OPEG Meeting Minutes

Minutes for 8/6/04 meeting of OPEG Board of Trustees, held at Maryhaven, Columbus, OH.

Present: Steve Albanese, Tim Champney, Mina Chang, Rosemary Chaudry, Bob Fine, Sandy Lock, Jennie Nickel. Not present: Debbie Crawford, Robin Fenn, Rob Fischer.

Steve Albanese convened the meeting at 10:05.

Minutes previous meeting: Minutes of meeting of May 24, 2004 that were submitted by Jennie Nickel were reviewed. Sandy made a motion to accept the minutes, Mina seconded; motion accepted.

Treasurer’s report: Sandy presented a financial statement for June 2004 and, because OPEG is close to the end of the financial year (August 31, 2004), a provisional statement for July 2004. For the June 2004 statement, revenue to date is $8,101.16, expenses to date are $6,117.55; net profit is $1,983.61. As of 6/30/04, checking account balance is $2,847.75; CD balance is $6,866.59; total account balance is $9,894,44. There is only one outstanding fee for the Exchange, and that should be resolved soon.

For the July 2004 statement, revenue to date is $8,461.16, expenses are $6,297.45; net profit is $2,163.71. Correction to the July 2004 statement: As of 7/31/04, checking balance $3,027.85; CD balance is $6,866.59; total account balance is $9,894.44. (The savings account balance should be $0.00.)

Sandy will generate a preliminary budget and circulate it for approval at the next meeting.

Report from AEA affiliates meeting- Tim reported that he and Rob attended the AEA affiliates meeting 6/25-6/27/04 that was sponsored by the Atlanta Evaluation Association. The meeting is not an official AEA function currently. The Kellogg Foundation funded Tim and Rob’s attendance. Representatives of approximately 20 affiliates and several members of the AEA executive committee attended the meeting. Some affiliates are just starting or getting ready to start. As an evaluation organization that was begun in the late 1970s, OPEG predates AEA and most of the affiliates.

There was interest among the IN, Western PA, and MI affiliates in participating in a regional meeting with OPEG; the OPEG program committee will explore that possibility. There was discussion about creating a start-up toolkit for beginning affiliates. Tim was appointed as an alternate member of the steering committee; a conference call is planned for the near future. The affiliates hope to meet again at the annual AEA meeting this fall in Atlanta. Tim also asked that the topic of AEA Affiliate activities be added as a regular agenda item to OPEG’s board meetings. Tim shared the newly created "to do" list created by the Program Committee for this year’s Exchange, and he will post this to the Web along with a copy of OPEG’s Articles of Incorporation, because these materials may be helpful for newly-forming affiliates. Sandy will have the Articles re-typed and will send to Rosemary for posting to the website.

Tim will circulate an electronic summary of the meeting.

Membership committee- Jennie reported that membership is approximately 110. Sandy reported that due a billing complication, approximately 10 attendees at the Exchange who paid for membership and the exchange have not yet received their membership. Rosemary made a motion to extend a courtesy membership to those attendees; Tim seconded the motion; motion was approved. These memberships will be for 2004, and will raise the membership total to approximately 120. Sandy will notify these new members. For next year’s Exchange brochure, a change will be implemented that will allow Exchange attendees to check off "Please add me to the membership list." Non-member attendees at the November program will receive courtesy memberships that will commence January 2005.

Program committee report- Tim reported on feedback from the Exchange: more time for breaks and networking, assuring that the desert afternoon break is offered in a room where everyone can gather. Jennie will distribute results of the Exchange evaluation to attendees electronically, as well as reminders to check the website for updated information on OPEG and on the fall program. The program committee will begin discussions about next year’s offerings.

Tim submitted a cost proposal for the Fall Evaluation Basics workshop. Jennie made a motion to have Health Policy Institute of Ohio, as a 501-C-3 organization, receive donation monies and pay for covered items on behalf of OPEG, which is not a 501-C-3 organization. The motion was seconded by Sandy, and unanimously approved; Tim abstained from voting. If funding from the Cleveland Foundation comes through, the basic cost will be $75.00; if funding does not come through, the cost will be $85. This will allow OPEG to cover the variable expenses for food and CEUs. Sandy recommended that a certificate of attendance be provided to attendees who need verification of attendance in lieu of CEUs.

Child-Focus, under Sandy’s direction, will do the Workshop mailing, using the 600+ list from the Exchange. Tim will review the registration form and send it to Sandy by September 7, so the mailing can be sent out by September 15^th. Registrations, which will be sent to Sandy, will be open until October 29,2004 (Friday). The maximum attendance is 100; a waiting list will be maintained. E-mail confirmation of registration will be sent.

Communication/Website- Tim asked that someone take over as web master and coordinate with R-Squared communication (Randal Rust), the web manager. Rosemary volunteered to do this unless another Board member would like to take over. Mina will consider taking over this responsibility later. Tim and Rosemary will set up a meeting to review the status of the website and communication with the website manager.

Other- Tim recommended that OPEG consider changing from its current tax status as a 501-C-6 organization, a professional organization that can lobby, to a 501-C-3-organization service organization. This will entail some modification to the Articles of Incorporation to stress the service nature of OPEG. Under the present status, OPEG cannot accept tax-deductible donation monies; it is permissible for donors to write off any donations as expenses but not as an actual donation. Tim noted that other AEA affiliates are 501-C-3, and offered to contact these other affiliates to learn how they obtained this designation. If possible, preliminary work can be undertaken so that the general membership can vote on this change in May 2005 at the Exchange general meeting.