Case4

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When a student showed interest in the program, the MWL executive operating the booth provided a brief explanation of the program, outlining the program’s objectives and the lesson structure. Individuals who showed interest in joining the organization were asked to complete a questionnaire that collected personal information and details of the applicant’s swimming experience. Exhibit 2 shows the questionnaire. Once the questionnaire was completed, registration was finalized when the new member paid the $5 membership fee. For insurance requirements and because MWL granted certificates, it was mandatory that instructors have a current National Lifesaving Society (NLS) lifeguard certificate or be close to achieving this qualification. Effectively, there was no role in the club for unqualified members. Potential instructors who were in the process of attaining their qualifications were asked to contact the club once they had become certified.

In addition to recruitment during Clubs Week, MWL relied heavily on word-of-mouth advertising to attract members. The executive team and existing club members were asked to tell their friends about the program to try to increase the instructor base. A Facebook group helped to promote the club; although this group was exclusive to club members, members could invite their friends to join. Word-of-mouth recruitment was a vital aspect of the program; instructors who were referred to the program often became MWL’s most passionate and most qualified instructors. In the fall of 2010, a total of 86 members signed up.

Orientation

Once recruited, MWL oriented its new members (instructors) at an event held in late September. The purpose of this event was to introduce the MWL executive team to instructors while providing an in-depth explanation of the program, including the disabilities MWL clients suffered from and the lesson schedule. Instructors had an opportunity to ask questions and communicate any concerns they had about the program. Also, instructors were able to amend their profiles by, for example, adding any supplementary experience they might have forgotten to include when they joined the organization. At the end of the orientation, the executive team let the new volunteers know that instructor selection would be completed and communicated within a few days.

Selection

At this point in the year, instructor interest was usually high, with many more instructors than registered participants. In 2010-11, the club started with 98 members; throughout the year others also joined. The executive team met immediately after the orientation event to rank the recruits as full-time instructors for the upcoming year, based on the members’ profiles into three categories: yes, maybe and no. In 2010-11, the club needed 35 instructors for the fall term and 37 for the spring term (the “yes” group). The club changed five instructors for the spring term to give some members an opportunity to teach full time. Those qualified members who were not chosen as full-time instructors automatically became part of the substitute instructor list (the “maybe” group). Those in the “no” group were essentially admission errors, as they were not qualified to participate. An ideal instructor had strong swimming skills, teaching experience and experience working with children and/or individuals with special needs. The instructors were matched with registered participants and individuals who were not selected as full-time instructors are added to the substitution list. Murphy was responsible for informing the instructors about the selections. When instructors were told that they had been assigned a role as a full time instructor, they were also given a summary of their child’s disability(ies) and swimming history and encouraged to do

4 For more information, see the Website: www.brighthub.com/education/special/articles/57657.aspx, accessed March 2011.

5 Down syndrome was caused by the presence of an extra chromosome, which impaired brain and body development. The incidence of Down syndrome increased with the age of the mother, from about 0.1 per cent at age 25, to about 3.3 per cent at age

45. Although there was no specific treatment, behavioural training could help individuals with Down syndrome and their families deal with the frustration, anger and compulsive behaviour associated with the condition. See: www.medicinenet.com/down_- syndrome/page2.htm, accessed March 2011.

6 There was no single treatment method for autism spectrum disorders; management methods were typically tailored to the child’s individual needs. The prevalence was about 0.65 per cent with about 80 per cent of those affected being boys. See: www.hc- sc.gc.ca/hc-ps/dc-ma/autism-eng.php, and www.altst.org/articles/0003.htm, accessed March 2011.

7 www.epilepsy.ca/eng/content/epidemio.html, accessed March 2011.

not be found, participants might be matched with a new instructor. Overall, the executive believed that constant communication between all parties was vital to ensure participant satisfaction.

COMPETITION

The City of London operated four public indoor pools and 12 outdoor pools (in July and August), each offering public swimming, swimming lessons and rental opportunities. Some of the outdoor pools were not heated. In addition, there were a number of private pools, some of which offered lessons. London’s public pools offered a number of learn-to-swim programs, including private, semi-private and group lessons. However, there were no programs designed specifically for children with special needs. Exhibit 4 gives some information on lesson prices. MWL benefitted from the January 2009 opening of UWO’s

$35 million, 15,000 square-metre Western Student Recreation Centre, providing MWL with access to one of the best facilities in the area.

The prices of public swimming lessons could make the public swim programs unaffordable for low- income individuals. MWL’s offer of one-on-one, individualized lessons at an affordable rate was not offered anywhere else in London. As one parent noted: “We have tried other swimming programs, but MWL’s is the only one that has worked.”

ISSUES FACING MAKING WAVES LONDON

Instructors

One of MWL’s major issues concerned the difficulty of attracting qualified instructors. Even though UWO had some 35,000 individuals who were eligible to join clubs, MWL’s requirements for lifeguard certification and teaching experience and personal interests severely limited the base of potential recruits. In addition, students were hesitant to join the organization without a guarantee of receiving a full-time instructing position. Furthermore, the format of Clubs Week limited MWL’s ability to attract members because of its short length and competitive nature. Word-of-mouth recruitment was unreliable. It was difficult to predict the number of instructors that would be recruited each year.

MWL also experienced steadily decreasing commitment to the program as the year progressed. Instructors had to deal with the challenges of teaching children with special needs and balance academic work and other components of their lives. As the number of instructors available for lessons decreased, the quality of the program declined, as many participants required a routine to feel comfortable in the water. New instructors disrupted this routine, making it difficult to teach participants effectively. Murphy often received calls from instructors as late as Saturday morning informing her that they would be unable to attend the lesson that day. In such cases, it was incredibly difficult to find replacement instructors. As volunteers, the instructors could not be forced to attend; punishing volunteers who did not show up was a challenging task.

Because many instructors did not have prior experience working with children with special needs and because of individual differences among the participants, it was difficult to maintain a standard level of lesson quality. Each participant had unique and challenging needs, and adapting lesson plans was no easy task. Although the response of parents had generally been positive, there had been problems in ensuring that participants learned the appropriate skills. MWL relied heavily on its people’s flexibility and judgment rather than on rigid processes. The organization had struggled to balance the positives and

negatives of volunteer autonomy. In addition, pool regulations required that MWL use the National Lifesaving Society certification system, which was not designed for children with disabilities. Murphy wondered how MWL could improve the quality of its service for all participants.

Capacity

MWL was the largest and fastest growing Making Waves chapter — with approximately 80 participants, MWL was three to four times the size of other chapters, which had an average registration of 20 to 25 participants. The lack of reliable instructors and limited pool space, created a waiting list for the program. In 2009-10 MWL introduced siblings to the program, allowing brothers and sisters of children with disabilities to participate in small group lessons alongside the lessons for children with special needs. The response had been overwhelmingly positive. One parent stated:

This is the only time my daughters are able to do something together. Every other program we have been a part of has separated my daughters and has been exclusive to either able-bodied or special-needs children. It is amazing to see how excited my children get while getting ready for a swimming lesson together.

In 2010-11, MWL decided to eliminate the sibling program because of the growing demand from families with special-needs children. The executive discussed this difficult issue in-depth and chose to remove siblings when they considered MWL’s mission to provide “affordable and accessible one-on-on swimming instruction to children with special needs.” Although parents were very understanding, many were obviously disappointed with the decision. Murphy thought there must be some way to integrate siblings back into the program — but how?

The shortage of capacity was accentuated by the lack of pool space for the program. The Western Student Recreation Centre pool was Olympic size: 52 metres8 long and 20 metres wide (eight lanes). The pool’s two movable bulkheads allowed it to be arranged in up to 10 configurations. The temperature of the water was maintained in a narrow range centred at 27.8C. The bottom of the pool followed a gentle slope from 1.35 metres deep at the shallow end to 1.65 metres deep about 10 metres from the shallow end (the position of the first bulkhead anchor), and then down to about 3.40 metres at the deep end. The water in the pool was circulated and filtered continuously, entering at several points in the bottom and flowing out the top around the whole perimeter. Waves in the pool were suppressed by having the water break over the pool edge and run through a grid into a trough about 40 centimetres deep. The constant stream of falling water created a noticeable background “hissing” noise within a few metres of the pool edge. When the bulkheads were positioned at the end of the pool, the noise level was somewhat reduced.

Observers, who were not allowed on the pool deck, had four options. The pool had three rows of elevated seating (and a row where observers could stand) along the full length of one side. Windows spanned almost the entire width of the shallow end of the pool; observers could stand in hallways and watch the activities through those windows, either at the level of the pool deck or one floor above it. Observers could also stand in a 10-metre by two-metre fenced-off area that extended about half the width of the pool, about 4.5 metres from the shallow end of the pool.

The Saturday lesson time had been selected because it was a good fit for all the participants’ schedules; changing the lesson day was not considered to be an option. The UWO pool was very busy on Saturdays, booked for most of the day. Prior to 2010-11, MWL had been granted a single timeslot for lessons from 4

8 The pool included two movable bulkheads about one metre wide, making the effective length 50 metres.

p.m. to 5 p.m. In response to growing demand, MWL had managed to get 30 additional minutes of pool time and had divided the lessons into two 45-minute sessions for 2010-11. Although this move allowed fewer instructors and more participants, it also created some problems. Instructors were hesitant to spend 90 minutes teaching; many asked to instruct only one session. Although instructors had to be in the water with their participants, they were not particularly active while they were. The depth and temperature of the water made standing in it for 90 minutes uncomfortable.

Although the pool was relatively large, water depth was a critical variable. Instructors had to be able to stand comfortably in the water. Because of the water depth, MWL used submersible platforms called “tot docks” to reduce the depth for the participants. Tot docks were 183 centimetres long, 97 centimetres wide and 63 centimetres high, and they did not have any railings. The pool had three tot docks.

Also, one-third of the pool was booked by the UWO Triathlon Club at 5 p.m. on Saturdays, which meant that participants in the 4:45 p.m. to 5:30 p.m. session were unable to swim lengths in the middle pool section. Although addressing these issues would be challenging, Murphy believed she was up to the task.

Participants

Although most participant families communicated frequently with MWL regarding lesson attendance, a few parents failed to let the program know when their child would miss a lesson. Thus, instructors would attend the lesson with no students to teach. This situation was very frustrating for instructors, as they believed that their time had been wasted. Murphy wondered whether there was a way to motivate MWL’s clientele to become more involved with the program and increase communication with the organization.

Funding

Historically, MWL had had very few problems regarding its financial position. Participants and external organizations saw the value in the program and generously supported it; however, Murphy realized that donation-based funding was very unreliable. She wanted to find a way to ensure the financial stability of the program for years to come.

One issue that Murphy would need to address immediately was the excess funds that were in MWL’s account. University Students’ Council regulations required that all money taken in by clubs be spent during the year, with only a small level of funds being left for the following year. The University Students’ Council had questioned the funds carried over from 2009-10 to 2010-11. At present, Hayden Bielawski, vice-president finance, projected that there would be approximately $550 in the account as of April 30 (see Exhibit 3). Murphy would have to decide what to do with the funds. In discussions with parents, a number of potential options had been identified. Parents suggested that the money be spent on pool equipment, the establishment of a financial aid fund, instructor appreciation and supporting other community initiatives. Murphy had to decide where the money would be most effectively spent and how the funds could contribute to MWL’s mission.

Making Waves Canada

Although its status as a Making Waves chapter gave MWL access to technical support and publicity, the relationship was not entirely beneficial. Because of UWO University Students’ Council regulations, all instructors were required to have a current NLS certificate and teaching experience. The University Students’ Council also provided insurance coverage for the program, protecting the organization from liability in the unlikely event of a serious accident. These standards were viewed as necessary by the MWL’s executive team because of the risks associated with the program’s participants. However, other Making Waves chapters did not operate in the same way. MWL was the only chapter that was insured and that required instructors to have an NLS certificate and teaching experience. Murphy worried that an event at another chapter could jeopardize the reputation and operations of MWL. Were the benefits of being a part of Making Waves Canada worth the risks?

Registering Making Waves London as a Charity

As a UWO student club, MWL did not constitute a registered Canadian charity, which meant that parents’ donations to the program were not eligible for tax receipts. Parents often claimed their donations under the children’s fitness tax credit, which allowed parents claim up to $500 per year for eligible fitness expenses paid for each child who was under 16 years of age at the beginning of the year in which the expenses were paid.9 Murphy was worried that because of MWL’s status, the donations were not eligible for the credit and that a tax audit would negatively affect the program.

Becoming a registered charity presented its own problems, however. The Canadian government defined a charitable purpose as the relief of poverty, the advancement of education, the advancement of religion or certain other purposes that benefitted the community in a way the courts have said was charitable.10 Although Murphy believed that MWL would fall in the “other” category as a charity, there was no way to tell whether the courts would approve the organization and its services. To become a registered charity, MWL would have to cease being a UWO club, which would mean that the program would no longer be able to recruit during Clubs Week and would also have to find its own insurance, which could be very costly. Murphy asked herself whether it was worth leaving the University Students’ Council in order to become a registered charity.

Looking Ahead

As Murphy pondered these issues, she began to realize the true scale of the problem. The program faced struggles in all aspects of its service offering. But how could she address these issues? Did some issues have priority over others? Who needed to be involved in the decision-making process? Murphy wanted to ensure that MWL was the best adaptive aquatics program possible. As she sat down to look for solutions, the September lesson season no longer looked months away, but instead right around the corner. Would she be able to address all of these problems while maintaining the integrity of the program? As president of MWL, Murphy knew it was her responsibility to make the program a success

— but how?

9 For more information on the Children's Fitness Tax Credit, consult the Canada Revenue Agency Website: www.cra-arc.gc.ca, accessed May 2011.

10 For more information on charitable activities, consult the Canada Revenue Agency Website: www.cra-arc.gc.ca, accessed May

2011.

Exhibit 1

MWL EXECUTIVE ROLES AND RESPONSIBILITIES, 2010‒11

President — Jillian Ferguson

· Oversee the day-to-day operations of the organization

· Serve on the board of directors of Making Waves Canada

· Maintain relationships with external organizations

· Maintain relationships with instructors, participants and parents

Vice-President Internal — Brianna Murphy

· Communicate weekly with instructors regarding lesson attendance

· Find replacement instructors

Vice-President External (two positions) — Rebecca Fuller and Emily Latourell

· Communicate with parents regarding lesson schedules

· Deal with parents’ concerns

· Act as a liaison between parents and the organization

Vice-President Finance — Hayden Bielawski

· Create budget projections at the beginning of the year

· Track all inflows and outflows, ensuring a balanced budget

· Create receipts for all donations

· Go through the audit process with the University Students’ Council

Vice-President Programming — Diane Tisdall

· Develop the training process

· Plan and implement instructor socials

· Plan and implement year-end pizza parties

Source: MWL files.

Exhibit 2 INSTRUCTOR QUESTIONNAIRE

Making Waves London

The University of Western Ontario Instructor Registration

Name: E-mail: Telephone: Year:

Do you have a current NLS certificate? Yes No Please note a current NLS is required to instruct

Do you have a Red Cross instructor certification? Yes No

Do you have a Lifesaving Society instructor certification? Yes No

Do you have teaching experience? Yes No

If yes, please provide details:

Do you have experience working with special needs? Yes No

If yes, please provide details:

Have you been a part of Making Waves London before? Yes No If yes, for how many years? Would you like to instruct the same child (if applicable)? Yes No

Are you able to attend at least 6 of the 8 lessons each semester? Yes No

If no, would you like to be a part of the Making Waves London substitute list? Yes No If there are any additional details you would like to provide, please do so below:

Source: MWL files.

Exhibit 3

MWL’S 2010-2011 FINANCIAL INFORMATION1

1 The data are for the period September 1, 2010, to April 30, 2011. They are a combination of real and budgeted figures.

Exhibit 4

SWIMMING FEES AT PUBLIC POOLS IN LONDON, ONTARIO1

Lesson type Cost per lesson

Private $25

Semiprivate 18

Group (6 children) 10.50

MWL private 0 ‒ 26.25 (average donation: $3.75)

1 Indoor pool lesson rate: $58 for six 30-minute lessons. Outdoor rates varied by pool from $45 to $52 for 10 30-minute lessons over two weeks. Private lesson rates: $115 to $123 for five 30-minute lessons. Information on London municipal swimming lesson rates and schedules are available at the Website: www.london.ca/d.aspx?s=?sports_and_recreation/recreationfaq.htm, accessed March, 2011. Information on lesson availability and rates in private London pools is unavailable.