ICAE / ILCAE Meeting
IAA Building, Bloomington, IL
Conference Room 4
Friday, September 12, 2014 – 10:00 a.m.
1. Welcome and Introductions – Luke Allen, Mariah Anderson, Andy Baker, Kevin Daugherty, Dean Dittmar, Doug Hanson, Bill Johnson, Vern McGinnis, Jamie Powers, Katie Pratt, Jess Smithers, Kay Shipman, Bill Schreck, Dick Steffen, Erica Thieman, Al Zwilling
Attendance via GoToMeeting: Parker Bane, Andrew Bowman, Dave Cattron, Al Dietz, Jason Emmert, Karen Fraase, Mike Massie, Mark Meurer, Heather Miller, Don Moffitt, David Mouser, Connie Niemann, Kaitlin Weitekamp,
2. Approve Agenda – Motion to approve the agenda by Bill Johnson, Bill Schreck 2nd; Motion passed.
3. Approve Minutes of June 18, 2014 Meeting – Motion to approve the minutes by Kevin Daugherty, Kay Shipman 2nd; Motion passed.
4. ICAE Business Items
a. ICAE Appointments Confirmed: We have received notice from the Governor’s office that Katie Pratt, Becky Ropp, Parker Bane, and Dr. Richard Steffen have been appointed to ICAE. The only pending appointment is for Aaron Heinzmann.
b. ICAE Resignation: Katie Pratt moved to accept the resignation of Tim Reed; Shipman – 2nd. Motion passed.
c. Teacher Recruitment and Retention
a. Agricultural Education recognized as a “high need / shortage” area.
i. Dick Steffen moved that ICAE contact and meet with ISBE staff (Chris Koch, Dora Welker) prior to the October meeting to make the case for designating Agricultural Education as a “high need / shortage” teaching area. Katie Pratt – 2nd. Motion passed.
1. There was also discussion regarding the shortage of substitute teachers and how it may or will impact Ag Ed as well. The consensus of the group was to keep this as a separate issue so that it wouldn’t take any focus away from the Ag Ed teacher shortage.
d. ICAE New Member Orientation
a. After a brief discussion regarding the on-boarding of new members, it was suggested that a webinar be held in November and a face-to-face orientation to be held prior to or after the January meeting. The topics addressed would include but not be limited to – the history and role of ICAE, ILCAE, FCAE, expectations of members, and current initiatives/challenges.
5. ILCAE Business Items
a. Nominating Committee Report – Dave Cattron
o 2014-2015 ILCAE Officer Nominations (To be slated at the ILCAE Annual Meeting)
(a) Chair: Bill Johnson / Andrew Bowman
(b) Vice-Chair: Kay Shipman
o Report on committee work to identify new members to be added at the annual meeting. – Dave gave an update on the members with terms expiring in 2014 – at this point seven wish to be re-elected to another 3-year term. He also informed the group that six individuals have confirmed their interest in becoming members of ILCAE.
o ILCAE Resignations: Doug Hanson moved to accept the resignations of Rachel Stuart-Peabody, Bruce Frank, and Bob Sheets; Bill Shreck – 2nd; motion passed.
b. ILCAE New Member Orientation – Webinar November; Face-to-Face at the January meeting.
o After a brief discussion regarding the on-boarding of new members, it was suggested that a webinar be held in November and a face-to-face orientation to be held prior to or after the January meeting. The topics addressed would include but not be limited to – the history and role of ICAE, ILCAE, FCAE, expectations of members, and current initiatives/challenges. Separate webinars and orientation meetings would be held for ICAE and ILCAE.
c. Engaging Business Committee Report – Andrew Bowman
o Andrew Bowman provided an oral report of the work done by the Engaging Business committee which has met about every two weeks since late June. Andrew and committee will finalize an engaging business plan soon and will present it to the membership at the ILCAE annual meeting on October 24th. The plan includes the following domains – Sponsorship, Teacher Engagement, General Education, and Company Systems.
d. Teacher Recruitment - Acquire scholarships for all student teachers ($2 to $4,000)
o A goal was set at the June meeting to annually acquire $2,000 to $4,000 in support for each Agricultural Education student teacher.
o Dr. Baker suggested that the IAVAT Retired Teachers Golf Outing may be a good avenue to raise funds.
o Katie Pratt brought forth the idea of encouraging local FFA Alumni chapters to support student teachers financially via a grants, gas cards, or other means. She suggested that the State Alumni Association send a note to local alumni chapters to encourage them to support student teachers. Al Zwilling agreed to relay the idea to the FFA Alumni.
e. Revision of “The Plan for Illinois Agricultural Education”
o The group discussed plans for updating “The Plan for Illinois Agricultural Education”
o The following were added at the June meeting: Bill Johnson (ILCAE), Vern McGinnis (ICAE), Dick Steffen (ICAE), Kevin Daugherty (AITC), Harley Hepner (ISBE), Seb Pensen (Ag Teacher Educator), Jess Smithers (FCAE), Dean Dittmar (FCAE), Parker Bane (Secondary Teacher).
o The committee needs representation from the following: Community College, University – Agriculture, another secondary teacher, Extension.
a) Aaron Heinzmann was suggested as the Community College representative. Gary Shupe, CC GAST recipient.
b) Dr. Rhykerd (ISU) was suggested as the University – Agriculture representative.
c) Invite Dr. Baker, Dr. Thieman, and Community College Ag Ed Instructors (LLC, BHE)
d) Ask for IAVAT representation from each of the Districts
e) Russ Higgins was suggested as the Extension representative.
ii) Kevin Daugherty moved to form a committee to revised the plan to be chaired by Doug Hanson, Vern McGinnis seconded; motion passed.
6. Discussion Items
a. ILCAE – NAAE Region IV Outstanding Cooperation Award Winner
i. ILCAE will be recognized on Friday, November 21st at the NAAE Convention with the NAAE Region IV Outstanding Cooperation Award.
b. ISBE Budget Hearings – Advocacy for Agricultural Education
i. The ISBE budget hearing dates have not been release yet, but will be held in October and November. ILCAE and ICAE members are encourage to attend the hearings to advocate for Agricultural Education. Those unable to attend the hearings are encouraged to send an email to to provide testimony for Ag Ed.
ii. It was suggested that Jess Smithers and Jim Craft develop talking points and provide them to those who plan to attend a hearing. We need to ensure that we have representation at each of the budget hearings.
iii. Bill Schreck mentioned that he tries to attend all ISBE Board meetings, but he will be unable to now as they are holding the meetings throughout the state instead of having all of them in Springfield. We need representation at ISBE Board Meetings during the three minute public participation at the beginning of meetings. They also have three minute public participation for committee meetings.
c. 2013-2014 Secondary and Post-Secondary Agricultural Education Data – A summary of secondary and post-secondary data was provided to the group in print form.
d. IL Pathways – Agriculture Food and Natural Resources (AFNR) STEM Learning Exchange Update - We are currently in the third (and potentially the final year) for the project that was funded by the federal Race to the Top initiative. Luke and Dean provide a summary of data generated by the SAE Grant to Programs.
e. FY2015 FCAE Goals and Priorities – Due to insufficient time, this agenda item was postponed until the next meeting.
7. Reports - Time Permitting
o Illinois Ag in the Classroom Report – Kevin Daugherty, IL AITC Education Director – IAITC will be issuing checks for a total of $530,000 to 69 coalitions.
o FFA – Cody Morris, Illinois FFA President
o FFA Alumni Report – Jim McCray, IL FFA Alumni President
o IAVAT – Jay Solomonson, IAVAT President
o IACCAI – Theresa Meers, IACCAI President – The annual agriculture articulation conference and IACCAI conference will be held at Parkland on October 2nd and 3rd.
o University Agriculture Programs and Teacher Education Programs Reports
i. ISU up to 550 enrollment. WIU – 3 student teachers. Ag enrollment down 12 students (3%) at WIU. New Collegiate FB at WIU. Large freshman class at U of IL. 12 student teachers this Spring. 5 student teachers next year.
o ISBE – Harley Hepner, Agricultural Education Principal Consultant
o FCAE – Jess Smithers, FCAE Coordinator
8. Future Meetings:
o October 24th, IAA Building, Bloomington (in conjunction with the PAS Fall Conference)
o January 9th, IAA Building, Bloomington
o April 10th, ICAE Symposium, Location – TBD
o June 17th, DoubleTree Hotel, Bloomington
9. Adjourn: Motion to adjourn at 12:15 by Bill Schreck, Shipman – 2nd; motion approved.