PAACE Board Meeting
April 11, 2000
PDE/ABLE Bureau

Attendance: Jeff Woodyard, Karen Mundie,Joan Leopold, Deb Burrows, Monica Mathews, CarolKlauss, Mary Kay Peterson, Mike Sobkowski, Dave Fluke, Ella Morin,Tana Reiff, Evelyn Mayer, Bob McNeil

Approval of March Minutes: Several smallcorrections were made to the March minutes. Amotion to accept the minutes as amended was then made by Mike Sobkowskiand seconded by Mary Kay Peterson. The minutes were unanimously approved.

Approval of Treasurer's Report: Thetreasurer noted that the new procedures that wehave put in place allow us to track more easily both what we're spendingand the categories in which the expenses fall. After a brief discussion,Carol Klauss moved that the treasurer's report be approved. Thiswas seconded by Mary Kay Peterson, and the motion was carried unanimously.

The treasurer said that a detailed reporton the Midwinter Conference will be presented tothe Board in May. However, from information already available,it seems that the income and expenses for Midwinter are in line withpredictions.

Officer's Reports:

First Vice-President: The president andfirst vice president met in Pittsburgh on March 29to discuss Midwinter 2001 (A PAACE Odyssey). A call forvolunteers was issued on March 31 through the listserv.

Second Vice President: No report. Thepresident will be getting in touch with the secondvice-president to begin work that will lead to the next PAACEStrategic Plan.

Treasurer: The treasurer suggested thatthe Board amend its policy on refunds so that thereare more specific guidelines for when refunds are appropriate.Currently we are honoring all requests for refunds. After a briefdiscussion, the Board agreed to establish guidelines that will be clearlystated on the 2001 registration form. The details of this policy willbe worked out in committee. Mike Sobkowski moved that all requests for refundsreceived as of this date (April 11) be honored. The motion was secondedby Mary Kay Peterson and passed unanimously.

The treasurer asked for Board assistancein answering some questions relevant to obtainingtax exempt status in Pennsylvania: What are our charitableactivities? Who other than the Board should we list as volunteerswho provide service to PAACE. How many people receive goods or servicesfrom PAACE? Some examples of charitable activities were given to thetreasurer: PAACE support of the Research Conference, scholarships for studentsattending the VALUE conference, the GED award, and support of the successstudents in attending Midwinter. Dave Fluke suggested that adult educationstudents were the ultimate recipients of PAACE's professional developmentactivities and could be included in the number of people receivinggoods and services.

The 2000 Budget was presented. There wasdiscussion about the amounts in various line items.The president suggested that as long as the overall amountsstayed the same, redistribution in the line items could be made laterthrough budget revisions. Mary Kay Peterson moved that the Budget be accepted.This was seconded by Carol Klauss and the 2000 Budget was acceptedunanimously.

Executive Director's Report: University ofNorth Carolina has subscribed to the Journal.PAACE's advocacy manual Stand Up and Be Counted was mentioned inthe March 2 Report on Literacy Programs. Report on Literacy Programs is abiweekly newsletter that is circulated nationally.

Program Division Director's Reports

ABSE: The Division will continue to usethe results of surveys passed out at the DivisionLuncheon at Midwinter to guide activities in 2000. Division memberswere asked if they were aware of the benefits of membership, what servicesthey were interested in and whether they were interested in gettingtogether during the year.

Continuing Higher Education: Bob McNeilasked about the PAACE listserv and for a copy ofthe new logo. He is going to make CEA of PA members more awareof PAACE and will begin by sending out an on-line PDF letter about PAACEand CEA of PA. He also indicated that hewould work with the Exhibits committeeto try to bring more higher education publishers to the Marketplace.

Bob graciously accepted responsibility forhigher education awards. He will replace TomSeifried as co-chair of the Awards Committee. Evelyn Mayer mentionedthat more publicity is needed for this award and for its recipients.

Bob will host the next PAACE Board meetingat Delaware Valley College in Doylestown, PA. Theaddress is 700 East Butler Ave. The meeting is in the StudentCenter which is at the Intersection of Routes 611 and 202.

ESL: Carol Klauss noted that the ESLpopulation in Pennsylvania is growing rapidly butis in danger of being undercounted in the Census (as it was in 1990).She asks that we encourage PA programs to help participants, especiallyimmigrants and refugees, to fill out census forms. A more accuratecount is in everyone's interest.

Family Literacy: Family Literacy is alsogrowing through the governor's support and with thehelp of the PDE. The Book Tour 2000 project is moving forward.The purpose of the project is to get book donations for family literacyand to raise awareness. Events are scheduled on six Saturdays this summer.Activities will take place in six malls and will feature a wide rangeof activities to appeal to families.

TLC: No report

Workforce Development: No Report

There were no regional representativesreports.

Standing Committee Reports

Legislative Report: There was a writtenlegislative report. A Literacy Action Alert wasfaxed to all programs asking for letters in support of the governor'sbudget. These letters must be in Harrisburg by May 1. H.B. 1266 whichwould give welfare recipients more time in education programs is in theSenate waiting for a vote to be scheduled for the Health and Welfare Committee.

Family literacy Legislation: The PAACElegislative committee asked if the Board couldsupport the language "not less than 25% of the total appropriation"for family literacy as is currently written in the draft legislation.There was a short discussion on the propriety of supporting languagethat includes specific percentages because over time this might appearto lock in support for one division at the expense of others. The presidentsuggested that this discussion would best take place during the strategicplanning process. Mike Sobkowski moved that we support the languageas written in the draft and this was seconded by Mary Kay Peterson.The motion was passed.

Membership: Dave Fluke will launch amembership drive in the form of a mailing to abroad audience of people who are likely to be interested in adulteducation and literacy. He asks that we contact members and ask for mailinglists from other organizations with which they are affiliated (e.g. HeadStarts, Even Starts, Library Associations). Tana Reiff suggested that wemight also target individuals personally whom we think should belong to PAACE,but do not. Deb Burrows suggested that we should use email to reach asmany as possible, particularly graduate students and other younger peoplefor whom this means of communication is now the standard mode. Mary Kaysuggested that we try to contact potential higher ed members as well.

Jeff noted that there are many ways toreach people and that we should include anorganized membership plan as part of the agenda for strategic planning.

Rose Goia-Fine is PAACE's newest lifemember.

Awards: The president of the boardpresented David Fluke with the Outstanding ServiceAward that had been announced at Midwinter Conference.

PR: No report

Publications: Early reactions to thenewsletter have been very positive.  Thenewsletter had over thirty "hits" in just a few hours on line. Tanaindicated that in having the newsletter on line we may becreating some redundancies on our website. In thefuture we might need to edit the site and thenewsletter with this in mind.

Tana raised the issue of email addressesand the need to keep the list current. Many emailswere returned to her as undeliverable. In resending, sheactivated AOL's protections against "spamming." Her account wasdeactivated, and she had to set up a new account. She alsosuggested discontinuing AOL as our web host, notingthat there are good alternatives to AOL that arereasonably priced. Tana also suggested that PAACE buy a domainname. PAACESITE.org is still available.

Technology: With PAACE's current state oftechnology and especially considering the extent ofour presence on line (website, listservs), we are ata point when we could consider ecommerce as a realistic way of accepting membershipfees and registrations.

For next year's conference, we shouldconsider relating the membership data base withconference registration so that we can be assured that everyone whoclaims the lower membership rate is entitled to it. PAACE should also considerdoing the conference evaluation on line.

PDE Reports

ABLE Bureau: An Adult Education Advisor 1position will appear on the Civil Service List.This will probably be for a family literacy advisor to help DonPaquette.

There is now at least one applicant for143 family literacy programs from all ofPennsylvania counties -- with one exception.

State Leadership Priorities are out. Theseproposals will also be submitted through the egrantprocess.

PAWin is underway. Initial training hasalready taken place for core developers and programdevelopers.

Higher Education (Evelyn Mayer ): Evelynhas been investigating the question of credits tokeep certification as it affects adult educators.  Shenoted that the best approach would be to have someone from the ABLE Bureautake up the issues with those responsible for K-12 certification so thataffected instructors and administrations could have a written statementof policy. Carol Klauss mentioned her concern that there is no teachercertification for K-12 ESL.

Joan Leopold mentioned that the PACoalition for Adult Literacy is in a<