Transition Team Minutes
December 19, 2003
Conference Call

Present

Walt Whitmer, Pennsylvania State University, (Chair)
John Amrhein, Michigan State University
Bo Beaulieu, Southern Rural Development Center
Steve Daniels, Western Rural Development Center
Neal Flora, North Central Regional Center for Rural Development
Pam Hearn, Northeast Regional Center for Rural Development
Rod Howe, Cornell University
Jeri Marxman, University of Illinois
Greg Taylor, Texas A&M University
Kathy Tweeten, North Dakota State University
Charles Sheppherd, Alcorn State University
Julie Stewart, North Central Regional Center for Rural Development
Bonnie Teater, Southern Rural Development Center
Mike Woods, Oklahoma State University

Draft Announcement

Walt Whitmer prepared a two-page brief snapshot on NACDEP as a means of communicating what is going on with the Association. It is anticipated that this would be send out throughout the system as a quick background and outline of activities. He pointed out that the full background piece is now on the web. We would refer to the website and refer to the background piece for folks that want to know more. The group agreed by consensus to use the two-page snapshot.

Committee Reports

• Conference Committee
  John Burton has agreed to serve as chair for the Conference Committee. Members have been identified. Walt will contact John to have him get his team together by conference call and prepare a timeline for the national meeting scheduled for the Spring 2005.
• Database Committee
  Julie Stewart is putting it together with information provided from all four regional rural development centers. Julie will send an update on the database. It was suggested that an announcement be sent out about NACDEP during the first week of January so that we can have additional time to build the database and so that the announcement does not get lost in the mail.
• Marketing and Outreach Committee
  Rod Howe, Walt Whitmer and Bonnie Teater have been working on the website with the hope of getting the site ready for release during the first week of January. All were asked to submit any corrections, changes or additions as soon as possible. Rod Howe and Bonnie Teater also agreed to work on a marketing flyer that can be used at meetings and events throughout the country. Rod Howe also asked for representatives from the respective regions.
• Membership Committee
  John Amrhein and Jeri Marxman and others have spent time discussing the membership strategy. There was a request that each of the regions come up with names of individuals who might serve on the committee. They indicated that there are some policy decisions that we need to be made before putting together a budget and fee structure (i.e., what we anticipate from board expenses, conference expense, meeting expenses, mailing costs, professional management of the organization, awards structure and costs, publications, etc.). Before the group moves further, it is desired that each of the regions have representatives on the Membership Committee.

It was suggested that each of the committees put together a list of names with addresses, phone numbers, fax numbers, email, etc. that could be put on the website. It was also suggested that we a request may need to be distributed throughout the entire system for other names for the various committees. No action was taken. All members of the Transition Team were asked to send possible names to the respective Committee chairs by early January.

JCEP Affiliation

The group agreed by consensus to pursue the thought of JCEP affiliation. The website for JCEP is as follows: http://JCEP.org

Next Meetings

2nd Friday of each month / 10:00 a.m. Central. Call-in Number is 662-325-8448
January 9, 2004
February 13, 2004
March 12, 2004
April 9, 2004
May 14, 2004
June 11, 2004
July 9, 2004
August 13, 2004
September 10, 2004
October 8, 2004
November 12, 2004
December 10, 2004