Present: Gail Carlson, Karen Funkenbusch, Dale Hagerman, Wilma Jean Lower, Ina Metzger, Roxanne Miller, Rex Ricketts, Bob Schultheis, Karla Spencer, Georgia Stuart-Simmons.

Absent:   Tom Henderson, Pat Snodgrass.

Call to order. President Georgia Stuart-Simmons called the meeting to order at 8:30 a.m.

Approval of 12/10/01 minutes. Approved as read.

Budget 2002

Georgia Stuart-Simmons referred to the 2002 ESP Draft Budget document sent by Treasurer Tom Henderson via email. She asked the Board to make one correction in the document to change the “current membership level” figure from 57 to “67.” The draft budget document included the following information:  

	ESP 2002 Draft Budget
Available Dues		$737.00	(based on current membership level of 67)
Board Travel	$300.00
ESP National Conference	$500.00
Supplies: including      Postage, copying,      paper, certificates, etc.	$300.00
Awards/plaques	$125.00
Annual meeting*	$125.00	_______
	$1,350.00
		-$1,350.00
		($ 587.00)
*Assumes ice cream social will continue to be supported by sponsors at annual meeting.

In the document, Tom Henderson reported that all deposits are current and $2,465.09 in outstanding checks have cleared, leaving a total accounts balance of $2,627.19 as of January 1, 2002.

In his proposal, Tom Henderson stated that an additional 53 members would be needed to balance the budget, which he deemed unlikely. Therefore, he recommended to the Board that the Alpha Tau Chapter “sustain the deficit budget in 2002,” but he recommended “consideration of a dues increase for 2003 or plan to scale back our expense-associated activities.”

Rex Ricketts reported that he had sent reminders to ESP members about renewal of membership, but he was uncertain of the results of that effort.

Gail Carlson clarified that our chapter has until March 1, 2002, to develop our 2002 membership list, on which our number of national voting delegates is based. Chapters qualify for one voting delegate for every 150 members.

Action: Bob Schultheis moved that the proposed 2002 budget be adopted by the Board as presented by the Treasurer. Rex Ricketts seconded. Roll call vote was taken. Motion was approved unanimously.

 Future financial situation.

Georgia Stuart-Simmons introduced a discussion of the possibility of a future dues increase, given the fact that our chapter has not increased dues for several years. Current chapter dues are:

-- New member $  46 (includes one-time initiation & new member materials fee of $5)
-- Continuing member $  41 (includes $30 national, $11 chapter)
-- Returning inactive member $  41  (annual dues)
-- Life Member (retirees only) $150 (one-time national fee)

The Board discussed the $150 Life Member dues, which all goes to national and no extra fee for the local chapter. Georgia Stuart-Simmons pointed out that our chapter pays more postage costs to keep in touch with these members, yet we have not collected any extra fees to offset this cost.

Gail Carlson said many states add an additional fee for Life Members, noting that Wisconsin doubles the $150 national amount to raise an additional $150 for the state chapter. She said Missouri is one of the few states not charging an extra fee for Life Members.

The Board discussed recruitment of Life Members as ESP members retire. Gail Carlson said the Retirement Committee has been contacting ESP members upon retirement, sending them a certificate and a letter inviting them to become Life Members. She said usually two to three Life Members are recruited annually.

Dale Hagerman mentioned the benefits of email in communicating with Life Members and reducing costs, but he said many retirees would not have email addresses. He said he prefers having a print copy of the newsletter.

Wilma Jean Lower said there has been an effort to obtain email addresses from retirees that has been led by John Parker, the liaison between the alumni group and the university.

The Board discussed several options concerning raising the membership fees.

Action:  Ina Metzger moved that the Alpha Tau Chapter:

-- increase Annual Member dues from $11 to $20, which would increase the total Annual Member dues to $50 ($30 national, $20 chapter), and the New Member dues to $55 ($35 national, $20 chapter).
-- increase Life Member dues from $150 to $200 ($150 national, $50 chapter).

Rex Ricketts seconded. Roll call vote was taken. Motion was approved unanimously.

Gail Carlson reminded the Board that this decision would need to be approved by a vote of the membership at the next annual meeting in October 2002.

Chapter 2002 goals.

Newsletter. Georgia Stuart-Simmons introduced the topic of setting chapter goals for 2002, suggesting that the most obvious goal was to get the chapter newsletter out to the membership on time. Ina Metzger said January 21 is the deadline for the spring newsletter.

Professional development. Gail Carlson suggested sponsoring another professional development opportunity that could be used to also raise money for the chapter. Various possibilities were discussed (by Board members in parentheses) including:

--  Grant writing (Karla Spencer)
--  Fundraising (Gail Carlson)
--  Possible resources related to fundraising:  

- How to obtain local program sponsors (Georgia Stuart-Simmons)
- Nonprofit Management & Leadership training offered by UM-St. Louis (Roxanne Miller)
- Roger Gaske from MU Development Office (Ina Metzger)
- Person directing MU campaign (Rex Ricketts)
- Alvin Rohrs, director of Students of Free Enterprise, who help an extension council with fundraising several years ago (Wilma Jean Lower)

After some discussion, the Board agreed a fundraising professional development program would meet a current need in extension. The group also discussed the possibility of:

-- inviting members of the community as well as extension staff
-- charging two fees, one for ESP members and one for others
-- using ITV to present the program.

Karla Spencer, Professional Improvement Committee chair, requested suggestions for committee members to serve on the committee to plan an event. Ina Metzger suggested Don Henderson or Barb Casady from the Missouri 4-H Foundation might be able to help with resources. Georgia Stuart-Simmons reported that Joan Hickman said she would help.

Karen Funkenbusch gave an example of a national program with fees charged locally. She said she was working with a national group that is planning a national teleconference program with the help of a sponsor. She said the group is charging for non-members locally and also for continuing education units, but that the organization’s members will not be charged for the program.

Ice cream social follow-up.
Rex Ricketts asked if thank you letters had been sent to the ice cream companies that had donated ice cream. Secretary Roxanne Miller said she needed a letterhead template for the chapter stationery to send the letters. Gail Carlson and Georgia Stuart-Simmons said they would forward the letterhead they have to Roxanne. Bob Schultheis said he would post the letterhead template on the state ESP web site if it could also be sent to him.

Chapter report to JCEP.
Georgia Stuart-Simmons said she was preparing a chapter report to send to the upcoming JCEP (Joint Council of Extension Professionals) Regional Workshop, to be held Feb. 3-5. She said Ina Metzger would represent our chapter at the meeting. Georgia asked that committee chairs email any suggested report items to her by January 25.

Chapter membership list.
Karla Spencer asked if a list is available of all current ESP chapter members who have paid 2002 dues. Bob Schultheis said he has a list but it is not complete with the last few members who paid. Gail Carlson suggested asking Laura Ward for the current list.

Karen Funkenbusch asked what the procedure is for recruiting ESP committee members. Georgia Stuart-Simmons said the process varies by region and is flexible.

Retiree email addresses.
Dale Hagerman asked that Board members make an effort to obtain email addresses for any retirees they know. He suggested taking the opportunity to request email addresses whenever possible.

Newsletter.
Georgia Stuart-Simmons reminded the group that the next newsletter deadline is January 21 and to forward any suggestions for articles to Ina.

Ina Metzger asked if the retiree feature would be continuing. Dale Hagerman said he was working on it.

Next meeting.
The next meeting is scheduled as a teleconference from 8:30-10 a.m. Tuesday, April 23, 2002. Ina Metzger offered to make telephone and room arrangements (for Board members in Columbia) and said she would notify the Board of the final arrangements. If April 23 did not work, April 24 was suggested as an alternative meeting date.

The meeting was adjourned at 9:30 a.m.

Respectfully submitted,

Roxanne T. Miller, Secretary

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