By Chuck Howard, IOA Executive Director

We wanted to give you an update on the progress of revisions to the IOA Standards of Practice and Code of Ethics.  After the Professional Standards and Ethics Task Force presented its recommendations to the Board in fall 2019, some additional revisions were recommended. Earlier this year, the Board considered those recommendations and approved a plan to develop additional documentation to provide more background information for members to have in considering the work that went into developing the revisions. Unfortunately, that process was hampered and slowed by the COVID-19 pandemic.

The good news is that we are moving on to the next in the plan.

1. Present for the documentation and some additional tweaks to the previously approved draft versions of both the Ethics and the Standards to the Board at its September board meeting.
2. The revisions will then be shared with the IOA Leadership Group (which includes all IOA committee chairs and co-chairs) to gain feedback and coordinate how changes may impact activities throughout IOA.
3. Then the revised Standards and Ethics will be presented to IOA members.
   
   

With the above process and any recommended changes that come out of those discussions, our hope is we can complete this process and bring the final recommended drafts back to the IOA Board of Directors for final adoption by the end of the year or early in 2021.

Thank you for your patience, and do expect to hear more about this endeavor this fall.