December 2022

The Texas Academy delegates hosted a monthly “Lunch with your delegates” town hall forum on November 16^th at 12pm CST. The focus this month was optimizing the role of the NDTR in the workplace and maximizing the value of the RDN to achieve higher level recognition and compensation. The delegates provided a debrief on the White House Conference on Hunger, Health and Nutrition and discussed opportunities for RDN involvement in future programs and legislation as well as increased job and research opportunities for RDNs. Key takeaways from the conference include SNAP and WIC expansions, expanding Medicaid access for nutrition counseling, piloting medically tailored meals in Medicare, and increased funding for nutrition and food security research.

For more information, see the full report for details. Biden-Harris Administration National Strategy on Hungry, Nutrition, and Health

As a reminder, future town halls will take place every third Friday during lunch (12 pm-1 pm CST). There will be no forum in December. Meetings will resume January 20^th from 12 pm – 1 pm CST. Register for future events below to stay in the know with everything happening with The Academy and make your voices heard!

Lunch with your Delegates- Eventbrite Registration

Your Texas House of Delegates,

Andie Lee Gonzalez

Carol Bradley

Hallie Kaplan 

chair_of_delegates@eatrighttexas.org

October 2022

Hello Fellow Texas RDs!

We held our monthly Lunch with your Delegate meeting on September 21st at 12 pm CT and had at least 23 Texas RDs and student members who joined us in our dialogue this month. As a reminder, our townhalls are now scheduled every 3rd Wednesday of the month during lunch time. We continue to test this new format so if there is any feedback on current schedule, please let us know! 

September 21^st Report on September HOD Meeting: Leveraging and Promoting Academy Membership

Prior to the meeting, we as your Delegates spoke with at least 1-2 individuals in each of the following categories – (outside of the executive committee} including both RDNs and NDTRs: Students, Active Members, Retired Members, and Non-Members to report to the HOD at our September Meeting.

Questions asked were:
• What programs, products and services would you like the Academy to provide?
• How would you like the Academy to communicate with you regarding resources and benefits of Academy membership?

Your answers were reported to the Academy at the September 14^th HOD meeting to be compiled with answers from the other affiliates and DPGs and MIGs.

In case you were not aware, the value of your combined benefits of membership include:

• Career and business resources, including the Find a Nutrition Expert Listing ($249 in value), the Compensation Benefits Survey ($250 in value), and savings on Eatright Careers job postings ($235 in savings).
• Discounts on products and insurance. (Exclusive to members)
• eatrightSTORE.org Online discounts. (Exclusive to members)
• Educational opportunities, including free CPE in the Journal, free and discounted self-study modules, and exclusive member discounts on the Center for Lifelong Learning’s Certificate of Training and Webinar Series programs.
• Food and Nutrition Conference and Expo^™ member pricing (up to a 45% discount).
• Scholarships and awards provided by the Academy as well as its Foundation. Foundation programs and opportunities available to Academy members include scholarships, awards, fellowships, research grants, and disaster relief funding, while the Academy offers its National Honors and Awards program its Fellow (FAND) program.
• Networking and knowledge sharing opportunities, including eMentoring and affiliate, DPG and MIG membership. (Exclusive to Members)
• Nutrition Information Services access, which includes help from staff RDNs. (Exclusive to members)
• Practice, Science and Quality resources, such as access to ANDHII and the Nutrition Care Process, the Evidence Analysis Library ($250 in value), and the Academy’s Position Papers.
• Publications, including access to JAND ($459 in value) and exclusive access to email newsletters, discounts on Nutrition Care Manual subscriptions (up to $167 in savings) and electronic Nutrition Care Process Terminology subscriptions (up to $75 in savings), as well as access to all eatrightPRO.org content.
• Shaping the future of the profession, through a voice in the House of Delegates and visioning efforts by the Council on Future Practice. Academy members can leverage these avenues to identify, address, and gain insights on critical issues affecting the profession.

Current Academy Active Category Membership: $234. This sampling of benefits and more: over $3,000 in savings.

Thank you to all who joined us!

 

In case you missed them, here is what has happened since July 2022:

1. August HOD Meeting: Focused on Navigating Future Practice with Technology in partnership with the Council on Future Practice (CFP)
   1. Check out the brief here- www.eatrightpro.org/-/media/eatrightpro-files/leadership/hod/resources/cfp-brief-technology.pdf
   2. Video www.eatrightpro.org/-/media/eatrightpro-files/leadership/…
2. July HOD Meeting: Focused on Best Practices on Communicating Policy and Advocacy Efforts in partnership with the Policy Initiatives and Advocacy Team (PIA). They reviewed current structure, policy issues and how to become more active. 

 Additional ways to get Involved

1. Advocate for current policy priorities impacting our profession through affinity groups that meet monthly – forum-based events where staff, policy leaders and members discuss Academy advocacy priorities and strategies, share their experience and determine how they can become involved in advocating. More info at this link Join the Academy’s Affinity Groupsapplication here  
2. Interested in being a Scribe for the HOD?  It is a great way to get to know the HOD and is a critical role to support your delegate as they discuss issues impacting the profession. Complete the form here SCRIBE VOLUNTEER SURVEY – 2022 PROGRAM YEAR

3. Advocate for current policy priorities impacting our profession through affinity groups that meet monthly – forum-based events where staff, policy leaders and members discuss Academy advocacy priorities and strategies, share their experience and determine how they can become involved in advocating. More info at this link Join the Academy’s Affinity Groupsapplication here

    

   The Academy calls upon the members of the U.S. Senate to take up a Child Nutrition Reauthorization Bill – send your support at eatrightpro.org/action-center 

4. Call for nominations for the 2023 national Academy election is open. Nominations for president-elect, speaker-elect and treasurer-elect have closed. Nominations for all other positions are due by October 24, 2022. Please visit National Election

 

5. HOD Seeks Subject Matter Experts on various topics – please let us know if you are interested.

In September, the Academy HOD discussed the question: “What would make Academy membership indispensable for nutrition and dietetics practitioners?” As a follow-up to the meeting, the HOD is seeking Subject Matter Experts (SMEs) to review the input and information from the delegates and come up with practical recommendations that will help strengthen Academy membership.

We are seeking individuals to serve as Subject Matter Experts (SMEs) on a small, volunteer-based task force made up of members of the HOD and the Academy at large, as well as Academy Staff. While availability is limited, we want to include participants from a wide range of backgrounds who have experience recruiting or retaining members from different social, professional and community organizations or non-profit boards. Individuals interested in being a subject matter expert for this topic are encouraged to fill out this form describing their expertise and submit a resume by Friday, October 14.

Business will be conducted via 1-to-1.5-hour(s) video conference calls at least two times per month. Other work will be conducted via email or shared documents.

The total time requirement is dependent upon how long the SMEs take to develop their recommendations. The past few dialogues have taken approximately four months post-meeting.

Please contact us with questions or concerns by emailing: chair_of_delegates@eatrighttexas.org We would love to hear from you!

Your Texas House of Delegates
Andie Lee Gonzalez
Carol Bradley
Hallie Kaplan 
chair_of_delegates@eatrighttexas.org

September 2022

Hello Fellow Texas RDs!

We kicked off our monthly Lunch with your Delegate meeting on August 17th at 12 pm CT. We had at least 9 Texas RDs who joined us in our dialogue this month. As a reminder, our townhalls are now scheduled every 3rd Wednesday of the month during lunch time. We continue to test this new format so if there is any feedback on current schedule, please let us know! 

Here is a brief summary in what has happened as of July 2022!

1. July HOD Meeting: Focused on Best Practices on Communicating Policy and Advocacy Efforts in partnership with the Policy Initiatives and Advocacy Team (PIA). They reviewed current structure, policy issues and how to become more active. 
2. August HOD Meeting: Focused on Navigating Future Practice with Technology in partnership with the Council on Future Practice (CFP) 
   1. Check out the brief here- www.eatrightpro.org/-/media/eatrightpro-files/leadership/hod/resources/cfp-brief-technology.pdf
   2. Video www.eatrightpro.org/-/media/eatrightpro-files/leadership/…

Next meeting is scheduled for September 21st! Register here:  Lunch with Your Delegates Tickets, Multiple Dates | Eventbrite

1. September HOD Meeting: Will focus on Leveraging and Promoting Academy Membership – We as your Delegates need to speak with at least 1-2 individuals in each of the following categories – (outside of the executive committee} including both RDNs and NDTRs:
   • Students
   • Active Members
   • Retired Members
   • Non-Members

Questions needed for September:
• What programs, products and services would you like the Academy to provide?
• How would you like the Academy to communicate with you regarding resources and benefits of Academy membership?

1. Please contact us at if you would like to participate by emailing: chair_of_delegates@eatrighttexas.org we would love to hear from you!

Additional ways to get Involved

August 19 Application Deadline: HOD Seeks Subject Matter Experts in Workplace Value and Public Trust – In preparation for Nov discussion on “RDN and NDTR Workplace Value and Public Trust,” subject matter experts (SMEs) are needed to share insights – please visit this link for more info Call for Subject Matter Experts: RDN and NDTR Workplace Value and Public Trust application here submit

Advocate for current policy priorities impacting our profession through affinity groups that meet monthly – forum-based events where staff, policy leaders and members discuss Academy advocacy priorities and strategies, share their experience and determine how they can become involved in advocating. More info at this link Join the Academy’s Affinity Groups application here  

The Academy calls upon the members of the U.S. Senate to take up a Child Nutrition Reauthorization Bill – send your support at eatrightpro.org/action-center

Call for nominations for the 2023 national Academy election is open. Nominations for president-elect, speaker-elect and treasurer-elect close September 2, 2022. Nominations for all other positions are due by October 24, 2022. Please visit National Election

Interested in being a Scribe for the HOD?  It is a great way to get to know the HOD and is a critical role to support your delegate as they discuss issues impacting the profession. Complete the form here SCRIBE VOLUNTEER SURVEY – 2022 PROGRAM YEAR

 

Your Texas House of Delegates

Andie Lee Gonzalez

Carol Bradley

Hallie Kaplan 

chair_of_delegates@eatrighttexas.org

August 2022
Hello Texas Academy Members!

 

News from Your Delegate Hello Texas Academy Members! Thank you to those who were able to participate in our first ‘Lunch with your Delegate’ Town Hall meeting for the 2022-2023 year. It was held on Wednesday, July 20 at Noon. Thank you, especially to members of the Public Policy Panel who were able to join the discussion as we explained the role of your delegates as part of their committee.

Our main topic was the upcoming White House conference on Hunger, Nutrition, and Health. The first one was convened in December 1969 by President Richard Nixon who wanted to “end hunger for all times.” Key accomplishments of that conference include major expansions of the Food Stamp Program and School Lunch Program, authorization of the Supplemental Feeding Program for Women Infants and Children, and improvements to nutrition labeling and ingredient labeling. The goal of this year’s conference is to “End hunger and increase healthy eating and physical activity by 2030, so that fewer Americans experience diet-related diseases like diabetes, obesity, and hypertension.” There are five key messages that Academy Leaders have developed. They are as follows:
• Maximize the skills and training of the nutrition and dietetics professional. • Ensure access to nutrition services for all.
• Invest in prevention where we go to school, work, and play.
• Fully fund the DGAs and the translation and implementation of those messages.
• Expand and strengthen the federal nutrition programs. Texas Academy members expressed their topics of concern related to the conference during the town hall and were recorded. We will forward those concerns… To learn more visit here https://www.eatrightpro.org/news-center/member-updates/white-house-conference-on-hunger-nutrition-and-health

Thanks for your time!

 

July 2022
Hello Texas Academy Members!

June 1 begins the new fiscal year for the Academy. A major change this year is
that the House of Delegates (HOD) will now meet the second Wednesday of
the month from 5-7 PM, instead of three Saturdays per year. These additional
touch points will allow for a greater number of critical issues to be discussed
in a timely manner.

Critical issues will continue to be identified by members, Council on Future
Practice, Academy Board of Directors, House Leadership Team, and hopefully
methods proposed by Roadmap Task Forces, but the main change is we will
have multiple Subject Matter Expert (SME) task forces addressing issues
concurrently and for as little or as much time as they need to provide
comprehensive recommendations. Be sure to watch for opportunities to
become a SME!

If you are curious about how the meetings are conducted, why not apply to
be scribe during one of the HOD virtual meetings? This is a great volunteer
opportunity for active members or student members of the Academy to be
present during the meetings. To find our more, visit
https://www.eatrightpro.org/leadership/governance/house-of-
delegates/about-hod-meetings

Thanks for your time!

Andie Gonzalez, PhD, MPH, RDN, LD, FAND, Chair of Delegates
Email: chair_of_delegates@eatrighttexas.org
Carol Bradley, PhD, RDN, BCBA, LD, FAND, Delegate 1
Email: academy_delegate1@eatrighttexas.org
Hallie Kaplan, MCN, RDN, LD, CNSC, Delegate 2
Email: academy_delegate2@eatrighttexas.org

YOU HAVE A VOICE!
Your Academy Delegates from Texas are part of the Academy’s House of
Delegates and are your voice upward. The House of Delegates (HOD) focuses
on critical issues that:

• Align with and support the strategic plan and impact goals.
• Have importance across multiple discipline areas.
• May impact practice areas, or specialized or subsets of practice areas.
• Have a long, short, or immediate impact on our profession.

Leadership from the House of Delegates also works to empower the
profession by embracing its values, developing a progressive culture, and
working toward a more diverse organization.
The Academy implements strategic planning and changes through policies,
actions, and composition to embody the vision and voice of its members. The
Board of Directors governs the Academy, and Academy staff implement
decisions.
Delegates assist in governing the profession and developing policy on major
professional issues.

“You, our Texas Academy members, spoke and … we listened!”
Virtual Lunch with Your Delegate will continue in 2022-2023 on the third
Wednesday of each month at Noon.