The Foreign Service Journal, September 2020

72 SEPTEMBER 2020 | THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL AFSA NEWS FSJ Wins Two TRENDY Awards for Publishing Excellence At the July 8 Association TRENDS 41st annual “Salute to Association Excellence,” The Foreign Service Jour- nal received two TRENDY awards for publishing excel- lence. The FSJ earned a Silver in the “Commemoration/Trib- ute” category for the Novem- ber 2019 edition’s focus on the fall of the Berlin Wall. The issue featured first- hand accounts by nearly 50 members of the Foreign Service community about the sweeping changes brought about by the fall of the Berlin Wall, as well as longer articles by AFSA President Ambassador Eric Rubin, Ambassador (ret.) J.D. Bindenagel and retired FSO Louis Sell. Almost all of the authors were involved directly in the events. The FSJ also earned a Bronze in the “Monthly Pro- fessional Society” category for its May 2019 issue, which looked at the Foreign Service as a career, and discussed the challenges and lessons that come with this compli- cated, difficult and exciting life of public service. The issue featured an interview with William Burns and several articles on the topic, including “Role Models—Lessons for Today from AFSA’s Past” by Harry Kopp; “Serving in Tandem for State” by Kathryn Fitrell and Kanishka Gangopadhyay; “Treating PTSD” by James Eusanio; “My Parkinson’s Story—Managing Medical Challenges in the FS” by Paul Rohrlich; “Dual Identity and Diplomacy” by Sandya Das; “From Generation to Genera- tion” by Alexis Ludwig; and “If You Mess Up, Fess Up” by Jonathan Rickert. The annual Association TRENDS event is ordinarily attended by more than 500 association professionals to honor stars within the association community. This year, due to the pandemic, the ceremony was held virtually. n The May 2019 FSJ . The November 2019 FSJ. How LWOP Affects Your AFSA Membership Since the State Depart- ment changed regulations on taking leave without pay (LWOP), AFSA has seen an increased number of employees taking advantage of this option. AFSA has advocated for making LWOP easily avail- able to employees, but we want to make sure that all members understand what LWOP means for their AFSA membership. When your LWOP begins, your AFSA membership will end almost immediately if you have selected the pay- roll dues deduction option, something that more than 90 percent of members do. This means that all AFSA membership benefits will end as well—including the daily media digest, The Foreign Service Journal and access to labor manage- ment lawyers and counsel- ors. When you alert AFSA that you are going on LWOP, we will offer the option of tem- porarily switching to annual payments via credit card or check. This will ensure that a person on LWOP will remain an AFSA member in good standing. Once return- ing from LWOP, switching back to payroll deductions is easy, and membership will continue without interrup- tion. Why is this important? There are many reasons, including that only mem- bers in good standing may participate in AFSA Govern- ing Board elections as either candidates or voters. But most importantly, it ensures that a member will always have access to our labor management staff for advice and counseling. Some years ago, the AFSA Governing Board clarified rules on AFSA labor management assistance to make it clear that only individuals who have been AFSA members for the pre- vious six months are able to request such assistance. An interruption in mem- bership during LWOP might therefore make it chal- lenging for a member who rejoins the rolls following LWOP to seek labor man- agement assistance until six months after his or her return. If you are considering the LWOP option, please contact AFSA at member@afsa.org to let us know and request assistance in switching to annual payments during your absence. n