Executive Board Meeting Minutes

Attending: Susan Schindler, Leslie Wolk, Jane Robison, William Eubank, Jennifer Johnston, Sheila Monk, Kay Dickerson, Jan Rodriguez, Barbara Adelman, Nola Magady, Barb Schwarte, Cheryl Eason, Victoria Springer

Call to Order at 9:14 -Susan

Motion to Approve: Barb Adelman

Second: Jan Rodriguez

President’s Report -Susan

• Handed out report from Dennis which lists officers and when they are up for reelection
• Asked if Barb and William would be willing to be reappointed—they accept
• We need to decide on location for 2005 conference—Kansas is suggested
• We need to find a new person to run the newsletter when Victoria is finished with her term
• Barb A --it should be part of the job description for state reps to submit reports for the newsletter to get them to be more responsible
• Barb --if we have 3 or 4 issues per year, we could split up responsibility for submitting articles among board members
• Jan-- it is important to have the newsletter as a benefit of being a member
• Jan -- if the newsletter editor could get an honorarium once a year to compensate for all the work they have to do
• Susan--there used to be two editors and perhaps we should go back to that system
• Susan suggests we make a final decision about the editor at the October meeting

Past President -Dennis Muchisky

Not attending

First Vice President -Jane Robison

• Price for rooms for Fall Conference is $85 for single or double occupancy
• Total of 120 rooms is needed for quota—rooms we used for this meeting will go towards the total
• Cutoff for reservations is Sep. 30--block of rooms--20 for Thu. night, 100 for Friday
• For every 50 rooms, we get one complementary room
• 5 breakout rooms on Friday, 6 on Saturday
• We get rooms and ballroom at no charge if we meet 100 room quota
• We need to put limitation on AV equipment for presenters--only provide overheads and VCR’s—if anyone needs anything else, they should bring it themselves
• Presenters need to be responsible for finding out directly from the hotel about technical needs
• Cheryl --presenters need to be completely responsible for their own technical needs and need to be ready to hook them up themselves—not to offer support here
• Jane --we should tell presenters to bring back up copies if they have technical problems
• Barb --the hotel staff should be aware that not just anyone can ask for AV equipment—that it has to be o.k.’d by Jane or MIDTESOL rep
• Publishers can set up out in foyer
• Barb S. --can publishers leave their exhibits up Fri night—is there good security? Jane needs to check on that
• Susan --in the flyer we should offer only times, not types of presentations—just offer time slots—don’t say "demonstration, workshop, etc."
• Susan –there should be 30,60,90 minute slots only—not labeled
• Everyone agreed
• Keynote speaker— Margo Gottlieb
• Friday morning—Pre-Conference Session by Mark Gray from N.Iowa
• Conference theme is: Campaigning for Excellence in ESL
• Jane went over sample brochures and asked for opinions
• Susan –we should choose a color that makes it easy for copies to be made if people want to share a brochure and make a copy of the registration form
• Jane suggested that SMSU’s Continuing Ed Dept be paid $5 per registration to cover costs of mailing brochures, printing, mailing out of receipts, printing badges, taking registrations, etc.
• Susan—there needs to be a cutoff date for refunds—no refunds after a certain date, perhaps two weeks ahead?
• Barb S suggested having one form that would work as registration and as a new membership form
• Barb S –let’s choose conference location two years ahead to give more planning time
• A suggestion for 2005 conference—Johnson Country Community College—Victoria Springer works there
• Cheryl-- if the 2004 conference is a success, let’s have it here at the Hilton again in 2005
• Jane asked about support from sponsors—Susan got money from DESE, and others
• Cheryl-- we should contact the Independence Center Mall and ask if they want to have some kind of promo in the program
• Jane –do we want to advertise locally?—JCC, Metropolitan Community Colleges, Longview, Pen Valley, Maplewoods (the last two have ESL programs), MELL, OCR (John Nigrow), UMKC
• Nola --there is an ESL support group in this area, so we should let them know—Nola says she will mention the conference at their next meeting
• Learning Exchange—elementary and middle school kids—let them know about conference—they may want to set up an exhibit or make a presentation
• Cheryl --we should have a formal contract with the Keynote speaker—Margo Gottlieb—to spell out what we’ll cover
• Barb --we ask the keynote speaker to make early travel arrangements to save costs

Second Vice President -Jan Rodriguez

• Passed around revised membership forms
• Membership is down to 214
• Missouri 127, Iowa 38, Nebraska 22, Kansas 18 Others 9
• 28 members up for renewal

Treasurer -Cheryl Eason

• Handed out treasurer’s report for last two years
• We have lost about $4000 per year
• In 2002, we didn’t make much profit from conference—only $529.51
• Board Members room and travel expenses have gone up substantially
• Cheryl --we can’t afford to cover conference expenses for board members
• Barbara A --there has been a big increase in cost of speakers
• Barbara A --motion that for conference travel expenses would not be included for board members—if there is a meeting that requires an extra night, that would be covered
• Motion: Travel expenses related to conference attendance will not be paid for board members unless there is a meeting that requires an extra night’s stay
• Second: William
• Motion Passed
• Kay –we should put together a booklet made up of conference presentations and sell it at the conference as a way to make extra money
• Others suggest charging a fee to enter the "Swap Shop"
• Susan asks everyone to think about these ideas and e-mail her

Publisher’s Liaison -Ayse Stromsdorfer

Not present

Newsletter Editor -Victoria Springer

• Hasn’t gotten anything for summer issue
• Decided to forego summer issue and instead do a bigger fall issue and hand out at conference

Webmaster -William Eubanks

• The website has been redesigned
• Asks that we send a letter to Brad Springer and Tim Stout thanking them for their help on the website
• Jane --we should put an acknowledgement in the conference brochure
• William went over his web report
• William presented information about using ProPay to help with credit card payments
• William will find out about monthly limits using this program and will e-mail the board with this information
• CD’s to be given out at conference—MIDTESOL screen saver, complete directory of members, current conference information, summaries of all presentations, publisher information—William would then do a presentation on how to use the CD
• Jan –we should include highlights from previous year’s conference with photos, etc.
• Cost involved would be about 50-75 cents each

Iowa -La Donna Brunk

Not attending

Nebraska -Joan Hamilton

Not attending

Kansas -Marguerite Martinez

Not attending

Missouri -Sheila Monk

• Nothing to report

• Cheryl talked about Even Start program in Sedalia with simultaneous translation—this is a program sponsored by MELL—this program ends at the end of the month—it was shut down

Historian -Leslie Monk

• Jan will put her on as a lifetime member so that she receives everything

Awards -Cathy Howland

Not Attending

Rules and Resolutions -Barbara Adelman

• Nothing to report

Socio-Political Concerns/Professional Standards -Barbara Schwarte

• Had someone put together materials on English Only in Iowa, MO and NE for the website—will work with William on this
• Is working on a conference session that has socio-political theme

• None to report

• October Board Meeting—Thursday night-will include dinner—4:00 p.m.
• Went over changes to executive board info.
• Asked about sending flowers to board members in case of illness—everyone agreed that we will send flowers only in case of major illness/surgery

Secretary -Jennifer Johnston

• Nothing to report

Adjournment at 11:55