Committee Highlights

Bylaws by Justine Bellock, Chair

-Prepared a six part draft on proposed amendments to the WESTOP Bylaws
-Created a timeline to ratify the bylaws amendments by the Board of Directors
-Revisions to be presented to membership for approval at the April 2003 conference.
-Will review Goal 6 of the 2002 – 2006 Strategic Plan to ascertain pertinent items that should be reinforce by this committee

COE Fund Development by Sam Cortez, Chair

-Only reached 78% of the Fairshare Campaign for the 2001-2002 year
-97 programs contributed to the 2001 – 2002 Fairshare campaign by purchasing the Equality package
-35 individuals personally contributed to 2001 – 2002 Fairshare campaign
-Gearing up for the 2002-2003 Fairshare Campaign as of July 1, 2002

Communications by Emalyn Lapus, Chair

-In process of developing an editorial disclaimer
-Develop 2 online newsletters by the end of the 2002 year
-Finalize revisions and print WESTOP brochures and folders

24rd Annual Conference by Darlene Conwell, Chair and President Elect

-492 people registered for the conference and of that amount 487 attended
-Calculated total conference revenue at $93,886.04
-Reviewed all conference evaluation comments
-Visit 'LATEST NEWS' on the WESTOP Web Site for a detailed report

25rd Annual Conference by James Oda, Chair

-Theme of this "Silver Anniversary" conference will focus on the history of WESTOP and its future
-Yoichi Rengil, Chair - Speakers Committee, plans to recruit prominent women from the Pacific Islands as speakers and to request college presidents from the -TRIO host institutions to attend a round-table activity
-Rowena Andrade, Chair - Awards Committee, plans to honor TRIO staff with 25 years or more service within TRIO
-The Univ. of Hawaii – Hilo staff has proposed a two – day pre-conference workshop with a focus on "Fostering Success for Pacific Island Students" to be held at the UH Hilo Campus on April 3-4, 2003.

Legislation & Education by Stephen Domingues, Chair

In the process of developing recommendations in support of the national TRIO effort to increase Federal TRIO appropriations and to participate in the upcoming Reauthorization of the Higher Education Act. Here are some updates:

Appropriations $802.5 million dollars is the current annual appropriation for TRIO. The President has recommended level funding for FY 2003. The U.S. Senate Appropriations Committee recently recommended a $30 million dollar increase for TRIO. The Senate Appropriations Committee also approved a $100 increase in the Pell Grant maximum (to $4100) and modest increases in other key student aid programs.

Reauthorization COE recently posted its recommendations for Reauthorization at www.trioprograms.org. The WESTOP Legislation and Education Committee is presently reviewing the Council's recommendations in order to agree, disagree, modify, or decline to comment on COE's positions. There also may be recommendations not addressed by COE, some of which might be of particular interest to WESTOP.

2003 Policy Seminar. TRIO professionals from across the country will gather in Washington, D.C., from March 23, 2003, through March 25, 2003, for the annual COE Policy Seminar. This year, the meeting will have two emphases: 1) FY 2004 appropriations; and 2) Reauthorization of the Higher Education Act.

Fiscal Affairs by Joy Brittain, Chief financial Officer

-Has met with an accountant to review tax forms
-Has met with a bookkeeper to create a new financial accounting system
-In process of meeting with all Chapter Presidents to update their versions to the new WESTOP accounting system
-Will invoice all members for their 2003 membership dues

Membership by Darlene Conwell, Chair & President Elect

-Will review and refine on-line Membership Directory and publish the WESTOP Membership Directory for the 2003 Conference
-Prepare marketing packets and deliver to all new programs in the WESTOP region
-Maintain the official WESTOP Membership list and promote new memberships
-Have requested mailing addresses for the newly funded ETS and EOC programs from the U.S. Department of Education

Research by Rhonda Moses, Chair

-Commissioned to obtain data from the Mathematica study
-Identify a commission of researchers from educational institutions to conduct analysis and evaluation on methodology and data
-Allocate resources to support these efforts
-Solicit one representative from each chapter to serve on the research committee in order to carry out the aforementioned charge.

Professional Development by Kathryn Lomelly, Chair

-Have approached various corporations and individuals to present Pre-Conference workshops for the 2003 Conference
-Identified the following themes for Pre-Conference Workshops for the 2003 Conference: Technology and Database Management, Program Staff and Training, and Video Editing Technology

Public Relations by Michael Tokuno, Chair

-PR committee consists of the five current Chapter Presidents and the Chapter President from the Pilot Central CA Chapter
-Will represent WESTOP at the EOP Directors meeting scheduled in September
-Begin the development of a WESTOP's Who's Who (anecdotal) – to include chapters and projects.
-Establish alliances with other regional associations and programs
-Assist chapters in developing statewide TRIO Alumni Associations and in developing clearinghouse to assist in tracking TRIO graduates

Technology by Rey Cuesta, Chair

-Have assisted the Professional Development Committee Chair with solicitation of presenters for the Pre-Conference workshops scheduled for the 2003 Conference
-Discussed with Mike Moser about conducting technology workshops on documentation of services and student data
-Discussed with Dave Ferguson about the possibility of reviving and expanding the on-line purchasing system called WESHOP as a fundraising tool

Strategic Planning by Leonard Woods, Chair

-Plans to attend each Chapter PDS to review the WESTOP Strategic Plan, answer member questions and concerns about the Plan to their input
-To have copies of the Strategic Plan made available to each member and also to be made available on the WESTOP website
-Encourages respective committees and chapters to develop a plan to assess overall progress in completing the applicable elements of the Strategic Plan