MIDTESOL Executive Board Meeting

Minutes

June 3^rd, 2003, 8:00-1:00

Cornhusker Hotel

Lincoln, NE

Members Present: Dennis Muchisky, Ron Long, Lois Spitzer, Susan Schindler, Paula Moore, Joan Hamilton, Jan Rodriguez, Cheryl Eason, Jane Robison, Kathy , Karen Schwelle, William Eubank

Call to Order - Dennis

8:10am

Approval of Agenda - Dennis

Agenda Approved

Approval of Minutes - Paula Moore

Motion: Kathy motioned to approve minutes.

Second: Lois Spitzer seconded.

Discussion: Cheryl made editorial comments for changes to Feb. minutes. Minutes will be edited and resubmitted.

REPORTS FROM OFFICERS

President’s Report - Dennis

• No new information presented

First Vice President - Susan

Report on plans for Fall Conference 2003 (Lincoln, NE)

• Susan said the last page of the conference packet will be changed.
• Cheryl suggested that since Aida is so well-known, information about her should be emphasized. Dennis suggested clarifying that Aida is doing both the pre-conference session and the workshop. Karen suggested indenting the information to make it stand out.
• William suggested clarifying that the conference is at the Cornhusker Hotel and that rooms should be booked early.
• Lois said the rate for the Holiday Inn was incorrect. The new rate is $115 because of the football weekend. No rooms are blocked for us there.
• Cheryl, Ron, Lois, and Jan questioned the necessity of giving people other options for places to stay. Lois suggested just listing other hotels with phone numbers, and Jan suggested that people might just check the internet.
• Lois reminded us that we have 100 rooms blocked and reserved until Sept. 12, 2003 and that nearly 50 grant recipients may be coming to the conference.
• Susan suggested that if we are two or three rooms short, we can pay for them rather than paying for the conference rooms.
• Susan reviewed the registration packet and asked us to point out any errors. She said that registration fee was increased by $10 and pre-conference fee was increased by $5 to defray the cost of Aida, which is $3000.
• William asked about computer presentation needs, and Ron recommended telling people to bring their own computers and LCD projector units. Susan recommended that we contact people who mark computer presentations.
• Jane suggested that since the pre-conference cost includes lunch, it could be increased to $25.
• Susan mentioned that money, name tags, and information are needed for registration, and that no one at the hotel will do registration. She will get people from St. Louis to help with registration.
• Cheryl brought up the issue of including membership fees in registration fees. We have done this in the past. Jan confirmed that this gives people an incentive to become a member. She has not sent out any membership confirmation letters. Kathy said that she did when she was the membership chair.
• Susan said that registrations were $70 for non-members and that membership is $12; regular membership registration is $55; late and on-site registration is $75 (members) and $95 (non-members).
• Susan emphasized that the rate for students only applies to full-time students, and this will be added to the registration packet.
• Susan has a membership list from Jan and Nancy Rowe sent a contact list for Nebraska. She passed around the contact list for editing and review.
• Lois will be called the "local chair".
• Cheryl said that those who register for the pre-conference session and don’t get in will receive a refund check.
• Lois said that regarding our bill at Cornhusker, we are tax exempt.
• Susan said that the local Chamber of Commerce will do nametags if we reserve rooms at the Cornhusker. Cheryl said we can get ribbons for board members and presenters.
• Susan recommended making conference presenters’ certificates similar to those given at Missouri TESOL Conference this year.
• Susan pointed out the hotel accommodations and facilities handout for the board to review and consider for further suggestions.
• There will be a cash bar at the reception.
• Our sponsors for the conference are Missouri DESE ($500), Nebraska DESE ($500). LaDonna would know if we could get sponsors from Iowa.
• Kathy recommended telling Midwest Equity Assistance Center that Aida is charging $3000 and ask how much they would be willing to help.
• The Chamber of Commerce will donate either notepads, pens, or plastic bags, and MIDTESOL will give away notepads. Susan will contact Hampton Brown publishers about providing bags.
• Bill Lopez may be able to donate some money.
• Sue Rossman from Lincoln Public Schools offered to help with the conference. She offered to give school tours on Friday. Ron said there would be a cost for transportation, and Susan suggested that perhaps the school would consider providing transportation.
• Dennis suggested that if we are all planning to go to Aida’s session, we should decide when to have the board meeting. Kathy suggested having a dinner board meeting.
• Dennis said we would have the meeting Thursday, Oct. 2 at 4pm.
  

Second Vice President -Jan

• Total membership is now 310. This is down 17 from the last meeting.
• 54 members are due for renewal now.
• Jan will send out membership confirmation letters.
• Jane suggested putting a membership list on the website.
• Kathy said we used to have membership directories to send out.
• William said he could set up a password protected site, but people often forget the password.
• The membership breakdown is Missouri 156, Iowa 95, Kansas 23, Nebraska 19, and 17 others.
• Susan said that we are making an effort to publicize the conference and boost membership in Nebraska.
• Jane asked William about instructions for entering email addresses in the on-line registration form and also suggested that people might be dissuaded from joining if they see a decrease in membership numbers.
• William said he would remove this information.

Treasurer -Cheryl

• Treasurer’s report goes through April 30, 2003.
• Since April 30, we have paid $249 to TESOL for affiliate dues.
• We have received the remainder of our fall income ($876). We made $1100.
• We have had a deposit of membership dues checks ($168).
• Cheryl reminded everyone to send in mileage and airfare and a copy of room charges for reimbursement.

Awards - Cathy

• Cathy could not contact the Best of MIDTESOL winner (Jan) about going to Kansas TESOL conference because Kansas’ status is unclear.
• Motion: Cheryl moved that the winner should be sent to Iowa instead.
• Second: Ron seconded
• Motion approved.
• Travel award was posted on the website, and an application came it, but it was after the deadline.

Publisher’s Liaison - Ayse

• Ayse was not present, but Dennis said that she has confirmation from three publishers and Susan added one more – Hampton Brown.

Past President - Ron

• Ron announced that last year TESOL awarded MIDTESOL a plaque for 25 years in existence and that this year the plaque was given to us again for 25 years. Susan remarked that we may have been in existence for longer than 25 years.
• Ron sent around a handout regarding current status of board members and asked for input about areas of need. Several members made corrections: Jane, Cathy, and Barbara have been on board only one term. Jane and Joan agreed to take another term. Susan said she would contact all people who have written for the newsletter to see if they are interested in taking that chair. Ron mentioned that the first VP position is often difficult to fill and also ask William to keep his eyes open for anyone who might fill the Kansas Member-At-Large position. Cheryl said that she has tried with no success to find people interested in Kansas. Also attached to the handout were new articles of the constitution (article ii, items 2-6).
• Susan noted that we have two people who will do the legwork for the fall conference.
• Ron made corrections on the board contact sheet.
• Jane suggested that we bring newly appointed and elected members to the Oct. board meeting.

Publications/Webmaster - William

• William passed out a summary of computer hits for the past 366 days. Google is the most commonly used search engine. William noted that the most common search phrase is related to reading.
• William asked Cheryl if we could use Pay Pal on our site to see if we can have people buy memberships online by credit card. Pay Pal charges 2.3%. Cheryl would need to set up an account where the money could be deposited. Receipts are mailed to purchasers and treasurers are emailed regarding purchases also. The Payee needs to have a membership, which is free.
• Motion: Cheryl moved to try it on a one-year basis.
• Second: Joan seconded.
• Discussion: Jane asked when it would begin. William said it could be set up within a moth to six weeks. Jane asked if it could be ready to take payments for the fall conference. William suggested that we use it for memberships first to see if it works well for us. If so, we can use it for the conference. Joan recommended sending out email notices alerting people to this option. Jan said she could query to see how many new members came in without this option and compare with next year after it is in place.
• Motion approved.

Rules & Resolutions - Barb

• No new concerns or business.

Sociopolitical Concerns - Lois

• Lois put up a link to Mary Lou McClosky’s handouts on her website after the fall conference last year.
• William put up three articles about No Child Left Behind.

Iowa - LaDonna

• absent from meeting, but she emailed Dennis her report.

Kansas - Vacant

• Cheryl remarked that the Kansas NCLB plan has been approved and is getting a large financial boost from the federal government. She wondered where the money is going, and Ron suggested that it is probably going for testing.

Nebraska - Joan

• Joan said people are scrambling to deal with NCLB. They were originally told that they would report on math next year, but they were recently told that they would have to report this year. They were given a standardized test. Under the previous regulations, a child who had been in the country for under three years was exempted from taking these tests, but now this is not the case. They must take the test even if they have only been here one week.

Missouri - Jane

• Jane discussed the Missouri TESOL conference:
• there were 91 participants, 18 concurrent sessions, and three exhibitors.
• Some of the comments were about room size (people felt a little crowded), and people enjoyed networking with each other.
• Jane asked the board if we need to do another Missouri conference next Spring since MIDTESOL will be in Missouri the following fall. Cheryl said we are supposed to have a conference every spring.

Historian - Leslie

• No new business.

Newsletter - Karen & Laura

• Karen brought the latest edition of the newsletter and announced that this would probably be the last edition she would produce. She said that she would like to get articles and reports in place for the next newsletter.
• Karen suggested switching from Microsoft Publisher to another program because she has had many problems with MS Publisher.
• Karen brought up the idea of putting the newsletter on the web under a password protected page. William commented that the money saved from not having to bulk mail the newsletter could be used to send out periodic mailings from the President and Treasurer.
• Cheryl suggested that we don’t need to have the newsletter password-protected page; we should allow everyone access to it. William concurred.
• Dennis remarked that we need to find a new editor before our October meeting. Karen said she would consider staying on if we change from the current paper format to combined informational letters and online articles.
• Ron suggested that we put out the informational letters more frequently (3-4 times per year) and that we get a better idea of how many of our members have an email address. Jan suggested that those who don’t have email gain access to the letters / articles from those who do.
• Susan asked Karen if Laura would want to stay on if we change format. Karen said she did not know. She will ask her.
• Susan asked if we would still want to go through a mailing service. Karen said it would not be necessary.
• Karen will be at the Oct. meeting, and she will think more about the position.

Secretary - Paula

• no new business.

Old Business

• None.

New Business

• Dennis recommended that we think seriously about Kansas and whether it actually exists as part of MIDTESOL. Jane wondered if it could be because they have their own state affiliate. Ron agreed that this might be the cause of their inactivity in MIDTESOL. Susan recommended emailing the 23 Kansas members and ask if anyone is interested in being the Member-At-Large. If they say "no," then we will eliminate them from our contingency.

Adjournment - Dennis

• Motion to adjourn: Dennis
• Second: Joan seconded.
• Motion Approved.

Officers Needed

Sociopolitical Concerns – Lois will be moving

Newsletter – Karen & Laura are resigning

Kansas Representative – position vacant