January 2007
President’s Report
WESTOP Board of Director’s Meeting
January 12-13, 2007
Waikoloa Beach Marriott, Kona, HI
Updates
National:
- The new congress and TRIO
- The bad news is that appropriations will stay where it is at more than likely
- The good news is that with a shift in power on the hill, TRIO could have greater access to the leadership. This will be meaningful if reauthorization of HEA is finally dealt with.
- COE mentioned some concern that the 100 Day Message from the new majority made no mention of “accessibility” regarding higher education.
- Upward Bound Absolute Priority
- National concern regarding lack of regard for legislation at core of priority. Congress has begun to voice their lack of approval with the stance/liberties that ED has taken.
- Upward Bound evaluation is continuing to draw attention. Correspondence has been forwarded to ED and OMB from various scholars regarding serious concerns over the evaluation design. Should be noted that funds for the evaluation are coming from the TRIO appropriation and not the ED budget. An announcement in the federal register has requested to OMB that the elimination of the public comment period for documents pertaining to the evaluation be allowed. COE has asked all TRIO professionals to contact their internal review boards at their institutions to comment to OMB on the need for a public comment and to emphasize their own concerns about the evaluation design.
- Again very likely that the President’s 2008 proposed budget will zero out ETS and UB.
- ETS and EOC grant competitions
- COE has assisted a number of applicants in determining that prior experience points were not assessed/awarded properly. Comments from ED regarding the awarding of prior experience speak to an oversight of how the awarding of prior experience is documented in legislation. COE has secured legal counsel should it become appropriate to enter the legal arena regarding this.
- COE Leadership Summit/Policy Seminar/Relations with the ED
- March 10-14, 2007 in Washington, DC
- Renaissance Washington DC hotel
- 909 Ninth Street, NW Washington, DC 20001
- 800-468-3571 or 202-898-9000.
- Hotel rooms: Single $224; Double $244; identify yourself with the COE block to receive the special rate; the cut off date for hotel registration is February 2, 2007 or when the Council block is full.
- Leadership Summit is a free event as is Relations with ED; Policy Seminar does have a fee
- COE is again suggesting that TRIO Day celebrations revolve around community service
- Summaries and pics from events will be requested
- COE Fairshare
- WESTOP is at 41% of their Fairshare
- COE Audit went smoothly; internal controls are sound and no concerns regarding fraudulent activities
Regional:
- First annual Technology Conference scheduled for January 2007 in La Jolla, CA in partnership with the University of Washington TRIO Training Grant was cancelled due to lack of interest. Sessions that were scheduled will now be offered at WESTOP conference.
- The 2007 WESTOP Regional Conference is just over a month away. The conference is scheduled for February 18-21, 2007 at the Hyatt San Francisco Airport in Burlingame, CA. Detailed information will found at the WESTOP website. Information is added/changes often so please visit the page often. Need for moderators. Board members should be available and ready to volunteer for various tasks.
- Board request to take proposed bylaw amendment regarding regional representation on key COE committees was fulfilled. COE Bylaws Committee heard request and will make it an area to review in the bylaws.
- WESTOP received COE State Initiative grant funds from three separate grant applications. One was submitted by WESTOP Leg/Ed committee and will be used to host upcoming Education Summit at WESTOP Conference. Second was submitted by AZ chapter and will be used to create TRIO Fellowship program. Third was submitted by NV chapter and will be used to hold a TRIO Day Celebration.
Action Items:
None
Respectively submitted by: Lydia Perez
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