D ear NCTR Members,
In typical Spring fashion, the first portion of 2018 is shaping up to be an excellent season of growth, change and adaptability for NCTR. Within these areas of focus, I want to give you a snapshot of what we’ve been up to, thus far:
GROWTH
In March, we added a new team member: Delia-Marie Richardson, NCTR’s new Communications Director. Delia brings experience in retirement and pension policy, as well as digital and print media. She will serve as a member of management, directing all public information programs, including communications and retirement education to support the mission, goals and objectives of NCTR. In addition, Delia will manage NCTR’s social media platforms and serve as webmaster for the NCTR website.
In conjunction with growing our team, we are continuing outreach efforts in order to grow our membership and stakeholder base. Expanding our base will allow NCTR to offer additional products and services within the broader pension community. If NCTR has been a resource or of service to you, please spread the word! We welcome referrals.
CHANGE
We aren’t changing who we are, but we are changing the way we are perceived. NCTR is currently working on rebranding the organization to better describe: Who we are, what we do, and how we do it.
As you may recall from my previous update to the membership, the NCTR Executive Committee had approved and implemented a strategic plan for the following three years. In addition to the strategic plan, one of our goals was to revise NCTR’s Mission, Vision and Values statements. We’ve held three strategic planning workshops and obtained more than 40 participants’ inputs regarding the direction of NCTR.
These workshops have helped us to better identify the needs and wants of our stakeholders and members, as well as our goals in a fast-paced, evolving world. As our mission, we strive to be THE Resource for fostering partnerships, providing training and pension advocacy for the educational community. Our vision is to see a strong and secure retirement future for all teachers and educational employees. All of the goals within the strategic plan are reflective of these statements and will help guide us in our efforts.
During this season of change, we are also working on redesigning the NCTR website to better serve YOU—our members. The purpose of the redesign is to better inform our membership of upcoming events, dates, educational opportunities, as well as serve as a “resource hub” for our current and potential members. The redesign will incorporate a modern template and will be much more user friendly, but more importantly, our new site will become a better tool for you. We plan to have the new website launched by the Annual Conference, so be on the lookout!
ADAPTABILITY
In order to remain a viable organization, we have to adapt to our current climate and remain proactive. Defined Contribution (DC) education has not been a focus in our past educational programs, but with many systems having DC plans as part of their benefits structure, our members have expressed the desire for NCTR to incorporate this integral educational topic to future meetings and workshops. We are currently working on several sessions to incorporate this year covering DC education, including our System Directors’ Meeting, Trustee Workshop and Annual Conference. Be sure to check out the NCTR website, www.nctr.org, for upcoming meeting dates, registration for these events and to view agendas.
We are also adapting the way we communicate. We are looking at different ways to communicate with our members and stakeholders—whether it be greater use of social media, increased number of webinars, additional educational programs; we will continue to explore these options and implement solutions that will best meet YOUR needs.
I would like to thank the NCTR Executive Committee, Corporate Advisory Committee and NCTR staff for all of their hard work this season. Thank you for being a part of NCTR. I will continue to provide updates to you throughout the year and I look forward to seeing what this next season brings us!
Sincerely,
Maureen H. Westgard
Executive Director
Email: mwestgard@nctr.org
Phone: (225) 354-6173