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ICO Notes
Call for Applications for ICO CEO

September 2011

Dear ICO Members and Friends,

1. Board Approves ICO Strategic Plan

Thanks to those of you who commented on the draft ICO Strategic Plan and the plans for changes in governance we have defined in order to be able to implement the Plan and continue the significant progress of the ICO in recent years. We sincerely appreciate your feedback on our future directions.

Just in case you missed them, the mailing I sent you on the Strategic Plan is here: www.icoph.org/mailing-to-members/strategic-plan-june2011.html.

The mailing on ICO governance is here: www.icoph.org/mailing-to-members/ico-governance-july2011.html.

The Board has voted by mail ballot to adopt the Strategic Plan, and you can review the final summary here: www.icoph.org/downloads/ICOStrategicPlanSummaryAugust2011.pdf.

Board Member Koby Pe'er has pointed out that we have not defined in the Plan what the ICO should do about countries where there are few ophthalmologists and no ophthalmologic society. We agree that is a critical issue and will address it as well. We would be very interested in your suggestions.

2. Moving Forward on Governance

In response to comments from some ICO Members, we have decided not to hire a CEO prior to the ICO General Assembly on February 16 in Abu Dhabi. But we want to move ahead with the process so that we can hire one right away if the Members approve the proposed changes in Statutes that cover election of a CEO, as I hope and expect you will.

We have sent draft changes in ICO Regulations and Statutes to the Board of Trustees, two months before they will be asked to vote on them. Assuming a positive vote from the Board in early November, we will send the proposed revised Statutes to the Members later that month with official notice of their consideration at the General Assembly in Abu Dhabi, where we will ask you to approve the changes. (The changes are mostly technical, shifting official responsibilities from the current Secretary General to the CEO.) The Board approves changes in Regulations, but we will also send those to you.

3. Call for Applications for CEO

Anticipating approval of the changes in Statutes in February, we would like to receive applications from individuals who are interested in the position of CEO. You can review the draft job description here: www.icoph.org/downloads/ICO-CEO-Job-Description-Draft-20-September-2011.pdf.

Anyone interested should contact ICO Secretary General Jean-Jacques De Laey at: Jean.Delaey@Ugent.be. He will request a formal letter of application, curriculum vitae, etc. A Search Committee will consider all applications and arrange to interview the top candidates prior to the General Assembly in Abu Dhabi. Then, if the General Assembly approves the changes in Statutes, we will be in position to hire a CEO and start the transition to the new governance structure.

If the General Assembly were to vote against the change, we would not move forward, but I am convinced this is a critical step the ICO must take to assure continuity and future effectiveness, and I hope you will support it.

Please let me know if you have any questions.

4. WOC 2012 Important Dates and Deadlines

The World Ophthalmology Conference® (WOC) is February 16–20, 2012, in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. Please mark your calendar with these important upcoming WOC dates in 2011:

• October 1, 2011: Deadline for all presenters to be registered.
• November 1, 2011: Full program will be available on the WOC Web site: http://www.woc2012.org/.
• December 15, 2011: Second Early Bird Registration and Pre-Registration Closes.

Register online now for WOC 2012 at: www.woc2012.org/register_online.html.

5. WOC 2012 Promotion

I thank our members for promoting WOC 2012 within their society. The Korean Ophthalmological Society (KOS) has added the WOC 2012 banner as a hyperlink on their Web site. Additionally, they are circulating a leaflet about WOC 2012 with their monthly newsletter and encouraging their subspecialty societies to forward the newsletter and announce the Congress at their meetings. At a meeting hosted by the KOS, they will be promoting WOC 2012 to all participants in their meeting program book. We thank the KOS for their creative promotion of WOC 2012.

I ask all of you to do everything you can to make your members aware of WOC 2012. Attached are tools your society can use to promote the Congress: www.icoph.org/downloads/Society-Promotion-of-WOC-2012.pdf.

I heartily thank you for your support of the ICO and the WOC 2012.

With warm regards,

Bruce

Bruce Spivey, MD, MS, MEd
President, International Council of Ophthalmology

945 Green Street
San Francisco, CA, 94133, USA
Fax: (1-415) 409-8403
spivey@icoph.org
www.icoph.org