NorCal Chapter

Date: Aug 18 & 19, 2006
Phoenix Arizona

Chapter President:   Jeannine Slater

Chapter Officers:
            Vice President:             Open
            Secretary:                        Angelica Ochoa
            Treasurer:                        Ping Chan

Brief Chapter Description:  Section 3.2. Purpose. The purpose of the Chapters is to bring together WESTOP Members on a geographical basis to articulate and act upon issues and concerns of their Membership within the purpose, objectives, and functions of WESTOP as expressed in Article II, Sections 2.1 and 2.2.
Section 3.3. Regulations of Operation. The Chapters shall:
(a) be governed by all provisions of these Bylaws,
(b) keep current Membership rosters,
(c) submit all operational budgets to the WESTOP Board of Directors for approval, and Board of Directors for approval, and
(d) provide written reports of current financial status of the Chapter and Membership update at each       WESTOP Board of Directors meeting.
Section 3.4. Membership. All Members of the Chapters must be Members of WESTOP.
Section 3.5. Officers. Each Chapter shall have a Chapter President, who will chair chapter meetings, will act as spokesperson for the Chapter, and will be the Chapter Representative on the Board of Directors. The Chapters may have other officers as deemed appropriate by their Membership.  Their duties and responsibilities shall be developed by each Chapter within the provisions of the WESTOP Bylaws. All Chapter officers shall be elected by the Membership of the respective chapter

Chapter Updates:

1. Revised budget to decrease spending and income by $6,500.  New budget amount is $30,615.
2. Fiscal and Accounting Policies
1. Elisa Padilla new CFO for next 2 years.
2. Everyone is accountable for submitting receipts/paperwork with-in 30 days of travel/expenditure.
3. All committee chairs need to submit their budgets to Ping and Jeannine for approval.
4. Any kind of contract needs to be reviewed by Ping and Jeannine.
5. Monies-when submitting monies it needs verification by two individuals before it can be deposited into chapter account.
6. Returned check-Ping will contact person and person with no funds will be responsible for any fees acquired.
7. Ping provided a worksheet to help those submitting requisition/check requests including all account distribution codes.
8. One new expenditure is under Legislation and Education for travel to policy Seminar.   Our total expenses over exceeded our total budget by $15, 304.80, which was covered by our reserve account.
3. PDS is our biggest revenue maker-we need to come up with a creative way to increase our income.
4. Fundraiser conducted at the meeting thanks to UC Davis donations raised $120 for the chapter.
   5. Committee reports:

1. Professional Development Seminar: Lois Mardis –PDS will be held in Monterey Embassy Suits and registration is online through CVENT.  Lois is looking for committee volunteers. We need to promote this event because it’s our biggest income maker. Rooms $129 per/night.  Pre-Registration $150, on-site $175

2. Communications (vacant)

3. Fund Development (vacant)

4. Legislations & Education: Brian Aguilar - State Level-please send letters of support to Arnold if you have not done so. National level-house budget resolution house budget resolution passed by a vote of 218-210.  On senate site, majority of the senate (60) signed on to the Lincoln, Collins, and Landrieu letter supporting a $100 million dollar increase to TRIO funds. State level- California high school exit exam ruling (CAHSEE) California Supreme court on Wednesday, May 24th reinstated the exit exam, which prevents high school students that do not pass the from receiving their diploma.

5. Membership: Manuel Salazar - Manuel is trying to work with Joy to get a list of those individuals that were members before and are no longer members to try to reach out to them to attain membership. He is putting together a presentation on WESTOP to recruit new members. Dave has suggested that we have the Chapter President write a letter that can be sent to institutions provost, informing them about the association. This has been done in the past and has been successful. Also, it would be helpful if we identify institutions that might not have TRIO Programs and extend the invitation to PDS and WESTOP.

6. Student Leadership: Martin Gomez and Diana Garcia - UC Davis had volunteered to host SLC. Martin and Diana have volunteered to chair the event to be held February 3rd , 2007.  They want to narrow number of students per workshop to make it more interactive for the students (20). UC Davis wants to hire student advisors to conduct workshops, perhaps first year TRIO students. T-shirt design: we want TRIO members to participate and take back to their campuses the idea of designing the SLC t-shirt.  They are looking for donations even thought it’s not a fundraising event.  Volunteers for the committee needed.

7. National TRIO Day (vacant)  Should be scheduled around SLC

8. Parent Empowerment Conference:  Raul Pasamonte – The 2006 PEC had 12 sessions and received good feedback.  The conference received a lot of parent support.

9. Research (vacant)

10. Scholarships (Jen-not present)

11. Technology: Caren Fernandez:  There will be a WESTOP survey on technology for WESTOP conference that will help define the needs for the technology piece.

6. New business:
1. Membership increase- the WESTOP Board voted for membership fees to increase from $50 to $75. The board has been having trouble meeting budget and it had been years since the fees had been changed. (Discussion opened on the floor to discuss the fee increase.  Members were devided on the fee increase. Most felt the fee increase was fair but  voiced that it would be nice to have chapter input before the board makes a final decision on something that impacts the membership so directly.)

2. Two $1,000 scholarships were approved for NON-TRIO students who were undocumented and cannot be TRIO Students. A WESTOP member must recognize them.  Brian Aguilar is working on scholarship guidelines. 

3. Annual Conference Report: (Romeo Garcia) - Romeo wants to get support from all members and passed a committee sign-up sheet starting with the Norcal Chapter. The conference will be held at the Hyatt in Burlingame, February 18-21, 2007. Hotel costs-$129 per/night.  Hotel will provide free Internet and free shuttle from airport.  Registration fees will remain the same as last year and the fundraising goal for this conference is $40,000.

Next Chapter Meeting:

Action Items:

1. Letters to Arnold, congressmen and senators.

Respectively submitted by: Jeannine Slater

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