NEAFCS Mid-Year Board MeetingMay 17 – 18, 2010

Minutes

Adobe Connect schedule:May 17, 10:00 a.m. – 2:00 p.m. CSTMay 18, 10:00 a.m. – 12:30 p.m. CSTMay 18, 12:30 p.m. – 2:00 p.m.: Recess to participate in: Managing Stress: Turning Challenges into Blessings, (CYFAR Webinar)May 18, 2:00 p.m. - Board returns to complete Board meeting

Call to order: Mary Ann Lienhart-Cross called the meeting to order at 10:01 a.m. CST.

Additions to Agenda: Mary Ann requested that we discuss the finder’s fee for Annual Session exhibitors. Present: Mary Ann Lienhart-Cross, Chris Koehler, Judy Kovach, Rhea Bentley, Judy Hetterman, Marsha Lockard, Kathleen Olson, Carol Chandler, Debbie Simmons-Gray, Peggy Ehlers, Debby Mathews, and Carolyn Wissenbach.

Absent: Judith Breland.

Non-voting members present: Jane Conroy (first half hour of May 17 only), Raquel Navarrette and Dave Beebe.

Guests: Kathy Dothage joined at 10:44 a.m. on May 17 to discuss a specific issue with the Board.

Non-voting members absent: Louise Kirkland.

Approval of April Board meeting minutes: Kathleen asked for approval of the April 19, 2010 NEAFCS Board meeting minutes.

Carolyn W. moved to approve the April 19, 2010 NEAFCS Board meeting minutes; Debbie Simmons-Gray seconded; motion carried.

Appointment for reviewers of minutes: Debbie Simmons-Gray and Judy Kovach were appointed to review the minutes.

Appointment of Parliamentarian: Marsha L. was appointed Parliamentarian in the absence of Judith Breland.

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Business:

Vice President for Professional Development: Rhea was not available on the call at this time, so Jane Conroy reported on Annual Session related announcements.

Schedule Changes - There are a lot of changes posted on the website in relation to schedule, resulting from the planning meeting in Portland, ME last week. The Co-liaisons are going to start a FAQ section to be placed on the website. The Awards Banquet was changed to Thursday night, and State’s Night Out has been moved to Wednesday evening. After an Opening Ceremony at 1:15 p.m. (which is a change from the previous schedule), members will depart for an afternoon Welcome/Friendship activity. This will be a casual day and members will be notified ahead of time to wear very comfortable walking shoes and to dress in layers to manage comfort in the varying temperatures of September in New England. The Welcome/Friendship event has numerous parts, beginning with a boat tour of the Casco Bay and a land tour by bus of Historic Portland. Half of the registrants will begin on land and half at sea, and then switch halfway through the activity, so that everyone has the opportunity to experience both tours. Next, all members will be brought back together to the Holiday Inn for a “Taste of Maine” buffet. The dinner entertainment will begin with soft gentle drumming provided by a local group of musicians. After the meal and entertainment, there will be a brief Opening Session with a speaker, orientation of the program guide, and announcements. After the Opening Session, the entertainment program will continue until 8:30 p.m. Since the Association will be paying for the Welcome/Friendship buses regardless of time used, the Maine Affiliate is organizing a first-come, first-served night outing to L.L. Bean’s flagship store in Freeport, which is open 24/7/365. Approximately 350 members will be able to participate in this activity, due to the number of available buses. Jane is checking with L.L. Bean to make them aware of a potentially large group of shoppers that evening, and to see what they might be able to do in terms of providing coupons or a reception, and perhaps even sponsoring something at Annual Session. At a brunch on Friday morning, Caroline Crocoll (speaking about our Federal partners) and Kevin Eikenberry (closing cap note speaker) will form the Closing Ceremony. Registration is doing well, but need to keep stressing that members register early to ensure their preferred in-depth session. Portland is a very walkable town, and the hotels and meeting rooms are slightly less than a 10-minute walk at a comfortable pace. All Board members should register for Annual Session ASAP if you haven’t done so.

Post-Conference Workshop – Strong Women Healthy Hearts – Carol Chandler expressed that some Ohio members are concerned that trained educators may not be able to get enough people to hold a program or that costs for some items (groceries, pedometers, etc) may be a barrier for programming. We need to have an estimate of these costs to pass this information on to those trained. Carolyn

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W. reported that they have already been trained in their state as a pilot for this curriculum and started the classes in Pennsylvania and there is good progress. Participants need to be over 40 years of age, be a certain BMI and participate for 12 weeks. Kathy Dothage joined the meeting at 10:44 a.m. to answer questions regarding the workshop. There are 29 people registered to date; SWHH registration is complementary for Board members. The SWHH committee may amend the 2 per state registration guideline. If people take the training and don’t hold a class, what happens? There is a concern about follow-through, since this is a research project; therefore, participants need to be fully committed. The grant is not limiting participation numbers; the Association is limiting participation. The cost of providing the class is a concern, as there are extra fees involved. There are two parts to the grant – the training in Portland is partially subsidized, but there is no subsidy provided to teach the program at the state level. Local costs will need to be funded by the state or passed on to the participants. The Board requested an estimate of costs involved to let the states know if there is a guideline. How can we get more information about this training to the participants? Pre-requisite for training participation is the IRB requirement training by your state and CPR. Each state does not need to go through the IRB process, but participants must have gone through this process required by their state. There is also a pre-screening done by Tufts University with participants (to make sure you don’t have any physical problems that would keep you from teaching/participating in teaching the course). This is similar to what trainers would do with their participants when teaching a class. Marsha will put together a list of questions to provide more information for potential participants now that we are further along in this process. Perhaps a fact sheet could be put together to help answer these questions and possibly create a special FAQ web page linked to the SWHH page. This is not a ‘train the trainer’ class, but is for training individuals to teach classes. Eventually, there may be on-site facilitators trained for each state in this curriculum. It is expected that participants have a one year commitment. There should be a list of equipment needed for the training; the organizers will need to work with Maine on what is needed onsite for use in demonstrations, etc. Participants will receive the training and curriculum as part of the workshop. Kathy D. requested that questions be sent to her prior to a June 1 conference call with the planning group, so she can share them and get answers.

Exhibits Committee – Dave reported that they have sold 14 booths as of last Friday. Carol Schlitt, Exhibits Chair is providing each committee members with 4-5 contacts to see if remaining booths can be filled. There is some additional space just outside the Exhibit Hall which is being looked at for creatively extending the limited available Exhibit space. Food for the exhibit area will have an alternative for participants to take their meals to seats in the ballroom area, and then return to the Exhibit hall afterwards. The representative on the exhibits committee from Maine is working with some micro-businesses to have an exhibits area that accommodates their needs.

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Concurrent and Poster Session Judging – Rhea reported that there will be 90 concurrent sessions presented. The Program Development subcommittee is in the process of getting everyone placed in rooms; some sessions will be two in one room, at 30 minutes each. Some are going to present twice at 30 minutes each. There is also a schedule change which moves the Friday concurrent sessions to Thursday morning during the business meeting. Posters may be a different group each day, depending on how many posters there are. They are thinking of putting the more popular topics in the Eastland Park Hotel. Mary Ann reminded the group that every Annual Session is different and every schedule differs according to the site, and it is important to remain flexible.

Pre-Conference Workshops – Rhea reported that there are 7 registrations for Raising Your Entrepreneurial Spirit, 16 registrations for Baking with the Home Baking Association.

FCS Administrators will be meeting in Portland – Mary Ann asked if they can provide a speaker for Friday morning. Linda Kay Benning will already be in attendance; Linda Kay is also the 2010 Friend of NEAFCS.

All-Member Caucus – Mary Ann reported an additional schedule change, in which the Regional Meetings and Awards will take place first on Tuesday morning and include a plated breakfast; the All-member Caucus will follow immediately afterwards.

Secretary Update: Kathleen Olson provided the following report: Kathleen will send out a draft of the minutes to all as she will be out of the office

May 19 – June 1, inclusive. By-law Committee members need to be appointed as there will need to be work

done on proposed by-law amendments early in the summer.

Treasurer Update: Judy Hetterman provided the following report:Membership - In 2010, there are 1946 active members, with a decrease of 254; 1078 life members, with an increase of 23; Net loss of 231 members from 2009.Member Resource committees are looking for new types of membership or new marketing. The budget had been revised with an estimated reduced membership, but it was fewer members than estimated. At PILD, Mary Ann’s room was complementary due to her role with JCEP. This will probably happen again next year.

EndowmentCurrent total of gifts and pledges total: $130,500An increase of $20,500 (7%) over last year.Association has achieved 44% of its $300,000 goal.

Annual Sessions- as of noon May 14th

151 full package registrations4 event ticket only registrations141 revenue registrationsGross revenue to date $58,065 (registration only)

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For comparison, exactly one year ago, there were 63 total registrations, so we have maintained; more than double last year’s rate for a fourth week in a row!

Hotel Room Block (67% to date)-1348 room-nights (sold)

660 room-nights remaining to fulfill room block-Holiday Inn (1030/1258 or 82% occupied)-Eastland Park (318/750 or 42% occupied)

Pre-Conference – There are 7 registrations for Raising Your Entrepreneurial Spirit, 16 registrations for Baking with the Home Baking Association. These are good income for our Association.

Post-Conference – There are 29 registrations for the Strong Women, Healthy Hearts, with 16 States represented.

Exhibits – There are 13 exhibits registered, with 15 spaces filled, with 53% of revenue budget forecast

Living Well, More Than a Cookbook – From books ordered or sold – Revenue for national is $30,026 (net income after expenses). We pay FRP each month as books are sold. We don’t have to pay FRP fully until February, 2011. We have to sell 14,000 books to break even, and have currently sold just under 6000 books. We owe FRP $186,342. Each time we sell books, FRP takes their cut and the bill becomes smaller.

From books ordered – Revenue for Affiliates: $43,6108 states have not purchased any books11 states have purchased 3 or less casesOnly 62% of states have purchased more than 3 casesKentucky and Texas lead the way in book orders.

An e-blast was sent today to all members regarding the book to help increase sales. Our 2010 balanced budget is dependent upon selling these books. If the other Associations would comp us a table, we could sell books in the exhibit area. If each member of NEAFCS would assist by selling just ONE case of 10 books… we would be sold out and enjoying some financial relief from the profits. We have 19,000 books left at FRP. There will also be more promotion done in Maine.Displays are available: Kentucky or Indiana, Judy K. has one and Dave has one. Contact Dave if you need to use one. Pennsylvania will need one in August, Ohio for AAFCS, etc.The booth fee will be comp’d for AAFCS and NEAFCS will comp a booth for AAFCS at the Annual Session, as is customary.

Nominating Committee – Judith B. was not on the call for a report. We all need to be thinking of potential candidates for Board positions. (Dave later called Judith and relayed that she reported that there is at least one candidate per office).

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Constitution and Bylaw changes:

Dues increase - Mary Ann reported that a dues increase suggestion from member survey, which would require a By-laws change; Finances – Web changes cost $90 per hour, which is a very good value for this service, but we still must be conscientious. Mary Ann has sent some announcement and information to Affiliates and communicated in other ways to save money. Mary Ann asked for comments on dues increase – whether $10 each year for 3 years to go up $80, $90, and $100 in a three year increment. This would cost more than one large increase. We should determine what the cost difference would be for each scenario. With budget cuts in several states, we will most likely lose more members. Illinois will be losing almost half their active members. Michigan will also be losing members. We also need to look at different types of membership with cost attached for a By-laws change proposal.

Carolyn W. moved that we raise the dues to $85; motion seconded by Rhea B.; motion failed.

Dave recommended that we need to look at some scenarios of membership estimates and will provide scenarios for the Board to review prior to making a decision on dues increases to make an informed decision. This motion will be revisited tomorrow during the Board meeting. Any announcement regarding by-laws must be made 30 days prior to the Annual Meeting, which means we need a proposal by mid July. The By-laws will need to build upon each other and be organized correctly, as one decision affects whether a subsequent proposal can be approached. We will be allowing absentee voting once again this year in regard to candidates and not issues, according to the By-law amendment passed last year. We do not want to have the expense of the registered Parliamentarian that we had last year, however, our By-laws currently require this, and therefore an amendment is recommended to allow a non-registered Parliamentarian to preside in future years. The agriculture association utilizes a member as registered Parliamentarian. We need to get more information before we come up with a recommendation related to dues.

Membership categories – Judy K proposed the following for potential by-laws changes in membership:

NEAFCS By-Laws - Article II Membership*Red indicates new recommendationsThe Association is committed to the involvement of all its members regardless of race, color, gender, age, religion, national origin, disability, veteran status, or sexual orientation. All members will be encouraged to participate in programs and activities and take leadership roles in the Association, as stated in the affirmative action plan.

The classifications of membership shall be: Active, Associate, and Life.

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Section 1 -- Active Member. An Extension employee working in any capacity with family and consumer sciences or home economics programming, who has a minimum of a bachelor's degree, which belongs to his/her state/territory affiliate of Extension Educators, upon payment of dues, may become an active member of NEAFCS.

Section 2 -- Associate Member. An individual meeting the requirements for an active member, but located where there is no affiliated state/territory affiliate or no state/territory affiliate which will allow his/her membership may pay annual dues directly to the Association and become an associate member.

Section 3- Partner Member– An individual employed by a State Land Grant Institution or working in a corporate field related to the work of Extension Educators may become a Partner Member, upon payment of dues. For privileges same as Student Members, see below

Section 3 – Member in Transition- Individuals who have been employed in any capacity with family and consumer sciences or home economics programming, who has a minimum of a bachelor’s degree, and who has been (may or may not have been) an active member of NEAFCS, but has currently been furloughed, placed on temporary work assignment, working in a part time role or is on a leave of absence may maintain membership in the State Affiliate and the National Association of Family and Consumer Sciences.

A. Members in Transition1. They may receive awards, fellowships and grants as a team member with Active

Members, but not as an individual.2. They may serve on sub-committees.3. They may receive the conference registration brochure, via e-mail. They would pay

registration fees at the same rate as Active Members.4. They shall receive all publications via –email upon payment of dues.5. They may serve as a voting delegate, when a state/territory lacks sufficient delegates to

the Annual Business Meeting.6. They shall not be eligible for office or sub-committee chairs, unless they were elected to

that position prior to this new status.

Section 4 – Student Member, a student enrolled in a University, College or other educational setting studying home economics, family consumer sciences or related field with an interest in Extension Education as a future career may seek membership in NEAFCS through the National Treasurer, State Affiliate either home state or location of study, or the National Office.

Student Members 1. They may receive awards, fellowships and grants as a team member with Active

Members, but not as an individual.2. They may serve on sub-committees.3. They may receive the conference registration brochure, via e-mail. They would pay

registration fees at the same rate as Active Members or at a reduction set forth by the planning committees of affiliates hosting the Annual Session

4. They shall receive all publications via –email upon payment of dues.5. They may serve as a voting delegate, when a state/territory lacks sufficient delegates to

the Annual Business Meeting.6. They shall not be eligible for office or sub-committee chairs.

Section 5-- Life Member.

A. Any former Extension employee who has been a member of the Association for at least 5 years will be granted life membership upon payment of a one-time fee to the Association.

B. Life member shall be granted the following rights and privileges:

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1. They may receive awards, fellowships, and grants. 2. They may serve on committees. 3. They shall receive all publications upon payment of an annual subscription fee. 4. They shall receive the conference registration brochure at no charge. 5. They may serve as voting delegates, when a state/territory affiliate lacks sufficient

delegates to the Annual Business Meeting. 6. They shall not be eligible for office.

They shall not be eligible for office or sub-committee chairs, unless they were elected prior to a new classification of Life Member or member in Transition.

ARTICLE III -- Dues and Fees

Section 1. The dues for annual membership in the Association shall be established by the voting delegates at the annual business meeting of the Association. Proposed changes in dues shall be made known 30 days prior to the Annual Session at which the vote is to be taken.

Section 2. Each state/territory affiliate shall remit to the Association by the established date the amount of annual dues for each eligible individual requesting membership in the Association.

Section 3. An associate member shall pay directly to the Association the established amount of annual dues on or before the established date.

Section 4. Any increase in dues voted upon at an Annual Session shall become effective with the next membership year following the Annual Session in which the vote was taken.

Section 5. The one-time fee for life membership shall be three times the amount of dues assessed for active members.

Section 6- Any Extension employee who is retiring and assuming a part-time position, may choose to pay active members dues until they fully accept retirement or pay their one time life member dues of three times the current dues.

Section 7 – Partner Member, shall pay directly to the Association the established amount of dues. The dues rate is 2/3 of the current annual rate of dues for active members.

Section 8 – A “Member in Transition” shall pay one half of the current National Association dues and the full State Affiliate dues for this membership category.

Section 9 – Student Member shall pay one half of the current National Association dues and one half the State Affiliate dues for this membership category.

Treasurer qualifications requirements – Mary Ann stated that the Treasurer’s qualifications are less stringent than those required for Investment Committee members, which is that they must be a certified financial planner in addition to other qualifications. Perhaps this language should be amended to say “preferred” rather than “required”. This item should be reviewed along with other By-law change recommendations.

Board organization - We also need to review how the Board is organized. Currently, there are 4 Regional Directors and 4 Vice Presidents; is it time to combine some positions, which will also help reduce overall expenses. The Living Well campaign has not successfully attained the original goal of affiliation with

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NEAFCS. Should the office of VP for Public Affairs and VP for Membership be combined? Marsha has talked to some of the other associations on how their Board is made up. Several have smaller boards, which reduces Board expenses. Some associations have a meeting planner instead of an executive director. We need to gather some additional information in order to make some of these decisions, and discuss how to proceed.

Vice President for Awards & Recognition: Carol C. reported that the committee should be ready to make announcements on awards by early June.

Update on judging processes, etc. – information has been sent to Affiliates on timeline. There are some small discrepancies in some awards descriptions and judging sheets that she will work on to clear up once the judging is completed. Mary Ann is exploring gift items for judges, such as the luggage tags or business card holders, which serve the dual purpose of expressing appreciation with a gift, and also marketing the association by using the gift. Or, a certificate with a thank you would be nice to provide also. She also asked Dave to look at neck wallets to be used as name tags for Annual Session, which could be used by members throughout the year at other conferences to market NEAFCS. We could also look at providing the Living Well resource book/cookbook as a gift at a cost of $9.72 per book. We will discuss gift items to order tomorrow (luggage tags or business card holder).

Update on new eBay Auction benefitting Awards – there are about 30 items so far. It is hoped that this added event will not affect the Silent Auction. This is open to anyone who wants to bid and not only to our membership. If there are questions or confusion in any states, please let Carol know and she will do what she can to clear things up.

The traditional Silent Auction will be held live and in person at Annual Session, and it is hoped that the eBay Auction will not deter from the fundraising at this event.

Vice President for Member Resources: Judy K. reported on additional items in addition to member categories:

Journal of Extension - Luann Boyer will use other funds to attend the face to face meeting in June of the Journal of Extension as our representative. One recommendation was that the representative sends a report 4 times per year. Judy felt that this is too often and should be 3 times a year. Who the representative reports to should be more clearly defined, such as in the Policies & Procedures Manual. Members need reminders that JOE is a good information source as well as a good venue for publication. Judy K. suggested that Luann prepare an e-news article on JOE. Articles are backed up about 8 months, once an article is accepted for publication.

The Journal of NEAFCS should be on schedule this year.

Vice President for Public Affairs: Debbie Simmons-Gray reported on public affairs. PILD scholarship – 16 received the scholarship, with 13 reports sent in thus far.

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Living Well – there were 2 award applications and 2 mini grant applications. The External marketing committee is judging the applications. There were few states that celebrated Living Well Month. NEAFCS needs to get more visibility with Living Well and help get our message out, and we need to consider if this is helping it or not. We need to make sure we are showing impact for Family and Consumer Science programs. We still need to consider the two websites, as members have told us this is confusing.

Impact statement for PILD – Marsha reported on the national impact statement to take to PILD, with food safety selected as the topic. About 32 states reported to be included in the national statement. They took 100 copies, and prepared more as members wanted to take the documents to their legislators, administrators, other associations, etc. In the future, a form will be sent to collect this type of information, as states sent various types of information. Information should also be shared on how to share this with legislators and how to use the reports most effectively. Other topics in the future will be child obesity, environmental living and financial literacy. Two Adobe Connect meetings are scheduled with Affiliate Presidents between now and Annual Session related to this issue.

Adjournment: Debby Mathews moved to adjourn the meeting, with Mary Ann adjourning at 1:59 p.m. CST, until May 18 at 10:00 a.m. CST.

May 18, 201010:00 a.m. CST

Call to order: Mary Ann reconvened the meeting at 10:00 a.m. via Adobe Connect with all members present, with the exception of Judith Breland.

Regional Directors Central – Peg E. reported that she is encouraging everyone in the region to

promote the cookbook. Perhaps a friendly competition between regions in a specific time period would be helpful and show commitment to this project. She has sent email messages as well as hard copies of information to the Affiliates.

Eastern – Carolyn W. reported that their region has been busy working on the Annual Session. They have also been working on selling cookbooks and have several venues to sell them. She wanted to know what plans have been made for voting delegates and the Credentialing committee. It will be Chris’ turn this year, but all Regional Directors should be involved. Carolyn should contact Chris and Mary Ann will schedule an Adobe Connect meeting with Regional Directors to discuss this plan.

Western – Chris had nothing to report. Southern – Debby reported that they would welcome a challenge for cookbook

sales.

JCEP Winter Executive Board Meeting prior to Affiliate Leadership Meeting – San

Antonio, Texas.

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Galaxy, 2013 – Kathy Dothage has applied to be the Co-chair of Galaxy. They may extend the deadline for applications. We will have our own awards program and business meeting. Whoever becomes our President-elect at the New Mexico meeting will be in charge of the Pittsburgh Galaxy meeting.

JCEP Leadership Meeting - Marsha and new President-elect reported that JCEP meetings will be held on February 8 – 10, 2011 for Affiliate Presidents and President-elects. Marsha reported that western members were not pleased with Nashville, TN. JCEP meeting will be in San Antonio at the Crowne Plaza Hotel on the river walk, on Feb 8-10, the JCEP board meeting will meet immediately before that. Marsha will preside at the meeting in 2011 with the help of the new President-elect. The 2012 meeting will probably also be in San Antonio as they are looking at a 2 year contract. Dates for 2011 will be February 7 - 9, 2012.

PILD Conference – Washington D.C. sharing from the 2010 meeting – there were 4 members who chose not to attend the NEAFCS meeting during PILD. We should discuss whether those who do not attend this meeting should receive the scholarship. One member who was supposed to do a report was not in attendance and Mary Ann found out she would not be there the morning of the meeting. Debby S-G and Mary Ann will cross check their attendance list of the meeting and who received scholarships.PILD dates are April 4 – 6, 2011 and April 16 – 18, 2012, both at the Westin in Alexandria Virginia, which is a new venue and close to the metro station. This is a change from the venue of the last three years.

Work Needed for Annual Session Budget Development - Judy Hetterman was not able to communicate due to

microphone problems. Dave reported in her place and shared that each Board member should submit what their budget needs will be for the next year. Past budget problems happened due to rubber stamping of budgets from year to year or simply adding a percentage to last year’s budget. Budgets need to be scrutinized more so we can submit a budget to the voting delegates’ packet that can be reviewed ahead of time. All Board members should play a part in budget creation and preparing it for the Annual Meeting. Pre and Post Board meetings will also review budgets. Mary Ann feels that it is important to communicate with members what the Board is doing to save costs throughout the year; she has provided some of this in her monthly letters in E-news.

Business Meeting, Voting Delegates’ Packet – Mary Ann reminded the Board that we decided in Dallas at the Winter Board meeting that her office staff would assist with preparing this packet instead of contracting this out with a vendor. Kathleen has also offered assistance. Dave has been sending information to Mary Ann’s secretary already and her secretary has created a template.

Daily plan – need this from Dave and Raquel so we can develop a schedule to share in the work. Mary Ann requested this so the Board can assist when needed. There will be a brief daily Board meeting to discuss what needs to be done that day and another brief meeting at the end of the day to review things that work well and things that could be improved for the next day or next year.

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Mary Ann wants the staff to have the full experience of our entire Annual Session so they can better assist us. There will be a mini office provided for the Board and staff. Some items can be taken care of by committees if they are aware of what needs to be done.

Board meeting associated with Annual Session - Pre Board meeting will be held on Saturday, 9/18 from 8 a.m. - 5 p.m., and Sunday 9/19 from 1 p.m. - 5 p.m. Post board ends on 9/26 at noon; if you are a continuing officer, please book your flights home for after 2:00 pm on 9/26.

Planning Meeting Results – there have been some questions on why there was travel for a visit to future Annual Session planning. Mary Ann stated that it is important to start the planning process earlier and it isn’t a good idea to wait until one year before. Chris asked why Rhea didn’t travel to Portland, ME for planning meeting. Rhea had been there before and was familiar with the site and expenses and schedule were prohibitive. Marsha also attended which was a valuable mentoring action for her role. Dave and the Co-Liaisons attended as well. Rooms at the hotel were complementary. The planning team connected with the Visitors and Convention Bureau and they will assist our organization to identify a nearby resource for managing shipping and receiving, to minimize hotel receiving fees. There were many changes to the overall Annual Session schedule as a result of the planning meeting, as well as detailed coordination during meetings with key staff from both of the conference hotels.

Affiliate Presidents message – Mary Ann sent a draft of a communication to Affiliate Presidents and requests comments on this, so it can be sent out soon. She has included some items as a repeat, since people need to hear things several times.

Tabled or Continued from 5-17-2010:

Purchasing items for thank you gifts – Mary Ann Do we buy luggage tags and how many – use with committee members and new

members. Luggage Tags were discussed as many who received them previously have used and appreciated them; a quantity of 250 costs $207.50 (unit price = $0.83). There is probably no set up charge as they already have our logo. If there is a set up fee, we will add our website address.

Do we buy business card holders, how many - use with committee members and new members. Business Card Holder: 250@ $327.50 (unit price = $1.31).

Debbie Simmons-Gray moved that we purchase business card holders and luggage tags in an amount not to exceed $600; Judy H. seconded; motion carried.

Mary Ann would like us to consider giving Living Well Books to exhibitors as a thank you to exhibitors. This idea will be presented to the Exhibits Committee. This could be a way to promote our book and provide an order form in it.

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Tabled or Continued from 5-17-2010

Constitution and Bylaw changes Mary Ann stated that we will need Board members to step up and help write a variety of

suggestions to refer to the committee Dues increase suggestion from member survey – Mary Ann felt that we need to

have a motion to have a dues increase over a three year period and specify the amount to increase each year. This would only have to be voted on once by delegates at the Annual Business meeting. Even if the delegates vote to change the bylaws to expand membership opportunities, we still need to look at a dues increase to fund the association without borrowing from reserves. Dave ran some scenarios on dues increases, but did not incorporate membership alternatives, since those are not yet clearly defined, nor have they been voted on, and we don’t have a strong sense of how many would be drawn to these new levels of membership opportunity. If we sell every Living Well resource book, we will be in the black through the current fiscal year. In succeeding years, we will not have that revenue to assist us in covering the shortfall in member dues income. It is quite likely that active membership might fall to 2,000, or even 1,900 members in the next couple of years; therefore, a dues increase to the $85 - $90 range is recommended in 2011, as this will assist the budget to maintain current services to members.By-laws amendment – members vote one time but the dues increase may be implemented incrementally across several years, so we need to determine what these numbers need to be. The Member Survey results clearly indicated that members wanted a transition in dues increase rather than a one-time increase. If the budget situation changes for the better, we could agree not to implement the increase. The current dues level is not paying for items our members feel are important, such as being active in JCEP, website, Executive Director, etc. Several mentioned that our dues are less than many others we have explored; NEAFCS is a bargain by comparison! There was a dues increase vote in 2007, which was implemented in 2008. This is our third year at the same level, and economy and number of members has changed significantly since then. The Board will recommend to the By-laws committee, which will prepare a recommendation to the membership.

Carolyn W. moved to raise dues for 2011 to $85, to $90 in 2012 and to $100 in 2013; Debby Mathews seconded; motion carried with one no vote.

This recommendation will be passed on to the By-laws committee for consideration. This may also affect Life Member dues, which is currently designated as three times the current Active member dues.

Membership categories – Judy K. resent a copy of recommended membership types to Board members for review. In the partner section, the Board discussed whether there should be a specific degree required for that level of membership? Active member description currently requires a Bachelors degree, but is not

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specific regarding the degree focus. The associate member requirements may also need to be changed also in the by-laws. Board members suggested removing the section regarding reduced registration fee for Annual Session, as they already have reduced dues. Student membership should state, “FCS or related field” and avoid references to the phrase “home economics”.Mary Ann requested that Judy K. make these suggested revisions as discussed and then bring back to the Board, The Board will then review and vote to make recommendations to the By-laws committee for a by-laws amendment proposal during the Annual Business meeting. Dave will work with Judy K. on a means for the Board members to vote on these changes, outside the Board meeting format.

Appointments also need to be made soon to the By-laws committee so they can do their work on this early in June.

Carolyn moved that Family and Consumer Sciences be used as the term throughout the membership By-law description; Debby Mathews seconded; motion carried.

Treasurer qualifications requirements – Mary Ann stated that we may want to consider the same credentials for the Treasurer as for the Investment Committee.

Judy H. moved that the credentials for the Treasurer be the same as for the Investment Committee, saying that it is preferred to have credentials in financial planning; Carol C. seconded; motion carried.

Marsha moved that we remove the “nationally certified” qualification for our Annual Session parliamentarian; Carol C. seconded; motion carried.

This proposed by-law amendment will enable the Association to engage someone with experience in parliamentary procedure for our business meetings without the high fee of a Registered Parliamentarian. We can always contract with a registered professional one for guidance, if needed, but we have some flexibility when the business meeting issues are straightforward. We will need a registered professional person in Maine, as we are still operating under the current By-laws at that time. This will be forwarded to the By-laws committee for recommendation.

Reworking/reorganizing the Board – could a committee be set up to review Board organization? We will look at appointing an ad hoc committee to review.

Rhea moved that we appoint an ad hoc committee to look at organization of the Board; Chris K. seconded; motion carried.

Debbie Simmons -Gray moved to close the Board meeting to attend the CYFAR stress webinar and reconvene 5 minutes after the webinar, Marsha seconded; motion carried.

The Board meeting reconvened at 2:00 p.m. via Adobe Connect.

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Finder’s fee for exhibits and award sponsors: Mary Ann added this to the agenda, for the Board to consider discontinuing the finder’s fee of $50, both as a cost savings and related to the fact that members should be motivated to do this for the Association and not for personal gain.

Marsha L. moved we remove the finder's fee for awards and exhibitors; Debby Mathews seconded; motion failed with five against and four in favor of the motion.

Carol Chandler moved that the finder’s fee be continued for national company exhibitors and that the fee be put towards Annual Session registration; Debby M. seconded; motion passed with one against.

Carol Chandler moved that any finder’s fee for awards sponsors be credited towards an Annual Session registration; Debby M. seconded; motion passed with one against.

Marsha indicated that awarding this amount is an expense for exhibits and part of the income for awards. This opportunity for award sponsorship and exhibitor finder’s fee has been available but not awarded very often.

E-News – Kathleen reminded Board members that the next due date is June 4th; Marsha is to prepare the “Meet Your Board Member” article for June.

Announcement: Carol Schlitt shared with Mary Ann that NEAFCS member Robin Orr from Illinois passed away last week after a brief bout with ALS.

Adjournment: Judy K. moved to adjourn; Mary Ann adjourned the meeting at 2:59 p.m.

Respectfully submitted:

Kathleen A. OlsonNEAFCS Secretary

Future Agenda Items2011 Annual Session – Albuquerque, New Mexico

Future Annual Sessions2012 Annual Session – Columbus, Ohio2014 Southern Region – Seed Planting time

UPCOMING DATES

DUE DATES June 30, 2010 Annual Reports Due and Budget Requests Due

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o Note** this is a change from your Board Calendar** August 6, 2010 Materials Due: Regional/Annual Session Business Meetings

BOARD ADOBE CONNECTS June 21, 2010 Noon Eastern July 19, 2010 Noon Eastern August 16, 2010 Noon Eastern

E-news Due Dates

June 4, 2010 July 9, 2010 Aug 6, 2010

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