NCACAA Annual Meeting
Minutes
June 23, 1998
Royal Pavilion Hotel, Atlantic Beach, NC
Meeting called to order by Billy Dunham. He noted that he was pleased with the large attendance for a business meeting.
Secretary's Report and Minutes:
Marjorie Rayburn stated that she appreciated the opportunity to serve NCACAA as secretary. Minutes from the 1997 Annual Meeting were printed in the 1997-98 Annual Report.
Actions of Board this year were reviewed for the purpose of informing the membership:
County Agent magazine would be sent to administrators and Linda Weiner in Ag Communications.
Distribution of the Professional Development funds to district associations would continue at $200 per district (money from Charlotte '88 NACAA meeting.)
NCACAA would contribute $300.00 to support the Horn of Plenty.
Money from the savings account would be transferred to and invested in securities to earn a greater return.
Minutes for the 1997 Annual Meeting were approved as printed in the 1997-98 Annual Report.
Treasurer's Report:
Nancy Keith indicated she appreciated the opportunity to work with the board as treasurer. The treasurer's report was handed out to members. The Yearly Report for 1/1/97 - 12/31/97 indicated an ending balance of $3,890.61 in the checking account and $23,068.73 in savings for total assets at the end of 1997 of $26,959.34.
A motion was made to accept the yearly treasurer's report for 1997 by Johnny Hensley. Another motion was made to accept the report on audit by John Gibson - so if errors were found, they could be corrected. The 1st motion to accept the report was seconded. John Gibson amended the motion to read that the report be accepted upon audit. There was no second - the amendment died. The original motion passed.
Treasurer's Report for 1/1/98 - 6/19/98 indicated a current checking balance of $4,862.80 and a current savings balance of $0.00. The previous savings balance of $23,068.73 plus interest of $59.70 ($23,128.43 total) was transferred to the trust fund account to earn a greater return.
Nancy indicated that the membership report indicates 7 life members, but life member dues income of 8 x $25. One life member had already paid in 1997, so that was reimbursed back to the district.)
Mitch Smith moved we accept this report. It was seconded. The motion passed.
Billy Dunham then explained why we had two reports. In the early 90's we decided to go on an annual year basis for reporting taxes as a non-profit organization. The second report gives up- to-date information.
Trust Fund Report:
Everett Davis gave an update on the Trust Fund Accounts. There are two accounts: The Charlotte '88 Trust Funds, from when North Carolina hosted the national meeting and the NCACAA Board Savings account, money accumulated by the state board which is invested in a trust account. The three immediate past presidents serve as the trust fund committee. Everett serves as coordinator.
The investment performance of the Charlotte '88 account was about 20%. The only activity during the year was transferring $7,010.98 from the money market portion to the treasurer's account to take care of the awards and recognitions programs for the national meeting.
Summary of board savings and how they are invested was discussed. Activity included the board approved transfer of $23,128.43 from the passbook savings account where it was earning about 4% interest to securities. Also, $61.00 from dividends from investments was taken from the money market and put back into securities to get as much out of securities as possible.
In both the Charlotte '88 Account and Board Savings Account, there are two types of investments: securities which are high yielding investments and money market accounts which give us ready access and are quickly available. In the Charlotte '88 account we try to keep enough money to cover the cost of awards and attending national meetings. Even though we used the funds for awards and recognitions and support for the national meeting, the accounts continued to increase in value. We are adding about $25,000 a year - about a 20% return. Billy Dunham commented that as long as the stock market does well, our investments will do well. We do have a stop on the securities and if they get to a particular point we can move to a less risky investment. If you have any questions or suggestions on the investments, please let the board know.
Nominating Committee Report:
John Garland presented the nominating committee report, recommending the following persons as officers for the upcoming year, 1998-99.
- President- Billy Dunham
President Elect - Rett Davis
Vice President - James Cochran
Secretary - Marjorie Rayburn
Treasurer -Nancy Keith
A motion was made by Ken Vaughn and seconded by Everett Davis that nominations be accepted by acclamation. Motion carried.
Alan Harper and Billy Dunham commented on our non-profit status for tax purposes. In order to continue our non-profit status we need to make sure funds are spent on educational activities and similar things. Alan Harper has been overseeing this.
Bill Skelton made some comments about the regional director situation and changes. On the national level there are four regions. We are part of the Southern Region. The Southern Region board of directors (our representatives) are elected by the 13 states in the South. Every 13 years we get to elect a regional vice director for a 4 year term. 1999 was our turn to nominate someone for the vice director position.
In January the director from Georgia passed away unexpectedly. Georgia has requested that they get reinserted into the rotation so they can have someone complete a full term in this position (2 years as vice-director and 2 years as director). All the state presidents attending the Public Issues Leadership Development (PILD) conference in Washington, D.C. tentatively agreed. Upon approval by the Southern Region at the national meeting Georgia would be allowed do that. Since 1998 is Texas's turn, Georgia would nominate someone in 1999 and everyone else in the rotation would drop back a year. North Carolina would nominate someone in 2000. There was no point in determining who North Carolina's nominees would be at this time. If the Southern Region decides to maintain the normal rotation, NC would have to decide on a nominee at annual conference. If anyone is interested in the position of Southern Regional director, they need to let people on the state board know or let the nominating committee know. The total term is 2 years as vice-director and 2 years as director - a four-year commitment.
The individual from Georgia was in his 1st year of director's status after serving 2 years as vice-director. Association policy dictates that the senior vice director moves up to director if the director cannot serve (leaves or dies.) Originally Georgia wanted to be moved into the position immediately, but Texas had already selected their nominee. The proposed change in rotation is subject to approval by vote of the Southern Region. The national board chose to let the Southern Region decide.
There was discussion on need for policy to spell out what should be done in this situation in the future. J.B. Coltrain asked what precedent this would set. The individual had served 75% of his 4-year commitment (2 years as vice-director and part of a year as director). Should someone from Georgia have completed that term? Ken Bateman mentioned that it only sets us back one year. It would be hard to put someone in that position who did not have the experience of coming up through 2 years as vice director. This issue will be decided at the Southern Region meeting at the national meeting in Texas.
National NACAA Report:
Billy Dunham introduced Kenneth Williams, Southern Regional Director from Arkansas to bring us up-to-date on what's going on at the national level.
Kenneth presented handouts for information and highlighted some of the issues. We need to look at the policy on rotation - a similar situation happened in Louisiana where the individual resigned and Louisiana did not ask to be reinserted into the rotation - they dropped to the bottom of the list.
Kenneth extended greetings from Don Dross, President and from the NACAA Board of Directors. Kenneth moved up to finish out Jim Griffith's term and then will finish his own term. Then the vice director from Florida will move up at San Antonio.
Congratulations were extended to winners in the awards categories.
Controversial items to come up at the national meeting include By-Laws changes:
No nominations from the floor. Reason - what if someone did that? Nominations are by region. Policy says that credentials have to be in 30 days prior the to annual meeting and nominees need approval from their state extension director and county government. That information could not be obtained within that time period. It is also important to make sure that the person nominated is a member of the organization. There might be a problem if someone is nominated from the floor. Anyone who is interested in national office should check around in advance to submit necessary credentials. Voting delegates at the national meeting will decide on that. North Carolina has 9 voting delegates.
Policy change to increase dues by $10.00 to hire an executive assistant for the national organization. Job description has been circulated to various organizations. The board approved Scott Hawbaker and his organization. Reasons - to maintain a central office for donors and others to contact NACAA, to keep up with insurance policies and other information, and as a location to store files and materials. This national office will not put on the annual meeting. The $10.00 dues increase would raise $40,000 to fund this position.
Discussing reorganization, Kenneth mentioned that the South has majority of NACAA membership - about 55%. This a problem when rotation schedules go to the West or Northeast to get someone to run for national office or to host national meetings. The West only has 400 members; the Northeast has about 300. In the South there are good people who want to serve in positions, but there are not enough from other areas (West and Northeast) to fill their allotted positions, so some positions go unfilled. The president has formed a committee to look at reorganization of districts to deal with this problem. Kenneth Williams is looking for suggestions.
Kenneth shared information and commented on the new committee structure and changes. Restructuring will provide more committees providing more leadership and professional improvement opportunities. The awards program is intact. Under Professional Improvement there are new categories which are flexible. Each committee has 4 regional chairs, one from each region who will select a national chair from among themselves. Each state has an opportunity to have a state chair in the subject matter categories and can develop tours, workshops, training. There are other programs that go across subject areas under Extension Development. A new area is early career development. Awards and recognitions will stay pretty much the same. In San Antonio, each subject area committee will solicit information on what you want us to do.
National officers handbook is on disk and was presented to Billy Dunham.
Ken Bateman asked about the money leftover from the 1997 national meeting in Vermont which was supposed to be used for scholarships. The money was to be allocated based on attendance at the national meeting and North Carolina was due to get about $2000 on our behalf for scholarships. Kenneth Williams will check on that. He mentioned that the final report on the meeting in Vermont is still outstanding, as well.
Carlton Blaylock, of the Extension Foundation was introduced.
President's Report:
Outgoing president, Bill Skelton gave his report and comments. There will be an opportunity for a state's night out at the upcoming meeting in San Antonio on Tuesday night. Anyone interested needs to see Bill.
Bill shared a copy of his President's Report, mentioning that he enjoyed the opportunity to travel, meeting people from North Carolina and across the country, and seeing what everyone in Extension is doing. Bill gave his appreciation to others who preceded him in the position. He encouraged all of us to get involved and stay involved in our association and reminded us about Fred Miller's challenge to host another national meeting.
Committee Reports - Rett Davis, presiding
Association Policy - Fred Miller
It is important to follow policy to avoid problems. Changes from last year's report include:
In Section I, paragraph 3, change NCACAA to NACAA.
Professional Excellence Committee - last year it was voted to delete that from district committees. The national committee now only handles the poster session; we still need a state chair. Fred suggested that the President-elect nominate a state chair to coordinate the program, with the committee not being maintained at the state level. Fred Miller moved for these changes. It was seconded.
A discussion followed about having a poster session at a state level, and if these posters could be presented at the national level. Bruce Williams asked if we couldn't have a preview of posters, but not a competition. James Cochran related that his participation was not impaired at the national meeting when information from his poster was previously written up in a Department of Animal Science report. Jim Daughtry indicated that there needed to be a change in wording at the national level. Posters are not judged until they get to the national meeting. Tom Harvey asked about the possibility of showing posters at the state meeting after the national meeting. A suggestion was made to go back to the national chair for a ruling on this issue. There were no poster entries this year.
The motion was restated by Fred Miller - the president-elect will nominate the state chair to coordinate this program. The committee will not be maintained at the state level. This committee shall be responsible for conducting the following national programs at the state level: poster session, NACAA level. Input from the district level will be just the feedback provided by that chairman. The motion carried.
Fred shared a state board request for use of the Charlotte '88 funds for NCACAA activities - assistance to attend national meetings. Current NCSU administration policy provides support for 10 voting delegates. The president-elect will serve as alternate voting delegate and will receive financial support from NCSU. Any other state officers (immediate past president, secretary, or treasurer) attending the national meeting and participating in officers' workshops will receive similar financial support as provided voting delegates. They will receive this support from NCACAA. One intent of the Charlotte '88 funds was to provide support for any state officers who went to the national meeting and attended state officers' workshops. Fred put this in the form of a motion. It was seconded and passed.
Another minor change was needed because of changes in the awards program. The Purcell Pinnacle Award and Livestock Marketing and Risk Management Program were moved from Resource and Program Development to Recognition and Awards.
Fred shared some "food for thought" for Bill Skelton. Our committee structure doesn't mirror what they have at the national level. We need to determine our association's committees and delegate the president elect to nominate for other committees including committees for Professional Improvement Council and Extension Development Council. Which committees do we need to have at the district level within NCACAA? Fred's report was accepted.
Benevolence - Minton Small
Minton Small requested a moment of silence to honor and remember the three agents who passed away over the last year.
Communications - Gwyn Riddick reporting for Morris Dunn
There are thirteen states in the Southern Region, thirteen different categories of competition in communications, with 3 regional winners in each category, giving 39 possible entries to advance to the national level. North Carolina placed a regional winner in each of the following classes: radio - Ted Sanderson, photo - Ken Bateman (also a national winner), slide set - Susan Trusty, direct mail piece - Karen Neill, fact sheet - Paul McKenzie, publications - Toby Bost (national winner), web page - Jackie Nix, learning module notebook - Gwyn Riddick. North Carolina had 91 entries, more than any other state. (Texas and Tennessee had 72 each.) North Carolina was first or second in number of entries in 10 out of the 13 categories. This category could also be considered "program delivery methods." A T & T is the program sponsor at the national level.
Constitution and By Laws - Lanny Hass - given by Bill Skelton
By Laws require a 30 day notice before any bylaw or constitutional changes are voted on. We have none this year. An issue before us is redistricting - whether or not to match the new Extension administrative districts. There was not enough time to get out a recommendation 30 days before this state meeting. We hope to get a recommendation out at least 30 days before annual conference and have a brief meeting there to vote on that issue. This needs to be discussed at the district level to provide input. We need to be prepared to make a decision and vote on it at annual conference.
4-H and Youth - Willie Earl Wilson
Please continue to submit entries for the 4-H and youth awards.
Extension Programs - Tom Glasgow
There was nothing to add to what is printed in the state report. Roger Cobb will be the new state chair. Since neither Roger nor Tom will be at the national meeting, a request was made for someone from that committee to sit in on the committee meeting in Texas and bring back information.
Life Members - Vic Lynn
No report
Member Services - Jim Daughtry
Report is basically the same as last year.
Jim suggested that a letter should be sent from the NCACAA President to Extension administration that efforts should be made to include legislation at the state level that will be beneficial to the NC Cooperative Extension Service pertaining to salaries, benefits, and funding. Also, the decrease in allocation for mileage is causing great concern. Further cuts in mileage will decrease effectiveness in the programming area.
The membership committee will continue to pursue the idea of a new "Red Book" or to include that information in some form such as an addition to the Ag Chem Manual. Roger Crickenberger shared that the request to include information in the Ag Chem Manual was turned down by that policy group because the "Red Book" information was not a good fit with other information that goes in the Ag Chem Manual. Then the request went to Dr. Ort who indicated that a way should be found to pursue the idea. We need to find ways to pull that information together, update it, and decide to put it either in a hard copy and/or on the computer and to decide on approaches to funding.
Ken Bateman made a point about dues. The report indicated that they should be sent to the district treasurers by February 15th. Dues are due to the national on January 1st and are past due on March 15th. If a member's dues are not in to the national by March 15th, that member is ineligible for awards. We need to make sure each district treasurer knows this and makes an effort to get dues to the state treasurer by January 1st. Ken Vaughn stated a modification to the report that "Dues should be sent by the district treasurer to the state treasurer by January 1st of each year."
On the suggestion that the state association should waive dues for new members until February of the next year, there was much discussion. Should a new agent pay dues in January or February so they can be counted as a member by the national in that year? Many districts already pay dues for their new members. This decision should continue to be made in the districts.
A motion was made to strike item number 4 on the report. Motion passed.
Regarding item number 7, Ken Bateman mentioned that a new member that joins after March 15th still gets the County Agent Magazine to feel like they are a part of the organization. After discussion, it was suggested that the first part of this item (number 7) be included since we should encourage membership in the organization.
Jim Daughtry mentioned that the membership committee deals with important items related to our extension careers.
The committee report was accepted with the indicated modifications.
Professional Excellence - John Brasfield
No report (not Present)
Professional Training - Al Wood
No report (not present)
Resource and Program Development - Johnny Hensley for Milton Parker
This committee handles the RISE program, sponsored nationally by the Professional Lawn Care Association of America and True Green and Chem Lawn.
There were three entries and all will participate in the turf grass and horticulture tours this year in North Carolina and South Carolina. State winner was Matthew C. Martin, Brunswick, New Hanover, and Pender counties (plaque and $50 cash award). First runner-up was James Lee, Durham County ($25 cash award). Second runner-up was Jay Darden, Johnston County. All horticulture and turf agents should consider applying for this award and tour to add to their professional expertise.
Bruce Williams takes over as national chair of resource and program development this summer, reporting directly to the president elect. His job will be to find money to support these programs. The sponsors appreciate the job county agents do in all areas including livestock, field crops, and even wildlife. Any program ideas should be shared as well as potential sponsors for these programs. The amount of money needed varies with the size of the program.
Johnny Hensley moved to approve the report. After being seconded, the motion passed.
Public Relations - Bill Ellers
No report.
Awards and Recognitions - given by Johnny Hensley
This committee met at Annual Conference last year to review nominations for Distinguished Service Award, Achievement Award, Young Agent Scholarship Award, and Service to Agriculture Award.
DSA winners were George Autry (Cumberland County), Harvey Fouts (Jackson and Swain Counties), Mitch Smith (Pitt County), George Stancil (Alexander County), and J. Michael Williams (Chowan County).
AA winners were Kathy (Sarah) Bunton (Alexander County), Bertram W. Coffer, Jr.(Richmond County), and Alan W. Durden (Macon County) with Ronald M. Hughes (Johnston County) as first runner-up and Daniel M. Lauderdale (Pitt County) as second runner-up. Only 5 districts submitted nominees for AA award. All districts were encouraged to submit nominees.
Young Agent Scholarship Award went to Malcolm T. Lowe (Richmond County) with Daniel M. Lauderdale (Pitt County) as alternate.
There was only one nominee for the Service to Agriculture Award, Earl B. Hendrix of Raeford, NC (Hoke County).
Those selected as award recipients must register for and attend the annual state meeting of the association to be recognized or they will forfeit the award. The national association also requires DSA and AA recipients to register for and attend the annual meeting and professional improvement conference to receive their awards from NACAA. The amount of the award presented is subject to approval of the board of directors of NCACAA and availability of funds as follows: district AA winners - $100; state AA winners - $500 at state meeting, partially provided by NC Ag Foundation; DSA - plaque and $500 to attend national meeting.
For Purcell Pinnacle award applications, see Kevin Starr. An agent from Georgia won it this year. If anyone needs award applications, let Johnny know.
Report was approved.
Scholarship Committee - Bryant Spivey for Jim Stephenson
Bill Skelton assumed chairmanship of this committee. All agents are encouraged to apply for scholarships. Requests range from group tours, individual requests, and agricultural research, marketing, or production. You need to apply one year in advance by June 1st and to have contributed $40 to the NACAA scholarship fund. Bob Edwards is the state scholarship chair.
1999 State Meeting - Paul Walker
1999 NCACAA State Meeting is planned for June 22, 23, and 24 in Burlington, Alamance County at the Best Western Motel. All committees are in place. Burlington doesn't have the attraction of the Beach or Mountains, but they will make it up in program activities - farms tours, including varied operations and horticulture in and around Alamance County and youth and spouse activities. The youth will visit Emerald Point Water Park, Duke Primate Center, and NC Museum of Life and Science. For spouses there will be shopping (Burlington is the outlet capital of the South) and visiting an antique mall. A cookout is planned for Burlington City Park with train rides, a carousel, and square dance. The Best Western Motel has been recently remodeled and rooms are available for $57.00 double occupancy. If you have any ideas, see Paul Walker or Rett Davis.
NACAA National Meeting - Kenneth Williams
The 1998 NACAA National Meeting will be July 25-30 in San Antonio, Texas at the Marriot River Center. There will be lots to see including the Alamo and Sea World. Kenneth has a copy of the tentative program if anyone wants to see it.
John Dorner moved that we put the 1998-99 NCACAA Annual Report on the web instead of printing a hard copy to save money. Comments were made about "who was going to do it?"
Fred Miller said we need to check the constitution and bylaws to see if they refers to "printed copy." Billy Dunham indicated that every agent got a copy last year and every agent needs a copy. We have over $215,000 in the trust account and every agent who pays dues needs a copy where he can read it. Not everyone can access the web easily.
Bill Skelton expressed concern about it being on the web where it would be public.
John Dorner's motion died for lack of a second.
This issue was referred to membership services committee. Motion made and seconded. Passed.
George Stancil expressed concern over not having all reports presented at the state meeting. That doesn't say much for developing leadership or to the new agents who are present. We need more opportunity to get committee members involved.
Meeting adjourned
Submitted by Marjorie Rayburn, NCACAA Secretary