Long Range Planning Committee

Conference Call

March 15, 2004

DRAFT

Meeting record

Attendees:

Jack Benson

Jim Canaday

Jim Condon

Paul Freedman

Mike Godfrey

Al Goodman

Larry Jaworski

John Poppe

Julian Sandino

Joe Stowe

Chuck Weir

Nancy Wheatley

Tom Wolfe

Adam Zabinski

Approval of 2/17/04 Meeting Record

The committee approved the meeting record from the February 17th Conference Call without changes.

Governance Survey Process

The Committee reviewed the preliminary survey results. Major items of discussion included the following:

1. There was considerable discussion regarding the "None of the above" responses from Question No. 2. It was agreed that these responses would be left out of the survey results. Tom Wolfe will advise the Committee if these responses impact the results and a decision on including them will be made at a later date. This category may include MA Executive Directors and the Committee needs to make sure that the category of MA leader is worded to include them in future surveys.

2. Based on the responses, www.wefnet.org may need some reworking. More publicity, easier access, or reconfiguration were discussed as possibilities. It was uncertain who at WEF is the contact person. Jack Benson and Tom Wolfe will report back to the Committee.

3. Key issues for discussion at WEFMAX meetings include the following:

§ Actions taken at WEFTEC in 2003 have been affirmed by the survey results (Questions 10, 11, and 12)

§ HOD and use of Focus Groups - use of teleconferences and listserve groups got mixed reviews, understanding of focus v. work groups may not be well understood (Questions 7.3, 7.5, and 16.6)

§ Expectations of Directors have changed. Strong support for participating in items listed in Question No. 16 (with note on focus groups, above). Directors promote interests of their MA and to a high degree WEF as well (Question No. 14). Need to generate discussion that being a WEF Director is not just a reward for having been an MA President and that WEF Directors need to be actively engaged in the business of WEF. There was discussion about a revised job description for Directors to assist MAs in selecting new Directors. Requirements for participation in a focus group and WEF Committee were discussed and should be explored at the WEFMAX meetings.

§ Strategic Planning is an area that requires more effort from the HOD, CLC, and WEF staff. The HOD and Committees through the CLC are responsible for the Strategic Plan (Question No. 20). Familiarity with the Strategic Plan needs some improvement (Questions No. 17 and 19). There is a strong interest in contributing to the Strategic Plan (Question No. 18).

4. Another email reminder is going out early this week. It will include a deadline for completing the survey by March 19, 2004. Tom Wolfe will compile his final report the week of March 22 based on the March 19 cutoff date.

5. The four LRPC work groups will review the preliminary survey results and verbatim responses from the perspective of communications, Trustee/Director selection, HOD organization, and strategic planning. The work groups should provide feedback to the Committee specific to the key items identified in No. 3, above to ensure that all areas are properly addressed at the WEFMAX meetings.

6. There was considerable discussion regarding the actual strategic planning efforts of the Committee since its focus has been primarily on governance for the last year and a half. There is still much work to do to link the strategic plan to the work of the committees and WEF staff, and that the budgeting process will eventually be linked to the strategic plan. The Committee acknowledged that implementation of the governance system will likely require additional modifications to the Constitution and Bylaws, but that effort should fall to the C&B Committee and not LRPC.

Next Steps

1. The first WEFMAX meeting is in Williamsburg, VA, April 1-3, 2004. Weir, and Wheatley will review Tom Wolfe's final report and then work with Vice President Read to develop a presentation for the WEFMAX meetings. A copy of Tom Wolfe's final report will also be distributed at these meetings.

2. Consensus recommendations from the WEFMAX meetings will be used to develop a report for the BOT to review and act on at the June BOT meetings. This should provide adequate time for planning WEFTEC sessions for the HOD and focus groups of the HOD.

Planning Issues

§ Planning Issues were discussed throughout the course of the call and specifically as noted in Item No. 6, above.

Next meeting:

§ The next meeting of the Long Range Planning Committee will be a conference call on Monday, April 19, 2004 1:30 - 2:30 p.m. eastern time.

Having no further business, the meeting was adjourned.