CTAM Board of Governors Meeting Minutes

Thursday, September 15, 2005, Best Western, North Makato

Present: Jill Lofald (President), Dan Cronn-Mills (President Elect), Tom Kuster (Past President), Larry Schnoor (Treasurer),, Karen P. Wilson (Secretary), Dave Warne (College/University Rep.), Cheryl Neidt (High School Classroom Rep.), Gregg Sawyer (MN Education Theater Assoc. Rep), Myles Wagner (MN Debate Teachers Assoc. Rep.), Michael Worcester (MSHSL A Rep. Assembly), Michelle Neaton (Community College Rep.), Mark Grant (Technical Colleges Rep.), Mary l. Schmidt (NE Geographic Rep.), Cliff Janke (SW Geographic Rep.), Sandy Nieland (SE Geographic Rep.), Mark Quinlan (MN Speech Coaches Assoc. Rep.)

Meeting was called to order at 7:23 p.m. and Jill began with introductions and welcome. Minutes from January 23, 2005 were approved.

Treasurer’s Report: Larry reported a $6000 balance before starting the conference. 279 people had pre-registered for the convention. Dues paid: 39 META, 127 MSCA, 18 MDTA. 10 people paid membership but will not attend the convention. 41 students will be attending under the CTAM Foundation grant. Great convention attendance!

Past President’s Report: Tom pursued work on the mailing list for CTAM to move it from a members-only list to include other names for recruitment purposes. Mailing list went from 300 to 740. Filemaker Pro format was used so that sorting of the list is possible (i.e. by debate, speech coaches, etc.) META maintains a high school list for the High School League. Executive committee should consider how to best use this list. Tom is happy to continue working on this mailing list. This work is appreciated!

Presidents Report: Jill continued bringing the message of CTAM into the schools that she visited. She represented CTAM on the Arts Consortium that met at the Perpich Center. MN Alliance for Arts in Education disbanded and this Consortium roughly replaces it. The Consortium membership was described. Meetings last about two hours and are on the second Monday of every month. Would anyone else like to attend some of these meetings? A lobbyist (Dave Thtjoren) has been hired by this Consortium to advocate for the arts. Jill also attended Arts Advocacy Day at the Capitol. The Exec Council needs to address the issue of schools that do not support teachers to attend CTAM meetings. There is some discrepancy between schools- some schools reimburse teachers for such conference/Consortium expenses but others do not. Administrations need to hear how important it is for the schools to have this representation. Jill thanked everyone for a fulfilling year!

Convention updates: Dan reported that the convention is set to go. Larry’s sessions will be poolside. Everyone is encouraged to help out with the conference, seating, etc. “Plan ahead, think ahead, work ahead.”

Historian’s Report: In absentia. Dan reported from Cindy Carver that she continues to collect data. She is writing a history of CTAM so please send her any information you might have.

Journal Editor’s Report: In absentia. Dan reported from Nanette Johson-Curiskis that the call for manuscripts went out. She has recruited several associate editors (Warren Samdman, Dan Cronn-Mills, Tom Kuster, Mark Braun, Mark Huglen, Verna Corgan, Mike Dreher). 16 articles were submitted and 7 were accepted. 350 copies were printed. Encourage everyone to send in activities and articles for the journal.

Newsletter Editor’s Report: In absentia. Dan reported from Shelly Freese that people need to watch those deadlines. The next deadline is Oct. 15 and will include a convention review, an announcement of the next convention site, a report on CTAM members at NCA, an article from the Historian, members’ directory and a CTAM Journal CFP. Jill reminded BOG Reps to submit information and articles to the Newsletter.

Webmaster’s Report: It was noted that the BOG agenda should include a Webmaster report so Dan reported that all is going well. New component: high school tournament is now an interactive database so everyone can add information to it. See last page of conference program for more information. Jill requests that her picture be changed on the website.

Liaison to Central States and NCA:

Don Rice is this rep. The NCA conference is Nov. 16-20 in Boston. Central States is in April in Indianapolis. Dan will nominate two sessions based on the conference feedback forms. Students were involved at both sessions last year and the CTAM Foundation supported the students’ attendance at the conference. Larry received great feedback and appreciation from these students.

BOG Members:

Dave Warne worked with a student to create new CTAM visuals (logo, letterhead, etc) but the student got called up for active duty. Michelle Neaton also worked on this as part of a service learning project with students. Watch for more information. Mary distributed various business cards and mentioned that sometimes these are very effective.

Gregg Sawyer received a grant from the CTAM Foundation for a Forum at the Perpich Center. There is money left over for next year’s Forum. Gregg will be sure that handouts about the second “Eyes Ears and Voices” Gathering (to be held in April) are included in the CTAM packets or at a conference table. CTAM was well represented at the Forum.

Mark Quinlan raised the issue of the new requirement of taking a test for judging certification. Every five years people will need to retake the workshop session at CTAM and take the test. After that you just need to take the test (available on-line). The process of taking the test (which is open book) was discussed. Mark is also looking to connect MSCA and the colleges in a more formal way to better connect with potential judges. Mark will ask the membership tomorrow if a packet or a resource that could be given to school board members in support of their programs would be useful.

Jill mentioned that there are some schools that have no speech teams or coaches and college students could really help here. College students could be judges (great experience for them).

Myles Wagner reported on the National Topic Selection Committee and described it as the “classiest conference they had ever attended. “ Thanked CTAM for the support and summarized it as a very successful conference!

Cheryl Neidt made a point of reminding everyone about the upcoming CTAM conference and many people were appreciative of receiving such a reminder.

Cliff Janke mentioned that many people in his geographic region express frustration at having to pay for this conference. The benefit of joining is not apparent to them. Cheryl mentioned the need to continue to work on the rural vs urban argument. Some rural people feel alienated from ‘those who change the rules.’

Mary Schmidt just moved to her area a year ago and she brought a new person with her!

Sandy Nieland sent copies of CTAM registration forms to people in her section to encourage them to attend the conference.

CTAM on the Road: Tom mentioned that traditionally the past President takes charge of this program. He referred to the bright yellow handout from Larry showing past CTAM On The Road information. Discussion followed. Is this program valuable? Is discontinuing this program a mistake? Does this mean that CTAM does not reach as many people outstate? Do we do more than we can handle? Maybe this should be an every other year activity? CTAM membership no longer dwindles when we are out of the Metro area. In the past the BOG reps were in charge of organizing the On the Road sessions in their areas. Dave Warne suggested various visions for this program. Maybe CTAM on the Road could visit all Comm. Arts methods classes in the state. Action: forward suggestions to the Executive Committee.

Outstanding Individual Awards: Thank you for the nominations. One of Jill’s goals as President was to be sure that we honor our constituency. Please be aware of this award and make recommendations. Thanks for keeping such good records of past recipients.

Elections: Sandy Nieland is the BOG endorsement for President Elect. Karen Wilson is the BOG endorsement for Secretary. Nominations for these positions are accepted from the floor at the General Business Meeting on Saturday.

Class AA Speech Rep. To MSHSL: This position does not exist anymore.

One Act Advisory Committee Rep to MSHSL: Gregg will check on this. The President of META will sit on this committee. This will not be on the CTAM agenda as it is not a CTAM issue anymore.

BOG Vacancies: Members terms are two years. All BOG members present are continuing their terms at this time. The process of filling BOG vacancies was clarified. It is the President’s responsibility to fill these positions. Organizational reps appoint their own replacements. This will be put on an upcoming Executive Board meeting agenda and Dan will follow up. Exec Committee was asked to discuss and recommend a requirement or commitment for attendance on the BOG. Gregg requested a stronger theater representation on the BOG.

CTAM Rep to CSCA and NCA: Is filled at the CTAM conference.

CTAM Foundation Update: In the registration packets there is a flyer recognizing donors and a history of where money has been distributed. The Foundation operates under the MN Foundation. There is currently no money left for distribution. CTAM Foundation was publicly thanked at ATHE (Association for Theater in Higher Education) in San Francisco this summer where 44 people attended the session on the Playwrights’ Center New Plays on Campus program.

Licensure Issues: Can someone provide an update on licensure? Has the Dance/Theater split for licensure actually taken place?

Other: Look for information about the new MN Scholars of Distinction in Theatre.

Dave asked if CTAM wants to make a statement about alternative licensure.

Mark Q. asked if the teacher preparation schools in the State review and assess the success of their teacher preparation programs. Discussion followed.

Gregg suggested a CTAM session from college/universities describing their majors and teacher prep schools. Larry stated that there was a list like that years ago. This would be a great past-president project!

CTAM 2006: Location – Metro. Discussion followed. Arden Hills was popular. Hotels do not work well for theater workshops but hotels do offer affordable packages. Is St. Catherine’s or Hamline a possibility? Many metro area teachers do not stay in the hotel when metro location is used. Membership comes mainly from outstate. Is there a way for the membership to give the Exec Council preferences for the location? Willmar Community College was a great location for theatre sessions. Larry made a motion that the Exec. Committee contact schools in the metro areas to see if we can find out what the costs are, that this be done in the next month and that adequate rooms be available for theatre sessions. Seconded and passed.

Next meeting: BOG meeting will be in St. Cloud on Sunday, January 15.

Meeting was adjourned at 9:50 p.m.

Respectfully Submitted,

Karen P. Wilson, CTAM Secretary