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National Legislative Program Evaluation Society (NLPES)
Executive Committee Meeting Minutes
August 6, 2007
Boston, Massachusetts
Present:
Ken Levine, Chair
Tim Osterstock, Vice Chair
Jan Yamane, Secretary
James Barber, Member
Trish Bishop, Member
Joe Lawhon, Member
Leslie McGuire, Member
Rakesh Mohan, Member
Perry Simpson, Member
Gerry Schwandt, Member
Wade Melton, Past Chair and LSCC Executive Committee Member
Bob Boerner, NCSL
John Sylvia, West Virginia
Michael Midkiff, West Virginia
David Greer, Louisiana
Karl Spock, Texas
John Turcotte, North Carolina
Absent:
Steve Hendrickson, Member
Call to Order and Opening Remarks
Chair Levine convened the NLPES Executive Committee meeting at 8:30 a.m. on Monday, August 6, 2007, at the Boston Convention and Exhibition Center in Boston, Massachusetts. Chair Levine welcomed members and other attendees to Boston and to his last meeting of 2007 as NLPES Chair.
Group 1 and Group 2 Meetings
The Executive Committee met in its sub-committees: Group 1 (Awards, Communications and Technology, and Nominations/Elections) sub-committees met at 8:30 a.m., followed by Group 2 (Annual Meeting, Professional Development Opportunities, and Fall Training Conference) meetings at 9:00 a.m.
At 9:35 a.m., Chair Levine reconvened the Executive Committee.
Minutes
Upon a motion by Joe, seconded by Tim, the minutes of the April 14, 2007 NLPES Executive Committee meeting in Austin, Texas, were adopted as drafted. Copies of handouts discussed during the meeting are kept on file with the NLPES Secretary.
Announcements
As a reminder, Chair Levine stated that the next NLPES Executive Committee Meeting under the leadership of Tim Osterstock, in-coming Chair of the NLPES Executive Committee, will be at 3:00 p.m., on Tuesday, August 7, 2007, in Room 201.
Chair Levine reminded NLPES members of the Dutch Treat Dinner scheduled at 7:00 p.m., on Wednesday, August 8, 2007, at the Legal Seafood at Copley Square (between the Westin and the Marriott, above Chili’s).
Sub-Committee Reports
Awards (Joe Lawhon, Chair; Leslie McGuire, Gerry Schwandt, Tim Osterstock) Joe reported that only one (1) award was given for methodology even though the newly drafted criteria allowed for three (3) awards. Joe suggested that some additional fine-tuning of the wording might be needed. Overall, he reported that there were six (6) submissions for the Excellence Award; 6 (six) for the Methodology Award; and eighteen (18) for the Impact Award.
Communications and Technology (Rakesh Mohan, Chair; Steve Hendrickson, Trish Bishop, Jan Yamane, James Barber, Perry Simpson) Rakesh reported that the website is still the biggest problem. Bob/NCSL is still working with NCSL to make the requested amendments. NLPES needs to be more aggressive with NCSL—it is imperative that the old materials be removed from the site. The overall goal is to make the website simple.
Professional Liaison List – a suggestion was made to eliminate the list as it is not used.
Newsletter topic for November 2007 will be peer review. James will be looking to member states for information to include in the article.
Nominations / Elections (Wade Melton, Chair)
Chair Levine reported that Kathy McGuire, Florida, and Scott Sager, Wisconsin, have been elected as new members to the committee. Joe, Leslie, Tricia, and Jan are returning members. Chair Levine welcomed both new and returning members.
Professional Development Opportunities (James Barber, Chair; Tim Osterstock, Trish Bishop, Wade Melton)
There were four (4) areas with progress / changes to report. First, it was noted that the Basic Skills training is not longer available and a request was made to have this information posted to the NLPES website. Second, recording of podcasts will continue and Chair Levine will do podcasts in West Virginia. Third, a request was made to have the Fall Training Conference session materials and eventually the sessions themselves posted on the website to make them available for as many members as possible. Finally, the sub-committee provided additional information on the “chat room” discussion. It was noted that there is more than one format. One can be free form (unmoderated), but with a limited number of participants. Another can be more structured (moderated). It was suggested that chat discussions be rolled into the LSCC e-learning and technology guide. Both Gary Van Landingham and Martha Carter are involved in this area in LSCC.
Annual Meeting (Gerry Schwandt, Chair; Steve Hendrickson, Joe Lawhon)
Gerry stated that an updated agenda dated July 12, 2007, was passed out. On the list of to-do’s, Gerry indicated that the sub-committee should develop a timetable for getting speakers for the annual meeting. Gerry said he will pass on his materials to the next chair. Also, evaluation forms will be made available during sessions—encourage attendees to submit the forms with their feedback.
Fall Training Conference (Jan Yamane, Chair; Leslie McGuire, Rakesh Mohan, Perry Simpson)
Jan thanked John Sylvia and Michael Midkiff for their on-going work in planning the 2007 Fall Training Conference in West Virginia. All arrangements seem to be going smoothly. Executive Committee members have been in touch with John and Michael to make sure that all panels have a panelists. John and Michael updated the committee on final arrangements in West Virginia.
Fall Training Conference Future Sites Discussion
NLPES is almost ready for its 2007 Fall Training Conference in West Virginia. 2008 has been awarded to Madison, Wisconsin. Executive Committee members had recently contacted various member states to determine which states were interested in hosting 2009. Jan put Hawaii on the table as having expressed interest. David Greer, Louisiana also expressed interest in possibly hosting in 2009 or 2010 in Baton Rouge. David indicated that he would come back to the committee in West Virginia with more information. Perry also indicated that South Carolina may be interested in hosting in Columbia.
Chair Levine motioned to accept Hawaii’s bid as the 2009 Fall Training site. Tim seconded the motion. Although concern was expressed with Hawaii as a site (budgetary constraints, sensitivity with a resort location, distance of travel), upon a vote of the NLPES Executive Committee, it was carried by vote of 10 ayes, 0 nays, and 1 abstention to accept Honolulu, Hawaii as the 2009 Fall Training site (ayes – Rakesh, Ken, Perry, James, Tim, Les, Gerry, Tricia, Wade, Jan; nays – none; abstention – Joe).
Chair Levine indicated that he had already heard that NALIT and RACSS may be interested in joining NLPES in Hawaii in 2009.
Adjournment
Chair Levine thanked the committee members for their hard work over the year. He stated that the next meeting will be convened by in-coming Chair Tim Osterstock on Tuesday, September 18, 2007, at 9:00 a.m. to 12:00 noon in West Virginia. With no further business to discuss, Chair Levine adjourned the meeting at 10:25 a.m.
Reviewed and approved:
Jan K. Yamane
NLPES Secretary
September 14, 2007
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