Friday, March 02, 2007

February 17, 2007

NATIONAL COLLEGIATE 4-H BUSINESS MEETING

The 2007 National Collegiate 4-H Club Meeting was called to order at 3:49 PM (CNT) on February 17, 2007 by Antoine Jefferson (Southern Region President and National Action Board Chair, Louisiana State University). The meeting was held in the Cypress I Room at the Holiday Inn Select in Baton Rouge, Louisiana.

Amy Schwertner (National Action Board Secretary, Texas Tech University) began the meeting by calling roll. Clubs present and their voting delegates are as follows:

CollegeDelegate 1Delegate 2
Alabama Collegiate 4-HCody Johnson
California Polytechnic State UniversityEmily Morris
Colorado State UniversityA.J. LambertAutumn Sheridan
Georgia State ClubVanessa BoldenJosh Rogers
Indiana UniversityJess Falkenthal
Iowa State UniversityKyle MowrerRachel Bethards
Kansas State UniversityMelinda TebowKylee Grant
Louisiana State UniversityJasmine Honore
Montana State University- BillingsGillette Vaira
Oklahoma State UniversityJoyce AmbrosBecca Lasich
Oregon State UniversityMichelle MartinChantelle Hennikson
Purdue UniversityDustin PottsSarah Wickert
Rutgers UniversityKristen Tangel
South Dakota State UniversityKyle LessmanHannah Englin
Texas Tech UniversityDusty WinklerSpencer Schacht
The Ohio State UniversityRyan CurtisChristy Clary
Troy UniversityKayce East
University of MinnesotaSamuel Zavory
University of Wyoming Erin Therriault Amber Mathisen
University of ArkansasRyan SeeKrisha Dickson
University of California- DavisVanessa Renwick
University of Missouri at ColumbiaMike RazinKelly Jo Woodson
University of Nebraska- LincolnBryan HuskRebecca Heilman
University of Nevada- RenoTakela Eaton
University of Wisconsin River FallsStephanie KrosemanAshley Gerdts

Schwertner then gave the secretary’s report from the 2006 National Business meeting held in Columbus, Ohio. Falkenthal moved to accept the report. A.J. Lambert (Colorado State University) seconded the motion. Motion passed unanimously.

Sarah Leidheiser (Business Manager, The Ohio State University) gave the business managers report. She reviewed the 2006-2007 budget with the delegation. She then discussed the proposed 2007-2008 budget. She explained the consortium travel costs and the leadership grant included in the new budget. Leidheiser then compared the 2006-2007 year’s budget with the 2007-2008 budget for the members attending the meeting. Vanessa Renwick (University of California at Davis) moved to accept the proposed budget. Christy Clary (The Ohio State University) seconded the motion. Motion passed unanimously.

Jessica Falkenthal (Web Team Liaison, Indiana University) and April Mendenhall (Advocacy Team Liaison, Colorado State University) then gave the Web and Advocacy Team Reports. Mendenhall reported achievements made by the advocacy team throughout the past year. She discussed the promotional materials created by the Advocacy Team during the 2006 term. Materials created are as follows: brochures for collegiate club and extension use, booth materials, service project information, Operation Military Kids information, the tri-annual e-newsletters and the hard copy newsletter given at national conference, book marks, business cards, work order forms for collegiate club use, media kits for promotional use during national 4-H week, surveys for national 4-H week, and the Ideas in Motion project. All of this information can be found on the national collegiate 4-H website: http://www.collegiate4h.org/. The information is available for clubs to use. Mendenhall then announced that if anyone was interested in becoming a member for the Advocacy or Web Team there would be an orientation and question session immediately following the national business meeting in the Bayou Levee room of the Holiday Inn Select.

Falkenthal gave the web team report next. She began by introducing the committee members and explained and showed the website to the delegation. Throughout the past year the Web Team has compiled pieces of information about the national organization and placed it all on the national collegiate 4-H website. On the website you can also find a list of all existing Collegiate 4-H clubs, information about how to begin a new club, National Action Board and other committee member’s contact information, service project ideas, Ideas in Motion database, National and Regional leadership and contact information, news and updates from clubs across the nation, national documents, club resources, and message boards. She also announced the popularity of the national website, and told delegates that she was collecting pictures during the conference to post on the website.

The next item of business was an update on the National Service Projects of Emphasis. Falkenthal gave a quick report on the Resource Library. She said that the project’s goal is to share club resources, icebreakers, teambuilding activities, and workshop materials for others to use. It is an online resource library provided by all clubs to share with other clubs. Each club is asked to submit two proposals for the Resource Library within the next year. The first proposal should be submitted by April 1, 2007.

Michael Cooley (Iowa State University) discussed the Operation Military Kids service project with the delegates next. He first gave explained how the project began. Then he said that clubs could find more information and a state contact at operationmilitarykids.org. The goal of the project is to have each club coordinate two events annually for Operation Military Kids. Ideas can be found by contacting theirs state coordinators (contact information is on the OMK website) or visit the national collegiate 4-H website. Another idea that clubs may want to consider when planning an OMK project is to partner with other clubs within the community such as Boys and Girls clubs or the American Legion. He also announced that there is a survey on the national collegiate 4-H website for clubs to fill out after participating in an OMK project. The information will be put into a database so that other clubs can get ideas for future OMK projects. Cooley said that the club that performs the best Operation Military Kids project during the 2007 year will be awarded with free pizza for club meetings for an entire year.

Patrick Voorhies (second year NAB and Co-Conference Coordinator, Louisiana State University) gave a brief report on Agricultural Consortium. He describe that the Consortium was developed by many different clubs such as Collegiate 4-H, Collegiate FFA, etc. to prepare a Collegiate Life Knowledge curriculum. There are two different Collegiate Life Knowledge curriculum trainings provided during the conference for clubs to attend. CD’s are also available for use by clubs; if any club is interested in more information or a copy of the CD contact Voorhies.

Under old business, Shane Sheridan gave a brief update on the Strategic Plan. He explained that eight members of the National Action Board met in Chevy Chase, Maryland at the National 4-H Center last summer to discuss findings of the Task Force. During the weekend, the NAB wrote a 17 page document called the Strategic Plan with five different goal areas. The Strategic Planning Committee reviewed the plan, talked with clubs about it, and reported their findings back to the NAB. Members of the National Action Board and the Strategic Planning Committee then split up and began working on achieving the five goals of the Strategic Plan.

Byron Garrett (USDA Liaison) then updated the delegates of the status of Collegiate 4-H. He explained that the 4-H program had three mission mandates: citizenship, healthy living, and science, engineering, and technology. Garrett then told delegates of several opportunities that are available at the national level for Collegiate 4-H members to participate in. One is to be a Collegiate 4-H Facilitator for the National 4-H Conference. Application deadlines have already passed for this opportunity. Another opportunity available for Collegiate 4-H members to participate in is the National 4-H Curriculum Summit. They will be choosing 12-15 Collegiate 4-H facilitators to travel to the National 4-H Center for a few days during June. Travel will be paid for. If any delegates are interested they should see or contact Garrett for more information. The deadline for this opportunity is May 1.

There was only one item to be discussed under new business. Creation of bylaws and a proposed constitutional amendments document was submitted for a vote by the National Collegiate 4-H Organization. Jasmine Honore (Co-Conference Coordinator, Louisiana State University) moved to accept the bill. AJ Lambert (Colorado State University) seconded the motion. Discussion followed. Sheridan gave a brief description of the amendment: a non-discrimination and strategic planning section were added. Definitions of how the NAB is functioning were transferred into bylaws. Nothing was deleted from the constitution. Sarah Wickert (Purdue University) questioned why disabilities and religions were not included in the non-discrimination section. Falkenthal made a friendly amendment to change the spelling of non-discrimination so that it would be spelt correctly and also to change the non-discrimination statement so that it would follow the USDA description of diversity. Honore then yielded her time Evelynn Rachelle (Southern Region Advisor). Rachelle questioned about the content of the national advisor. Falkenthal made a friendly amendment that to this comment and an amendment to change the way that the Northeast Region is written in the document so that it will follow USDA standards; the amendment was accepted. There were no further questions. The meeting then moved into discussion. One minute per person was allowed for discussion. Vanessa Renwick (University of California- Davis) expressed her concerns about the documents description of waiting two weeks before a vote could be made on any item. Sheridan responded. Falkenthal then made a friendly amendment to remove Article 4, Sections F and G of the bylaws being discussed. Sheridan responded and said that these two sections were added to prevent items from being randomly added to NAB meeting agendas and hasty decisions by NAB voting members being made. Kyle Mowrer (Iowa State University) then yielded his time to Michael Cooley (Iowa State University) for a comment. Jefferson then made a point of information: he explained to the voting delegates that NAB met only once monthly via teleconference and explained that some items came up during the meetings that needed to be voted at that time and could not wait for the two week time period suggested in the current document. Falkenthal then made a friendly amendment to change the 2 week deadline to 72 hours. Sheridan accepted this friendly amendment. Honore called to question. Falkenthal seconded. All voting delegates were in favor of a vote. The results of the vote were;
39 yes

10 no

1 abstention

The bill passed and the new constitution with by-laws will now be the document for governing the National Collegiate 4-H Organization.

Jefferson then made a few closing remarks. He announced that interview for national business manager and secretary would begin 10 minutes following the adjournment of the national business meeting, and new NAB members were encouraged to attend the interviews. He also reminded delegates that if they were interested in the Web or Advocacy Teams, there would be an orientation immediately following the national business meeting.

Patrick Voorhies (Co-Conference Coordinator, Louisiana State University) gave delegates the schedule for the rest of the evening, and reminded delegates that if they wanted to attend the Collegiate-Like Knowledge training there would be a debriefing in the morning at breakfast.

Garret then made a brief comment about the accomplishments and success NAB has made this year.

A.J. Lambert (Colorado State University) then moved to adjourn the meeting. Dusty Winkler (Texas Tech University) seconded the motion. Motion passed unanimously. The 2007 National Business Meeting the National Collegiate 4-H Organization was adjourned at 5:14 PM (CNT).

Respectfully Submitted,

Amy Schwertner

NAB Business Manager

Texas Tech University