COCA STEERING COMMITTEE CONFERENCE CALL MINUTES
Thursday,December 18, 2008

Present: Gordon Richins, Kendall Corbett, Mitchell Levitz, Nila Benito, Karen Irick, Sharon Hauss, and Carl Durocher

1- General Update: Tammie Picklesimer, AUCD Policy Leadership Fellow

  • Joe Caldwell put together a Healthcare Reform workgroup. Please contact him at if you are interested in participating.
  • Disability Public Policy Seminar will be April 27-29, 2009. COCA members are encouraged to attend.
  • David Morrissey is leaving AUCD to be the Executive Director of the U.S. International Council on Disability. His last day is 1/12/09. If you want to send his a note, you can email him at
  • "Disability and health" need to receive more attention from the Obama Health Care Transition team. COCA members are encouraged to visit this link and vote to this issue:

2- Co-Chairs& Secretary monthly report:

  • Gordon is continuing on his current AUCD committees: Finance committee, Communications. Kendall is joining the Legislative, Program committees that Susan was on. We will not have representation on the international affairs committee.
  • Gordon and Kendall were on an AUCD Board conf call. A lot of legislation and disability policy was discussed and will need the COCA’s attention in the coming year.
  • Final 2008 Annual Meeting Minutes are posted on the AUCD COCA webpage.

3- Action Items

a)Operational Procedures Ad Hoc Committee: At Nov. board meeting it was decided to have a small ad hoc group conduct a final review of the document. Committee Members will be: Kendall is chair, Nila, Susan, and Mitchell. Kendall is waiting to hear back from Bethany on her willingness to serve. Mitchell stated that he would have liked to have had the opportunity to fully discuss and review the document at the annual meeting. He suggests that we send out an email and ask them submit changes. Kendall said the ad hoc committee will send out an email ask COCA members for any input they have.

b)COCA Member Survey Process:Nila is drafting a survey for steering committee review before the next conference call 1/15/09. The results of this survey will be

c)COCA Manual: Gordon is coordinating the development of a general information manualofCOCA documents to share with steering committee members and other COCA members so when someone new starts on the COCA they will “be up to speed.”

4- Nominating Committee Report:

  • Nominating Committee hasn’t met. No Update.

5- Program Committee:

Karen shared some of the results from the survey and said 13 people filled out the survey from the annual meeting and many commented on accessibility issues.She will send the results to the full COCA along with an updated version of the survey for review and comments. She proposed an accessibility workgroup that would further develop the survey and would be the actual participants filling it out at the 2009 conference. They are sharing this information with hotel staff of the Renaissance where the meeting will be next year. COCA is planning to assist with site visits for the selection of the 2010 meeting hotel. Karen shared some of the results from the survey and has offered to send the survey itself out to COCA members for review.

6- Legislative committee:

  • Carl emphasized the Healthcare Reform Initiative at change.org if you want to share comments or ideas.
  • Discussion about committee chairs was clarified. Committee members are the ones who elect the chairs of each committee which is for a 2 year term at the annual meeting. Those chairs are then members of the steering committee.
  • Mitchell raised the issue that many people left the annual meeting this year before they had opportunity to vote during our elections. He suggested that we not have a meeting in the evening. That we either have meeting slots on 2 different days when it’s more convenient for COCA members. Gordon said the AUCD board is looking at changing the schedule for next year. Mitchell said that Karen and he discussed the thought of not having COCA committee meetings at the annual meeting rather have a business meeting and a social. Karen said that AUCD said they are looking at cutting back on the concurrent and only have them on one day. There was discussion about what the COCA needs.

7- Future Conference Calls: Our next call is 1/15/09

  • Steering Committee Conference Calls 2008-2009: 12/18/08, 1/15/09, 3/19/09, 4/16/09, 6/18/09, 7/16/09, 9/17/09, 10/15/09

2-3 p.m. EST

  • Full COCA Conference Calls: 2/19/09, 5/21/09, 8/20/09

2-3 p.m. EST

8- Other business

Sharon shared a concept paper that is a reference that is a historical account and has some visioning for 2010 that was drafted by past co-chairs and was shared at an AUCD board meeting. The concept of the steering committee came out it. This paper can be used in the resource manual and as a reference for a new COCA strategic plan. Mitchell suggested that we not take time to review the paper again but just use it in the manual. Karen suggested that we use the concept paper to show where we’ve been which will help us move forward with developing a strategic plan. Mitchell suggested that we have a facilitator help facilitate us through a strategic planning process before the 2009 annual meeting. Karen asked if we could meet before the annual meeting to start strategic planning before Nov. 2009. Steering committee does not have the funds to do that. Karen asked that the new AUCD policy fellow assist the steering committee with starting the strategic planning process through email and conference calls.

Next Steps: Once the new AUCD policy fellow is on board, we will establish a process and timeline for developing a COCA strategic plan before the 2009 annual meeting.

9- Adjourn at 3:28 p.m.

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