Three Letters of Resignation from the NCBTMB

April — May, 2007

I received the first two of the the following letters of resignation of board members from the National Certification Board for Therapeutic Massage and Bodywork (NCBTMB) from two separate sources on 03 May 2007. While I have yet to receive further verification, prior events lend considerable credibility to their validity. See the corresponding blog on The Massage Politics Sheet.

On 12 May, I received a copy of Bob Lehnberg's 11 May letter of resignation from the NCBTMB, the Distance Education Task Force, and the Job Analysis Task Force. This is not an organization that is doing well on consensus building.

— Keith Eric Grant

Dear Donna, and fellow Directors,

This letter provides my formal resignation from NCBTMB’s Board of Directors, effective 23 April 2007. This is not a lightly made decision, but I feel I have no other option. I remain fully supportive of NCBTMB’s credentials and program, but can no longer participate in the leadership of NCBTMB given the direction this organization has taken in 2007.

I believe that several decisions and actions taken in 2007 have put the organization at risk. Some of these decisions were made by the Board without sufficient information and background knowledge. Other actions, or perhaps “directions”, appear to me to be unilateral actions by the Chair. Those individuals who have in-depth knowledge and experience have not been listened to when they provided input on these matters, nor has their advice been sought. In my opinion, the current environment has stifled open discussion, information sharing and healthy debate on most issues. The organization’s bylaws, policies and procedures do not appear to have been consistently applied or interpreted, and our core values were often ignored.

In addition, I feel unable to fulfill my responsibilities as a member of the Executive Committee (EC) due to the lack of information flow and support. Despite repeated requests from two members of the EC, the Chair has not held regular formal EC meetings. This has prevented the EC from fully meeting its responsibilities as noted in NCBTMB policies.

I am no longer willing to remain on the Board and accept the responsibility for decisions and actions that I feel are detrimental to the health of the organization, when it seems that I have little voice or insight into this process. Several actions this year are in conflict with what I believe to be ethical and appropriate. I cannot continue to compromise my integrity by participating in a Board that is operating in this manner. While I wish each of you the best as individuals, please understand that I can no longer support the direction this Board has taken.

I expect to be kept fully informed in a timely manner of legal issues and reviews that may still require my participation and input.

Sincerely,

Kathleen N. Burnett

Dear Board members:

The Boy Scout Law:

A Scout is : TRUSTWORTHY, LOYAL, HELPFUL, FRIENDLY, COURTEOUS, KIND, OBEDIENT, CHEERFUL, THRIFTY, BRAVE, CLEAN and REVERENT.

For the last year, I have listened and recited these words on most Tuesday evening as a member of the adult leadership for my son’s Boy Scout Troop. It is a powerful experience to listen to these words spoken with conviction and unity by the members of this Troop. I try on a daily basis to live up to these words. It is not always easy. When I fail, I look at myself and ask, how can I do better? When summed up, these 12 words for me spell integrity.

(Please note the all the words I am to state are my opinions and observations.) I write these words to you because watching the leadership of this Board, specifically the executive director (ED) and chair, I do not see these attributes in place or sufficient effort to maintain these standards of integrity. The final act for me was the changing of the Board meeting schedule to eliminate the Board's facilitated process day on this coming Sunday during our "meeting of the Board". This after the ED, chair and I met with a facilitator to design a meeting that would address both the larger external challenges we face, AND the acutely divisive internal atmosphere that afflicts this Board currently and for some time. As Chair of the Strategic Planning Committee, I was not informed and I had to hear about this via email when it was sent to the rest of the Board (buried at the end of the email). I contacted the chair and ED but never received the courtesy of a response. This act was unprofessional at best, at worst, in my opinion, it was duplicitous and deceitful, and violated the spirit and direct agreement of our meeting. It underscores the lack of integrity that this Board suffers through. A willful ignorance of Board policy and tradition.

Therefore, I feel I have no choice but to resign from the NCBTMB Board of Directors, effective immediately, April 25, 2007.

For the record I would note the following as among my reasons for leaving:

--The Executive Committee has been essentially disbanded. It is not meeting "officially", so no votes can be taken. This preserves power in the hands of one person, not the Board. Ask Donna or Chris why.

--The "Save NCBTMB" web site continues to run. Check the content and ask yourself, whose position does this serve?

--The volunteers with the website have by almost unanimous agreement by the Board, violated the code of conduct for the organization, yet several were reappointed to key leadership positions in the volunteer bodies. Then, most of the Ethics & Standards Committee resigned, and despite several board members, myself included, voicing concerns and requesting an attempt to officially communicate with these volunteers to try to resolve the problem, the Chair and ED accelerated the creation of a new committee.

--There is no record of the board approving the change in title from ED to CEO. Previously, from what I understand, the Board approved even the titles for the “interim” or “acting” ED. This is an example of bypassing the Board and acting unilaterally. Further, the Board has only seen the “agreement” with our new ED. It is my understanding that a formal contract would be developed. What is the status on that? Requests for information on matters such as this seem to go into a blackhole.

--An ethics complaint against the chair was mishandled from my perspective according to our by-laws. This was facilitated during the February meeting by the ED and chair. I would encourage you to check with the NCB CFO or the new Board Finance Officer and see how much legal expense was accrued preparing to address this at the February meeting. This potentially puts the NCB at legal risk.

--The chair seems to operate independently of the Board. There is little attempt to build consensus or include the Board in decision making. There is little cross Board communication. Have you read any reports on where the chair has been? Who she has been meeting and how these are consistent with stated Board goals? In fact, my first glimpse of the articulated strategic goals was in Massage Today. Did we agree on this?

--The Board was not provided with the final version of the PR company contract. This contract could run up to $600K which was the maximum approved in the 2007 budget. The update from the PR company in Feb lacked substance from my perspective. While we have been informed that there is frequent PR activity, the Board has not been provided with copies of the press releases. I have had to do individual web searches to find out what has been said (including what the organizational priorities are). The Massage Today article is a fine example. It is not clear to me how the organizational priorities that are conveyed to the press were set. Although the board approved the 2007 budget for PR, I can find no record of the board approving the PR contract.

Bob, Karen, Len, Michele, Susan; I have found something in each of you to admire and enjoy. I wish you the best of luck in addressing the issues this Board faces. I hope you will take my words seriously and consider them. I can no longer work in an environment that I do not believe to be healthy or workable. Life is to short and there are too many opportunities. I wish you the best.

respectfully,

Cosper Scafidi

May 11, 2007

Letter of resignation from NCBTMB.

This letter serves as my formal resignation as a director and chair-elect of the board of NCBTMB, effective immediately. My decision has been made neither lightly nor impulsively.

I am no longer in alignment with the philosophy of the current board and cannot support its direction and still maintain my integrity. I also believe that neither the Executive Committee nor the full Board of Directors have been appropriately involved or utilized in making decisions for the direction of the organization. In addition, I believe that several decisions this year have weakened the value of the credential.

I have concern with the direction and decision making process of the current board in terms of best serving the principles of ethics and standards which is, in my belief, the core of the NCBTMB program of certification.

I too resign my service, effective immediately, to the Distance Education Task Force, of which I have chaired. I have found my experience with many knowledgeable individuals in the field both stimulating and informative. There are many issues involved with distance education as it relates to massage therapy and bodywork and find that my values are not aligned with the current wishes as expressed by the board. I wish NCBTMB the best in creating policy regarding distance education that best serves the entire profession and the public.

I have also been a member of the Job Analysis Task Force. After participating in the upcoming teleconference meeting on May 14th, I will relinquish my responsibility to this task force realizing that my professional schedule precludes attending its final meeting in August. I applaud this group for their dedication and service to the importance of this NCBTMB task.

Since 1992, I have personally grown through my volunteering for NCBTMB. Though of late having differed in principle with my board, I have enjoyed meeting and working with the many dedicated folks in this field. Thank you for this opportunity. I encourage the Board to strengthen the value of the credential, improve customer service, and serve the profession as a whole.

I continue to support NCBTMB’s credential in the field of Massage Therapy and Bodywork and wish you well as you continue to seek the best way to serve our profession through your service.

Sincerely,

Bob Lehnberg