New public and private retiree groups were admitted to the ARTA Retiree Benefits Plan . As of August 2016 , there were 15 , 085 members registered in the benefit plan . The number of education sector members grew by 12.5 % and the public / private sector by 27.4 %.
The Governance Committee revised the ARTA bylaws and proposed that the previous bylaws be repealed and replaced with the revised version . The roles and responsibilities of the Communications , Executive , and Strategic Planning and Advocacy committees were received and reviewed . A strategic review of ARTA grants was recommended , documents in the Appendices section of Policies and Procedures were identified , and Sections D and E containing scholarship and Branch Project Grant criteria as well as application forms and committee reporting templates were removed . The Branch Project Grant applications for $ 5,000 for the Steppin ’ Out Conference , $ 525 for the HARTA Mini-Conference , $ 2,350 for the FRTA One-Day Wellness Conference , $ 5,000 for the Second Wind Conference and $ 300 for the New Frontiers Conference were approved . The six scholarship recipients were determined .
The Pension and Financial Advisory Committee continues to encourage branches to host financial wellness workshops .
The Strategic Planning and Advocacy Committee organized orientations for new committee members , new presidents and new committee chairs ; developed a protocol regarding liaisons with like-minded groups ; and organized a retreat for the board members , all committee members and a new branch member .
The Wellness Committee promoted health awareness through their body composition clinics , the walking challenge and a new wellness section in news & views .
ACER-CART continues to work on being a voice for seniors at the national level , advocates for high national standards of health care , and lobbies for a health care strategy that includes home care , access to palliative care and improved long-term care .
The Alberta Retired Teachers Charitable Foundation was granted official charitable status and has been operational for almost a year .
Due to renovations and an increased space requirement for ATA-associated tenants , a change in the location of the ARTA offices outside of Barnett House was necessitated .
ARTA ’ s annual report is available on the ARTA website at arta . net
A few of our branch presidents and their guests .
Calvin Howard receiving his Scholarship award .
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