MIDTESOL Board Meeting Minutes
JoAnne Zoller Wagner

Saturday March 23, 2002

Phone Meeting

Present: Ron Long, Tom Riedmiller, Cathy Howland, Ayse Stromsdorfer, Cheryl Eason, Theresa Bries, William Eubank, Barbara Adelman, LaDonna Brunk, Joan Hamilton, Leslie Wolk, Karen Schwelle, JoAnne Zoller Wagner, and Dennis Muchisky.

  1. Ron called the meeting to order and declared a quorum. LaDonna requested one additional agenda item regarding a possible combined meeting between MidTESOL and the Iowa Language and Cultural Concerns Conference. Cathy moved for acceptance. Barbara seconded it. Agenda approved.
  2. JoAnne moved for acceptance of the October (2001) minutes. Passed.
  3. Ron thanked Dennis for his help with the new technology at Central Missouri, which allows us to have a phone conference. We save $500 by using this technology. It costs $250 to do this phone conference via the new technology, whereas previously it cost $750.
  4. Ron reported that we are meeting in March because we were waiting for financial and legal information which Cheryl has brought to the meeting today. Ron recommended that we return to holding the meeting in January in the future. Ron is now the registered agent for MidTESOL in Missouri, so that we are a non-profit organization. He is working for tax-exempt status in Missouri. He needs financial information for the past three years in order to do this. We will be submitting a report to TESOL prior to the conference regarding our dues.
  5. Fall Conference for 2002. We will be in Iowa. LaDonna reported that the Holiday Inn across from the hotel worked well. Cathy reported that Mark Grey (Anthropology, UNI) offered to co-host MidTESOL in the fall if we hold it at UNI. Cheryl reported that our attendance has been low in the past when the conference was at UNI. Cathy reported that the UNI Visitor’s Bureau would take care of it, but they take 10% of the profit. Ron thought that that was a reasonable fee for that service. Ron asked if Mark would co-sponsor the conference if it were held in Des Moines. The conference attendance in October 2001 was 200. Cheryl brought up the possibility of MidTESOL joining with the Iowa Language and Cultural Concerns Conference. LaDonna pointed out that the Iowa conference is in February, whereas the MidTESOL meeting is in the fall. Ron observed that one annual conference of MidTESOL in Iowa would be a significant change for the organization. Dennis suggested that Cathy and Tom meet with Mark regarding the fall meeting. Cheryl suggested that we set up a rotational pattern in which we know where in each state MidTESOL will be held. Cheryl moved that we have our fall MidTESOL meeting at UNI in Cedar Falls, Iowa. Motion passed.
  6. Awards. Cathy reported that Olga Silina has been paid for the travel award. Cheryl asked if Cathy was going to announce in the newsletter about the travel award to the TESOL academy in the summer. Cheryl reported that the postcard announcement method resulted in 8 applicants last year.
  7. Membership report. Theresa recommended that the emails be updated on a regular basis. Theresa will send the database to Tom.
  8. Publications. Ayse needs a firm date for the meeting in the fall. She sent 25 invitations and received 11 responses. Ron reported that the fee will be established once we know the room rental prices in the fall.
  9. Treasurer’s report. Calla had suggested earlier that we put the report into the newsletter. Cheryl will send the report to the newsletter. Balance brought forward was$23,252.28. Cheryl received that money on January 23. Current balance is $26,903.17. We had Iowa conference award plaques, domain renewal, non-profit stationery, postcards, phone calls, and expenses for board for fall conference. Cheryl requested newsletter expenses, and the phone conference bill. In the past, we granted money to Board members attending the TESOL conference. Tom reported that the President, the Newsletter Editor, and the Treasurer were given $200 toward TESOL expenses. Dennis moved that the President, the Newsletter Editor, Web Master, and Publisher’s Liaison receive $200 of support for attending the annual international conference. Barbara seconded it. Passed. Cheryl reported that we need to establish a regular calendar year for the tax-exempt purposes and other accounting purposes. She will move that at our summer meeting. We cannot be audited, but can have a compilation filed by an accounting firm, with no assurance that it is accurate and complete because of our incomplete records.
  10. Membership. Theresa said that there are two characteristics needed for a membership 2nd VP: technological savvy and also willingness to do "mundane, yucky stuff," such as entering names and addresses in the database. Therefore, preference would be given to computer-savvy applicants. Theresa recommends that we get started on the membership directory this spring while she is still the membership secretary. Cheryl so moved. Cathy seconded it. Approved. William recommended that we look into allowing people to apply for memberships by using credit cards. We would need to set up a VISA and Mastercard account with the bank. Cheryl will check into this and report back at the summer meeting.
  11. Past President. We need new officers (as reported in the agenda on the web), as well as a Kansas rep. DJ Kaiser volunteered to be secretary for the organization. Bill moved that Leslie be reappointed as historian until March 2005. Theresa seconded it. Ron will be appointing the replacements for secretary, Kansas rep and sociopolitical concerns. Cheryl moved that DJ Kaiser be approved as secretary. Barbara seconded the motion and it was approved.
  12. Webmaster. Bill reported heavy use of the MidTESOL website, including the newsletter on the web. He requested the articles from the fall newsletter. He received a request to post a link, but is reluctant to post it, as links go dead and need constant updating. He suggested instead that the link be translated into newsletter material. Ron suggested that we explore these kinds of requests for possible paid advertisements.
  13. Rules and Resolutions. Cathy suggested that we accept the changes proposed in the R&R report. Tom seconded it. Approved. Theresa moved that the details be reported in the newsletter. Agreed.
  14. State reports as on the web.
  15. Newsletter report as on the web.
  16. Secretary. JoAnne reported that she needs DJ’s address so that she can send him the old minutes.
  17. Old business. Salt Lake get-together. Tom agreed to scout out a restaurant for an informal dinner together and will announce it on the MidTESOL website.
  18. New business. Some money was collected at the Missouri ESL conference. In our October meeting, this money was accepted by MidTESOL and named the "Missouri Mystery Money." We need to turn over the money. Cheryl suggested that we return the money and records for the Missouri account back to Adelaide Parsons. Approved.
  19. The date for the Summer Executive Board meeting in Cedar Falls is Saturday, June 22. The date of second choice is Saturday, June 29.
  20. The meeting adjourned at 11:15 a.m.

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