and obstacles to participation.
• In 2026, AATA held virtual member meetings during January, February, and March. While the first meeting of the year was highly attended with 254 participants, by the third meeting, there were only 90 attendees.

Deliberation Outcome 

• Resolution partially adopted
• The Board will schedule one additional All-Member Meeting in July 2026
• The Board will develop an updated menu of Member events based on Member feedback to be held throughout the year that support broad participation and reflect a range of Member engagement needs

Rationale

The Board’s considered results of the Member meeting survey conducted in March – April, the number and format of 2026 member meetings thus far, multiple aspects of member discussions at 2026 meetings in January, February and March, and common and recommended governance practices.

• The Board considered Member feedback from the survey regarding meeting frequency as well as content presented, format, and obstacles to participation. The majority (71%) indicated a preference for bimonthly meetings. Additionally, half of survey-takers (55%) said that AATA should vary the meeting times to accommodate individuals in varying time zones.
• The Board acknowledges one of the goals of Resolution 2026-6 is to create more time for Members to be heard by Board. Roughly half of the meeting time in the past three meetings (January, February, and March) has been dedicated to informal discussion. Feedback to the Board can also be submitted anytime via the Member Input Form. Additionally, the MyAATA Member Forum provides for engagement between meetings with both the board and fellow members.
• Member meetings are not the only format in which Members as a group can engage with leadership. The Board will work with National Staff to ensure that Member meetings are not the only opportunity for Member-Board discussions.
• Looking at the 2026 meetings, attendance has trended downward (254 participants in January; 187 in February; and 90 in March), suggesting they are less valuable. However, preparing for these meetings still requires significant time from the Board and National Staff.

Next Steps

1. The next All-Member Meeting will be held in July and will include time for resolutions and Member discussions.
2. In April – June, the Board will work on resolutions already submitted (Resolutions 2026-2, 2026-4, and 2026-5). The Board will also research and establish a Resolutions Committee, which will then begin accepting additional resolutions. 
3. The Board will host additional Member meetings throughout the year 2026, to be developed based on feedback from 2026 meeting discussions as well as the Member meeting survey.

Policies Manual and "Position Descriptions for AATA Elected Officials" document to be updated for the Secretary position to be responsible for All-Member Meeting minutes to be distributed to all members within 14 days following the meeting. Minutes will be reviewed and amended or approved during the following All-Member Meeting.

Context

Formal minute-taking during virtual meetings began in January 2026 following requests from several Members for a structured process. (Prior to 2026, the Secretary did not take formal meeting minutes with the exception of the Annual Meeting of the Membership required by the AATA Bylaws.) While the Secretary is responsible for minutes, support from other Board members is utilized due to the informal discussion style of the meetings. Additionally, virtual meetings are not recorded.

Deliberation Outcome

• Resolution partially adopted
• Secretary’s written description will be updated to include All Member Meeting minutes. The Board will also continue discussion regarding ways to revise and update minutes process for general efficiency. These revisions may impact potential timelines so once they are finalized, inclusion of more specific timeline language may be revisited.

Rationale

The Board seeks to balance the importance of providing meeting minutes to membership in a timely manner with the need to allow adequate time for preparation and review of minutes. The Board considered the timeline of future minutes, role of minutes as legal documents, impact of timelines on accuracy, fluctuating workloads of volunteers and staff, and common and recommended governance practices. Board determined to add Member meeting minutes to role description, and to address timeliness but allow some flexibility in the specific timeline at this time.

Next Steps

1. The Board Secretary role description will be updated to include taking minutes during all virtual All-Member Meetings, rather than only the Annual Meeting of the Membership.
2. The Board Secretary and the Board will explore ways to strengthen the minutes process and address and incorporate timeliness.
3. The President will continue to email Members with a link to the meeting minutes that will be posted on MyAATA under Association Documents.

The Board appreciates our fellow members’ shared interest in the future of the association, and we all want to thank you for being part of AATA.

Sincerely,

Raquel Farrell-Kirk, MS, ATR-BC

President, American Art Therapy Association

president@arttherapy.org