Dear Sky Family:
I am writing to ask for your help. As you may know, a special election for a National Director position on the USPA Board of Directors is coming up in June. Whoever wins this election will be a National Director, and therefore represent all USPA members. I am currently the AFF Director at Skydive Tecumseh (and also a TI) and am running for this position. I'm working hard to reach out to everyone to ask for their support and to share a bit about myself including why I’m running, my qualifications to serve, and what I plan to work on if elected.
First and most importantly, I am running for this open position because I am deeply indebted to the individuals who invested their time and knowledge in me during my skydiving career, and I want to pay that forward by serving the skydiving community as a USPA Board member.
My educational and employment background give me a strong set of skills to serve as an effective member of the USPA Board of Directors. I am the AFF Program Director, a Tandem Instructor at Skydive Tecumseh, and a Science, Technology, Education, and Math (STEM) educator at iFLY Detroit. In 2019, I established Mathews Adventure Services. I am an American Mountain Guides Association certified Single Pitch Instructor (SPI) and a Wilderness First Responder (WFR). I have recently begun working towards the USPA AFF Examiner rating.
I am a Former U.S. Army Special Forces Halo Team leader and have competed in USPA Collegiate Nationals and U.S. Military National competitions.
I hold a Ph.D. in mathematics and have authored or co-authored four textbooks and seventeen papers. I taught both undergraduate and graduate students and have been a presenter, program committee member, and organizer of international conferences in mathematics education. I have received multiple National Science Foundation grants related to research and development into the improvement of teaching college mathematics.
As a former college president, I have eighteen years of experience working for an elected board, and working with state and national organizations and elected officials. I also served eighteen years as the secretary of a 501(c)3 nonprofit foundation. These experiences will help me to be an effective member of the USPA Board.
Finally, if I am elected, there are four things I am going to work on.
1. Membership engagement. Only about 6% of members voted in the last USPA general election. Although that is a problem in and of itself, I believe it is a symptom of a larger problem. The larger problem is the lack of membership engagement. This can be improved. Engaging/serving members must be a higher priority of the Association.
2. Completely Rewrite the SIM and IRM. These documents are unlike any documents I have ever encountered in any professional arena. The information is there, but not in a particularly helpful format for the new skydiver, the instructor candidate, or the membership. The skydiving community would be better served by clear, readable, informative publications.
3. Fix Collegiate Nationals. Each year, only around 75-85 people compete. This is completely unacceptable. Rookiefest at Skydive Chicago has about that many attendees. I have worked to recreate the Michigan State University Skydiving Club for this year. The USPA can and should create a vibrant collegiate program to help build the next generation of skydivers.
4. Remove the FAA flight physical requirement for TI’s. There is a national shortage of TI’s. The FAA flight physical system was never intended for skydivers. In addition to not serving the skydiving industry, this system chews up and spits out good people in a tremendously unjust manner. I would work to replace the FAA flight physical with something more reasonable.
Brian Germain recently interviewed me on his Casual Chat program, so I'm including a link here to that in case you want to hear a little more about why I’m running. https://youtu.be/1czOaqShKZQ.
Finally, if you are willing to support me, I have attached a "Vote for Me" graphic that can either be printed out or shared electronically. I would greatly appreciate any such help.
Because of the nature of my business, I am always accessible to potential clients. If elected, I will always be accessible to the membership. If you have any questions or comments, I would love to hear them. Thank you in advance for your consideration.
Sincerely,
David M. Mathews, Ph.D.
AFF Program Director, Skydive Tecumseh
Owner, Mathews Adventure Services
269.470.9969
Web: Mathewsadventureservices.com
Facebook: @ Mathews Adventure Services LLC