1. sports
2. diving

AAUS Strategic Plan for 2015 through 2020
April 30, 2015
MISSION
The mission of the American Academy of Underwater Sciences is to advance and facilitate safe
and productive scientific diving.
HISTORY AND FUTURE PLANS
Training programs in scientific diving were first organized with the advent of SCUBA in the early
1950s and grew rapidly. AAUS was officially chartered in California in 1983 by individuals and
organizations that had worked for nearly a decade to obtain the scientific diving exemption to
OSHA commercial diving standards. From the original six organizational members AAUS has
expanded to well over a hundred organizations ranging from colleges and universities, state
agencies, museums, aquaria, environmental and archaeological consulting firms, to community
science groups. The common thread between these organizations is the use of diving as a
scientific research tool, and concern for the health and safety of scientific divers working in their
programs. In addition to its Organizational Members, AAUS represents thirteen hundred
individual members in the form of Full Voting Members, Full Non-voting Members (OM based),
Associate Members, and Student Members.
During the past thirty-two years the AAUS has produced consensual standards for the training
and certification of scientific divers and the operation of scientific diving programs. Viewed as
the industry standard for scientific diving in the United States, these standards have been
adopted by numerous scientific diving organizations around the world. The Academy has
conducted annual symposia as well as sponsored and co-sponsored focused workshops of
interest to the scientific and general diving communities. With the help of its organizational
membership, AAUS has compiled one of the most complete datasets available dealing with
scientific diving logs and incident rates. Results of these annual statistical submissions continue
to show scientific diving as the safest of the diving communities. In addition, AAUS has
supported research and the development of the next generation of diving scientists through the
funding of annual student scholarships.
In 2008, an earlier Board solicited advice on long term planning and addressed the purposes
and goals of the Academy in a strategic planning meeting that resulted in a five-year plan
running from 2008 to 2011. In 2014, the sitting Board of Directors voted to renew this process
and reaffirm, refine, and refocus the Board’s activities to keep the Academy moving forward.
With professional guidance from our facilitator Dr. Thom Skalko (Eastern Carolina University),
we began a year-long process of soliciting input from membership and analyzing and
synthesizing that input. The members of the 2014 and 2015 Boards then held a three-day
retreat and strategic planning session on Catalina Island in February 2015. Based on the
outcomes of this meeting, the current Board does not anticipate a major shift in its purposes and
goals within the next five years; the strategic planning process identified many of the same
issues as previous Boards, and the current plan is built upon and strengthened by these earlier
efforts. Our hope is that the creation of an updated strategic planning document that is readily
available to the AAUS leaders and membership speaks to both long-term concerns and goals of
the Academy.
GOALS AND STRATEGIES
Over the next five years, the AAUS will pursue the following goals and strategies:

Ensuring Scientific Diving Program Quality Control
o Vet and implement the Scientific Diving Accreditation Program
o Improve understanding and communication of AAUS diving standards
o Develop/improve Organizational Member (OM) program management tools and
resources

Improving Collaboration Between the AAUS and Stakeholders
o Expand member services
o Increase communication
o Establish AAUS community service projects

Promoting Scientific Diving Education
o Certifications of divers - Continue current scientific diver certifications and add
additional certifications such as Nitrox and Rescue diver
o Establish a Dive Safety Officer (DSO) training and DSO certification program
o Utilize annual symposia for targeted DSO and scientific diver workshops and
presentations
o Organizing and providing local/regional training workshops
o Utilizing a wide range of media to enhance educational/training opportunities
o Maintaining AAUS scholarship program

Ensuring AAUS Revenue Stream and Resources
o Facilitate evolution of the AAUS Foundation, strengthen its function and
presence
o Secure External Funding
 Support sustainable OM growth
 Develop a social media fundraising/awareness strategy
 Secure advertising income
 Increase individual membership
 Advertise
 Explore/propose plan for AAUS "orphan" divers (orphan divers are
those divers who were trained at an AAUS OM but are no longer
associated with an AAUS OM but wish to remain an AAUS active
diver)
 Review and potentially increase Individual Member (IM) and OM dues
 Increase income-generating workshops and symposia
 Establish new revenue-positive new diver certification programs
 Pursue grants and sponsorships
 Obtain professional fundraising and communications advice

Advocating for the Scientific Diving Community
o Maintain database of statistics
 Analyze, review, evaluate and distribute to membership and regulators
 Review/update web logging and stats collection programs
 Recommend new data fields for technical diving
 Implement new data fields for technical diving
o
o
o

Represent the interests of scientific diving in the legal/regulatory community
 Establish/renew relationships with regulators, 'competitors' and
supporters
 Secure AAUS legal counsel
 Develop standard operating procedures for soliciting support from AAUS
in legal/regulatory cases
Represent Science Diving in the Science Community
 Establish/renew relationships with a range of scientific organizations
 Co-convene AAUS symposium with scientific meetings
 AAUS presence at science symposia
 Create and disseminate "why join AAUS" promotional materials for
scientific meetings
 Request acknowledgement of AAUS in scientific presentations, distribute
logo to members
 Press releases, publications board
 Quantify and publicize amount of federal research dollars supported by
AAUS programs
Formalize advisory/advocacy groups
Improving efficient operations of the AAUS
o Full-time, full employment position for AAUS Office Manager
Financial Plans:
Current Projected Income
Individual Member Dues
OM Member Dues
OM Application Fees
Other Income (interest,
donations)
Sales
Symposium Profit
SD Certifications
New Revenue Streams
Localized Workshops
Additional Certifications
OM program mgr app/stats
upgrade program
(subscription based)
Grants
Foundation Support
(workshops, training,
education, marketing)
Totals
2016
10,000
75,000
2,250
1,500
2017
12, 000
76,000
3,000
1,500
2018
14,000
77,000
3,000
1,500
2019
16,000
78,000
3,000
1,500
2020
16,000
79,000
3,000
1,500
500
7,000
5,500
500
7,000
5,500
500
7,000
5,500
500
7,000
5,500
500
7,000
5,500
2000
2250
-5000
3000
3000
0
5000
5500
5500
5000
6000
6000
5000
7000
7000
TBD
1000
1500
2500
3000
3000
102000
113000
127000
131500
134500
Expenses
Office Manager (contract)
Admin IDC (or direct hire
charges)
Bank Charges
Credit Card Charges
Dues (DEMA, Exponent)
Gifts
Insurance
Licenses & Permits
Marketing
Meetings
Office (phone, supplies,
equipment)
Postage and Delivery
Printing
Services
Taxes
Travel (BOD and Office)
Website Fees
New Expenses/Programs
Accreditation
DSO Training/Certification
Representation-Scientific
Representation-Regulatory
Website Upgrades
Webinars
Legal Representation
Community Service
Projects
Professional Services
(Fundraising,
Communications)
Totals
2016
37500
5000
2017
37500
5000
2018
37500
5000
2019
42840
17000
2020
42840
17000
500
3000
1000
500
750
180
500
3000
2500
500
3500
1000
500
750
180
750
3000
2500
500
3500
1000
500
750
180
1000
3000
2500
500
4000
1000
500
750
180
1000
3000
3000
500
4000
1000
500
750
180
1000
3000
3000
1300
1000
1500
100
20000
2000
1300
1000
2000
100
20000
2000
1400
1000
2000
100
20000
2000
1400
1000
2000
100
20000
2500
1400
1000
2000
100
20000
2500
5000
2000
1000
1000
500
500
TBD
500
5000
2000
1000
1000
500
500
5000
2000
2000
1000
1000
500
1000
500
2000
1000
1000
500
1000
500
2000
1000
1000
500
500
1000
2000
2000
92080
94430
108770
108770
As
needed
90830