AST involvement

National: AST Board of Directors, 2006-2008; Credentials Committee, 2006-2007; Foundation for Surgical Technology Committee, 2007-2008; AST Policy and Procedures Committee, 2007-2008; AST Program Assessment Exam Review Committee, 2003-2006, Chair 2004-2006; Accreditation Review Committee on Education for Surgical Technology Site Visitor, 2003-2006. State: Utah State Assembly President, 2003.

Election statement

Two years ago, you elected me to the AST Board of Directors. It was quite an exciting moment for me. For that I thank everyone. As we look to this May and elections, I find myself desiring to continue to serve on the Board of Directors. This past term has seen our membership grow from 20,723 to 24,751 members. While this is not a correlation to something specific I have done, it is a direct accomplishment of what my participation with the entire Board has done. It is exciting to see our profession grow by 19.4% in such a short time. There have been bylaw changes as well as the adoption of a much needed “Code of Conduct”. This code has strengthened our organization for years to come. Many say that the Board always votes in agreement. This is not the case. There were numerous votes in the past two years that saw members not agreeing with specific items of discussion but when the vote was taken and the decision was made, the Board presented an undivided stand. The House of Delegates elected me to make strong decisions and I must admit there were some that were tough to make but they had to be made. Again, that is why you elected me.

I have encouraged many of you to run for office on the state and national level. If you desire to hold an elected position or serve on a committee, I can assure you that there will be long nights, many emails, and numerous conference calls. You will make friends and you will find that there are those that do not agree with what you have done or voted for or against.  If I am supposed to list accomplishments I have achieved over that past two years, I cannot. The AST Board of Directors is a team and we have made achievements as a group of CSTs and CFAs. This will be evident as we continue to strengthen our committees with the mandate that we remain focused on improving quality and professionalism. I want to work with the Board to maintain this high quality in our committees. I have had members ask me why don’t we get more benefits. It is our goal to provide more benefits and to protect the profession. We must realize that with focused hard work, we will continue to increase our membership and in turn our benefits will continue to grow. As CSTs/CFAs we must never lose sight that no matter how great we perform everyday, education is what keeps surgical technology strong and growing. Education is our greatest benefit.

If elected, I cannot guarantee anything. What I can do is continue to provide valuable, strong oversight of our profession. I can and will continue to work the long hours required of a member of the Board. I will make every effort to advance and improve our profession on the state level as well as nationally. I have the experience and the past two years speak volumes. The bottom line is that I want to continue to be a worker for our profession.

Roy's Responses to Candidate Questions