Notes from AAWCC Board Meeting
May 16, 2003
Linn-Benton Community College, Salem, OR
Dawn DeWolf commenced the meeting at approximately 10:00 a.m. at Linn-Benton Community College, Alsea Room.
Attendance: Dawn DeWolf, President, Shirley Anderson, Past-President, Lisa Tomlin, President-Elect, Denise Martin, VP Finance, Chris German, VP Membership, Diane Watson, VP Professional Development, Julie Huckestein, VP Summer Conference, Denise Swafford, Board Member-at-Large, Secretary, Ann Smart, Board Member-at-Large Conference Registration; Jan Woodcock, Board Member-at-Large, Archivist and Angela McMahon, Ex-Officio. Abby Lee, VP Communications was absent.
1. Sharing - Informal discussion/check-in and reviewed agenda.
2. Minutes Dawn called for a motion to approve the November 13 and November 15, 2003 Board meeting minutes.
Chris German moved, seconded by Shirley Anderson that AAWCC Board approve the November 13, 2003 Board meeting minutes. The motion was carried 10 to 0.
Chris moved, seconded by Denise Martin that the AAWCC Board approve the
minutes of the November 15, 2003 Board meeting. That motion was carried
10 to 0.
The February 7-8, 2003 Board retreat was an informal gathering of the AAWCC Board. It was determined those minutes would serve as a working document and were not subject to formal approval.
3. Treasurers Report - Denise Martin distributed and discussed Financial State-ments dated December 31, 2002 and April 30, 2003. She pointed out a separate statement tracking scholarships for the fall and summer conferences and OILD (see April Financials).
4. Projected Budget - For OILD, it is o.k. and probably practical to start booking two (2) years in advance. Note: T-shirts not included in OILD budget. Also, in December report, $2,351.45 has yet to be credited for last years fall conference.
Lisa Tomlin moved, seconded by Ann Smart that the AAWCC Board approve the December 31, 2002 and April 30, 2003 Financial Statements and adopt the Budget for the Fall Conference 2003. The motion was carried 10 to 0.
5. OILD - Lisa Tomlin reported that yesterdays confirmations included sixteen (16) participants and four (4) alternates for the June OILD conference.
The committee has been trying to keep costs down, but the budget is coming in short. Members need to decide whether to cut a day from the conference, think about a new location for future OILD or some other solution to meet the shortfall.
A committee will work on deciding the future of the program. Reinforcements are needed and ideas welcome.
Shirley Anderson said OILD is vitally important to AAWCC it represents who we are and what we do. The Board must look at additional revenue sources to keep the program alive. Until then, a loss is o.k.
Another possibility may be to consider applying for grants that would support OILD. Also, consider inviting OILD and NILD alumni to the event. Alumni may be interested in contributing to a fund raising effort for supporting the program.
The Board was reminded of the leaders reception on Wednesday, June 18. Circle sharing is planned instead of a leadership panel and all were encouraged to attend. Dawn and Miriam will send invitation letters for leaders reception. Jan Woodcock, Angela McMahon and Shirley Anderson plan to attend.
Denise Martin moved, seconded by Ann Smart that Angela McMahon represent the Board in place of Diane Watson at OILD this year. The motion was carried 10 to 0.
6. Summer Retreat - Julie Huckestein reported there were seven (7) registrants for the summer conference to date. She is sending out E-mail reminders and postcards and will work on logistics with Denise Swafford after todays meeting.
7. Fall Conference Diane Watson reviewed a list of ideas for speakers, workshops and entertainment. The call for proposals is approaching a deadline and members were encouraged to request possible presenters submit proposals.
Workshops: New ideas included a session on digital photography, filling the void, and preparing for interviews and resumes.
Books: Angela McMahon suggested looking into contracting with another bookstore with a focus on three (3) simple tracts: spiritual, physical, and mental.
Entertainment: It was suggested the Board considering rotating entertainers they have had success with in the past.
Evening activity: Jan Woodcock, Abby Lee and Denise Martin will work on plans for an evening activity.Menu: Diane reviewed and decided upon meals with input from the Board.
Donations: It was proposed that College presidents be asked to contribute item(s) for the auction and local chapters contribute item(s) for door prize(s). Dawn Dewolf will send reminder letters to College presidents regarding donations. Denise Swafford offered to forward the message with the presidents and presidents assistants E-mail group at her fingertips.Jan suggested also that Dawn ask presidents about training ideas and/or presenters for this event and others to identify what kind of people are needed for the future leadership at their colleges. (See Other Items for Agenda, 11.C (below)).
8. Newsletter Dawn DeWolf said the fall newsletter would need to be out by no later than September 15.
9. Membership Chris German reported 227 State Chapter members as of this week. She (Chris) will e-mail the new member list to Julie Huckestein. Lisa Tomlin will work with Chris on finalizing the membership brochure introduced at the February retreat. Note for brochure: AAWCC is a council to the AACC.
A. Membership Pins Ann Smart shared her research on membership pins. A nice pin can be purchased at $3-4 dollars/pin and the Board would need to decide if they should be given away or sold.
Members felt the pin is a nice gift for OILD participants, but would also be a good sale item at the fall conference.
Ann will purchase 250 pins for sale; and, next year, separate pins for OILD will be purchased, with cost to be included in the registration fee. Pins will be provided to past participants who did not receive one.
10. Website Update Angela McMahon shared ideas about what she would like to do with the AAWCC website. She requested clarification on the Boards goals for the Website and suggestions on what else could be added to make it more interesting and informative.
Julie Huckestein volunteered to help Angela come up with a short narrative and/or history or memory page with some help from past presidents such as Ann Smart, Ellen Levine, Diane Mulligan, Shirley Anderson, Mary Spilde.
It was further suggested that some form of Board meeting minutes be added to the Website. There was some discussion on the confidentiality of information that should or should not be available on the site. The Member-at-Large, Archivist will be the official keeper of all hard copies of minutes, which at some point should be scanned. The meeting notes, excluding handout materials, could be posted on the Website, as approved.
The rest of this topic centered on brainstorming ideas for make the Website more interesting:
* Add a link to AACC
* Add e-mail link to Contacts and other Contact Information
* Add link to newsletter and consider going all electronic with that
(offering option for hard copy)
* Work with student to change graphics
* Explain who we are/what we do.
* Create a community within the membership inspire, champion, celebrate
* Post celebrations a new baby, a graduation, a wedding . . .
* Create communication section similar to a chat-room with a topic of the
month to be discussed
* Need 5-10 really good photographs of board and chapter in action.
(Shirley Anderson will talk to an instructor she knows from Sherwood about
taking some photographs at Fall Conference). Or, consider a photography
student, or sponsoring a contest.
11. Other Items for the Agenda
A. AAWCC sisters from Linn-Bentons (LB) local chapter joined the Board for lunch: Guests included Sheila Faulkner, Marilyn Hill, Kristin Jones and Dawn McMenney.
The LB group volunteered to help Ann Smart with her role at the fall conference. They are hosting their own retreat, structured after NILD, exclusively for LB women in September. It will be held at Yachats Oregon House.
The LB group also raised $1,500 for grants through a silent auction this year to be awarded to second year LB student(s).
Dawn DeWolf encouraged the LB group to run for positions on the State Board: Openings this year include, VP, Membership, VP, Fall Conference, VP Communication, and Member-at-Large/Conference Registration.B. Local, state and national memberships: The LB group raised some questions for the Board to consider about differences between state and local chapters. Local chapters are not required to be state members. There are no rules about local groups and how they operate; however, in order to be a legal local group the group must have at least ten (10) national members in its ranks.
Lisa Tomlin volunteered to work with Denise Swafford on a survey of the local groups to uncover how they are working under what guidelines (formal or informal). And, also to learn about activities, scholarships and other things going on, including information about each other, the state and national groups, bylaws, and membership requirements.
C. It was suggested the proposed new AAWCC Advisory Council would be a good group to approach the presidents with requests for training ideas, in leadership, for example. Jan suggested an E-mail letter be sent on this.
Dawn has drafted a letter to the potential new advisory council that she will E-mail to the Board for review.
D. It was determined that a special meeting was necessary before the next regular meeting in September to discuss 1) nominees for 2003/2004 board positions; and, 2) review amendments to Chapter bylaws. Amendments include combining membership, communication and Web responsibilities to one Board member; adding the advisory council, adding a Website position and an ex-officio (temporary position) for summer conference. (Shirley Anderson will work on those amendments and bring proposed changes to special meeting). See 11.E:
E. Next Meeting - September 12, 2003, at Greenwood Inn, Portland. A special meeting; however, was set for July 8, 9:00 a.m. 2:00 p.m. at Chemeketa in Salem.
Adjournment: The meeting adjourned at approximately 4:10 p.m.