The Pool & Hot Tub Alliance has expanded its staff with a new vice-president-level position.

Mark Milroy joined the organization as its vice president of education on Dec. 2. He brings more than 30 years of association experience, which includes time as an executive director in addition to supervising and developing education and certification programs.

He has worked with technical content and progressive learning models, and has dealt with complex association environments, according to PHTA. He most recently owned and ran a consulting practice, specializing in helping associations analyze and improve their education and training. He has also served as managing director, Global Education at the American Industrial Hygiene Association and as vice president of learning for the American Society of Association Executives. He has held senior-level positions at APICS, the Association for Operations Management, the National Association for College Admission Counseling, and John Carroll University in University Heights, Ohio.

With PHTA, he is charged with overseeing the integration and organization of the education program, as it brings together the courses and certifications that come from the Association of Pool & Spa Professionals (APSP) and the National Swimming Pool Foundation (NSPF), which merged earlier this year to form PHTA.

He also has exposure to the industry as a high-school and university competitive swimmer, and as a former referee.

"What we want to do is create pathways for education," said PHTA President & CEO Sabeena Hickman. "We want to provide different levels of education and certification. It was a lot for our small department of two to take on, and I wanted to bring somebody in with very rich education experience -– somebody who’s built programs, has extensive experience in certification and different types of adult learning."

While the organization intends to work with an expanded staff, it is short one position for the time being. PHTA's director of education, Silvia Uribe, has resigned. She had worked for pool/spa industry associations since 2008, first for NSPF, then for APSP.

“We thank Silvia for all her dedication and hard work to advance the mission of PHTA,” HIckman said in a press release. “Much of the success and structure of the education programs in the industry are due, in large part, to Silvia’s tireless efforts.”

PHTA is searching for a new director of education, who will report to Milroy.

"It’s a very critical position," Hickman told PSN. "So we don’t want to leave that vacant for too long, but we want to find the right person."