Those present: David Megquier, Judi Look, Johannah Burdin, Michele Melanson, Rebecca Salsbury.

Discussion of vacant board positions: Treasurer and Secretary. Chris Yardley had shared interest in the Treasurer position and Judi offered to fill in for the rest of the year as Secretary. Also have a vacancy for NEOA Liaison, will be asking Becky Robinson if she s still interested.

TREASURER'S REPORT:
Account balances are as follows:
Savings $2932.18 and Checking $197.99

CONFERENCE 2000 ITEMS:
Andrea Reeves from TRIO Clearinghouse will be presenting CAS STANDARDS AND GUIDELINES (self-reflection for programs and for supporting institutions). Discussed having an activity surrounding the issues, MEEOA purchase the self-assessment booklets for each program, then make copies for staff. Idea being that staff will go over the items and have hands on time.

e.g. Ethics: Invite someone to talk about it as part of the program, then we could look at it in light of this set of standards/guidelines

Could also have concurrent workshops using this info.

(Side discussion about CAS Standards: Mitch is concerned about salaries in TRIO, standards could start setting some economic standard; recognizing professionals by CAS standards as part of a group of higher ed professionals.)

Preliminary ideas for break out topics:
History of social reform
DC update
Newcomers/Advocacy piece
Using CAS Standards as the framework for Thursday
Technology on Friday, Tim Foster to talk about some of his technology items/projects?
Financial Aid Paul Lynsky, Worcester Consortium or Tom Putnam (he wrote an article for his newsletter)

Discussed registration member rate and non-member rate, $50 rate for one day only (sessions/meals). Will keep registration rates same as last year.

Looking at last years conference income & expenses: $2700 paid out, $4600 registration only, $682 auction, $98 raffle, $1100 membership

Auction: Facilitate by sending mailing. Johannah will seek contributions in Portland Area, Judi will do Downeast, Michele Brunswick area, we ll ask Karen Keim for assistance in Bangor Area. Need assistance in Northern Maine, Western Maine & MidCoast region. ANY TAKERS?! PLEASE LET US KNOW! Send message to: judi.look@umit.maine.edu

NEOA UPDATE
Dave gave the Liaison Report; he and Rebecca attended a session looking over the by-laws and any changes will be sent to the membership 30 days before the conference in April.

MEEOA will be receiving an invoice shortly for our State Affiliate Membership Dues.

CAS--shared what we will be discussing at our conference, had supporting documentation

Newsletter, web site were discussed.

No tasks that needed to be brought back by the liaison.

NEW BUSINESS:
Dave shared info from Arkansas giving the breakdown of programs, $ and districts that they are located in. It is a possible framework for us to follow in the future, not a printing job but a nice representation of the information. We could also place it on our web site and use it for our next round at Policy Seminar. It would look better than the current format and would tell people just who/what we are. It can be used for newcomers as well. Arkansas has a TRIO hall of fame, we could do the same for students that can not be selected for TRIO Achievers, but have been very successful.

How can we contact directors in an organized fashion? Good reinforcement after sending out requests/information?

Submitted by: Judi Look
Counselor
Maine Educational Talent Search
University of Maine