Florida Association of International Educators

Business Meeting

July 12, 2012

Meeting conducted by: Jenifer Ruby, Chair

Minutes taken by: Evelyn Rodriguez, Communications Coordinator

Attendance:

Cynthia Aversa – Secondary School Coordinator – New Member

Daren Caine – District Coordinator – Orlando – New Member

Katie DeGuzman – Study Abroad Coordinator

Rachel Errington – District Coordinator – Jacksonville West

Alejandra Parra – Admissions Coordinator

Kelly Reid – Website Coordinator

Jenifer Ruby – Chair

Marcia Taylor – Past Chair

Carmen Ternette – Conference Registrar – New Member

Cecilia Wolf – District Coordinator – Tampa

2. February Business meeting minutes were reviewed. Motion was made by Anoush McNamee to approve, seconded by Katie DeGuzman; approved by members. The approved minutes were provided to Kelly along with the By-Laws to post on the website.

3. Board Members

  1. Cynthia Aversa, Daren Caine and Carmen Ternette were presented as the new members of the FAIE Board.
  1. Vanina Granell was recommended by the Chair to be the Interim Treasurer. The treasurer position is an elected position per By-Laws. Therefore, an Interim Treasurer has been appointed by the Chair until the next Business meeting in February 2013 at which time the members will vote on a the position.
  1. Records of all the board members CV’s will have to be provided to Jenifer. All members agreed; will be made official through the minute and website.
  1. There are two positions vacant; CVs and a letter of support from the candidate’s supervisor will be required as part of the application.

i. Jacksonville – East District Coordinator

ii. English Language Programs Coordinator

4. Reports from Coordinators

  1. Website Coordinator report – Website was updated to be more user friendly. New information should be emailed to Kelly Reid. By-laws and minutes will be added to the website. Darren suggested having highlights, events and links from the different campuses/district added to the website. Recommendations should be sent to Jenifer and Kelly.Also, it was suggested to have a section in the website to include information about the Consulates.

Facebook administration access was requested by several members. Kelly Reid will be the administrator for the Facebook page. Another recommendation was to have the Board members post more information.

Past Chair - Marcia Taylor commented on her concerns regarding members joining the listserv and the reasons why they would want to join. Is not clear what joining means and what to expect from FAIE. Marcia suggested having a map by area/region/district showing where the members are located. Another suggestion was to create a form to confirm membership and agree tohaving their name and email listed as a member on the website. Cynthia Aversa will help with the secondary school contact list. Marcia will try to get the list of NAFSA members in Florida to encourage them to join FAIE.

OrlandoDistrict Coordinator report – Daren Caine is planning a district meeting at UCF for 2013.

TampaDistrict Coordinator report – Cecilia Wolf’s main priority is to reach out to people in her district.

Jenifer suggested having meetings by district at the FAIE State Conference.

Conference Registrar report – Carmen Ternette is a new member, requested suggestions for website posting.

Study Abroad Coordinator report – Katie DeGuzman informed that the conference went very well. There were more study abroad presentations than previously. Also, she was concern with the fact that the conference sponsors think that FAIE is for International Student & Scholar Services only, not Study Abroad. We should let the vendors know what the organization is about. Also, get the vendors involved in the sessions, to participate in the conference.

Jacksonville West District Coordinator report – Rachel Errington asked for advice on how to get the Community College people involve.

Miami District Coordinator report– Anoush McNamee tried to organize a meeting in 2011 but had to cancel because there weren’t enough people. The goal was 20 people. Anoush will try again; Miami Dade College doesn’t charge for rooms or parking, so it may be more feasible now.

Secondary School Coordinator report –Cynthia Aversa is a new member. She will work together with the Orlando district coordinator. Cynthia will try to organize sessions at schools to help students through the Florida Consortium of Public Charter Schools. Alejandra Parra volunteered to work together with Cynthia, she has connections with the undergraduate admissions in her institution. Also, the FL Consortium of Public Charter Schools has a conference every November in Orlando and Cynthia suggested having a session to talk about FAIE. This conference takes place in the second week in November and it may conflict with International Education Week. Cynthia wants to know who would like to present a session with her; a deadline for a proposal was set for July 31st. Jenifer will work with her, Cecilia is also interested.

FILC report – Dawn Wharram wasn’t able to attend the meeting, Jenifer reported on her behalf. This year FILC (February 2012) was the largest. We are looking for a new venue. The Elks youth camp was suggested but liability insurance is required and FILC doesn’t have it. This will not be an option, the dates are not available. Dawn will talk with the Ocala staff regarding the rules of FILC.

5. Travel grants for members to attend NAFSA Regional Conference in Puerto Rico was proposed at the FAIE conference in February. A basic application along with CV and support letter from the supervisor will be required.

  1. Criteria suggested:
  1. Statement of purpose to explain how this grant will help them help their institution and the state.
  2. Give something back for receiving the travel grant:
  3. Make a proposal for a session in a conference
  4. Assist a District Coordinator
  5. To be an Active FB reporter; blogging about what is happening at the conference
  6. Reimburse or cash? – research how the grant will be reimbursed.
  7. Acknowledge the winner/winners in the conference state meeting.
  1. Deadline to apply will be Friday, August 10th. There will be three (3) weeks for review and a decision should be made by August 31st, 2012. Call out to apply will go out July 23rd.
  1. Review committee:Alejandra Parra – will be receiving all applications

Katie DeGuzman

Rachel Errington

Daren Caine

Anoush McNamee

The committee will have until August 24th to review all the applications. An email to the Board members with the applications, letters, CVs and statements of purpose should be sentfor review and recommendations one (1) week before a decision is made.

6. FAIE Conference 2013

  1. Various sites were suggested for the 2013 conference like Sarasota, New College of FL, Ringling College, and USF. A decision will be made by mid August after contacting the schools. Jenifer provided an invoice from New College to give an estimate of how much it will cost to have the conference at that institution. If the conference takes place at the New College campus, to be able to take advantage of the Bay Front patio at the institution, it was suggested to have the conference Sunday through Tuesday having the closing reception on Monday evening. Other options are Thursday through Friday or Friday through Saturday if not using Bay Front patio for the closing reception.
  2. Committees:
  3. Jenifer and Cecilia will be in charge of the local arrangements. There are a few hotels close to the venue, Jenifer will get quotes and estimates within a couple of weeks and email information to make a decision, this way we can have an idea on how much to charge for registration fee.
  4. Logistics (Treasurer)– VaninaGranell and Jenifer Ruby
  5. Marketing – Kelly Reid and Evelyn Rodriguez
  6. Sponsors/Vendors – Katie will do it again but would like to get help to recruit new vendors/sponsors. Will approach sponsors in Puerto Rico. It was suggested to have vendors pack during lunch or after the closing session.
  7. Sessions – Alejandra Parra, Cecilia Wolf and Rachel Errington will be in charge of reviewing proposals. Last year’s deadline was December, but was changed to January. Requests for proposals to be made pre-Puerto Rico – 1st call out in mid-October. Early bird deadline by offering discount.
  8. Marcia Taylor volunteered to coordinate NAFSA On-Demand workshops. Alejandra Parra suggested J1 workshops to be included on the list of workshop proposals for people to choose. A poll to find out needs and interest will be put together.
  9. November 30th was established as a deadline for session proposals.
  10. Alejandra Parra proposed “Global Ambassadors for International Understanding” as a theme for the conference. Another suggestion was to have call for proposals around the theme.
  11. Conference brochure – Dawn Wooten’s husband is willing to put together the brochure. They already have the template; it will need to be updated. A quote will be requested for an estimate.
  12. Reviews of the 2012 conference evaluations are available to the Sessions Committee for reference, especially for selecting sessions for the 2013 conference.
  13. Conference agenda/schedule will be determined once we have the venue and quotes. The schedule could remain the same. A suggestion was to have a panel session during or after lunch or break out panel with Government/SEVP representatives. Another suggestion is to have Government officials instead of SEVP officials.
  14. Keynote speaker – the speaker/speech to be related with the conference theme, do it over lunch break or at the end. Alejandra proposed Dr. Eduardo J. Padrón, president of Miami Dade College. The deadline to find a speaker will be mid August.

7. Listserv – Evelyn requested the district coordinators to send her their member lists to compare and invite new members to join the Yahoo Group. Criteria to join the listserv will be established.

8. District meetings – drive-in meetings hosted at local institutions will be a good way to reach out to members of your district. Reaching out to thenew SEVP Field Representative assigned to your institution. Another suggestion wasa networking lunch. Also, take advantage of any activity hosted in your own institution; if possible, invite members of your district to participate if appropriate. After attending a conference, organizing a networking meeting to discuss what happened in the conference.

9. Government Contacts list – Jenifer requested for all Board members to send her their Government contact list.