A New Beginning
On July 10th the GVTAA board hosted a special members-only meeting to announce the following proposal: Dissolve the Georgia Veterinary Technician and Assistant Association (GVTAA), and establish the Georgia Veterinary Technician Association (GVTA). For over 20 years GVTAA diligently committed to establishing a community, providing continuing education opportunities, and amplifying the voices of our profession here in Georgia. This proposal seeks to align our association with our members (all Licensed Veterinary Technicians or Veterinary Technology students), our community (Georgia Veterinary Medical Association (GVMA) and the Georgia State Board of Veterinary Medicine), and the industry (37 out of 40 state veterinary technician associations focus solely on veterinary technicians).
We proposed this change to serve our members. The veterinary medical industry changes as quickly as veterinary medicine changes, and the current GVTAA board seeks to hone our focus, adapt to the changing landscape of the industry, and improve our ability to respond to those changes. The poll was open to GVTAA Professional Members from July 11th through August 10th - and the vote was unanimous. As you read this, the current GVTAA board is diligently working to lay the groundwork for GVTA and preparing to dissolve GVTAA.
This change does not exclude ANY veterinary professionals and/or paraprofessionals from our community. All will forever and always be welcome.
ALL CURRENT MEMBERS WILL AUTOMATICALLY RECEIVE MEMBERSHIP FOR GVTA FOR 2024.
Key changes:
The Executive Board will be reduced from 8 positions to 5 positions (President, President-Elect, Vice President, Membership Secretary, and Treasurer) and are defined in the Constitution. The remaining positions (Webmaster/Social Media Manager (currently a combined role, but defined as two), NAVTA Representative, Conference Coordinator, and Member(s)-At-Large will form the Executive Committee.
A smaller Executive board facilitates timely meetings, streamlines the process of voting, and promotes decisive action.
The new President-Elect role (present in most other associations) allows the incoming president to gain more experience and assist the current president's responsibilities before stepping into the role.
The definitions of the Executive Committee have been moved to the By-Laws, allowing them to be more easily changed/molded to the current needs of the association and membership. Committees have also been moved to By-Laws, facilitating addition of committees as needed to serve the membership.
The current GVTAA constitution contains several contradictions (when elections occur, when executive positions are eligible for re-election), grammar and spelling mistakes. These have all been corrected in the GVTA Constitution and Bylaws.
Added a non-discrimination statement to the Constitution
Starting in 2025 the Practice/Hospital Membership tier will be available, with more benefit details to be announced.
Committees will be announced during the Fall Conference, and all current members will be eligible to join
You can view the new Constitution here, and the new By-laws here.
If you have any questions or concerns, please do not hesitate to reach out to us via Facebook, Instagram, or email (contact@gvtaa.org).
PLEASE NOTE THAT OUR WEBSITE URL, FACEBOOK NAME, INSTAGRAM NAME, AND EMAIL ADDRESS WILL BE CHANGING.