PAECT

Board of Directors Meeting

State College, PA

November 13, 2004

Proposed Minutes

President Jim Bolton called the meeting to order at 9:04 a.m.

Present: Ronald Bennett, Jim Bolton, Lisa Brightman, Jack Day, Martin Friedman, Karen Galbraith, Linda LaCoe, Wally Leech, Sean McDonough, Dan Shelley, Jacqueline Smith, Carol Teitelman

Non-voting members present: Mary Ann Achorn, Karen Galbraith, Virginia McGinnis, Vicki Williams

Present via Conference Call:

Video – None

Audio – None

Old Business/Reports:

To begin the meeting, President Bolton verified that all members are receiving emails and correspondence.

Members reviewed the minutes from the 9-11-04 meeting. A motion was made by Wally Leech to accept the minutes as amended. Lisa Brightman made a second. Motion carried, minutes approved as amended.

Carol Teitelman informed members present that the NECC program is done.

Wally Leech had a report from Holly Jobe. He began by handing out a copy of the NECC 2005 Update MVP Report dated Nov 2, 04. He continued by reading down through the report. Discussion occurred regarding the payment of rooms and if PAECT is paying for any of the rooms for the board members. Ron and Jim will look into this further for a future discussion. Discussion continued regarding the notes from Holly. NCS Pearson is willing to underwrite the PAECT reception for our organization. Some thoughts were to have cheese, crackers, and other hors d’oeuvres along with tickets for two drinks. After the two drinks, it would be a cash bar. Other thoughts were to have 6’ hoagies cut into slices, prizes, a nice informal affair that is light-hearted and fun. It was suggested that we invite the San Diego organization to this reception. This will help to work on our membership. Jim thinks he got his invite a couple of months before and that it was strongly suggested he go. NCS Pearson is right now looking at what kind of budget they can give us.

Another discussion is the PAECT room. It had about 8 round tables in it plus a little extra space. A question raised was what do we want to do to promote PAECT membership? Kathleen Smith and Karen Galbraith were working on a flyer. Holly Jobe was talking with Jim Bolton about getting some large pictures of things going on around the state. Another thought for the room (as we’ve discussed in the past) is to use it for Michael Golden’s town meeting and/or for use to showcase the Keystone Integrators. Many others have talked to Jim about use of the space, but he is afraid that there is only so much time. Jim talked with Compass Learning about partnering with us in that room. He’s also talked with LAM in that they’ve supported us in the past with the cyber café. Other thoughts Jim had was about the possibility of people receiving a t-shirt if they join at NECC. Wally said that we discussed all of this, but didn’t have time to solidify any of these things. Carol Teitelman discussed how the sooner she can get these items solidified, the better for the program. Wally Leech would like to see if 2 of the 27 hours for the room could be used for students. Michael Golden might just talk with students during that time. A possibility is it might be the kids that are overflow. Some discussions occurred on the slots and various types of kids/students that would be there. Jim would like to see higher education pulled in to the PAECT room since they are not really included in the poster sessions or student showcase according to Karen Galbraith and Carol Teitelman. Mary Ann Achorn wondered if we are using STSI for any funding? President Bolton said he hasn’t contacted them but we have to be careful because of terms with ISTE. He feels he got the message that we need to stay within ISTE’s approved list. Mary Ann will look into this further to see if they are an approved group. Wally told Jim that Holly wants to know who would choose the menu for the reception. Jim said he’d choose the menu. Jim is thinking 300 to 350 people. The reception will be Tuesday night since the keynote is Monday. Sessions start Tuesday. The main reception is Monday night after the keynote.

Wally Leech now headed the discussion on regional directors by following the agenda that Kathleen Smith sent them. The directors received CDs containing a PAECT membership. One question raised is how do people know if they are actually a member? Ron Bennett thought about sending a postcard. Edinboro might have some graduate students that could help. PETE&C would be a good time to get things on a cycle of renewal for membership. Ron also stated that another confirmation that a person is a member is if he’s cashed the person’s check. Lisa Brightman said to include on the reminder postcard that they are a member to also tell them of reminders to come to NECC and the location of where to get additional information. Jacqueline Smith said about a membership card. Martin Friedman would also like to make sure there is something on the card about who we are. Jim wants the membership committee (Mary Beth Hengelbrok and Ginny McGinnis) to bring us a plan. Martin said PETE&C is looking for a membership directory immediately; otherwise, we will have to pay for the mailing if we miss their list. Sean McDonough is thinking of raffling off a registration for PETE&C. For the booth at PETE&C, we are once again looking to “man” the booth with four (4) people from a region so no one needs to spend too much time there.

A question was raised as to whether this is a possibility for a discount for PAECT members to attend. Wally continued his report by stating that directors are looking to get 20 members from our region that could come to PETE&C and encourage people to join PAECT along with the value of the conference. Sean discussed that some people are saying that they can’t go to both PETE&C and NECC. He feels that we need to impress upon people why it is important to go to both events and hopes that the Department of Education says the same thing. President Bolton stated that the banquet would also be the business meeting. Jim encourages for regional directors to use the PAECT suite to have regional meetings. Martin stated that there are lunch slots now and we are scheduling these types of meetings. Jim reminded directors that each of them has $1200 to use for regional events and if they want to schedule meetings, they could get them in the program schedule if they contact Martin as soon as possible. Sean stated lunch slots are Monday and Tuesday. According to Wally, the directors talked more about things that are important in their regions. Also, directors want to continue staying close in communications. They are thinking of an audio bridge more often than their current meeting schedule to assist in this. A hand out was given from the Northwest region. Jim would like to see more of these types of formal meetings occurring the evening before the actual board meeting in the future. He would also like to see action items being brought to the board meeting so we can take action. As a side note, he mentioned that there was also an informal presence meeting last night.

Dan Shelley talked with Dr. Crandel and the PAECT logo will be the final project for the graphics arts groups. He encourages each of us, if possible, to get up there and vote to make the selection. Dan thinks it should be sometime after Thanksgiving. Jim suggests that it might be a good idea to invite the winners of the logo contest to NECC.

Martin Friedman had an update on PETE&C. All proposals are in. We are a short from last year, but still received over 300 for 130 slots available. There was a total reconfiguration of the Hershey Lodge. We have 22 presentation rooms. The names of the rooms have changed somewhat. According to Martin, he is working with the MCIU and we are doing everything electronically this year. The reviews are supposed to be complete by November 24, 2004. Acceptance letters should be out within 2 weeks of that date. As a reminder, there are also lunch times for vendor rooms and meeting rooms.

Linda LaCoe asked Martin if there is any type of discount available for a large group to attend PETE&C. According to Martin, there is none at this time but he will discuss. She also asked if there was a way for a large group to order lunch (such as a box lunch) to allow the district/group to pay in advance. Martin suggested that for lunch they could do a cart or possibly use one of the rooms available at lunchtime. He also asked to have the person contact him. Linda gave the person’s name to Sean since that was the region the person was from to try to get the regional director as the contact person.

Jack Day gave a report about the awards ceremony and elections. He reminded the group that the directors know the schedule. There was some discussion about which positions for the PAECT board need to be filled at PETE&C.

Karen Galbraith started the update from the presence committee. She discussed having web links for the student showcase on web site. Martin suggested we schedule this for April 2005 but not put a specific date. Martin updated the group that some Penn State students are working on our new website and we should be ready to go but he hasn’t seen the new official site. Martin feels he needs to see things happening on this revised/new website.

Martin Friedman gave an update on the 501c status (non-profit status). He met with accountants and they felt we should meet with an attorney. So, Martin met with an attorney. The attorney wanted to know who we are and what we are all about. Martin is trying to get our history together for the attorney. In about 3 months we will have non-profit status. The attorney also suggested we update our brochure since it really had nothing about us. Martin said that because we have some members that are from business, it might cause us difficulty in getting this status. Vicki Williams thinks they might need to be on an advisory committee but Martin says they aren’t full business members; just members that might be in instructional design. He is waiting for more direction from the attorney on this matter.

Before Ron Bennett made his treasurer’s report, he reminded members present to complete the necessary vouchers. Jacquie Smith thanked Ron for getting reimbursements quickly to us. The rest of the group agreed. Ron handed out PAECT Budget copies for Revenues and Expenses (see filed copies). As the reports reflect, he cashed in one CD last month. As the others mature, he will cash them out. Ron feels PAECT will have fewer revenues this year from PETE&C than last year. Linda LaCoe questioned why. Ron reviewed the various amounts PAECT is expected to receive based on the categories of work we are responsible for (program-$12750, evaluation-$1125, keynote-$1185, conference manager-$1175). He also reminded us that some monies are not distributed but go into the “pot” for next year. Jim Bolton questioned if there is an overage, is it distributed? Ron finished his PETE&C discussion by stating that there will be another line item on the registration form for PETE&C for becoming a member of PAECT.

Ron Bennett discussed obtaining a PAECT credit card/debit card. President Jim Bolton wants Ron to bring a recommendation to him at the next meeting. Martin wants to know if we can also make available the ability to take credit card payments for items. Ron stated he would look into this.

Jacquie Smith once again thanked Ron for everything he has done. It is a most difficult task and we certainly appreciate it.

At the end of Ron’s report, Martin Freidman seconded the motion to approve the treasurer’s report. The treasurer’s report is approved.

Sean McDonough discussed the volunteers and buses for NECC. He talked to Apple and Apple said they took a “bath” in the past on this. Sean is still awaiting information from a local representative concerning costs. Their initial thoughts are approximately $600-$1000 per day. Discussion occurred on this topic. Martin questioned if we need permissions to get buses into that area. Another question was how many people on a bus? Sean responded that there could be 53 people on bus. Maybe we charge $50 for each passenger. Once the regional directors know specific costs, we could possibly entice vendors to do a bus saying they could put 2 people on that bus and could work with regional vendors to try to get sponsorships. President Bolton still wants to have some charge to people to make them more responsible. Jim wants to solidify by PETE&C but Martin feels that is way too late. A suggestion is to get the word out through PennLink. According to Sean, there still is no technology coordinator list for the state. Linda LaCoe questioned why couldn’t we get the technology coordinator list from the IUs? Sean says they don’t have formal lists.

Karen Galbraith updated members on the student showcase. Kathleen and Karen are working on a flyer. Martin said this task should be going through the presence committee. Karen passed around copies and discussions occurred on future designs, logo, # copies, etc. Karen wants to know what money amounts will be allocated for the event. Discussions occurred on this item with a possible maximum being $5000. Wally Leech asked if we are still going to have a liaison from the Department of Education come to our meetings. Jim Bolton thought Michael Golden was going to have Lance come. Jim will talk with Michael again about having Lance come to these meetings. This would be a wonderful way to have the Department of Education behind this event. Karen continued by stating that she is still looking to have T-shirts sponsored by vendors. And, if we can offset these costs maybe we’ll provide a meal, software, goody bag, etc. It was stated that the Computer Fair for the state now has a middle school “piece” but it is not funded. This used to just be for grades 9 through 12. Our showcase is K-12. Ron thinks we can set aside $5000 total for funding. Martin wants to know what the criteria are to filter out. Karen feels Martin is referring to the showcase at NECC. But, Karen would like to see if we could fund some of the student showcase at the rotunda. Jim thinks maybe we need to develop a committee to specifically develop partnerships with vendors. Martin wants to know what is the benefit of us spending money to send kids to NECC but not to our own showcase? Discussion occurred. Sean McDonough made a motion that “we allocate up to a maximum of $5000 to help support school districts to come to our showcases including the showcase at the rotunda along with NECC”. Martin wants the motion amended to include that we have a filtering device in place before this is out. A discussion also determined that this amount does not include the operating expenses already budgeted for the rotunda showcase. Martin amended the motion to: “PAECT will allocate up to $5000 for funding support of students attending student showcases in the year 2005 through a developed screening process which will be approved at the next PAECT Board meeting.“ Jack Day seconded the amendment. The motion carried unanimously. Karen continued her report by stating that there are still 18 slots open for NECC. We have 16 PA schools already in with an additional 8 slots that are still available for PA student showcases.

Jim Bolton questioned members present on the virtual meeting process and what we think. Martin likes to see it because it is focused. Wally thinks it is a good thing since it was easier to participate vs. coming face-to-face. Wally likes it. Jim reminded all members that if you get a hold of something, send it to Mary Ann and she will get the information out.

New business:

Martin asked how could we leverage the Act 48 abilities that we have better? He suggests that we come up with PDE sanctioned sessions that our members can offer. These members would have to apply. We could give workshops through PAECT. This would take PAECT out into the regions and schools to provide another level of service. We must have some level of professional review to say that it would be sanctioned. Mary Ann Achorn said that we as PAECT are already approved to offer ACT 48 credits. So we would need an application process with fees to offer training. Sean McDonough asked if we could have what is to be included the day before PETE&C. Martin said why wait – we could use the listserv. Mary Ann has the requirements by the state. It was asked what are our requirements? Martin will put initial thoughts together.

Mary Ann Achorn stated that the program has been approved for the national convention.

Jacqueline Smith is trying to call each college in the entire state to try to get more higher education together for PETE&C and try to get membership for PAECT.

Martin Friedman wants to know if there has been any response from West Chester University and the PT3 thing they wanted to come in? Jim Bolton does not know. Martin needs to go further with it.

A motion was made by Sean McDonough to adjourn the meeting. Lisa Brightman seconded it. Meeting adjourned at 12:06 p.m.