August, 2000

PRESIDENT'S REPORT

WESTOP Board Meeting: August 18, 2000, Silver Legacy, Reno, NV

Congratulations to all those new Upward Bound programs that survived their first summer program. Hopefully you will all have a chance to regroup and refresh before taking on your next big project.

Student Support Services

The Department has informed us that the new submission deadline for the new SSS proposals will be September 15, 2000. Also, the Department is insisting on 1" margins on all four sides, 12 pt. fonts, double-spacing (including charts, graphs, lists and footnotes), and will penalize any narrative that exceeds 100 pages (including headings, charts, graphics, lists, etc.). It is becoming very likely that any submission over 100 pages will be thrown out at the Application Control Center and will never reach the readers.

In May, the House Education & Workforce committee approved H.R. 4504 creating technical amendments to the Higher Education Amendments of 1998. These amendments will allow grant aid expenditures for participants and facilitate the College Completion Challenge Grants which has appeared in the President's FY01 budget request in the amount of $35 million. The date of a full House will vote on H.R. 4504 is yet to be determined.

Upward Bound

Technology supplements of $10,000 are to be administered to Upward Bound programs by mid-August. Talent Search and EOC's may receive supplements in FY01. I am presently trying to get more information on these supplements which will be disseminated via website and listserve.

FY00 funds are available to currently funded Upward Bound programs in amounts up to $85,600. 157-177 individual projects could receive these supplemental funds.

June 5, 2000 ended the public comment phase of the new Upward Bound Performance Report form. The new form, once approved by OMB, will most likely be in effect for the 2000-01 program year.

Legislative News

TRIO funding issues are at the Conference Committee stage where Senate and House compromises will be negotiated. An increase in TRIO funds of 18% ($115 million) is likely as recommended by the House bringing the total to $760 million. Voting on these issues may take place during the week of July 24th. Also, a $350 increase is likely for Pell Grant maximums as recommended by the Senate.

Fairshare

Due to the overwhelming response of WESTOP members and the hard work of our Fairshare Chair, we have reached our Fairshare commitment for the 1999-2000 year. This is the second year in a row that WESTOP has made Fairshare and the second year in a row that all ten regions have succeeded. Congratulations to all those who spearheaded the effort and those who contributed to put us over the top.

COE National Conference

Be sure to make all your travel arrangements right away for the COE National Conference in Washington. There may still be rooms left at the Conference hotel, but don't delay. Conference dates are September 17-20, 2000. Tressa Penrod has information on alternate hotels at 202-347-7430.

Highlight

The Upward Bound programs at CSU-Chico, UC-Davis, and College of the Siskiyous have collected over 50,000 books in a community service project to benefit selected Pacific Island programs. These Island programs are in great need of books, as many do not have libraries and adequate supplies of modern textbooks. If you can help in these efforts please contact Dave Ferguson for information.

Respectfully Submitted,

D. Matthew Benney
President

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