Officers > Meeting Minutes

All Ohio Chapter Executive Council
Meeting Minutes
April 21, 2004

The meeting was called to order at 9:40 by President Mark Wilson.

Requests for additions to Agenda

• Jennifer Fish, Executive Handbook;
• Dennis DeWeese, March Leadership meeting

Opening Comments:

• Mark thanked John Clark for serving as Assistant to the Executive Council.  He reviewed the list of Executive Council members and Committee Chairs (handout).
• Doug noted that he was appointed to the Executive Council of Agricultural Schools as a representative of potential employers in Ohio.

Secretary’s  Report:

• Minutes from the Winter Meeting will be presented to the Executive Council’s May meeting for review and approval.
• All minutes will be sent to members as soon as possible following meetings. ACTION items will be highlighted in red, RECOMMENDATIONS/MOTIONS will be highlighted in blue.  
• Minutes approved by the Council, and other documents for archival will be forwarded to Nathan Watermeier as soon as possible by the Secretary.
• Historical documents need to be scanned or otherwise prepared for placement in the archives.  The Council needs to review and select documents for archival at a future meeting. ACTION: Steve Hall will contact Tim Gerber to open discussion on archival process.

Treasurer’s Report:

• The AOC is in the process looking for another bank primarily for convenience.  The Council should check with IRS on filing proper paperwork to maintain the Society’s 501(c)3 status. ACTION:  Jennifer will work with Robert on both items above.

Program Committee:

• Dennis distributed minutes from 3/3/04 Committee meeting at the Adam’s Mark Hotel. He and other committee members will meet with Krista Magaw , Director of  Tecumseh Land Trust, on May 4 to begin planning the summer meeting.  Discussion of meeting dates followed. RECOMMENDATION: Aim for a mid-August meeting to allow families to take advantage of local attractions in southwest Ohio after the meeting.
• Dennis was invited to participate in a May 27 meeting with the DSWC to begin planning the 2005 Partnership meeting.  Duane Wood will also attend.

Newsletter Committee:

• Sean said that May 7 is the deadline for getting materials to him for the May newsletter.  It will go to the printer on May 14 for a late May distribution. This year’s scholarship application will be included in this issue as the application period closes May 30.  The Executive Committee previously approved $1000 for the scholarship.  Also included will be a message from the President, information about the summer meeting, Dennis’s summary of the leadership meeting, and a summary of the recent winter meeting.
• July newsletter deadlines are the 15^th for materials, the 22^nd for printing. ACTION: Sean will produce a draft newsletter schedule for the Executive Council.  It should include estimated costs and number of copies.
• ACTION: Sean will forward copies of previous newsletters to Nathan Watermeier who will post them on the web site.  They need to be converted from Publisher to Acrobat, which will take some time.  The Council also needs to decide which issues to post (how far back in time).
• The schedule for nomination petitions was discussed.  Since new officers are not sworn in until March, the nomination process can be delayed until the July newsletter.  ACTION :Jennifer will propose a nomination process schedule at next meeting.

Old Business

Dennis gave a summary of the Chapter Development Workshop that was held in Pokagon IN on March 23-24 (handout). Dave Hanselman also attended.  Dennis noted that Craig Cox spoke about SWCS’ New Initiatives and key issues facing the organization in the future.  The Council discussed membership issues and identity of the SWCS.

Mark and Dennis have scheduled a meeting with Kevin Brown, NRCS State Conservationist, to discuss AOC activities and its visibility.  Duane suggested there be a we link from ODNR’s E-link to the AOC web page.  ACTION: Duane will contact Rick Burke to ask if ODNR-DSWC can include the link.

Review of 2004 Winter Meeting-

The Council feels that the AOC is getting lost in the bigger group, so its visibility needs to be lifted.  The financial advantages are very good in staying with the employee partnership, and the Council wishes to stay with the larger group for another year.  ACTION: Dennis and Duane will give a recommendation to the Council on how to proceed with next year’s winter meeting after their discussion with the DSWC later this month. The AOC needs to improve its own visibility.  Jennifer noted that we had better attendance at the business meeting when it was a regular session, rather than a separate meeting.  ACTION: Jennifer will contact Dave Libben to get a summary of new memberships from the 2004 meeting.

Envirothon Donation-

ACTION: Steve will speak with Jill O’Banion, who sits on the State Envirothon Committee, about our previous donations to the Envirothon.

Plaques-

ACTION: Mark will give information to Jennifer to get plaques made for this year.

Audit-

ACTION: Jennifer will set up meeting Barry Allred and Tim Gerber for 2003-2004 audit.

New Business:

Ohio Delegate for SWCS International Meeting-

Norm Fausey may go, Dennis will likely go.  RECOMMENDATION: Mark will let Rebecca Fletcher know that Dennis DeWeese will be this year’s delegate.

Budget-

Mark asked for others to work with Robert and him on developing a budget for next year.  Jennifer will help. A rough outline will be presented to council at next meeting.

Executive Handbook-

Jennifer presented her ideas and materials on the handbook.  It is to include an activity calendar, Roberts Rules of Orders, pamphlets, committee membership and general membership lists, etc. State, regional and national information will be included. John suggested that the bylaws be included. Mark suggested that the web page address, details on the list serve and how to use it also be included.

Goals-

Mark asked each member to describe their personal goals for the AOC:

Mark wants to have well organized business meetings, better communication, and a new approach to the role of AOC.

Duane is in the learning mode. He would like to see more membership especially from the SWCDs. 

Jennifer enjoys the nomination process, and likes to get out of the “urban mode” while being with this group.

Sean would like to make the web situation as seamless as possible, as OSU houses SWCS web site.

Dennis wants to organize useful summer and  winter meetings.  He has an interest in seeing visibility raise, especially with agency leadership.  Special projects like conservation tillage would be good activities for the AOC.

Doug would like to see higher membership, and see the organization be more citizen supported with higher public visibility. It should go beyond the realm of professionals and appeal to the public.

John will help preserve the past, and help the group move forward as it evolves.

Council/members should know the bylaws to know what is expected of them.  ACTION: Steve will attach copy of bylaws to the minutes.

Communication-

Mark would like the chapter members to get something from Council once per month.  ACTION: Everyone review the program plan (handout), respond at next council meeting, evaluate the possibility of conference calls for selected meeting.  ACTION: Each person should call a member each month, and request their participation, feedback.  Reply next meeting.  ACTION: Challenge: put together some ideas on a specific issue, bring it to next meeting for reaction. (ie FLP, GIS, TSP) with the idea of sending it out to membership for their reaction and involvement.

Next meeting set May 19, 2004, 9:30 Delaware SWCD Field Office. Duane motioned to adjourn, Steve seconded.  Adjourned 12.20 pm.

APPROVED AS CORRECTED ON MAY 19, 2004   (sh)