DECEMBER 4, 2007

National Action Board Meeting with Cathann Kress

The December 4, 2007 meeting of the National Action Board was called to order at 9:07 PM by April Mendenhall (Conference Coordinator and acting NAB Chair.) Amber Mathisen (Western Region Second Year) moved to approve the minutes from the last meeting. Sara Edens (Southern Region President) seconded the motion.

Under old business, NAB discussed their thoughts and ideas for improving the National Collegiate 4-H Organization with Cathann Kress (Director, Youth Development National 4-H Center.) The meeting proceeded with Kress asking questions and NAB members responding.

Mendenhall began explaining to Kress what progress we have made, and the ideas that were outlined in the document sent to Kress prior to the conference call. The document has five benefits that NAB see’s collegiate 4-H having toward the 4-H program. Over the past three years, the National Collegiate 4-H Organization has been working on service project that are nationwide. Recently, the NAB has been brainstorming what we see our organization doing in the future.

Jessica Falkenthall (Web Team Liaison and North Central Region Representative) continued this discussion by telling Kress about our most recent service projects. Operation Military Kids was voted on as national service project by the national body at the 2006 National Collegiate 4-H Conference. Information about what clubs can do for this service project was added to the website so that collegiate clubs could become more involved at the national level. NAB would like to see training given to conference delegates regarding the national service projects as well as the new 4-H SET initiatives.

Falkenthall continued by added that we would like to see a continuous service project done over a certain period. We would like for the service project to relate to the 4-H mission areas as well.

Kress then asked the NAB how state 4-H program leaders and the National 4-H Center could help the National Collegiate 4-H Club. Mendenhall answered by saying that we would a liaison from the National 4-H Center. This would give our organization some continuity, because we have such a high turnover rate among the NAB officers. The liaisons roles would be to have a contact list of all of the collegiate 4-H clubs from across the nation. This person would also give our organization a place to house documents and paperwork. The liaison would be able to give the collegiate 4-H organization support and information about the mission mandates from the National 4-H Center, as well as training at our national conferences.

Kress then asked us what other needs we were looking for. NAB responding with funding. The organization could really use funding when it comes to individual clubs planning and hosting regional and national conferences. Although most clubs are able to get some support from the student governments, it usually is not enough to host a large event such as national and regional conference. We would also like to be able to offer community service grants to clubs so that they can participate in the national community service project, as well their own club’s service projects.

Kress then announced that her staff at the national 4-H center are looking at opportunities they can provide collegiate 4-Hers with that will coordinate with every school’s academic schedule. They are also discussing the idea of combining national events so that everyone can see what opportunities are available Falkenthal then mentioned the idea of combining the National Collegiate 4-H Conference with the National NAE4-HA Conference. Falkenthal and Mendenhall already have plans of meeting with the NAE4-HA president the following week.

Kress then asked NAB what we would like to see at our conference. The answer included workshops that focus on the 4-H mission mandates, especially the recently released 4-H SET. An idea that came up during discussion was that each conference meal could focus on one mission mandate. This way it would meet the entire delegation rather than the 20 or 30 that sign up for a particular workshop. We would like someone from the national 4-H center to be available to present the workshop, because they know first hand about the mission mandates. Kress said that she would check with Byron Garrett to see if this could be a possibility.

The next steps that need to be taken to reach these goals include encouraging collegiate 4-H members become more involved at the national level. Work also needs to be done to achieve the goals outlined in the strategic plan. These first few steps need to be accomplished by the National Action Board.

To create plans that would work with collegiate schedules, the National Collegiate 4-H Organization would need some structure. Because there is such a high turnover rate within the organizations leadership body, the organization needs someone that could be a continuous advisor or liaison between the collegiate 4-H organization and the national 4-H center. This person could carry on information from old member to members without the organization missing a beat.

Kress then mentioned that she can communicate with NAB through the NAB list serve and Facebook group. Mendenhall said she will forward our goals on to Kress, and Falkenthal explained what our longer term educational goals were. Kress then said that she would begin working with her staff to see what they could do to help us accomplish our goals, thanked us for our time and left the conference call.

Under old business, Mendenhall then explained about NAB’s idea of creating an alternative spring break program. This program could focus on the new mission mandates, but last for a continuous month. This would allow various universities to participate in the leadership opportunity during each of their various spring break schedules. A project could be done within a larger city where the program could move from school district to school district throughout the month with each changing week. There could be new facilities each week from new universities from across the country.

Edens then commented on the Southern Region conference. There were 14 participants. They discussed the idea of combining their regional meeting with the Southern Region Volunteer Leaders Association meeting. She mentioned that this would lower the cost to approximately $25 per person. Casey East, Troy University is checking for more information and will report back at a later date.

Falkenthal said that the North Central Regional is still discussion who will host the 2009 National Conference.
Mathisen then motioned to adjourn the meeting. Edens seconded the motion. The meeting adjourned at 10:04 PM (CST).

Respectfully,
Amy Schwertner
NAB Secretary