Business Meeting Minutes November 20, 1999

Business Meeting Minutes
November 20, 1999

National Association of Industrial Technology
1999 Annual Business Meeting
November 20, 1999

Saturday November 20, 1999
Marriott Bay Point Resort
Panama City Beach, Florida

Call to Order and Opening Remarks: Mr. Ed McGarry, Chair, Executive Board, welcomed the membership and thanked them for their participation in the conference and in the Association. The meeting was called to order at 7:10 a.m.

Review and Approval of the Minutes of the October 24, 1998 Annual Business Meeting: A motion was made from the floor to approve the minutes of the 1998 Annual Business Meeting. The motion was supported and was approved on a voice vote by the majority of those present.

Executive Board Report: McGarry gave a brief report on Executive Board activities and deferred detail to the National Office Report by the Executive Director.

National Office Report: Executive Director Dr. Alvin E. Rudisill reported briefly on a number of areas:

Programs & Activities: NAIT continues to operate its primary programs of: accreditation, certification, convention, directories, foundation, JIT, IT Insider, NAIT Website, Award Programs and special programs (CDROM project).

Major Accomplishments: Rudisill described the major accomplishments of the past year:

The establishment of the NAIT foundation under NAIT’s (501)(c)(3) status and a successful initial fundraising campaign resulting in 17 Institutional Charter memberships in the NAIT Foundation.
The approval of the Accreditation Sponsorship program and execution of the first sponsorship agreement with SME, with positive consequences for financing of accreditation activities and association finances.
Formation of three special interest divisions.
Conversion of JIT to an electronic journal.
Publication of new member newsletter, the IT Insider.
Production and distribution of the Recruitment CDROM.
Development of one- and five-year strategic plans.
Positive end-of-year budget balances.
Submission of proposed changes in CIP 2000 Publication.
Submission of Application to CHEA.

Finances: Rudisill reported that decline in financial balances from 1995 through 1998 has been reversed, with an increase to $71,227.00 from the 1998 balance of $51,058.00. If foundation pledges are included, the balance for 1999 increases to $98,227.00. It is expected that the Accreditation Sponsorship program will assist in improving the balance situation.

Membership: Rudisill reported the membership total as of June 30, 1999 and explained in more detail areas of concern and improvement.

Though overall membership declined from 1955 in 1998 (and 2137 in 1994) to 1878 in 1999, the year did see a reversal in the decline of professional membership, from 977 in 1998 to 988 in 1999.
In addition to professional members, as of June 30, 1999, NAIT had 805 Student members, 28 organizational members and 57 accredited member institutions.
Though student memberships declined from 893 in 1998, the Student Division has maintained membership of at least 730 students since 1994
Though Industry Division membership increased from 319 in 1998 to 380 in 1999, ending a 4-yrear decline, Rudisill expressed concern that University Division membership has continued to fall from a high of 720 in 1996 to 518 in 1999, and that CCTI division membership declined to 142 in 1999, down form 171 in 1998 and a high of 231 in 1996.
The National Office continues to pursue membership stabilization and expansion through promotion through the IT Insider newsletter, convention promotion, direct contact with faculty members, student advisors and leaders and through individual office contacts with non-renewing members.

Certification: The number of NAIT-certified members had declined to 484 as of October 31, 1999. Revised procedures for routine and recurring communications to certified members may be having a positive impact on PDU reporting and maintaining current contact information, both of which are major factors in non-renewal of certified members.

Accreditation: Rudisill reported that 1999 saw an increase in NAIT-accredited programs from 54 in 1998 to 59, with 47 Baccalaureate Degree programs and 10 Associate Degree programs (two 4-year institutions also offer a NAIT-accredited Associate Degree program.) The establishment of the Accreditation sponsorship program, with SME as the first sponsor, holds the promise of strengthening the program substantively and financially. NAIT continued its membership and active involvement in the Association of Professional and Specialized Accreditors (ASPA) and will be submitting its membership application to the Council on Higher Education Accreditation (CHEA).

Publications: NAIT finished the transition of the Journal of Industrial Technology to an on-line journal in the NAIT Website, and is using the resulting financial savings to finance the new membership newsletter, the IT Insider, which is being published four times annually. The Baccalaureate Program Directory is being published annually with costs largely defrayed by ad revenue and Goodheart-Wilcox sponsorship.

NAIT Home Page: The NAIT Homepage – www.nait.org – continues to expand and improve, with the inclusion of the downloadable JIT and IT Insider, new divisional listserves, the Industrial Technology Leadership Series and other features.

Strategic Plans: Rudisill reported on the ongoing process of updating the Association’s Strategic plan, which began at the April 1999 Executive Board meeting and which will continue at the Board meeting of Saturday November 20, 1999. Through the auspices of Industry Division President- Elect Tom Hjertquist, the Executive Board benefited from the facilitation services of Mr. Dennis Lawler of Ryder International.

Special Committee and Board Reports:

Board of Accreditation: Dr. Everett Israel, Chair of the Board of Accreditation, gave a brief report:

Hearings were conducted on Wednesday, November 17 for initial accreditation for five associate and baccalaureate programs, reaccreditation of 13 programs, and with respect to 13 reports at five institutions.
All but two programs were accredited through the hearing process. A total of 91 baccalaureate programs or 203 programs/options have been accredited at 50 institutions, a decrease of three programs but an increase of one institution. A total of 26 programs or 60 programs/options at 10 associate institutions have been accredited, an increase of four programs.
The Board also took action on proposed accreditation policy, procedure and standards. The Board of Accreditation configuration was changed to accommodate program sponsors, but the Board did not act to change the configuration with respect to inclusion of representatives from the special interest divisions.

Board of Certification: No report was given.

NAIT Foundation Board: As Dr. Clois Kicklighter, Chair of the NAIT Foundation Board, was absent due to an injury, Rudisill reported on Foundation activities. The NAIT Foundation Board met on Wednesday November 17, 1999.

Two campaigns have been under way since the creation of the NAIT Foundation in 1998. The Charter Institutional Member campaign has garnered 18 member institutions that contributed or pledged $1,000.00. The Charles Keith Circle campaign has garnered $30,000.00 in pledges from three individuals and has a goal of $100,000.00 in pledges through the end of 2000.
One grant applications directed at another foundation has been prepared and others are under way.
A new campaign is being organized to establish Charter Industrial Memberships in the Foundation, with a goal of obtaining $1,000.00 contributions from 20 companies.
The Foundation Board set policies regarding disbursement from Foundation funds: After a fund of $250,000.00 is accumulated, all but 1% of the interest on that principal will be available for grants; an initial amount of $5,000 will be set aside for grants for the time being but no grants will be made until guidelines have been established.

Public Relations Committee: Dr William Brauer reported on the CDROM project. The committee has set a goal of a 24-month cycle for revision of the CDROM and asks that any suggestions for improvements and revisions be sent via email to the NAIT Office (nait@nait.org). The committee is interested in proposals for new projects. Current membership of the committee is Dr. Brauer, Dr. Ahmad Zargari, and new member Dr. Garrett Hunter.

Division Reports:

Community College & Technical Institute Division: Dr. Sid Connor, President-Elect and Acting President, reported:

121 members of the CCTI Division came to the conference, 43% of the divisional membership.
The CCTI Division met on Wednesday, November 17, adjourning and reconvening on Wednesday evening because of the great interest in division activities – a total of 31 members attended the meetings.

Industry Division: Mr. John Reese, President, reported:

The Industry Division makes up 38% of the professional membership in NAIT.
A job fair was initiated at the 1999 Conference and the Industry Division is asking for evaluations from the Student Division and the participating employer, IBM.
The OIT Awards are funded through the 2000 Convention.

Student Division: Mr. Mark Franco, President-Elect, reported:

The Student Division had 121 registrants for the convention
The IT/IQ Contest drew 68 participants and prizes were considered excellent.
The job Fair was considered a success from the perspective of participating students, despite lack of effective advertising.
The Problem Solving Contest and Student Social Event also drew large crowds.
New activities are being planned for the 2000 convention, including an updating of the Problem Solving contest, a new contest in which teams for NAIT institutions will compete against each other, and updating of items for the IT/IQ contest.

University Division: Dr. Jerry Parish, President, reported:

Professional membership in the University Division is down, as are certified members.
The division will make new efforts to increase membership and certification, and to encourage accreditation.

Dr. Art Rosser, President-Elect, reported that a new President-Elect for 1999-2000 has been selected, Dr. Mark Estepp of Appalachian State University, and that committee slots have been filled.

Manufacturing Systems Division: Dr. Ron Meier, President reported:

That Dr. Ivan Mosley has served as membership recruiter during the convention and that the Division now has 103 members.
The Division has agreed on a few "challenges" for the next year: using a conference presentation format of 3-person panels, each person presenting for 15-20 minutes, with some selected presentations of an hour; organizing a pre-conference workshop; and working with the Student and Industry Divisions on problems faced in industry that need to be addressed by new Industrial Technology graduates taking jobs in industry.

Graphic Communications Division: Dr. John Craft, President, reported:

Recruitment of members has been primary effort in last year; there are 37 members currently; retention of membership through involvement is next goal.
A Website is being developed which will include interactive features and allow membership communication.
Membership recruitment efforts are being extended to members of other organizations through conferences and trade shows.
Dr. Marlow Marchant, of Eastern Kentucky University, was elected President-Elect for 2000-2001.

Research Division: Dr. Mahyar Izadi, President, reported:

Division is also working on recruitment.
Division members have expressed concerns about more effective input into the association and with respect to conference papers; Dr Izadi noted that the Research Division did assist in reviewing papers for the 1999 Conference.
The division is reviewing division and association goals.
The division is considering organizing a workshop for the 2000 Conference, and would also be interested in moving to a format with 3-person panels doing shorter presentations
The division challenges Industrial Technology programs that offer doctoral degrees to have their candidates fulfill presentation requirements by presenting at the NAIT conference.

Old Business: Chair McGarry noted that no old business remained from the 1998 Business Meeting.

New Business:

Dr. Art Rosser stated that the university Division would like Selected Papers to be acknowledged as "refereed/reviewed", that some papers be acknowledged as "Outstanding Papers", and that authors of top papers be awarded a free conference registration for the following conference.

Rosser moved that the publication and CD-ROM of "Selected Papers" be denoted as "Peer Reviewed" and that the author of a "Best Paper" be awarded a free conference registration for the following year. The motion was seconded. Discussion ensued. A motion was made to divide the motion on the floor. The motion was not seconded. Further discussion of the motion on the floor ensued. The mover withdrew the motion and the withdrawal was agreed by the seconder. Rosser moved that the CD-ROM and publication of "Selected Papers" be denoted as "Peer Reviewed". The motion was seconded from the floor. A motion was made to call the question and no objection being made and no further discussion occurring, the question was called. The motion was approved on a voice vote.

Diez moved that the Executive Board recommend to the Focus Groups and Divisions a process for reviewing Selected Papers and that feedback on rejected papers be provided to the authors, seconded by Israel. Discussion ensued. No further discussion being offered, the Chair called for a vote on the motion. The motion was approved on a voice vote.

Rosser moved, seconded by Bates, that the Executive Board devise a "Best Paper" process and that it be implemented at the 2000 Convention. Discussion ensued. Diez suggested the proposal be studied before implementation. Reese moved to table the motion, seconded by Frank. The mover and seconded agreed to withdraw the motion. The motion was withdrawn.

Report on 2000 Annual Conference: Dr. Rudisill, Executive Director, withdrew the agenda item.

Presentation of Service Awards: Harold Finn, on behalf of the Association, presented Service Awards to the outgoing Division Presidents, Dr. Matthew P. Stephens, Student Division; Dr. Jerry Parish, University Division; Mr. John Reese, Industry Division; and to Mr. Ed McGarry, NAIT Executive Board Chair.

Installation of Officers: Dr. Rudisill presided over the installation of Association Officers for 1999-2000: Dr. Sid Connor, CCTI Division; Mr. Tom Hjertquist, Industry Division; Mr. Mark Franco, Student Division; and Dr. Art Rosser, University Division.

Closing Remarks: Executive Board Chair Ed McGarry made brief closing remarks and thanked all of those present for their participation in the Business Meeting and the Conference.

A motion was made from the floor to adjourn the Annual Business Meeting. The motion was supported. A majority voting in favor approved the motion on a voice vote.

The Annual Business Meeting was adjourned at 9:40 a.m.