1996-97 NVATA Board of Directors

NVATA Board of Directors Meeting
July 10-12, 1997
Fredericksburg, Virginia

The NVATA Board of Directors conducted their summer board meeting on July 10-12, 1997 at the Sheraton Hotel in Fredericksburg, Virginia. All members of the board, the administrative assistant, and the executive director were present for the meeting including: MeeCee Baker, President (PA); Duane Fisher, President Elect (IA);Marc Beitia, Region I Vice President (ID); Paul Jaure, Region II Vice President (TX); Linda Rist, Region III Vice President (SD); Tom Kremer, Region IV Vice President (OH); Russell Watson, Region V Vice President (TN); Mike Cox, Region VI Vice President (VA); Susan Vaughn, Administrative Assistant (VA); and Jay Jackman, Executive Director (VA). The minutes of the meeting are as follows:

Thursday, July 10, 1997

1. Call to Order - President MeeCee Baker called the meeting to order at 8:40 a.m. She welcomed everyone to the meeting.
   
   
2. Agenda - Agenda and Board book were reviewed. It was suggested that the minutes be put on the internet after they are approved. This suggestion should be given to the membership committee.
3. Financial Advisor¹s Report - Tony Maull, NVATA¹s financial advisor, gave a report from Prudential Securities. His recommendation concerning NVATA¹s loan was to maintain the loan as it exists currently. Tony was satisfied that our investments are performing fine in relation to the current markets. Tony was asked if he would be willing to present a workshop at the NVATA convention on personal financial management. Tony agreed to present the workshop and to pay his own travel expenses to and from the convention.
4. Executive Director¹s Report - Jay Jackman presented a report on the past year¹s accomplishments and the challenges facing NVATA in the near future. This is the first year in many years that NVATA has finished a fiscal year without having to borrow money from reserves to pay our bills. He thanked the board for making the sacrifices necessary to operate NVATA within budget. He has talked with representatives from Sealed Sweet about the possibility of more sponsorship money for the diaries. Florida Citrus, who sponsors new freshmen scholarships will be giving $500.00 to NVATA for promoting the scholarship. Securing a quality travel agency for board members¹, and all members¹, use is still being pursued.
5. Board Members¹ Reports - Each board member gave oral reports to bring the board up-to-date on their NVATA activities.

   Mike Cox (Region VI Vice President)
   Lewisburg, Pennsylvania was the location for the Region VI conference, attended by 120 participants. Dr. Jim Knight was the keynote speaker. Mike also attended Region V conference and complimented Russell on a successful conference. He also met with a group of industry leaders in the Washington, D.C. area regarding the potential for the development of instructional materials to accompany Saving the Planet with Pesticides and Plastics, a book by Dennis Avery of the Hudson Institute. The goal of this project is for industry to provide funding to develop and distribute these instructional materials to all ag teachers.

   Russell Watson (Region V Vice President)
   The Region V conference was hosted by Asheville, North Carolina and attended by 83. Gwyne Ellis from Florida was elected as the new alternate vice president for Region V. Russell thanked MeeCee Baker and Mike Cox for attending. The attendees toured the Biltmore Estate and Farm and enjoyed a pig picking. Russell was planning to attend the South Carolina conference the next week.

   Tom Kremer (Region IV Vice President)
   Region IV conference was hosted by Utica, Illinois with 60 in attendance. Tom thanked Duane Fisher for attending. The attendees toured an ostrich processing plant.

   Linda Rist (Region III Vice President)
   Region III conference was hosted by Aurora, Nebraska. Linda thanked Duane Fisher for attending.

   Paul Jaure (Region II Vice President)
   Region II conference was hosted by Colorado and attended by 148. Topics discussed at the Region II meeting included: the need for more interaction with state presidents in each region; news releases for ag teachers; changing the names from region vice presidents to region presidents; providing places for recreational activities, such as hunting, fishing, etc. in the regions; and passed a motion to resend the previous motion concerning the committee chairpersons. Paul was planning to attend the New Mexico conference the next week.

   Marc Beitia (Region I Vice President)
   Region I conference was hosted by Wyoming. The attendees toured a buffalo ranch. Marc also attended state teacher conferences in Oregon, California and Washington.

   Duane Fisher (President Elect)
   Duane attended 2020 Ag Ed Program in Denver and several regional conferences. He also participated in the USDE Career Cluster Meeting held in Washington on July 8 and 9.

   MeeCee Baker (President)
   As president, she has received numerous interesting phone calls and requests. She has authored an article for the Ag Ed Magazine and refereed for the Journal of Agricultural Education. She has tried to communicate monthly and feels communication is the key to a smoother running organization. MeeCee was also the keynote speaker for three banquets, attended the AVA Ag Ed Division Policy Committee meeting and the USDE Career Cluster Meeting.
   
   

6. Membership Update - Jay reported that the NVATA office would verify membership count and mail to states for them to check. There was a slight increase in membership for this year. Jay is planning to bring the membership in-house by hiring a part-time person, for three days a week to concentrate on membership and also help get ready for the convention.
   
   
7. Financial Status and 1997-98 Budget - Jay Jackman reviewed the financial condition of the organization and the proposed budget for 1997-98. The Finance Committee will make suggestions on the proposed budget and report back to the board at the appropriate time.
8. Board Expense Vouchers - Jay Jackman presented information on completing the travel expense vouchers. Specifically, he requested that receipts of airline tickets be attached to the vouchers and that expenses, such as airline tickets, that are paid directly by NVATA be listed on the travel vouchers, but not claimed for reimbursement. This will help to show the actual cost of the trip on one form rather than having to pull multiple invoices and vouchers to estimate board members¹ travel costs.
9. Update on Office Location - Jay reported on the future NVATA office location. Bob Suhosky, from AVA, notified NVATA that AVA would have office space available. Larry Case, Coleman Harris, Rosco Vaughn, Bernie Staller and Jay Jackman looked at the space on June 30, 1997. Very little construction will be needed to make the space useable. There are approximately 3,000 square feet available, some of which will be kept in AVA¹s possession. We can use the conference room, mail service area, copy machine at $.03 or $.04 per copy, and fax machines. The building is located five blocks from the King Street metro. There are five parking spaces available at $55.00 per space per month. The cost of rent will be approximately $20.00 per square foot and Bernie Staller will be the chief negotiator. The last week of July the group will be looking at other available office space.

   Marc Beitia moved to reconsider the board decision to go with proposal #3. Tom Kremer seconded. Motion failed.

10. Polo Shirt Order - Jay had two samples of polo shirts for the board to review - one with a pocket and one without a pocket. It was discussed that the shirts could be sold at the FFA Convention and the NVATA Convention. Marc Beitia suggested we order 20 large, 40 extra large, 20 extra, extra large and 10 extra, extra, extra large. Duane Fisher moved to select the shirt with the pocket and to try to get it in burgundy and order as suggested. Russell Watson seconded. Motion passed.
11. Leadership Manual - Each board member was asked to review the manual. How to proceed with the manual would be discussed later during this board meeting.
12. Summer Professional Development Workshops - Participation in the current summer workshops arranged by the FFA Foundation was discussed. It was pointed out that participation in some of the workshops is quite low and that some workshops were canceled this year due to lack of participation. Jay Jackman proposed that the regional vice presidents put summer workshops together for their regions and that these new workshops would not be administered through the FFA Foundation. The vice presidents would be encouraged to get the workshops sponsored. The new workshops could be offered in conjunction with the regional leadership conferences. Some sort of communications piece would still be provided to advertise the workshops. Sponsors of workshops that do not require the registration fee be paid directly to NVATA (this regards the workshops for which registration goes directly to the sponsoring company - not to NVATA) would be charged for the advertising. Further details of this item were referred to the Member Services Committee.

    MeeCee Baker called for a lunch break at about 12:10 p.m. MeeCee Baker called the meeting back to order at 1:20 p.m.
    
    The afternoon session consisted of committee meetings. Committee meetings for which time was not available on Thursday afternoon were rescheduled for other times at the discretion of the committee chair and members.

    The Thursday, July 10 board session adjourned at approximately 5:00 p.m. The Thursday evening activity consisted of a Riverboat Dinner Cruise with The National Council for Agricultural Education (The Council) Board of Directors.

Friday, July 11, 1997

The 8:30 a.m. session was a joint meeting with The Council. Jim Sipiorsky, President of The Council Board, welcomed the group. The group was divided into groups for a Reinventing Ag Ed for 2020 Visioning Workshop conducted by Bryan Daniel, and assisted by Duane Fisher and Linda Rist. The joint session adjourned at 12:00 Noon.

MeeCee Baker called the July 11 afternoon session to order at 1:30 p.m.



1. FFA Convention Planning - Jay Jackman discussed the convention plans for the FFA Convention in November. Duane Fisher reported that the add hoc committee regarding the Career Show Exhibit recommended that we keep the same site, keep one booth, have one side focus on students and the other for teachers. Jay suggested the board members walk through the college section and promote membership among the students there.

   Professional Improvement Workshops for FFA Convention were discussed by Jay Jackman. John Deere Publishing has a new guide on Precision Agriculture. They would like to present a workshop on this at the FFA Convention. The Risk Management modules are not yet done - but they will be in time for the FFA Convention. There will be at least six and no more than eight workshops Thursday and Friday at the FFA Convention.

   The Pizza Social will be continued. Letters will be sent with a request of the vice president¹s schedules so times can be assigned to work the booth and also host the Pizza Social. The NVATA will be allowed ten minutes at a general session during the convention. The first choice was for the Friday night session at which the agri-science awards are presented; the second choice was for the Friday morning session at which the Honorary American FFA Degrees for Teachers are presented. NVATA will use the ten minutes to announce award and scholarship winners; a slide presentation on the big screen should accompany the presentation.

   Jay Jackman has secured a block of rooms for the NVATA board through Scott Stump. The deadline to let Jay know if you want to reserve some of these rooms is August 15, 1997. As of now the following were requested:

   Mike Cox - 1 double, 1 single
   Russell Watson - 1 single
   Tom Kremer - 1 single
   Duane Fisher - 0
   Mark Beitia - 3 doubles
   Linda Rist - 5 doubles, 1 single (if no one else needs the rooms)
   Paul Jaure - 2 doubles
   MeeCee Baker - 4 doubles
   Tom Heffernan - 1 single

2. Minutes from Conference Calls - Duane Fisher moved to approve the minutes of the conference calls held in January, March, and April 1997. Marc Beitia seconded the motion. The motion carried.

   MeeCee Baker announced that a joint meeting with NVATA Board and The Council Board was scheduled for Saturday afternoon for a short time.
   
   

3. Awards Approval - The list of recommendations of award recipients were reviewed. Tom Kremer moved to approve the list of award recipients. Mike Cox seconded the motion. The motion carried.

Saturday, July 12, 1997

MeeCee Baker called the board meeting to order at 8:30 a.m. on July 12.

1. Leadership Manual - Duane Fisher moved to adopt the current format for the Leadership Manual. Marc Beitia seconded the motion. The motion carried. It was agreed that the manual would be sent to the Policy/Bylaws committee for review. The committee members would be asked to send comments on the manual to Duane Fisher. Duane would compile the comments and send them to the NVATA office for incorporation into the manual. The manual will be presented at the NVATA convention in draft form and will be approved in final form at the convention.
2. Membership Drive - The membership drive subcommittee recommended that NVATA develop folders, without inserts, with logo printed on the outside, if cost is reasonable. If printed folders are too expensive, stickers could be printed and sent to vice presidents, and others, to be placed on blank folders. It was agreed to reprint the ³Building Bridges² brochure - but not until after the convention. For now, we will use the ones we have and manually adapt the membership dues amounts.

   Numerous themes for the membership drive were suggested. Duane Fisher suggested that the board continue to consider the theme possibilities and select the theme later in the board meeting. The board agreed to this suggestion.

3. Committee/Board Appointments -Two nominees for representatives on FFA Career Development Events Advisory Committee were Robert Philpot, Florida (Region V), and Chuck Erickson, Minnesota (Region III). The vote was taken by ballot. Chuck Erickson was selected.

   Russell Watson moved that NVATA ask FFA to change the procedure for selecting FFA Board NVATA Representatives. Paul Jaure seconded the motion. The motion carried.

   Marc Beitia moved that NVATA members who are interested in becoming NVATA representatives to the FFA board would be invited to submit a letter and resume to the appropriate regional vice presidents; the regional vice presidents would screen the applicants and submit three candidates to NVATA Board; the NVATA board would present the candidates to the National FFA Advisor for final selection. Tom Kremer seconded the motion. The motion carried.

4. Polo Shirt Order - Duane Fisher moved to resend the previously passed motion to order NVATA polo shirts, due to possible name change. Linda Rist seconded the motion. The motion carried. It was suggested that an explanation for this change be added to the membership committee report.
5. Summer Professional Development Workshops - Duane Fisher moved that NVATA have regional professional development workshops and that these workshops be just before or just after regional leadership conferences. Paul Jaure seconded the motion. The motion carried. Marc Beitia suggested that NVATA explore the possibility of getting continuing education credits for workshop participants.
6. NVATA Convention Planning - The revised draft schedule for the convention was reviewed and approved by the board with one revision. The board meeting on Sunday, December 14 was moved from 1:00 - 5:00 p.m. to 9:00 a.m. - 12:00 Noon (or ending earlier) to accommodate Sunday afternoon travel schedules.

   The committee chair orientation session scheduled for Tuesday afternoon was discussed. It was agreed that the board would lead the committee chairs and vice chairs through a business item from beginning to end as an example, review how the committees will operate, and then break out with the respective vice presidents who serve as consultants to the committees to finalize the plans for the actual committee meetings.
   
   Topics for professional improvement workshops were suggested. Possibilities included risk management, precision agriculture, the Pro Farmer workshop, personal financial management, biotechnology, block scheduling, a state presidents workshop, a workshop addressing working with physically challenged students, and teacher portfolio development. Jay Jackman was authorized to schedule the workshops.

   It was agreed to invite John Rist to be the official NVATA photographer for the convention. Travel expenses for the photographer are budgeted.

   Jay Jackman agreed to work directly with Tom Klein and the Nevada Ag Teachers¹ Association on the host state social planning.

   It was agreed that no program would be provided for the Spouses Breakfast - continental breakfast only. The breakfast will be complimentary to the spouses; tickets will not be sold or issued.

   It was agreed that the Past National Officers event will be a reception prior to the Gala Dinner and that the past national officers will be provided special seating for the event; however, complimentary tickets for the gala will not be provided to the past national officers.

   For the Gala Dinner, the Mardi Gras theme was approved; however, the idea of costumed board members doing a Mardi Gras parade was unanimously opposed.

   It was agreed to allow NVATA members who choose to register for both the NVATA and AVA conventions to register for the AVA convention through NVATA, thus securing a 10 percent discount on AVA registration. Discounts on NVATA registration will not be offered. The NVATA office will coordinate this.

   It was agreed that the board meeting on Sunday should be earlier to accommodate board members¹ earlier departure from Las Vegas. The board meeting will be moved to a morning session to end in time for all members to get airplane reservations home on Sunday afternoon.

7. Membership Drive Theme - The theme for a new membership drive was chosen from several suggestions by ballot vote. "NVATA - The Professional Choice" was selected.
8. NVATA Procedures Chart - Procedures for conducting NVATA business were discussed. The following was established:

   At the national convention, committees meet and make recommendations. The delegates accept or adopt the recommendations. The board reacts and provides rationale for its decisions.

   At regional leadership conferences, the vice presidents report board action and rationale. New initiatives are surfaced.
   
   At the summer board meeting, the board receives updates on previous recommendations. The board also reviews minutes from the regional leadership conferences and surfaces new issues that may be referred to committees at the national convention, or the board may take action immediately. The board will also prepare proposed bylaws changes to be presented at the national convention. Information from this process will be used to prepare the committee agendas for the national convention.

9. Committee Reports
   
   Finance - Paul Jaure presented the Finance Committee report. Duane Fisher moved to adopt the Finance Committee report, including the 1997-98 Budget, but to change the budget to reflect a five percent decrease in membership revenue rather than a 10 percent decrease and to hold open the possibility for a spring board meeting. Tom Kremer seconded the motion. The motion carried. (Note: the budget does not include travel expenses for a spring board meeting.)

   Diversity - Mike Cox presented the Diversity Committee report, after which he moved to adopt the report. Paul Jaure seconded the motion. The motion carried.

   Legislative - Linda Rist presented the Legislative Committee report, after which she moved to adopt the report. Duane Fisher seconded the motion. The motion carried.

   Policy/Bylaws - Tom Kremer presented the Policy/Bylaws Committee report, after which he moved to adopt the report. Linda Rist seconded the motion. The motion carried.

   Public Relations - Marc Beitia presented the Public Relations Committee report, after which he moved to adopt the report. Tom Kremer seconded the motion. The motion carried.

   Member Services - Russell Watson presented the Member Services Committee report, after which he moved to adopt the report. Mike Cox seconded the motion. The motion carried.

   Strategic Planning - Duane Fisher presented the Strategic Planning Committee report, after which he moved to adopt the report. Marc Beitia seconded the motion. The motion carried.

   MeeCee Baker called for a lunch break at 12:00 Noon. The meeting reconvened at 1:15 p.m.
   
   

10. FFA Foundation Report - Dr. Jim Gibson of the National FFA Foundation made a presentation regarding the FFA Capital Campaign. In addition, Dr. Gibson said the relationship between the FFA Foundation and NVATA was important and that after the Foundation moves to Indianapolis with the National FFA Organization there might be some changes as to the FFA Foundation liaison to NVATA. MeeCee indicated that NVATA would be pleased to work with any and all of the Foundation staff; however, we would especially be interested in working with Jim Gibson and/or Glen Simms because they already have responsibilities in the Washington, D.C. metropolitan area.
    
    
11. Joint Session with The Council - The NVATA board met jointly with The Council board. The Council reported to NVATA that they had voted to restructure The Council board to include the president, president elect, and past president of NVATA, beginning January 1998. Further, The Council board asked the NVATA board to discuss transferring the authorities for school-based agricultural education from USDE to USDA. The Council board will be conducting a conference call on August 4th to discuss this further after research is done concerning this transfer.
    
    
12. New Upper Division Scholarship Program - Jay Jackman presented a plan regarding use of auction proceeds for the new scholarship program. NVATA would take from the top the first $500 for administrative costs. The total amount received, less the $500 for administrative costs, would be divided by $500. The whole number generated would be the number of scholarships NVATA can award in the next academic year; the remainder would revert to NVATA to help with administrative costs. The board approved this plan.
13. Location of Authorities for Ag Ed - Marc Beitia moved that NVATA support leaving the authorities for school-based agricultural education with USDE. Mike Cox seconded the motion. The motion carried.
    
    
14. Adjournment - With no further official business to be conducted, Marc Beitia moved to adjourn the board meeting. Duane Fisher seconded the motion. The motion carried. The board meeting ended at 3:50 p.m. It was announced that The Council Board, the National FFA Board, and NVATA Board would meet at 5:30 p.m. at Mount Vernon for dinner.