11/10/2025
CSM Registration has been extended to November 17th.
Component Leader events (Times may change slightly):
Wednesday, February 11, 2026 – Hilton Anaheim
• 9:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m. – Component Leadership Meeting
• 12:00 – 1:00 p.m. – Component Leader Luncheon
• 1:00 – 3:00 p.m. – Section Presidents Meeting
• 1:00 – 4:00 p.m. – Chapter Presidents Meeting
• 1:00 – 4:00 p.m. – Component Executives Meeting
PTA events:
Thursday, February 12, 2026
• 4:00–6:00 p.m. – PTA Council Meeting (for all PTA Council representatives)
• 6:00–7:30 p.m. – PTA Town Hall (open to all PTAs and CSM attendees)
Student events:
Thursday, February 12, 2026
• 5:00–7:00 p.m. – Student Council Meeting (for all Student Council representatives)
Friday, February 13, 2026
• 1:00–2:00 p.m. – Knowledge Bowl Kick-off (open to all Students and CSM attendees)
Hosting these events at APTA CSM offers our PTA and Student leaders a valuable opportunity to connect with component leadership and engage with the broader PTA and Student network. As the largest annual gathering of PTAs and students, APTA CSM is the ideal setting to foster collaboration and strengthen relationships.
Please note: The PTA and Student Council meetings, and the Component Leadership Meeting will no longer be held at APTA Leadership Congress. For details on this change, please read the full message from APTA President Kyle Covington.
Dear PTA Council Leaders and Representatives:
In late September, APTA's Board of Directors made strategic decisions to align our work and priorities with our operations. This resulted in decisions around the 2026 calendar and engagement meetings with member groups, including the PTA council and representative meetings. These decisions were made with full consideration and an effort to balance the organization's priorities with the impact on individuals and components. Updates to the 2026 calendar were shared with Component Leaders in a letter from me on October 1st and additionally on the virtual town hall to component leaders on October 7, 2025, which was recorded. We apologize for the lack of clarity in the communication about this change.
APTA made a strategic decision to align the APTA Leadership Congress in Portland, OR, around our top priority of payment and our new strategic framework. We determined that this focused approach is essential to demonstrate our commitment to a new engagement and ex*****on pathway for this priority. As a result, the number of committee and council meetings traditionally held during Leadership Congress will be reduced to achieve greater alignment and engagement among these entities and the members they serve.
Board-appointed committee meetings were transitioned to April and councils to CSM. Holding the PTA Council leadership and representative meetings at CSM provides an opportunity to engage with component leadership peers and to interact more with PTA members. CSM represents the largest gathering of PTAs within the APTA calendar year, making it an ideal venue to strengthen connections and collaboration.
Both of these decisions reflect APTA's commitment to growing membership and advancing payment, while also demonstrating responsible stewardship of APTA resources and expanding outreach and collaboration opportunities with current and potential members.
In addition, APTA has made significant progress in integrating physical therapist assistants at all levels of governance, operations, and programs. We are proud that PTAs now serve within delegations, are eligible for Board service, and have dedicated representatives supporting this member category. We are also proud of recent advocacy and programmatic achievements, including the change in PTA supervision in private practice, which reflects our ongoing commitment to advancing the PTA's role within the profession. We must collaborate at a higher level to ensure long-term success and sustainability for our physical therapist assistant membership, APTA, and the physical therapy profession as a whole. The Board of Directors is committed to evolving the APTA into an impactful and dynamic organization for all members. That means we may need to try new ways of doing our business to support our shared goals and objectives.
In 2026, the Board of Directors will dedicate time in its meetings to discuss the issues that have recently emerged and explore additional ways to integrate physical therapist assistants more fully in our governance, operations, and programs. Our goal continues to be to serve our members effectively and advance our organizational priorities, and we are committed to that pursuit.
APTA can only evolve to meet the pressing, prioritized challenges in our profession when we first seek to understand the rationale and intention behind decisions made at the national level. We are committed to building a leadership culture within the organization in which leaders at all levels seek understanding and share a focus on APTA's needs as an organization in an effort to drive our strategic initiatives forward.
We hope you'll join us in that commitment.
Sincerely,
Kyle Covington on behalf of the APTA Board of Directors
