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I've been around longer than most, and I've seen a lot of communication–some good and some bad, some worthy of further attention and some not. Lately, I've seen a lot more of negative, unproductive and unsubstantiated accusations that must be addressed. As my grandfather used to say, "Condemnation without investigation is a sign of stupidity," and so it is with that thought that I want to share with you my opinions about the current attacks on the National Board. In May, I will be up for re-election as an At-Large Director for the NBCE. I would like to be re-elected because I really believe the NBCE has an important role in the future success of chiropractic and I believe that I have made worthwhile contributions especially as Treasurer for the past two years. While I am committed to maintain and build on the NBCE's financial prudence and long-term ability to produce excellent exams, I have no dog in this fight. Unlike others who have been filling your in-boxes and e-mail caches, I have nothing to gain by my own re-election. Many of you know that I spent 11 years as the president of NYCC, so I have a great deal of experience with NBCE exams from a different perspective. Even though I am a strong advocate for students, when I first came on the board six years ago I supported an increase in student exam fees because the nationwide decline in student enrollments in chiropractic colleges made an increase necessary. Moreover, since the NBCE hadn't increased fees for nine years, the decline in student enrollments together with the subsequent decrease in revenues jeopardized the NBCE's financial situation. Raising exam fees in 2001 was a bitter pill for the students; however, under the leadership of Dr. Peter Ferguson, the board deliberately chose to shoulder some of their burden by drastically cutting expenses. The staff was asked to cut their budgets, travel was reduced and per diem for the directors was cut by 20 percent. There are two interesting facts that I want to share about the budget in general and director per diems specifically. First, in May 2005 a former director lambasted the NBCE for being fat cats and for living too high on the hog. You should know that when the per diems were 20 percent higher, he didn't return any per diem checks–he DID NOT say "no, thank you, you are paying me too much." In fact, he did not raise that issue when he was still an active member of the NBCE board. Recently, one of the delegates made a statement regarding the fact that if they are successful in unseating Dr. Rick Murphree, District V Director, that will be another nail in the NBCE coffin. I ask you this, why is someone from a district in the West trying to manipulate an election that will occur in the Southeast? My belief is that they are not trying to better the NBCE, they are trying to bury the NBCE! Secondly, when student enrollments started increasing again in 2005 and the NBCE Finance Committee, which I chair, was able to demonstrate that the increased enrollments were generating a profit, we recommended and a majority of the board approved a decrease in student exam fees. I'm sure you agree with me that "it was the right thing to do." Presently, the NBCE is in sound financial condition. I am proud that we have managed our resources so carefully and that we can now fulfill our obligation to test an additional year and a half beyond any financial crisis. Because of sound fiscal management, we were able to reduce student exam fees for 2006. In closing (and this is where File 13 comes in), I am asking you to toss out all the hate mail you receive about any perceived misdeeds or mismanagement of the NBCE. Yes, toss them all in File 13–the garbage can–because they are trash. Please join me in doing all you can to keep the NBCE the strong, independent organization it has been for the past 43 years. Sincerely yours, Kenneth W. Padgett, D.C. ACC Presentation Notes
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