Taskforce work complete, Committee dissolved

We are pleased to announce that the Taskforce's work of reviewing the National Collegiate 4-H Organization has been completed. Thus, the National Collegiate 4-H Taskforce has been dissolved.

We encourage you to read the final report in the document library at the National Collegiate 4-H Homepage, at:
http://www.collegiate4h.org

And, a special thanks to each of you who participated in the online discussions, telephone conferences, and discussions at regional conferences. Your feedback was important to us in drafting the final report, which will hopefully help guide positive changes in our organization in the near future.

- The National Collegiate 4-H Taskforce

Approved Promotion Budget

The following budget was approved by the Collegiate 4-H National Action Board

National Collegiate 4-H Taskforce
Budget Proposal - Promotions

1. Announcements via Mail

200 mailing announcements (3.5¢ per copy) $7.00

Postage for 200 announcements (37¢ per mailing) $74.00

TOTAL $81.00

1. Prizes for Message Board submissions

Budget for Prizes for people to post on message board $125.00

TOTAL $125.00

1. Website

Website hosting and domain name fees $35.00

TOTAL $35.00





GRAND TOTAL $241.00

August 21 Meeting Summary

National Collegiate 4-H Taskforce
Meeting Summary for August 21, 2005

Members Present included:
Northeast Region:
Shannon Glaspell, WVU
David Hartley, WVU

North Central Region:
Tony Rekeweg, Purdue
Southern Region:
Samatha Ephgrave, Oklahoma State
Patrick Voorhies, LSU

Absent:
Haley Cook, Iowa State
Tina Hirsh, North Central
Cindy Sperry, UC-Davis
Second West Representative (Yet to be determined)

The meeting began at 7:20 p.m. CST

All of the members of the taskforce who were present had registered and have reviewed the online message board.  It was noted that at the time of the meeting, it was mostly the Western region participating and that the responses have been slow.  

The message board that is housed at 4HUSA.org was mentioned.  The members expressed a need for mentioning at this site and also streamlining the questions and answers on it.  A greater moderator presence is needed at that site, as answers to questions may vary and are not streamlined.  It was suggested that this item be passed on to NAB to discuss greater involvement in this message board if it is to continue to exist.

Door prizes were discussed as a method to encourage feedback.  Door prize suggestions included the 4-H green Livestrong spin-off type bracelets, which can be purchased from 4-H Supply.  

Several members also voiced concern over the fact that a lot of the same complaints and issues that had previously been mentioned were the only ones being discussed.  Members felt a need that more people with diverse opinions needed to be included as well for a full look at the problems.

One post that was specifically mentioned was the one on resources for Collegiate 4-H.  Members agreed that the Collegiate FFA and Circle K links were great models and that this two links should be forwarded to the Web Team and Advocacy team for review, as this would fall under their respective duties.

The budget was then discussed.  Voorhies said that he had e-mail Dr. Cathann Kress with the 4-H Headquarters / USDA about the mentioned face-to-face meeting, but he had not received a response.  Rekeweg volunteered to contact Greg Hutchinson, who is state leader from Wisconsin who had been asked by Cathann to assist with Collegiate 4-H concerns, to try to get the face-to-face meeting budget issue answered.

The task of assembling mailing lists to mail an advertisement about the message board was discussed.   No one was sure if such lists existed for the West and the North Central regions.  The Southern region has a spreadsheet.  Sommer Mcconihay from WVU would have the most updated list for the Northeast.   Everyone agreed to get these as soon as possible from their respective regions and contacts.  

Hartley volunteered the e-mail addresses for the people who attended the last national conference.  Ephgrave and Voorhies will mass e-mail those people and ask them to get involved on the message board.  

The taskforce has started a blog, however nothing has been posted just yet.  Not all members said they received the e-mail, so it will be e-mailed out again.  The meeting summaries will be posted there as soon as they are typed up and approved.

The discussion of the group then turned to the Regional Conversations.

A facilitation guide will be assembled and distributed to regional conference coordinators and others who will assist in facilitating the conversations at each region’s conference.  The guide will be assembled using the below information.  

Part I. Overview

• Purpose


• Include timeline and information process (Taskfore ( NAB ( Implementation)


• Use the proposal for guidance and wording.


• … would include to bring organization into the 21st century and to provide the organization with a defined purpose and make it stronger


• How the information will be used


• Guidelines for facilitation


• Supply list for conference coordinators


• One member from the taskforce will attend each region’s conference and serve as chief facilitator


• The suggested format would be a dock voting type system, this would need to be explained


• There should be no time limits from the Taskforce, however, all 6 issues must be addressed.  

Part II.  Outcome / Output

• A report from each region’s conversation will be generated based on the discussions.


• At least five top suggestions with the highest priority on each of the six subjects


• Focus should be on the problems themselves, solutions could be suggested if the group agreed—this is because we don’t want people to argue solely on the solutions and not identify any problems.

Part III:  Guidepost Questions to be asked

• Overall, they will be the same as on the message board, just more individualized


• Issue 1:  Collegiate 4-H Image


• Use the ones on message board with the following tweaks and edits:


• Why did you join Collegiate 4-H? Why is it important to you?


• Does the current mission statement describe Collegiate 4-H well? (include mission statement from constitution with the question)


• Issue 2:  Communication


• Include the ones on the message board with the following tweaks and edits:


• How does your club get regional and national information?


• What would be the easiest way to contact you?


• What for of media do you read?  What is the best way of conveying information to you?


• How could response time be improved with leadership and members?  How could timely responses be encouraged at all levels?


• Issue 3: Governance


• Include the ones on the message board with the following tweaks and edits:


• What should the duties of elected leadership (local, regional, national) be?


• What should be the make up and design of regional and national leadership?


• There are Advocacy and Web Teams for Collegiate 4-H, should there be others?  If so, what should they be?


• Issue 4:  Relationships


• Leave identical to message board, and add:


• How should regions interact with other regions?  Clubs with other clubs?


• How could we better communicate with these organizations?  (example organizations include NAE4HA, N4HYDC, Council, USDA/ Headquarters, Trust)


• Issue 5:  Opportunities


• Leave exactly like message board


• Issue 6: Miscellaneous


• Leave exactly like message board, add:


• Insert other comments you haven’t stated that don’t fall into other topics.

At the September meeting, these questions will be reviewed and revised based on message board trends.
Rekeweg will e-mail and confirm a suitable date.

The supplies list for the conference coordinators will include the following suggested items:

• Posterboard


• Markers


• Dots


• Pencils


• Paper


• Flip Charts


• Post It Notes


• Masking tape

The Taskforce will recommend that a minimum of two hours be allotted to the conversations, but if the schedule allows, more time could be used.  We also will recommend that the sections be broken up over time for better scheduling flexibility and to provide a break.

Ephgrave will put together the Facilitation Guide and present it to the Taskforce for final approval.

Each region’s representative will ensure that their region and their conference coordinator will get a copy and it will be posted on the Internet.

The agenda for the September meeting will be:

• Discuss large items from message board, revise questions as needed


• Last tweaking of questions based on feedback


• Budget

The meeting adjourned at 9:05 PDT.

Respectfully submitted,
Patrick Voorhies
pvoorh1@LSU.edu

July 28, 2005 Summary

National Collegiate 4-H Taskforce
Meeting Summary for July 28, 2005

Members Present included:
Northeast Region:
Shannon Glaspell, WVU
David Hartley, WVU

North Central Region:
Hayley Cook, Iowa State
Tony Rekeweg, Purdue
Southern Region:
Samatha Ephgrave, Oklahoma State
Patrick Voorhies, LSU

Western Region:
Shane Sheridan, Colorado State
Cindy Sperry, UC-Davis

Absent:
Tina Hirsh, North Central

The meeting began at 5:14 p.m. Pacific Time.

A tentative timeline was suggested and was approved for the operations of the taskforce.  It will be as follows:

• July 28- Decide on issues that the taskforce will make recommendations on.  These topics will be the primary focus at regional conversations


• August 10-  Disseminate information as needed and start online message board


• August 25- Release agenda and other P.R. to regions and clubs


• August 25- Preliminary report with agenda and questions (Facilitation Guide for regional conversations)


• September 15- Preliminary feedback gathered through use of online message board


• Last week of September through Mid-November- Regional Conferences held where conversations will be conducted


• Sometime in December- Face-to-Face multi-day meeting (if budgeted)


• January 3- Report issued to NAB


• January 3-February 23- Work with NAB to draft resolutions and amendments, public dissemination


• 2006 National Collegiate 4-H Conference- Amendments & resolutions proposed by members, introduced by NAB secretary (universal parli pro).

The taskforce will issue a report which will include recommendations for NAB to follow and implement to ensure the sustainability for Collegiate 4-H at all levels for years to come.  Some of these will be implemented through the use of resolutions, constitutional amendments.  Others can be directly implemented by NAB with out a vote.  The Taskforce may release suggested amendments as an appendix to its report, but it will be up to NAB to formally propose them as they see fit.

The report will provide reasoning behind views and will include specific issues and recommended solutions and expected outcomes.  

The layout for regional conversations will be:

• An allotted amount of time for each question/issue


• Issues will be discussed in small groups, then presented to the full group at the end, where dock voting will take place

The issues that the Taskforce will review and issue recommendations are as follows:

• Communication


• More local club involvement in national issues?


• Preservation & continuity of information


• Mission statement for Collegiate 4-H


• Not all Collegiate 4-H members have previous experience with 4-H


• Tracking enrollment of club members- central databases


• Consistent leadership


• Regional listserves (like South & West)


• Image of Collegiate 4-H


• More professional image for organization


• Partnerships


• Web & Advocacy team:  how do they factor in?


• Relationships


• National 4-H Overall


• USDA / 4-H Headquarters


• National sponsor/advisors


• Partnerships


• NAE4-HA


• National 4-H Council


• National 4-H Trust


• State 4-H Leaders


• N4-HYDC


• Governance


• Explore processes and structures used in other organizations


• Structure of NAB


• Elected vs. non-elected representatives


• Number of representatives/region


• Length of term


• National organization


• Funding- where do dues go?  How are they spent?


• Evaluate budget for 2005-06


• National Business Meeting


• Orientation for voting delegates, new members


• Follow parliamentary procedure


• Alternate activities for non-voting members (voting members- mandatory attendance)


• Alternate methods?


• Evaluate & explore opportunities for national organization


• Miscellaneous


• Catch-all:  we won’t know all issues with the organization:  let members tell us.

It was agreed on and approved that the members of NAB hold an orientation beginning at the 2006 national conference for all voting delegates and new members.

Also, a message board will be started as an avenue to receive feedback on the six issues of the taskforce.  This will allow members to still have a voice if they are unable to participate in regional conversations and guide future discussions.

All Taskforce members should report to the constituency.  However, the members felt that such reports should be supported and approved by the Taskforce beforehand to prevent speculation and the milling of rumors.  This is crucial as it is imperative for the Taskforce to present a united, impartial image organization.  

Taskforce members on the message board will maintain an impartial stance and will only guide the discussions.

Meeting summaries will be posted on the taskforce blog after they have been approved.

Tentatively, meetings will be held as follows via telephone conference from 5:00-8:00 p.m. PDT:

• TBA - August


• September 4


• October 2


• Novemeber 6


• December 4

Other meetings will be called on an as needed basis, budget permitting.

A national conversation was mentioned at several points, but no final decision was formally made.  

The meeting adjourned at 7:04 PDT.

Respectfully submitted,
Patrick Voorhies
pvoorh1@LSU.edu

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