WCPA Winter Executive Board Meeting

Thursday, January 8 and Friday, January 9, 2015

University of Wisconsin – La Crosse

3100 Centennial Hall

Present:

Jason Bertrand

Lindsay Gustin

Sheila Keaton

Stephanie Salazar Kann

Crystal Lillge

John Palmer

Chris Stindt

Maggie Higgins

Thursday, January 8, 2015

11:30 a.m.Lunch

-accomplished

1:00 p.m.Welcome/Agenda Overview

  • Introductions. We have some new faces!
  • Jason Bertrand is president. He works in Crandon and works with the PotawatomiTribe as their Higher education Specialist.
  • Sheila Keaton, currently at UW-Madison in the Center for Leadership and Involvement, but her last day is Monday. She is moving to Milwaukee and will be job-searching there. She serves as our treasurer.
  • Lindsay Gustin works at UW-Whitewater in the Dean of Student Office as Conduct Coordinator and Care team manager. She serves as conference chair with WCPA.
  • Stephanie Salazar Kann works at UW-Madison in Engineering and she is the Commission Chair for Grads and New Professionals.
  • Christin VanKauwenberg is the Co-Curricular Engagement Coach at Nicolet College. She is president-elect and served as conference co-chair last year.
  • Crystal Lillge works as a Community Coordinator at Viterbo and will be serving as conference co-chair this year.
  • John Palmer is the Assistant Dean of Students at UW-La Crosse and a past-president of WCPA. He is serving as the Commission Chair for Professional Development.
  • Chris Stindt works at UW-LaCrosse as a Career Advisor and is the Technology Coordinator for WCPA
  • Maggie Higgins works at UW-Madison in Housing and serves asSecretary for WCPA.
  • A few folks that are not here yet, but we want to mention are:
  • Sarah Tweedale is the Commission Chair for Health and Wellness and she works at Beloit.
  • Joe Haferman works in student activities at Edgewood College and is our immediate past president.
  • Rosana Godinez, also in student activities at Edgewood College, is the Membership Coordinator.
  • Patrick Vander Zanden is at UW-Oshkosh and is the Commission Chair for Leadership and Involvement.
  • Mandy was treasurer for the past two years and is now the Commission Chair for Equity & Inclusion.
  • Agenda overview & updates
  • We can be flexible with our agenda items based on when people can join in via Google Hangouts.
  • We may want to add some brainstorming time in for ourCommission Chairs
  • There is a social at Howie’s tonight, and invites went to Viterbo, UW-L, and to the membership listserv.
  • Tomorrow we will start early, at 8am. We may need to talk more about the conference evaluation and go over updates.
  • Sandi Scott Duex will call in tomorrow at 9am to talk about the Transition Task Force, which she will be chairingthat transition team.
  • Mandy will be here tomorrow for the Treasurer’s report and will thentransitionthe Treasurer position and documents over to Sheila.
  • Any changes to agenda?
  • Let’s add a break into the schedule. We will need to move cars every two hours.

1:15 p.m.President Updates

  • Transition- Christin & Jason have talked a fair bit. Not much has changed since the last Google hangout
  • Jason has not heard back from our attorney yet.
  • Jason talked to the Ohio CPA and they are leaning toward disaffiliation as well. Their attorney advised them that they will not need to change their name, which is promising for us.
  • Jason spoke withthe New York chapter and they have disaffiliated. They are also planning to keep their name.
  • John Palmer was president of WCPA when we registered as a state 501-C 3, about 5-7 years ago (Good Job, John!) and it seems like we may be able to keep our name based on his knowledge of that process.
  • Is it worth discussing whether we should change our name?
  • Because this opportunity is unlikely to come up again in the future, perhaps we should consider it?
  • We could alter our logo and change the name:
  • Or instead of altering our logo, maybe we could just swap out one letter: Wisconsin College Professionals Association
  • Jason had a meeting scheduled with Cindi Love for earlier this morning because he has not been able to get a response from any of the ACPA state coordinators over the past few weeks. He called her at the scheduled time and she did not answer. She just called himback but he was unable to take it as he is leading this meeting.
  • It sounds like Minnesota will also disaffiliate, but they need their membership vote still.
  • Transition Task Force:
  • Sandi Scott Duex is the chair of the committee. Members could include: Joe Haferman (past president); Maggie Higgins (current exec. board); Stephanie Salazar Kann (current exec. board); Paul Shepard (past president) from UW-River Falls; Jacque Bonneville from UW-EC (Seasoned, but not a past-president); Andy Luptak from Concordia (past president); Ann Groves Lloyd from UW-Madison (past president of WCPA and ACPA); Sarah Tienhaara, an HD at UW-L, who will represent the younger professional.
  • Jason would also like to see a graduate student involved as well.
  • What about someone from the UWW program, since they are a sponsor of WCPA?
  • Lindsay can reach out to them tonight, since she has a contact.
  • Also, UWW is not yet represented on the committee.
  • Christin also mentioned that another option is to invite and include someone from the technical college side of things. If we cannot find someone from the technical colleges, we should utilize Christin as a resource to answer technical college questions.
  • This is tabled until tomorrow when we have a charge for the committee and we can touch base with Sandi Scott Duex.
  • Shawn Johnson (past president) declined to be on the committee but she will help as needed/able.
  • The current executive board will need to give theTransition Task Force a charge, and they Transition Task Forcewill make a recommendation to the board, who will make a recommendation to the membership, who will vote.

Social at 4:30 tonight

  • Do we want to pay for appetizers? We need to vote and give ourselves permission to do that.
  • Previously, we had paid for board lunches in the budget, so Christin proposes that we find that money in the budget.
  • Sheila agrees that we likely have money in the budget.
  • Lindsay moves that we allot a ceiling of $100, seconded by Maggie. Unanimously approved.
  • It’s a casual set up, but should we have a plan?
  • Lindsay volunteers to make loud announcements.
  • Chris will get name tags.
  • Lindsay and Crystal are ordering food at the first break.
  • Stephanie is going to take pictures at the event.
  • Lindsay is volunteering to sign folks up for the listerv by walking around with an ipad.

1:45 p.m.Social Media Use: Facebook, Twitter, Linked In discussion

  • Twitter is going well.
  • Sarah wants to add wellness tweets to the scheduled tweets through Tweetdeck. (Sarah)
  • It makes sense to tweet during the conference and PDI
  • Maggie will continue tweeting
  • Facebook
  • Tanya had been doing a lot with it, but now that she is gone no one is posting to our page.
  • Stephanie thinks that we should closeout Facebook and start using Twitter and Linked In, as those are more professional sites.
  • Should we link our Facebook and Twitter? And push our message across platforms?
  • Linked In
  • Has an outdated profile pic with the old logo. We need to update this. But who is responsible?
  • Who do these things fall under?
  • Maybe linked in could fall under a commission chair?
  • There is not really a clear definition as to who it falls to. We want to make it clear who is responsible for what, we want everyone to feel like they have a purpose.

Commission chair sidebar

  • The commission chairs allow for flexibility to respond and adapt to members’ needs.
  • Could we better utilize the commission chairs for the conference planning and implementation?
  • People can join commissions, but if the commission chair doesn’t know what the commission does, how can they express it to their group?
  • Maybe we need more history built into the executive board.
  • This is a good time to evaluate where we are, where we are going, and how we create positions that make everyone feel valued and involved with the board.
  • Maybe we do not need to be using commission chairs, since it’s modeled off of ACPA, but we are no longer affiliated with ACPA.Should we look at calling these something else? Do we need membership in the commissions? Or should we focus on having a chair, and it seems that having a successful chair is related to having a specific task. Steph has talked in the past about how she feels successful because she has a specific task.
  • For example, the Health & Wellness Commission doesn’t need a group; we just need buy-in from the board and members.

Strategic plan is missing?

  • We cannot seem to find the strategic plan at the moment, is it in Dropbox or Google?
  • We wanted to go over itword for word. We need to get back to our foundation.
  • We found the 2012-2015 Strategic Plan in the Dropbox. Chris is forwarding it.

Constitution Review:

We went through Articles I-IV see constitution for notes and updates. We need to pick up at Article V tomorrow.

Adjourn to Howie’s

4:30 p.m.WCPA Social at Howie’s

Friday, January 9, 2015

Present:

Stephanie Salazar Kann

Jason Bertrand

Lindsay Gustin

Mandy Briggs

Sheila Keaton

Crystal Lillge

John Palmer

Chris Stindt

Maggie Higgins

Sarah Tweedale

Christin VanKauwenberg (vie google hangout)

8:00 a.m.

Social review:

  • It went really well last night!We had so many different people come, including a lot of graduate students.
  • We think we may have had more folks come if the weather had not been so bad (-26m blustery, and snowy).
  • It cost us $90, including tip, which we agree is a good use of our funds.
  • Is there a way to informally follow up and touch base with folks to invite them to join the membership?
  • Jason thinks that he can recall everyone who was there, so he will write a list and follow up with Rosana.
  • Newsletter: it’s great to get them signed up for them but they do not always get sent. Maggie has shared this with Rosana, who is trying to figure it out. Mandy recalls that sometimes when a person is added to the executive board email list, they get removed from the membership list. John, who recently joined the executive board said he has not received a membership email in a very long time.

Constitution Review, starting at Article V:

  • See notes on constitution!
  • Sheila and Mandy seem to recall that there may be a more up to date version than this.
  • The bylaws were updated in 2008 and replaced the constitution, so Mandy asked why we are updating a document that no longer exists. John said we only need bylaws or a constitution, not both.
  • Jason will reach out to Angie and Matt to see if they have a more recent copy of the constitution. Sheila thinks that if there were an updated constitution, Matt would have put it on the website.

8:55am:

WCPA Future Dates (Lindsay)

  • Lindsay confirmed this year’s dates, and has proposed dates for the next two years based on the hotel’s recommendation.
  • 2015: Wed, Oct. 7- Sun, Oct 11
  • 2016: Wed, Oct. 5-Sun, Oct 9
  • 2017: Wed, Oct. 11-Sun, Oct.15
  • These would be in slightly different rooms, but Lindsay is not certain which rooms they are. We think it’s important to be centralized, though we don’t necessarily care which rooms we are in.
  • John asked if there have been price increases over the years. Chris and Mandy looked a few years ago and it was no comparison, in that the Wilderness was much cheaper.
  • Sheila asked if there was a reason that the dates seem to have crept earlier in the month, and was this a conscious decision.
  • Mandy recalls that it started when UMR-ACUHO was in The Dells, and then it has stayed earlier in October based on the recommendations of the past presidents.
  • Mandy recalls that we used to book only one year out, so she is wondering where the pressure to look for 2017 is coming from. So, she recommends that we reserve it, but we don’t put down a deposit until one year out, so we can always change if needed.
  • Christin recommends putting it out to our membership to see if there is a better week in 2017. Lindsay will contact the hotel and ask if there is another week in October that is available so we can survey our membership.
  • We could reserve 2018 as well, and ultimately, our deposit is only $100. John recommends that we get on the books for that. Mandy recommends that we read the fine print to ensure we are not held responsible for something that far out.
  • Sarah mentioned that we could look at another option beside the Wed-Sun, and we all agree the Wed- Sun is better because of SA 101 and getting out of the office is easier at the end of the week.
  • Lindsay will confirm dates and rooms with the Wilderness.
  • Crystal & Lindsay will work on advertisements to give out at the PDI
  • This is tabled for the time being so we can call Sandi.

9:15 a.m.Transition Task Force(phone call with Sandi Scott Duex)

  • Sandi is our leader for the transition!
  • She has been on the ACUHOI executive board, and they are transitioning to a new executive director and she has been involved with that change. A best practice for when undergoing a large change, like new leadership and transitioning from one organization to another, is to create a Transition Task Force. So, ACUHO-I has several documents about how to transition, and Sandi is willing to share them and help us.
  • The Board’s job is to continue to do the work of the Board, and not manage the transition. Certainly, the Board has a role, but the transition is essentially outsourced to the Transition Task Force.
  • The committee will need representation and knowledge in the following areas: strategic planning, processes of how professional association are managed, familiarity with WCPA Structure, history, and awareness of professional association management, big picture, attention to detail, and organization of tasks.
  • Role of committee:
  • Identify key stake holders in transition process such as, tee Executive Board, current membership, etc. Determine if past members key stakeholders, and chief student affairs officers around the state, regardless of affiliation with WCPA.
  • Create a timeline with milestones for disaffiliation. Sandi thinks it makes sense for us to do a month to month, or 60-90 days. The board identifies the timeframe.
  • Transition Task Forcedetermines tasks and who is responsible for that task. For example, budgetary concerns: are there things that impact our budget that comes from ACPA? How do we manage and disentangle that?
  • This transition document would clearly outline what is the responsibility of the Transition Task Force, the Exec. Board, attorney, etc.
  • Transition Task Forcecreates communication plan- about how to communicate with members about what is happening. The communication plan is a task, assigned to the Transition Task Force. They can work with board to disseminate that information.
  • Transition Task Forcewould liaise with the board regularly. This is why it is helpful to have a current board member on the committee.
  • The Executive Board: continues the work of the association
  • Identify individuals to serve on committee
  • Create and disseminate the charge
  • Establish transition plan and budget
  • Determine vision, mission, values, strengths, and services
  • Seek legal or national association guidance on behalf of committee
  • Dissolve committee at the end of the project
  • Stephanie asked if there is a recommendation on size and scope.
  • ACUHO-I used seven for their transition team. This is smaller in scope, so Sandi recommends 5-7, and she would not go higher than seven.
  • We will revisit this list since we have nine at the moment.
  • Sandi says we should figure out if these nine are a good group. We can work with whatever number we decide; it is a matter of what we think will work and if these nine people will really make it a lighter workload.
  • This is an opportunity to reach out to technical colleges, two year campuses, etc. We can reinvent ourselves and make ourselves appealing to these different types of institutions and the staff who works at them.
  • This is agreat opportunity for WCPA to reinvent our self. This never happens!We should keep it in mind that this really is such a rare and great opportunity.
  • We will need at least one face to face meeting with the Transition Task Forceto get started. At this meeting the Transition Task Forcewill:
  • Identify key stakeholders
  • Create a transition plan
  • Create Timeline for the full transition to occur.
  • The Executive Board will need to create a budget to support this, especially for folks who don’t have institutional support. Sandi said that she could host it at Stout, which would help minimize costs.
  • Initially, there will be a lot of requests for information (RFIs) from the Transition Task Forceto the Board, so that the Committee can be well informed. She thinks we can expect about 10-15 Requests for Information, and this is why having a board members on the committee is key. They donot need to have the information, but they do need to have easy access to it.
  • Timeline:
  • We are a rogue organization at the moment. Jason suggests the fall conference as a time to announce our self as a new organization.
  • We are not having any luck getting any information or responses from ACPA, so there is not a directive from them on when this needs to happen.
  • Our name is one of our large legal hurdles. Ohio is keeping their name, and we do not know what this could mean for us. If we do not get guidance from ACPA, we will have to figure this out.
  • The Transition Task Forcecan coordinate the communication and the initial statement about the committee and timeline.
  • Sandi thinks that if we can start the process, with our first Transition Task Forcemeeting within the next 4-5 weeks, we should be on track for the fall conference announcement.
  • Name is one of the first thing on the agenda- if we can keep our name and logo, this helps us because we can keep marketing and presenting ourselves as is. If we have to change our name, we will want to do that pretty quickly so we can begin that marketing transition.

Discussion