International Association for Language Learning Technology

IALLT Board Meeting April 8, 2003 Call To Order 11:48am CDT Present: Crandall, Hendricks, Liddell, Pankratz, Rosen (arriving late) Guests: Gilgen, Ross, Monika Dressler Routine Business Acknowledgment of Email Motions and Other Decisions On March 19, 2003, Lynne moved the Board create a Digital Exchange Coordinator position. Peter seconded the Motion. The Motion passed unanimously on March 20. On March 20, 2003, Peter moved the Board appoint Jeff Samuels as Digital Exchange Coordinator. Harold seconded the Motion. The Motion passed unanimously March 27. Approval of Minutes § The Minutes of March 11 were not available. Journal Report § Andrew reported that Volume 35.1 went to the publisher March 31. The printer promised a two-week turn-around time; the bulk mailer will have address labels by April 15. The volume includes 3 articles, 2 features, 1 lab notes; advertisers are present in this volume. Andrew noted the IALLT 2003 conference advertisement is not charged for. David thanked Andrew for the timeliness of the publication. § Read wondered if there will be extra Journal copies and Andrew affirmed there would be. Discussion centered on whether new members via the conference would get the April Journal or if their membership is effective with Volume 35.2. It was determined desirable to have extra copies available at the IALLT booth for sale or distribution. Extras from this print run will be shipped to Lynne for conference distribution. Harold will be responsible for activities at the booth and will coordinate with Lynne on getting the boxes. § Harold suggested and the Board agreed that Sara should be receiving Journals for sharing with potential advertisers. President's Notes David reviewed the list of potential Digital Exchange committee members Jeff Samuels compiled. Per Board approval, Jeff extended invitations to these individuals. David sent congratulatory letters to the supervisors of the incoming Board. David reported his discussion of the IALLT Showcase with Samantha. Due to time constraints, Samantha will wait until fall to initiate the competition. She plans to post entries to a website that will be accessible to the IALLT website via link. Claire Bartlett informed David she revised her plan regarding the amount to send to IALLT 2003, and planned to send $5000. Lynne confirmed the check was received by IALLT 2003. Old Business 1. Affiliations/Conferences LET/FLEAT Council Representative issue Discussion centered on clarifying responsibilities of the LET/FLEAT Affiliate Representative. Peter could see no reason to maintain separate LET and FLEAT positions, citing the importance of continuity in the relationship. Peter stated it made the most sense to merge the roles to a single position and ask Jan Stewart to fill the broader role. The LET/FLEAT Liaison position is responsible for nurturing and maintaining the LET relationship and is the first point of contact for other Asian associations. The Liaison could conduct initial discussions with ROCMELIA and KAMAL, for example, and pass the information on to the Board for action. Peter moved that IALLT revise the FLEAT Liaison and LET Representative positions to LET/FLEAT Liaison. Harold seconded the motion. The Motion passed on affirmative votes by David, Harold, Peter and Lynne. Peter nominated Jan Stewart to fill the new LET/FLEAT Liaison. Harold seconded the nomination. David, Harold, Peter and Lynne approved the nomination on affirmative assent. Peter will conclude the SLM date negotiation and then inform LET that Jan is now occupying the position for future reference and contact. David will contact Jan regarding the nomination, and copy Peter and Harold on the message. ACTFL Carol Copenhagen has accepted the ACTFL Co-Affiliate position and plans to attend the fall conference. David will send her a formal invitation and secure contact information from her. He will copy Lynne for WorkTools notification. 2. Publications Update Peter informed the Board that our new publications are on track and should be available for conference distribution. LCDK Jack submitted final copy to David. Management Manual New submission deadline for authors is April 10. Additional Associate editors are R. Gilgen and A. Ross. 12:19pm Monika Dressler joined the conversation. 3. IALLT 2003 David welcomed Monika and spoke with anticipation about the upcoming conference. Monika reported that as of April 8 there were 108 people registered for the conference, a good number being from the K-12 population. Compared to prior conferences the Board and Claire Bartlett feel she is on track for solid attendance. Moni plans to email presenters, Board and Council members with reminders to register prior to the end of early bird registration. She shared her concerns regarding the travel restrictions many members are relaying due to budgetary shortfalls. Peter explained that because of health concerns some WorldCALL attendees have expressed, at http://www.worldcall2030.org many links regarding health, and travel may be found. Monika noted she has received several calls from international participants regarding concerns for coming into the Detroit Metropolitan airport. Moni noted that workshop registrations are coming along nicely. She explained that IALLT 2003 has established a need to have four people per session to cover costs and she sees all sessions moving forward. Workshop presenters will be able to access names of registrants prior to the conference, but that information is not available yet. Workshop presenters will determine cancellations of under-enrolled sessions. David inquired if Moni was aware of the arrangement by which $25 of the participant fees for the Lab Management and Lab Design workshops was returned to IALLT to cover publication costs of the respective manuals. Monika affirmed her understanding. The leaders of those two sessions (Jack and Ute) will track registrants. Copies of the manuals will be shipped to Lynne; Moni will provide a list to the Treasurer for annotation in the books. Lynne recalled that we will also need to distribute the Management Manual to IALLT 2001 workshop participants. Monika related an issue with the database that has arisen on several occasions. When some members have tried to register the email address they have used has not been the same as the email address matching their membership data, and they are not confirmed as members for registration purposes. Bruce and Toby have fielded these questions and are directing people to Lauren for status confirmation. David recalled that at the SLM we decided to let users update their own information in the membership database; Bruno thinks we will be able to enable this function soon. Read observed this serves as an encouragement for members to update their information. David asked about extending the early bird registration for people who have had difficulty registering and Moni affirmed they were being tracked per date. Moni noted that because so many people are having a hard time securing travel funding for the conference, the early bird deadline might be extended to April 30. The Board thought this would be desirable if it was do-able for the host. Monika plans to send a reminder out to LLTI and the membership. David inquired about the special events. Moni noted that the Ann Arbor Summer Festival would offer many interesting possibilities for attendees. The host plans to advertise both free and ticketed events. David asked about closing party and Moni indicated there were a good number planning to participate. Read observed that it sounded like things were progressing well. Harold inquired if the IALLT booth would have Internet access and Moni responded that it was possible if necessary. She asked Harold to send her a message regarding Internet needs. Harold wondered whether we could put up a temporary wireless port and Moni responded that it was one of the Internet options Jan and Reid were exploring. Moni encouraged everyone on the Board to register! She and Bruce are looking at the "what next" tasks, including lining up moderators and facilitators. Moni encouraged the Board to continue to use Lynne as a conduit of information, or to contact her or Toby directly as needed. Jack Burston is confirmed as the Henderson Plenary Speaker. Diane Woody and Judi Franz were runners-up and will be assigned 60-minute presentation slots. Read inquired about credit card registration transactions and Moni responded that there is a delay for credit card charges; they are being run once a week. On behalf of the Board, David thanked Moni for her participation in the meeting. Monika left the meeting at 12:45pm. Lauren joined the meeting at 12:46pm. David and Peter will work on agenda for Board and Council meeting on June 18. David reiterated his plan for the Thursday lunch activities to introduce Board and Council to the membership and give them a better idea of the roles of the leadership bodies. To cover all of the tables Board (including incoming Board) and Council members should spread out one per table. David stated he would provide a one-page overview of the organizational structure for Council reference. Peter suggested that he, David and Ursula should circulate rather than sit at a single table during the lunch and David agreed. David suggested that because all organizational business must be combined into a single evening event, the formal activities need to proceed as quickly as possible. These include a recognition of the conference host, Program Committee members, the state of IALLT talk, awards and recognition, acknowledgement of outgoing Board members, closing remarks, passing the gavel to the new president, recognition of outgoing President, remarks, recognition of new Board, recognition of upcoming host and the transfer of the talking stick. Lynne suggested the events occur in two streams -- some prior to dinner and others after dinner. The suggestion was met with agreement. (Because Lauren was not available earlier in the meeting, the Treasurer's Report was presented later.) Treasurer's Report § Account Review o Lauren asked for clarification on the purpose and goals of our account review. David suggested the review should verify the Board’s honesty, provide peace of mind that an external person looked at books before handing them over to new treasurer, and provide recommendations for future accounting procedures or report format; the Board concurred. o Lauren will inform the accountant of our goals and specifically ask them to verify check amounts based on organization type and bank reconciliations. o Per query, Lauren affirmed there is no relationship between herself and the accounting company. o Lauren asked that David send her email with review specifications. 4. Awards David excused Read and Andrew from the discussion of awards. He expressed his pleasure at the numerous quality suggestions offered by the Board and Council. Due to the confidential nature of the awards discussion Lynne explained that minutes for this item would be in brief form. Lifetime Achievement Award Peter expressed his opinion that members who are active and serving should not be given the Lifetime Achievement Award. He urged due diligence in recollecting the contributions of retired members, noting that we cover registration and airfare for recipients. The Board saw no reason not to offer three awards. Lynne moved that three awards be presented to the identified candidates. Lauren seconded the Motion. The Motion passed unanimously. Read was asked to rejoin the Board call. Henderson and Sheppard Awards There was some discussion of the nature of the Henderson and Sheppard awards. It was noted there are no gender distinctions inherent in the award recipients. Although it has never been codified, the Sheppard Award has traditionally recognized individuals with promise for future Journal or publication involvement, and the Henderson Award has typically focused more on the promise of administrative and organizational contribution. In considering candidates it is important to recognize people who have inclinations related to the international organization rather than local or regional involvement. Again, David noted it was a very difficult choice. Read asked that we preface the bestowal of these awards with a commemoration to the individuals for whom they are named. David concurred. Discussion continued about whether to offer plaques or framed certificates. It was determined that framed certificates were most desirable. 5. Election Follow-up Read announced that election winners have been notified. Read noted 75% of votes were placed online. The online voting system will be continued! Read advised future election committee chairs to coordinate online voting with the webmaster. The system set up by Bruno Browning can be used again. He expressed the hope that authentication will be tied to the database the next time around. Read continues to have mixed feelings about a single candidate slate but was very happy with our candidates. The Board thanked Read and his committee for their good work. 6. Next Meeting The next meeting is May 13 at 11:30 Central time. To provide sufficient time between the June Board meeting and the conference Board meeting, June 3 from 12:30-2:00pm CT was selected. Meeting adjourned 1:42pm