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National Legislative Program Evaluation Society
Executive Committee Meeting Minutes
April 24, 2003, Boston, MA
The executive committee met on Thursday, April 24, 2003, in Boston,
Massachusetts. Copies of handouts discussed during the meeting are kept
on file with the NLPES secretary.
Members present at the meeting were Martha Carter, Ethel Detch, Phil
Durgin, Wade Melton, Heather Moritz, and Kate Wade. Members Joel Alter,
Ken Levine, Tim Osterstock, Manu Patel, and Jane Thesing, as well as Bob
Boerner and Kristin House, NCSL, and Gary Brown (MI), participated via
conference call. Also present were Max Arinder (MS), Gary VanLandingham
(FL), Rich Jones, NCSL, and Harry Hatry and Katherine Mark, the Urban Institute.
Call to Order
The meeting was called to order by Heather Moritz, Chair, at 2:05 p.m.
Heather welcomed everyone and thanked the people who were participating
by phone.
Minutes
Heather noted that the Executive Committee's September meeting minutes
were adopted via e-mail and are available on the NLPES website.
Committee Reports
Martha Carter reported for the Awards Committee. (Wade Melton
stepped down as Awards Committee Chair because of a potential conflict.)
Martha indicated that there were few changes to the awards criteria this
year and said that the deadline for submissions is May 16, 2003. Martha
will coordinate the Excellence award judging. Coordinators for the other
awards are: Phil Durgin, Research Methodology, and Ethel Detch, Impact
Certificate. Heather asked Joel Alter to coordinate the outstanding achievement
award and suggested the selection committee consist of herself, Joel, James
Barber (MS), Cheryl Ridings (formerly with SC), and Kate Wade (WI). She
encouraged executive committee members to submit nominees for this award.
Kate Wade reported for the Communications and Technology Committee.
This committee has a number of significant issues, which were addressed
as follows.
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Kate asked the executive committee for feedback on the current newsletter
format, which combines some longer articles with shorter, lighter pieces.
The committee agreed that this is a good mix and commended James Barber,
editor, for his excellent work on this project.
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Joel Alter reported on the best practices survey, which NLPES has conducted
the last two years. Joel suggested that this year the committee replace
the best practices survey with a survey to update the information in the
Ensuring
the Public Trust report. Gary VanLandingham conducted the original
research for this report in 2000, and Joel suggested that an update is
timely. The committee agreed.
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Joel indicated that listserve membership has decreased somewhat. To be
able to reach as many states as possible, the committee decided to add
all key contacts to the listserv unless a state specifically asks to be
removed. In addition, Bob Boerner will develop an e-mail list for all key
contacts, which committee members can use as an alternate to the full listserve.
Joel also indicated that hits to the NLPES website are up.
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Kate reported on the Communication & Technology committee's review
of the NLPES website. The committee has a list of suggestions that it will
forward to NCSL and to Max, for discussion at an upcoming NCSL Executive
Committee meeting. Kate also indicated that the updated state contact information,
requested at the time of the NLPES election, will be added to the website.
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Kate discussed the committee's ongoing review of the NCSL website, in particular,
the database of audit reports. NCSL is requesting that states discontinue
the practice of sending hard copies of their reports to NCSL and Bob Boerner
will draft a notice to that effect for the listserve. In addition, NCSL
has the capability to search the state's websites for new audit reports
and add them automatically to the database, but technical problems have
kept this from being as effective as it could be. The committee suggested
that NCSL provide information on these problems to the NLPES key contacts
and ask them to work with the computer staff in their states to address
them.
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Kate said the committee is continuing to work on developing a brochure
about NLPES for newer evaluation staff.
Phil Durgin reported for the Professional Liaisons Committee. Phil
said that he and Tim Osterstock have contacted each of the current liaisons
and written newsletter articles on the liaison groups. Phil reiterated
the concern raised last year by Ken Levine, that there may not be enough
work for this to be a separate committee.
Jane Thesing reported for the Annual Meeting Committee. Jane
distributed the annual meeting schedule and highlighted the times available
for NLPES sessions. She commented that scheduling this year's sessions
has been especially challenging because of some restrictions set by NCSL
on when staff sections may hold sessions. Consequently, the committee is
looking at cosponsoring several sessions with other sections. In addition,
the committee plans to hold a roundtable discussion and coordinate a "dutch-treat"
dinner for NLPES members.
Ken Levine reported for the Training Committee. Ken said that
Florida is nearly finished with the training CD and Gary VanLandingham
indicated he had a beta version of the CD and expected to make only minor
additional modifications. Gary Brown reported on planning for the October
2003 training conference in Michigan. Most of the arrangements have been
made, but Gary said they will be contacting executive committee members
to suggest panelists. The committee discussed the conference budget extensively.
Gary and Kristin House have worked closely on the budget and believe that
the conference can be funded without increasing fees over last year's rates.
Joel Alter reported for the Membership and Nominations Committee.
Joel indicated that we had seven candidates for six positions. The newly
elected members are: Sherry Hayashi (HI), Steven M. Henderson (CA), and
Kathleen C. Snider (SC). The returning members are: Martha Carter (NE),
Phil Durgin (PA), and Ken Levine (TX).
Other Business
Heather suggested that early May would be a good time for executive
committee members to contact their state contacts and said that she and
Kate would develop a list of topics to be discussed.
Phil suggested that the committee should consider modifying the by-laws
to accommodate having offices certify their staff and vote in the NLPES
election at the same time, among other issues.
Date and Site for the Next NLPES Executive Committee Meeting
Heather announced that the next meeting will be July 21, San Francisco,
California.
The meeting was adjourned at 5:15 p.m.
Respectfully submitted,
Martha Carter, Secretary
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