MEEOA Board Meeting
May 5, 2006
Members in attendance: Linda Ives, Sarah Henry, Faith Ehrhart, Steve Visco, Velma Murphy, Danette Madore, Tammy Ward

Meeting was called to order at 10:15 a.m.

1) NEOA State Initiative Grants ($500) were discussed:

• Danette mentioned the idea of sponsoring a table at the Common Ground Fair if grant funds were obtained. It was decided that a table may not be well-attended.
• Promotion of MEEOA at MECA was mentioned, but this was just held in March.
• Steve asked if we should write a state initiative grant just for the sake of writing one, without a definitive purpose.
• The question was posed if these grants must be used for “new” endeavors, or could it be used toward the Hall of Flags, or the TRiO Achievers Booklet.
• There was also discussion whether, if written in September, the funds could be “used” right away and reimbursed when the grant money becomes available.
• Finally, it was mentioned that maybe the grant money could be used toward a line item for sponsorship of COE.

2) The Treasurer’s Report was presented by Sarah and discussion of COE sponsorships followed:

• Sarah felt the cost of sponsoring the COE banquet table was a large amount, and she was most concerned that it did not count for fair share.
• Faith said she was not against donating, but also felt that it should count toward fair share.
• Steve said he had no problem with it, and didn’t feel that it should matter whether it went toward fair share or not. (Steve agreed that $2500 was a lot)
• It was mentioned that requests for donations have doubled recently and we need a plan for giving; the idea of sponsoring only half a table was mentioned, as well.
• Sara mentioned that we should come up with a general amount to spend annually.
• It was decided that maybe an Advocacy Committee (Lynn, Dave, Johannah, etc) could be in charge of distributing the contents of a budget line ($1500-$2000) for political support.

3) The MEEOA brochure was reviewed.

• Faith shared that some of the MEEOA membership felt the blue tint in the windows of the Capitol Building was inappropriate.
• Sara felt it was ready to print and did not want to extend the process.
• There was discussion whether the brochures should even go to print – that maybe the smaller TRIO Achiever Yearbook could usurp the brochure.
• Linda and Danette felt that these were both useful tools for different purposes.
• Steve believes that maybe there are too many tools; data sheets, brochures, achiever booklets.
• It was decided that the brochures would go to print (after attempts are made to minimize the blue tint) and the creation of smaller achiever booklets would be explored. 500 brochures will be printed
• Danette mentioned that maybe the NEOA Initiative Grant could be used for a more comprehensive brochure / booklet.

4) New memberships – Rusty Brown, Mary Kate Barbosa, and Kelly Isleman

5) Leadership Scholarships were discussed.

• Sara suggested scholarships be named in honor of Jerry Ellis, and everyone agreed to this idea.
• It was later decided to announce this at the October conference, at the casual “regressive” supper, as opposed to the formal dinner.

6) The conference update was given by Tammy.

• FAME will sponsor the brunch, Rep. Jeremy Fischer will speak, there will be a professional auctioneer, Linda Schiller will be in attendance.
• The board was consulted on ideas for the initial speaker. Possibilities included a TRIO Achiever such as Christy Kilton, Ben Reed, Joe Siddiqui or possibly Susan Collins.
• Steve suggested that Velma and Tammy consult Linda Schiller as to her theme for her NEOA presidency, as well as the possibility of her presenting a workshop.
• Tammy posed the question of whom else to invite to the conference. Linda said that beyond just inviting Wendy Ault, we could approach MELMAC to sponsor an ad in the booklet. She also suggested that we invite the presidents from the local colleges and universities. It was also shared that Arnold Mitchum should be invited
• Tammy and Velma asked if a continued emphasis on advocacy is desired, and the consensus was yes.
• Sara offered to present or co-present a workshop on disabilities. Danette mentioned that the committee had discussed approaching O.J. Logue on the UMO campus about this.
• Steve mentioned that a workshop addressing the issue of immigration would be a timely and relevant one.
• The topic of Susan Jendren was addressed
• Susan had requested information about Upward Bound programs (and ETS), such as demographics and other data, at the Hall of Flags. Danette has sent a thank you email and directed her to Lynn (they serve on the Compact for Higher Ed together). Danette also attached the data sheets.

8) Board positions

• Steve is concerned that MEEOA could end up in the position that NEOA is in; the board should start looking and asking members NOW, to serve next year.
• For president-elect, several names were mentioned: Mary Fraser, Bridget Mullen, and David Agan
• For secretary, Ginny or Theresa
• Steve mentioned the idea of ad hoc committees, such as advocacy and public relations. Since travel may not be an issue (conference calls), the board may as well as bring on more new people.
• It was stated that there needs to be a balance on the board / all programs represented from throughout the state

9) The topic of new yearbooks was revisited briefly and it was decided that quality may outweigh quantity, if each program was represented by one strong achiever.

10) New Business

• The board unanimously decided to sponsor two $50.00 scholarships to be distributed at College Goal Sunday trainings (that would be awarded to students from those trainees’ programs)
• It was agreed to pay for the film developing for the photos to be used on the MEEOA quilt squares sold at the last conference. The money for the squares was inadvertently deposited with the rest of the auction profits.

11) The next meeting was scheduled for September 15, 2006

Meeting was adjourned at 12:25 p.m.