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NLPES Executive Committee
Meeting Minutes
Minutes
NCSL National Legislative Program Evaluation Society (NLPES)
March 31, 2000
The Executive Committee met on Friday, March 31, 2000 in Denver, CO. Copies of handouts discussed during the meeting are kept on file with the NLPES secretary.
Members present at the meeting were Joel Alter, James Barber, Gary Brown, Martha Carter, Rick Coleman, Shan Hays, Craig Kinton, Heather Moritz, Jane Thesing, and Gary VanLandingham. Member Rob Krell was present by telephone. Others present at the meeting were Shannon Bieberdorf (Texas), Don Bezruki (Wisconsin), and Bob Boerner from NCSL.
NLPES Committee Meetings
From 7:30 -8:30 a.m. the committee chairs met with their respective committees to discuss committee business.
Call to Order
The meeting was called to order by Craig Kinton, Chair, at 8:35 a.m. Craig welcomed everyone and introduced Shan Hays, the new committee member from Arizona, and Shannon Bieberdorf, from Texas, who has been working with Craig and the Texas staff to plan the fall training conference. All of the executive committee members introduced themselves.
The first item of business was to approve committee actions taken electronically after the resignations of Gerald Hoppmann and Tony Jones subsequent to the last meeting. First, James Barber moved to approve the election of Jane Thesing as secretary. This was seconded by Gary Van Landingham and adopted by a voice vote. Then Heather Moritz moved, seconded by Joel Alter, to approve the election to the executive committee of David Greer and Shan Hays to fill the vacancies. This motion was adopted on a voice vote.
Update on Fall Training Conference
The fall training conference will be held from Friday, Sept. 8 through Monday, September 11, in Austin, TX. It will be held in conjunction with the RACSS staff section. Craig introduced Shannon, who discussed the plans for the conference. The theme of the conference will be the legislature of the future. Shannon distributed a preliminary agenda. She discussed the keynote presentations, the concurrent sessions and the social events. There will be three tracks for concurrent sessions: new work demands, changing technology, and emerging policy issues. The conference will also include a session showcasing the winners of the 2000 NLPES awards (to be announced in July).
The track for emerging policy issues will highlight what will be happening in these fields that will affect our work. The members of the training committee will be responsible for developing concept statements for these panels and identifying the relevant topics in each field.
These areas, with training committee person responsible, are : higher ed (Shan), health and human services (Martha), natural resources (Joel), public safety (Shan), public education (James), general government (Martha), and business & economic development (James). The other members of the committee were asked to help identify trends for the future and e-mail their ideas to the training committee members by the middle of April if possible.
We also discussed the menu of possible sessions for the other two tracks and indicated some that we thought would be most useful. We were asked to e-mail further ideas to Shannon at sbeiberdorf@sao.state.tx.us. The Texas staff will finalize the sessions and develop concept statements for each one.
Craig reminded us that this year's conference will have a different schedule, by beginning on Friday and going through Monday noon. The executive committee will meet on Friday morning. The hotel will be the Omni, near 6th St. and 3 blocks from the state capitol.
Clarification of Role in Joint NLPES/ASI Survey
Gary VanLandingham talked about working with the ASI on oversight issues and a survey of NLPES members. The survey will result in two products: 1) new state profiles to update and complete our web listings (and possibly to be published in booklet form), and 2) an analysis of survey information (individual states not identified) that will be published jointly by NLPES and ASI. Gary went over the survey and said that it should be finalized in a week or so. Responses (on the Internet) will be due at the end of April. Joel moved to support and formally approve this effort. This motion was seconded by Shan and was adopted on a voice vote.
Transfer of Web Page
Gary VanLandingham also reported on the transfer of our web page from Florida's OPPAGA to NCSL. This should happen next week. Issues that have slowed the transfer have been getting the use of the new NCSL template and security concerns related to our need to post changes directly to the web page. The web site has been frozen for about a month, but updates should be made soon.
Membership and Nominations Committee
Gary VanLandingham reported that we have 7 applicants for five seats on the executive committee, so we will have an election. Ballots will be distributed soon.
NLPES Logo
Gary also distributed various proposed designs for the new NLPES logo. After viewing the logos, James moved that we adopt for the features a generic state capitol with three "gears" in the background. This was seconded by Martha and approved on a voice vote. Ensuing discussion provided that there might be some modification in the wording (instead of "making government work") and the color. Gary will e-mail the final version. This design was proposed by Bill Buck of the Florida office.
Annual Meeting Committee
Jane Thesing reported for the annual meeting committee. We first discussed the schedule for the Chicago annual meeting (from July 15-20). Although staff sections are not allocated meeting time on Sunday, we would like to have our executive committee meeting on Sunday afternoon. On Monday we would have an opening continental breakfast /reception from 8:00-9:15 a.m. Our program sections will include programs on evaluating economic development programs, education reform and accountability efforts, and an NLPES roundtable discussion of issues relevant to our members. This roundtable will follow the NLPES business meeting and awards presentation lunch on Wednesday, July 19. We will also have a session put on by the NSAA about their joint performance audit on home health care. Our final executive committee meeting will be on Thursday, July 20 from 10:45 to 12:00 noon. There was some discussion of the breakfast/reception, which we have not done before, but we decided to try it this time and evaluate the membership response.
James Barber mentioned that he will be coordinating the legislative staff information booth staffing at the annual meeting. He encouraged us to sign up for this when contacted.
Awards Committee
Heather Moritz reported for the committee. The awards application letters will go out on April 7 with a reminder on April 21. Entries must be postmarked by May 8. There has been one change in the criteria for the methodology award. The criterion that research methods include the use of new or progressive software has been made optional for this year. Award application information will be put out on the listserv and the web site. We also discussed contacting the key contacts in our respective states about the award applications. Heather will put together talking points for these calls, which should be made the 2nd or 3rd week in April. In those calls we will also mention the fall training conference.
Heather then distributed draft criteria for the individual outstanding achievement award. We discussed these criteria and the process. The award winner is selected by a panel consisting of the chair, vice chair, and three people whom they appoint. Gary Brown moved that we adopt the criteria and the motion was seconded by Heather. It was adopted on a voice vote, with minor editorial changes (modifying program evaluation with "legislative" on lines 2 and 3, and substituting "subsequent to" for "upon" in line 2).
After announcement of the award winners, the announcement on the web site will be linked to the winning offices' home pages. We also discussed making winning award submissions available as a model, and Heather will look into this (may not be feasible if not retained). We also further discussed the criteria for the excellence in evaluation award, but made no change at this time.
Communications Committee
Joel Alter reported for the committee. The newsletter will be transferred from Mark Bucherl, who has left the legislative program evaluation field, to Mary Goehring (TX). Craig and Mary will be discussing any changes or enhancements based on the purpose and use of the newsletter. We are to e-mail Craig or Mary with suggestion or ideas . The web site transition discussed earlier should occur in the next couple of weeks. We discussed the state contact program which we want to continue as a good idea. We also discussed orientation to the executive committee. The idea was to have a contact person on the current committee to provide orientation to new members. Joel will work with Craig and make informal assignments after the upcoming election.
Joel then distributed a handout on the LPE database. Some problems with the database discussed include: there is no date field (can't limit search by date), there is no clear indication of which state published a retrieved report, and report titles are not always there. Joel will talk to Doug Sacarto (NCSL) further and perhaps have an article in the newsletter with tips for states on posting reports on web sites that the database will pick up and make accessible. We also discussed how to improve communications with rank and file NLPES members. Ideas suggested included periodic best practices postings on the web site or other more relevant information on the web site. We could also solicit topical comments through the listserv process. The listserv membership has been pretty consistent.
Liaison Committee
Gary Brown reported for the committee. We reviewed the list of duties and list of organizations with whom we have liaisons. We distinguished between the groups that we want to connect with to share training and other relevant information, and the groups where our objective is just to keep a "finger on their pulse." Sam McCall is not a liaison for us anymore and he had three groups. After some discussion we agreed to drop the AICPA from our list, to keep our finger on the pulse of most of the organizations, and to target the IIA, the AEA, and NSAA for closer interaction. Gary VanLandingham will contact Jim Pelligrini about the IIA and James Barber will contact Barb Hinton about NSAA. Craig will try to find a liaison for the GASB.
Training Committee
James Barber distributed a report addressing the committee's charge and summarized the report for the committee. The 2001 fall training conference will be in Kansas City, MO, from September 5-8, 2001. Mickey Wilson (MO) (573-526-8127) and Leo Hafner (KS) are already working on the plans. This will be the first ever jointly sponsored conference. James distributed the Planning Guidelines for NLPES Fall Training Conferences. He discussed that, on the suggestion of Shannon Bieberdorf, we will add a provision for a program steering committee, composed of members from different states, to assist in program planning. Gary VanLandingham moved approval of the guidelines, Heather seconded the motion and it was approved on a voice vote. James also distributed the response to his recent solicitation for an inventory of training resources. Twenty-three states responded with 16 submitting training ideas. James will refine this list by, for example, adding telephone numbers in some cases.
Strategic Planning/Performance Measures Committee
Gerry Hoppmann had previously guided this committee and Craig had contacted David Greer about leading the committee's work. He shared a memo from David with some comments on the previous work and stating that he will have some items for discussion at the Chicago meeting.
Research Project Proposal
Craig reported on the status of the proposal we approved last fall. Currently, the project is at the state where funding needs to be secured. Craig will continue to work on this project.
Solicitation of Funds
Craig raised the issue of NLPES soliciting funds from external agencies to offset the costs of conferences and meetings. Other staff sections, particularly the clerks and secretaries, aggressively solicit funds. Craig cited some benefits of this practice, such as accomplishing more, and perhaps being able to do things such as subsidize room rates to encourage attendance. On the con side, there is a possible independence issue and funding could vary widely, causing difficulty in planning, etc. Craig will lay out some of the issues for consideration at the Chicago meeting. Bob mentioned that there are few if any policies and procedures for fund raising in the other staff sections.
Adjournment
Heather moved to adjourn the meeting, and it was adjourned at 12:10 p.m.
Respectfully submitted,
Jane Thesing, Secretary
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