Wanted: NRRTS director

LAGO VISTA, Texas - NRRTS has begun searching for an executive director that it hopes will be the "catalyst" that pushes the 800-member organization into a more active role. NRRTS expects to hire an executive director early next year. It wants the person who fills the position to have several arrows in his or her quiver: administrative skills, experience as a rehabilitation technology supplier (RTS) or clinician and, most importantly, political savvy, said Mike Seidel, the association's president. "We need someone who will actively and aggressively champion issues--political, clinical, state-by-state," he said. "NRRTS has grown and for us to go further, we need this person to be a catalyst." Right now, NRRTS Administrator Judy Vance runs the organization day-to-day with the help of two part-time personnel--an assistant and a marketing coordinator. She reports to a volunteer board of directors comprised of working RTSs and CRTSs, including Seidel, who works for National Seating & Mobility. In August 2007, however, Vance, who has been with NRRTS since its inception in 1992, plans to retire. The executive director will take over Vance's responsibilities. But because the director will have added responsibilities, NRRTS may also hire support staff as needed, Seidel said. By hiring an executive director--RESNA and NCART already have similar positions--NRRTS will re-energize its registrants, who have been weighed down by drastic documentation and coding changes, said Weesie Walker, the association's president-elect. "I think a lot of people are getting discouraged about the future," said Walker, who, like Seidel, works for National Seating & Mobility. "This person would understand and keep up with all the changes coming out and show them that there is some positive in the future. We just need to more of a part of it."