I. Introductions (Priscilla Shontz)

Priscilla Shontz called the meeting to order at 8:16 am.  At this time, all attendees introduced themselves.

Attendance
Michael Wong; Beth Jedlicka; Dennis Wilson; Shannon Tennant; Joseph Yue; Priscilla Shontz; Jeff Bullington; Chris Shupala; Ann Snoeyenbos; Ed Rock; Ann Dykas; Laura Lucio; Dora Ho; Erik Drake; Norman Buchwald.

Discussion
There were thirty-three pairs (mentors/mentees) at ALA Annual 2000.  The committee indicated that the program went well and that participants have appreciated this program. The committee indicated that thank you notes and evaluations would be sent to the participants following the conference. It was reported that nineteen mentoring participants attended the SALA reception on Sunday evening.  It was stated that SALA members should be encouraged to participate in the mentoring program.

A discussion was held about the future activities of the Mentoring Committee and the committee's charge.  Currently, the mentoring program is conducted at conference only. The committee members have investigated the committee's future and would like to change the committee's charge to:

Establish a year-round mentoring program, which would include having a mentoring program at conference.

Establish an information clearinghouse of all ALA mentoring programs and may include some state library association too for members to seek out information on mentoring opportunities.

A discussion was held about the committee's charge. Snoeyenbos favored a less specific charge. It was also mentioned that “coaching” as well as “mentoring” be worded in the committee's charge.

Action/Action Pending
The committee will work with the incoming NMRT President (Shupala) to revise the charge for the upcoming year…no executive board action is required. Bullington will rewrite the charge and forward to Shupala.

Discussion
Wong began discussion of the proposed SASCO/SALA merger by providing the group with some background. On July 6, 2000, the NMRT Executive Board received a memo outlining the SASCO-SALA Merger Proposal from Wong, Students to ALA Chair and Yue, Student and Student Chapter Outreach Committee Chair.  That proposal is replicated below:

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SASCO-SALA Merger Proposal

       Introduction
After consulting the past five years Library School Outreach Committee and Students to ALA Committee planning and final reports as well as Self-Study and Resource Allocation Committee Report and Recommendations, Student and Student Chapter Outreach Committee and Students to ALA Committee propose a merger of these two committees.

       Rationales
 

1. Allow better use of resources.
• Provide a variety of opportunities for committee members
• The two committees compliment each other in terms of schedule and interest
2. Act as advocates for student needs within the profession
3. Further solidify NMRT leadership position in student membership recruitment


Proposed Changes

Committee Name
Student and Student Chapter Outreach Committee

Committee Composition
Co-chairs (2 year terms, staggered)
Committee members (1 year term)

Committee Purpose
The purpose of the committee is to make library students aware of and get them involved in NMRT. This is done by developing and maintaining a network of individuals able to promote ALA and NMRT, working with other NMRT and ALA recruitment efforts, helping to keep student members informed of various NMRT activities, awards, and scholarships, and reviewing/evaluating NMRT's student recruitment efforts and be an advocate for student members by raising awareness of their needs and their potential contribution to NMRT and ALA. The committee also introduces students to ALA in general, encouraging them to attend the ALA Annual Conference and welcoming those who do attend with a reception. The committee also administers the Student Chapter of the Year Award. The student reception does not formally involve the students to ALA work/study plan operated by the ALA Public Information Office.

Appendix

Current Student and Student Chapter Outreach Committee Purpose
The Student and Student Chapter Outreach Committee (SASCO) is charged with the task of developing and maintaining a network of individuals able to promote ALA and NMRT, to work with other NMRT and ALA recruitment efforts, to help keep student members informed of various NMRT activities, awards and scholarships, and to review/evaluate NMRT's student recruitment efforts.

Current Students to ALA Committee Purpose
The Students to ALA Committee (SALA) encourages library school students to attend the ALA Annual Conference and introduces them to ALA, NMRT, and other divisions and round tables. To welcome those who attend, the Committee arranges a reception (open to students, NMRT members, the ALA Executive Board, representatives of divisions/round tables, and library school deans) during the early days of the Conference. SALA does not involve the students to ALA work/study plan operated by the ALA Public Information Office.
 

Tennant commented that this merger would make the charge a much broader charge, not just arranging a reception at Annual in the case of the SALA Committee. Yue also commented that the two committees compliment each other and that the work load, if the committees were merged into a single committee, should work well.  He also stated that this proposed committee should provide a stronger voice for students.

The spokespersons were asked what the name of the proposed committee would if merged.  Yue responded that the “new” committee would retain the committee name of Student and Student Chapter Outreach Committee.

Snoeyenbos asked what would be the size of this committee. Yue replied that the proposed committee would have between six (6) and twelve (12) members. Snoeyenbos also asked if it would make sense to have one half of the members serve 2 year terms and the other one half serve 1year terms, so that there would be some overlapped.  After discussing the “length of terms” for committee members, Shontz commented that the logistics of having one and two year appointments would be difficult. Tennant commented that if you have interested members, they would want to continue to serve on a committee.

The merged committee would have three basic responsibilities to focus upon:

1. Updating contact lists.
2. Administering the Student Chapter of the Year Award
3. Arrange/Oversee a student reception at Annual Conference
It was also mentioned that this past year, SASCO had 14 members and SALA has 4 members.

Action
Snoeyenbos made the motion to approve the merger of Students to ALA Committee and Student and Student Chapter Outreach Committee into one committee to be called Student and Student Chapter Outreach Committee.  Shupala seconded the motion.  The motion passed by a unanimous vote.

Action Pending
The committee will now begin work on the new charge of the one committee. Yue and Wong will work on updating the NMRT Handbook.

Shontz provided an overview of NMRT Bash to the attendees. For the past two years, NMRT has provided volunteers to the ALA Scholarship Bash, which is held at Annual Conference. At this conference, NMRT will be providing seventy (70) volunteers to the Bash. The ALA Scholarship Bash will be continuing into the future.  The issue/problem is that NMRT has been recruiting and coordinating volunteers for the ALA Bash, but also recruits and coordinates volunteers for many NMRT events as well, such as Resume Reviewing Service, Mentoring, Booth, Friendly Booth Award Judges, etc.

The current arrangement with the ALA Scholarship Bash is that if NMRT recruits and coordinates volunteers for the Saturday night “Bash”, ALA provides $4000.00 to NMRT for the Shirley Olofson Award. It was stated that it is difficult to get many volunteers to cover many, if not all, of these activities.

What is NMRT's future role in the ALA Scholarship Bash?  Should ALA recruit volunteers ALA-wide?  It was mentioned that ALA is encouraging the development of “Bash Scholarships”.  If NMRT would create a NMRT Bash Scholarship, ALA would provide NMRT with $3000.00 per scholarship. Yue asked how could the money be used. Snoeyenbos replied that the scholarships are solely intended for attending library school. Should NMRT start a NMRT Bash Scholarship?

Does NMRT want to continue to recruit and coordinate volunteers for the ALA Scholarship Bash?

Tennant commented that volunteers, who are students or first timers to conference, receive a free ticket to the Bash. The cost of a ticket to the Bash can be difficult for students and conference attendees. Shupala commented that perhaps NMRT could coordinate the volunteers, but other ALA divisions would need to do the recruiting. Snoeyenbos stated that the NMRT Social, which was held on Saturday evening prior to the creation of the ALA Scholarship Bash, was a much smaller and intimate setting and the cost was $10.00, which is much more feasible than a $25 ticket to a large event.

Shontz asked if we do not continue participating in the Bash, NMRT would lose $4000.00.  It was stated that volunteering is difficult work and not much fun…you are scheduled to volunteer for a two-hour slot, but really end up working longer. It was also mentioned that if NMRT bows out, the ALA Scholarship Bash would need to set a “committee” to recruit and coordinate volunteers.

Other thoughts mentioned…could NMRT have a “money in/money out” dinner/social on Sunday evening?

A question was addressed to Lucio, NMRT Treasurer, that if NMRT no longer participates in the Bash and lose the $4000.00, is NMRT's Shirley Olofson Award self-supporting? Lucio replied that the Shirley Olofson Award is self-supporting.  The Olofson fund is approximately $45,000.00, which NMRT awards a $1000.00 award annually.

Other questions/thoughts mentioned…
Is this a risk worth taking?

What might be the implications?

Should we focus back on NMRT?

What about future of NMRT and vendor sponsorships?
It was mentioned that NMRT may want to investigate the possibly of shifting sponsorships from one NMRT event/activity/program to another.

Does the ALA Scholarship Bash activity live up to our vision statement?
A comment was said that NMRT think about what we are getting/not getting out of the Bash.  Wong told the attendees of his experience as a
Bash volunteer in New Orleans last year. He indicated that the experience was hectic.

As the discussion came to a close, Tennant said that perhaps NMRT could have “formal” reception then adjourn to a “less formal” social…maybe in an adjoining room. Lucio stated that she would communicate with Gerald Hodges, ALA Staff Liaison, to follow-up about issues regarding the Olofson Award and its self-supporting status. Shontz commented that perhaps revenue generated with NMRT's preconference could assist with adding funds to the Olofson fund.

Action
Snoeyenbos made the motion to discontinue coordinating volunteers for the ALA Bash and channel NMRT's efforts to activities more in line with NMRT's vision statement. Shupala seconded the motion. The motion passed by a unanimous vote.

Action Pending
Shontz, Shupala, and Ho will contact supporting vendors to discuss vendor sponsorship of NMRT events/activities/programs.

NMRT Budget (Laura Lucio)
The NMRT budget was moved from Friday's board agenda to Monday's board agenda.  Lucio distributed the “Proposed ALA-NMRT Budget 9/1/00-8/31/01” to the attendees.  Lucio provided an overview of the budget and noted that there had been a change of $56.00 under Estimated Programming and Promotional Expenditures; Member Services; Postage.  The amount should be $1150.00, not $1094.00.  Lucio also commented that money is distributed among the officers and that if any changes to a given officer's budget would necessitate another officer's to decrease his/her budget.

Shupala commented that NMRT may need to look at increasing the budget for the Resume Reviewing Service in the future, which would be the 9/1/01-8/31/02 budget at the earliest.

Action
Shupala made the motion to approve the ALA-NMRT Budget 9/1/00-8/31/01. Ho seconded the motion.  The motion passed by a unanimous vote.

Shontz thanked everyone for their hard work throughout the past year and exchanged thanks and appreciation to Shupala, incoming NMRT President for 2000-2001.

Introductions of the 2000-2001 NMRT Executive Board:
President – Chris Shupala
Vice President/President-Elect – Dora Ho
Past President – Priscilla Shontz
Secretary – Joseph Yue
Treasurer – Mary Anne Hansen
Outreach Director – Alison Hopkins
Leadership Development Director – Ann Dykas
Member Services Director – Susanna Van Sant
Networking Director – Victor Schill
Councilor – Ann Snoeyenbos