NAREA Board Meeting

August 1-3, 2003

NAREA Board Meeting

August 1 – 3, 2003

Seattle

Minutes of Meeting

The meeting began at 5:00 p.m. on Friday, August 1, 2003

Attendance: Angela Ferrario, Teresa Acevedo, Margie Cooper, Ellen Hall, Judith Allen Kaminsky, Susan Lyon, Beth MacDonald, Simonetta Cittadini-Medina, Lori Geismar-Ryan, Mary Hartzell, Bonnie Neugebauer, Pat Tarr

Ellen Hall and Susan Lyon opened the meeting and thanks were given to Bonnie for hosting the meeting. Ellen welcomed Cheryl Rapaport, Administrative Coordinator, to the meeting and thanked her for taking notes. She will distribute notes and handouts to those not present.

Purpose of this evening’s meeting is to go over the essential questions on the agenda handout and create an agenda for tomorrow. (See handout “NAREA Guiding Board Meeting, Agenda, August 1-3, 2003”)

Areas to be discussed and defined:

NAEYC: Susan & Ellen

3-hour pre-conference session (Wednesday, November 5)

  1. Help participants decide which Reggio sessions might be helpful to them
  2. Introduce those people who have never had an experience with Reggio.

Participation in Festival of Organization (NAREA will have a table)

NAREA annual membership meeting at NAEYC, Friday, November 7, 5-7 p.m.

Tuesday, November 4: 15-minute presentation at the Chicago Commons learning tour

Determine when we will have NAREA Board Meeting

Susan mentioned that at the last meeting with Reggio at the World Forum, Reggio Children decided to list us as a Reggio contact in USA ReChild. Emanuela Vercalli is going to be our contact person.

COMMUNICATIONS & INFORMATIOM - Lori

Logo Design: Letters were written to thank everyone who contributed a design for the logo.

Membership Brochure:

Brochures were sent out to all guiding board members and some conferences. Lori is keeping a list of changes that will be made on the next printing of the brochure, i.e., indicate U.S. money only.

Lori brought samples of letterhead and business cards that the designer, Zvia created. She noted that our Logo should appear everywhere, as it is our identity. Discussion followed as to trademark and copy write legalities.

Everyone thanked Lori for the hard work on the brochure.

Web: See handout “NAREA Website” and review for discussion

INNOVATIONS UPDATE - Judy

Judy noted that things are going well. Trying to make sure that everyone gets their issues and back issues. Occasionally there is a problem with bulk mail and if a member has not gotten two issues, they are switched to first class mail. Members are happy as far as she knows.

Noted that over half of NAREA members are new subscribers. Roughly she 1,000 to 1,200 issues are distributed. Renewal notices go out quarterly. She will add a note to her renewal letters asking them to join NAREA.

Question for later discussion: How can we tap into the past Innovations members? Judy noted that her list of subscribers goes back 3 years.

BOARD REPRESENTATION

Items added for discussion:

  1. What is our goal for the composition of the board? What does the ideal board look like? Is it all practitioners, is it people who can contribute monetarily, could we benefit by having a lawyer or a finance person, etc.
  2. What is policy & procedures for Board? Review policy and procedures for board members – copied and distributed to members
  3. Define the rotating terms for board members
  4. What about South America representation?
  5. What about people on the board who cannot afford to attend meetings. Define what other ways they can be active board members. Can we allocate funds so more people can attend?
  6. Clarify who wants to stay on the Board
  7. Expectations for responding to e-mails and attendance. Establish a protocol for timely responses from members

Long Term Planning - Beth

It was noted that we should plan for 1 year, 3 years and 5 years in all areas of discussion in terms of Board Representation, Finance, etc.

OFFICE REPORT – Cheryl

Reported that the office was up and running smoothly. The learning phase is just about over. Communications with NAREA members and Board members was going well. Have worked mostly with Judy on membership for Innovations. Everyone is very helpful.

  • Membership count was reported at 398.
  • One prizewinner from Rome, GA elected to attend a conference in Boulder.
  • Questionnaire was sent out and responses were distributed to all members for review.

Handouts: Administrative Coordinator Duties & Responsibilities for NAREA

Response to Questionnaire (review for discussion)

e-mail addresses (members to note any changes)

Mailing addresses (members to note any changes)

Items to be discussed: Problems and frustrations and what we envision for the future.

FINANCIAL REPORT - Margie

Status of Budget: Margie reported that a budget had never been developed.

Members should think about what kind of budget do we want and what is long-term budget.

Financial Report was distributed to all members for tomorrow’s discussion.

ORGANIZATION & DEVELOPMENT

  1. Review attorney, Jeff Peters, document recommending minor changes to the NAREA guidelines, Policies and Procedures (See handout)
  2. Need to formalize the three meetings a year so that board members have more time to prepare
  3. Look at time frame of the meetings again to determine if we need to arrive on Friday, etc.
  4. Does the NAREA meeting at NAEYC count as one of the three board meetings?
  5. Can we make an effort to provide a meeting place and possible housing in different areas and get creative in trying to provide airfare for people who cannot attend?
  6. How is board members participation financed?

MEMBERSHIP - Beth

  1. How do we tap Innovation members – Discussion followed on merging membership lists using a data management firm and Cheryl will forward to Beth research on this subject.
  2. Review membership year cycle. Do members realize that when they join in September, they will be asked to join again in January?
  3. How long do we want to offer founding membership?
  4. What is the motivation for joining this organization and what are our responsibilities to our members?
  5. Need to develop a tangible introduction to sell NAREA & convey fundamental principals
  6. What will we develop for them? Video – web site?
  7. Do we need to break down the membership list by geographic area to develop the next level?
  8. How do we offer membership to parents and teachers?
  9. What strategies can we use? 10% discount at conference?
  10. How can members connect with each other? Could there be a function on our web site for them to self select to chat with others. Can we share members’ e-mail with others? How do we get their permission? What are the legalities?

COMMUNICATION & INFORMATION – WEB - Lori

What are the links?

What revisions need to be made?

What is our plan?

Where is there a place for the exhibit?

How can we network schools and projects?

How can we make our mission visible?

How can we network schools and projects?

Meeting was adjourned at 6:45 p.m. Topics will be picked up the next day.

Day 2 – August 2, 2003

Meeting began at 9:20 a.m.

Susan noted that the goal for today would be to go through each subject and make decisions.

BOARD REPRESENTATION - Susan

Regarding status of members: An e-mail was sent to all board members asking for their decision regarding continued board participation. All members were to respond by 7/15/03.

Susan noted that everyone in attendance replied yes to continuation.

Members not at meeting but responded yes: Sygrid Caudle, Jennifer Strange, and Mabel Higgins

No response: Karen Haigh, Sandy Miller, Barbara Acton & Anne Bardwell

Policy & Procedure for Board Members: Margie explained that guiding board terms commence at the August meeting (not at annual membership meeting in November, see attachment, Policies and Procedures, page 5, #4, b. iv.). Since we do not have responses from some, the board will vote on new board members at the November meeting.

Margie also noted that in order to comply with the policies and procedures, we must form a Nominating Committee and assign terms to the original board (see handout, Policy & Procedures: Page 5, b. ii).

Terms of board members: For the purpose of complying with our policy and procedures, initial terms of founding guiding board members were drafted and agreed upon by all members present. They are as follows:

Terms

1 yearSandy Miller, Barbara Acton, Karen Haigh, Anne Bardwell

2 yearMary Hartzell, Pat Tarr, Jennifer Strange, Sygrid Caudle.

Mabel Higgins

3 yearSimonetta Cittadini-Medina, Teresa Acevedo, Bonnie Neugebauer,

Lori Geismar-Ryan, Judy Allen Kaminsky

4 yearEllen Hall, Angela Ferrario, Beth MacDonald and Margie Cooper,

Susan Lyon

Nominating Committee: Angela Ferrariovolunteered to head up the ad-hoc Nominating Committee and to call upon members of the board as needed to be on the committee.

Nominating Committee is to ask the one-year members if they wish to continue and if they say yes, their names are put on a slate for re-election and a vote takes place. If elected, they go on to 4 years. The next year the 2-year members are asked and so forth. This will establish staggered terms of service. If there are any vacancies, Angela will notify the board members who will be asked to submit nominations.

By NAEYC we should have a slate to vote on. Two weeks prior to the meeting the slate will be sent to all guiding board members.

BOARD COMPOSITION

A discussion followed as to what might make up a good board composition.

  1. Lawyer (at a point in time when we are better organized)
  2. Geography & gender representation
  3. Expertise
  4. Economic diversity of programs
  5. Racial
  6. International component, Canada, Mexico, S. America (For now, Simonetta & Angela will handle

Current Board Composition: In order to decide what we need on the board, it was agreed that we should compile a profile of all board members. This would include skills and talents of the current board. Angela volunteered to send out questions to board members to compile a profile.

Board Development: See Organization & Development

Expense of Meetings: For future budgeting and planning, everyone agreed to submit an estimate as to what their expenses were for the past board meetings. This would include, air fare, hotel, meals & transportation. Cheryl will send out a request for this information to all board members.

Attendance: Our expectation is that everyone attends meetings.

Protocol for responding to e-mails: Everyone should be committed to give a timely response to e-mails. If after two requests and the passing of 10 days, it will be assumed that the respondent is in agreement.

Communications: To facilitate communications, Cheryl will let the board know of Executive Committee decisions as they take place and will take notes at conference calls for distribution.

Office: Regarding problems and frustrations. None reported to date. Goals are to develop a better understanding of NAREA and how the role of administrator/coordinator can best serve the members and the board. Will continue to develop procedures to run the office in an efficient and orderly manner while staying within the time constraints of the hours. Susan suggested that the board would like to be made aware of any problems so that they can offer their help.

Finance: Margie reported that we received a clean audit for 2002. Margie will prepare a proposed budget for 2004 and will e-mail it to each member prior to the Nov. Board meeting. Discussion to take place prior to meeting so that it can be approved at the Nov. Board meeting.

Budget Item: Regarding Meeting Expenses. Estimate for remainder of 2003 shows $4,000 – since we are not providing food, the cost of the meeting should run about $1,200 (for AV, etc.). Also included in that figure is the cost of conference calls, which would increase the amount to approximately $1,500. That would free up some money. Margie will give us an exact number of how much money we have to work with and how much we can get for the web site to be redesigned. (Tomorrow)

ORGANIZATION & DEVELOPMENT: Susan & Ellen

A motion was made to adopt NAREA Guidelines revisions as proposed from attorney by Judy. Second by Margie. Everyone was in favor and voted to accept. Margie will integrate the revisions into the Policy & Procedure Guidelines and distribute updated copies at the November meeting. Cheryl will put together a notebook of all minutes and notes to be brought to all meetings.

Research non-profit status - Beth stated that it costs approximately $3,000 to form a non-profit organization. Susan volunteered to contact someone she knows to see if we could get the work done gratis. This will be an on-going discussion and Susan & Beth agreed to report their findings at the November meeting

Research non-profit board composition – An ad-hoc committee is needed to gather information regarding nonprofit boards and to bring educational information to the board. Margie will offer web based research information to begin the process of research and to provide reading lists to board members. Committee would inform the board and members should have understanding of what roles they want to play.

Current/ Revised Committees:

Executive Committee: Teresa, Margie, Angela, Ellen, Judy, Susan & Beth

Membership: Beth, Teresa, Mary & Pat

Organizational Development: Susan & Ellen till end of the year

Finance – Margie Cooper

Financial Development – Susan & Ellen till end of the year

Communications & Information (Web) – Lori, Bonnie, Judy, Ellen, Susan

Ad-hoc Nominating Committee – Angela

Product Development

Board members not present: Susan will contact those who are not here and who have not responded to ask for committee participation. Angela will contact those who have responded.

Financial Development needs members to work on fund raising, grant writing, understanding 501(c) 3.

Organizational Development Committee needs members to work on long range planning & research and to begin the process of looking at people who may have a strong background and business sense.

Product Development needs members to work on producing a video or booklet, promotional items, catalog. Needs something to motivate people to become members.

MEMBERSHIP:

Review Questionnaire (See handout “Response to Questionnaire Sent to NAREA Members”) Question, what do members want?

  1. They want real dialogue
  2. Want us to develop something that is not out there
  3. Meet their needs
  4. Want to be inspired and know what others are doing and a form to share work
  5. Want to know what they get for membership
  6. Want to communicate
  7. Web site that reflects what they want
  8. They want to know what are w going to do with all of these members

(Judy will summarize the member’s responses for a later discussion)

Membership Renewal: It was decided for the time being that we would continue the membership from January to January and be prepared to give explanation of the benefits, i.e. Innovations – back issues, membership discounts, and being a part of this start-up organization. We will gather more data about renewal issues and continue discussion.

Renewal letter – Must go out before NAEYC along with membership brochure explaining what we have done and what we plan to do next year. Cheryl to type draft and submit to Membership committee by 9/1.

Founding Members – Decided that we would continue offering three year founding memberships for another two years.

Ideas for Membership – and NAECY meeting

  • Member Directory
  • Speaker Series
  • Round Table Discussions
  • Bring together schools and contacts
  • Lella (sp) talks – Amelia (sp) talks
  • Fundamental Guide
  • Show Unity
  • Ask each school to bring slides to show what is happening in schools in N. America
  • Begin initiative with people at the annual meeting and try to identify a networking project. We could then publish this information.
  • Exchange names and experiences & information.
  • Use words i.e., Imagine, and tell a story, slides, play – then groups build and tell their stories about what happened in their schools & record it.

Membership list broken down by state: Lori suggested that Cheryl send each board member a NAREA membership list broken down by their geographic location.

Web – Report from Susan

Since February Kevin has had to resign. Susan is working with Jeff on updates on the web site; however, he lives in NY and it is difficult to work with him, therefore, we need to find a person who can work on this. Status is on hold. The registration fee was $35.00 and the host fee is $14.95. We need to get to Level III and know cost of a member’s only application.

Beth, Mary and Lori all know people who they believe are capable of developing theweb site. They will talk to them and try to get as much gratis work as possible. They will submit the results to the Web Committee. Requires someone who has good graphic skills and understands our philosophy. The committee was given several web sites to look at.