MEEOA Board Meeting
Monday, November 14th, 2005 Chadbourne Hall, Orono

Board members in attendance: Danette Madore, Sara Henry, Faith Erhardt, Linda Ives, Steve Visco

The meeting was called to order at 10:09 a.m. by President Danette Madore.

Minutes from the October 13th meeting were read and unanimously approved.

Treasurer’s Report – Sara Henry

Conference money is in – a $9, 235. deposit was made. $2676.36 was sent to Atlantic Oakes, which leaves $6558. in profit. Atlantic Oakes is a good deal for conference rooms.

Currently, we have $2833.38 in checking and $14, 814. in savings.

Steve Visco asked if we should explore the idea of shifting some money into CD’s. He mentioned that this is the direction that NEOA is going in with association savings. Sara will investigate that possibility at the Credit Union. Faith will ask her brother, a financial planner, about the potential risks and benefits of the Maine association taking this action.

Sara will also ask someone on the NEOA board about the possibility of a state audit. Faith made a motion to accept the Treasurer’s Report, Steve Visco seconded the motion.

Logo/Brochure – Sara Henry

The brochure has not gone to print yet. We are waiting for a new photo that will be included. The Board agreed to print some nice MEEOA stationary with the new logo with no specific return address.

NEOA Report – Faith Erhardt, Steve Visco and Danette Madore

2007 NEOA Conference in Burlington, VT – Dates to be announced.

TRIO Days in CT.

Advocacy is a push for state initiatives – COE is hoping to identify the political process in states.

Fair Share – NEOA is considering a way to incorporate a reception to recognize and encourage more individual donations to the Fair Share campaign.

Danette has submitted the COE State Initiative Grant.

Danette reported that she had met with Rep. Jeremy Fisher to talk about our 2006 Hall of Flags Day. He is on the Appropriations Committee. He thought that our ideas for the day are great: to get information about the representatives in our student’s districts and have the students seek them out, to have our students act as pages, to meet with the Education and Cultural Affairs committee, and to have media coverage. Mr. Fisher also agreed to feature our visit in his column. Linda suggested that some kind of generic press release that we could forward to our local papers throughout the state. Danette agreed to write up this kind of article.

Danette also mentioned that this day might be a great time to talk with FAME about developing a relationship & possibly a scholarship for our students. It may be time to reconfigure our talking points into a brief list.

Our time in Augusta may also be an excellent time to give an award to a legislator that has been especially helpful for TriO in Maine. Danette agreed to post a message on the ListServ that would ask for suggestions and nominations from the membership. The Board thought that the award could be named the “Friend of TriO” award.

NEOA State Initiative RFP should be out soon – the Board discussed what kinds of expenses we could list in that grant application: Hall of Flags food, TriO yearbooks, buttons, mailings for the event.

Danette asked about the Advocacy Committee – are those meetings going to continue? The Board discussed the formation of the committee, and possible shapes that the committee could take in the coming year. Certainly this could be an Ad Hoc committee – Faith volunteered to talk with Lynn Ploof-Davis (who is the chair of the Advocacy Committee for NEOA) about possible merging the MEEOA Advocacy people and energy into the NEOA group.

Karen Keim has volunteered to handle membership for MEEOA.

Leadership Institute- Tina MacDonald has withdrawn from the LI for personal reasons. At the next NEOA Board meeting, we will ask about the reimbursement options for MEEOA. The MEEOA Board will ask about our options: Is it possible to get the money back, or perhaps we can hold it over so that we can use for the next session? However, the Board agreed that a donation to the LI is money going to a good cause; we would be fine to donate $500. of the money if $500. is returned.

Old Business

Conference reflection – it seems as if October is not a great time of the year for SSS professionals. Four days is too long; the COE Technology Training made this conference too long. People missed a central gathering place – no lounge! The membership enjoyed the activities (Tonia and the newcomer piece). Perhaps we might go with a 3-day format – arrive in the evening, have one full day and then leave in the afternoon of the third day.

We are excited for a conference in the county – Tammy and Velma are meeting on Nov. 22nd to price out some of our housing options. The Board suggested that they check out condos – that is the only way to really include a progressive dinner.

Danette mentioned that an Alumni Association does exist in Maine, and has a charter. It hasn’t been active in many years. COE is offering a grant for alumni association formation and continuation – Danette wondered if this is something that MEEOA should pursue. The proposal deadline is December 15th. The Board had a short discussion about the purpose of an alumni group – in the past, they haven’t had a great amount of success. We decided that at this time, MEEOA is not ready to go in that direction. However, UMPI UB has the wheels in motion for an alumni group – they have the blessing of the organization to go for it and write that grant.

The Board reviewed dates for upcoming meetings.

New Business

Steve mentioned that when the new logo is available, let him know so that it can get to the web site. We agreed to talk more about the new logo at the next meeting.

The Board adjourned at 11:46 a.m.