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 National Council Meeting Minutes - August 19, 2008Luis Hernández, President, called the meeting to order at 6:06 PM CST. Welcome: Luis Hernández started with a welcome to the 2008-2009 National Council and Regional Representatives. Luis briefly discussed NOPHNRCSE opportunities and projects such as Spanish Translation of the 2008 Farm Bill; NEDC Training, Speed Mentoring, self development videos (A Day in the Life), and Farmer of the Year. Housekeeping: Jorge Ruiz, Caribbean Area Regional Representative still needs to be sworn in by the President, Luis Hernández. Roll call was taken and quorum established. Note: National Council-7 members required for a quorum Present
Guests Reporting:Amanda Hasemeier, Irma Hernández, Carmen Ortiz, Gilbert Guerrero. AbsentVice President, Mario Morales (excused), Reg. Rep. Midwest, Heather Medina (excused), Reg. Rep. Caribbean, Jorge Ruiz (excused). Changes to the Agenda: Changes to Agenda: E-mail protocol, due dates on agenda items, and NRCS Credit Union's web-link request was added under Other Business on the agenda. Agenda item E, 2008-10 NOPHNRCSE Business Plan, will be discussed in the next National Council Teleconference, Tuesday, September 16, 2008. Agenda item H, Standing Committees Chairs Update, will be tabled to September’s meeting due to the absence of Mario Morales. Agenda was modified and no additional items were added. Eileen M. Vale made motion to approve changes made to the agenda. Astrid Martínez seconded the motion to approve changes to the agenda, no more discussion, motion carried. Approval of Minutes: Luis Hernández discussed the June meeting draft minutes. Astrid Martínez made a motion to approve the National Teleconference Meeting Minutes for June 24, 2008. Eileen M. Vale seconded the motion to approve the business meeting June 24, 2008 minutes, no more discussion, motion carried. Luis Hernández discussed the July meeting draft minutes. Astrid made a motion to approve the July meeting minutes. Jazelle Jusino seconded the motion, no more discussion, motion carried. Treasury Report: Jorge Camacho presented the treasury report for August. Jorge stated he is currently working with Pat from the NRCS Credit Union in Ft. Worth, TX. He has received the order of new checks, but still has not received the bank statements. He is now authorized to sign checks for NOPHNRCSE. Jorge also stated that there are pending invoices to be paid from the 2008 Conference in Wisconsin. Jorge stated that we currently have a balance of $65,676.81 (regular bank acct) and $16,060.07 (money market acct.). Tim Garrahan made motion to approve the Treasurer’s report. Cresencio Pérez seconded the motion, no more discussion, motion carried. 2009 National Conference Philadelphia: Amanda Hasemeier stated that her and Irma Hernández have been scouting down town hotels of Philadelphia. Two choices of hotels presented were the Crowne Plaza and Radisson Hotels. Amanda stated that both hotels had excellent facilities and are close to downtown amenities. The Crowne Plaza will honor the government rate to all NOPHNRCSE members, while the Radisson Hotel will not. The Radisson Hotel can only offer 301 rooms versus the Crowne Hotel Plaza of 500 rooms. Astrid Martínez suggested Amanda Hasemeier and Irma Hernández contact other hotels in the area to discuss further options regarding prices on food, hotel rooms, meeting rooms, and equipment. Astrid also suggested, when negotiating with these hotel event coordinators, to make sure that we state from the beginning that we are not the final decision-makers. We have to inform them that we have to develop a proposal to present to our organization's National Council. Furthermore, if the proposal is approved by the National Council it goes to NHQ for the final approval. Amanda stated that it would be a good idea to host the FWP & HEPM Training with our conference. Sharyn Alvarez, NFWPM will need to present a proposal on the SEPM Training location to Joseph Hairston, Director of the Civil Rights Division, in mid September. Thus, Astrid Martínez stated that she will develop a proposal that will include hosting the FWP & HEPM training in our 2009 Conference in Philadelphia. Astrid will send the proposal to Luis Hernández, for his signature and present to Joseph Hairston at Washington, D. C. 2008 Conference Report: Astrid Martínez presented her report to the National Council on the 2008 Conference in Wisconsin. She stated that a total of 181 people attended. Of the 181 that attended the conference, 10 NEDC, 53 SEPM, and 6 exhibits. Only two people needed to be refunded from the conference Carmen Ortiz $140.00 and Connecticut NRCS (Narcizo Guerrero-Murillo) $455.00. A total amount from the conference goes as follows: FWP & HEPM training, $1,035.00, NEDC Training, $2875.00, NEDC Training, $1900.00, total income of $51,465.00 with a net gain of $5,304.34. Jorge Camacho asked the National Conference how the monetary amount gained from the conference is used. Astrid Martínez stated any monetary amount gained from the conference is used for training and scholarships in the next year’s conference in Philadelphia. Luis Hernández requested that Jorge Camacho research this issue to ensure that NOPHNRCSE is following protocol. NOPHNRCSE Website Update: Carmen Ortiz stated that she was not able to get in contact with Mario regarding the information on the new website. Eileen M. Vale stated that she had received an email from Mario earlier in the week stating he was not going to make the teleconference due to a prior engagement. In his email, Mario stated that he has still has not visited with the company regarding the new website. However he will be contacting them this week. Carmen requested that she would like email sent to all NOPHNRCSE members asking their input on what they would like to see on the new website. She will develop the email and send it to Eileen to distribute to regional representatives, in turn regional representatives will forward to membership. Student Committee Proposal: Gilbert Guerrero proposed that the Student Financial Scholarship Committee and Student Travel Committee merge to form one Student Scholarship Committee. Consolidating both committees would avoid confusion, communication problems, and time. The consolidated committee would consist of one Chair person, 1st Vice Chair (financial scholarship), 2nd Vice Chair (travel scholarship), 3rd Chair (under financial scholarship), 4th Chair (under travel scholarship) and 4 additional committee members. The Chairperson would be responsible for providing any updated information to the National Council and Planning Chair. The Chairperson will work with the treasurer to plan for funding for scholarships. Duties of 1st Vice Chair and 3rd Chair of the Financial Scholarship will include creating and updating applications, distributing applications, grading applications, coordinating Scholarship activities, and providing a list of scholarships to the NOPHNRCSE Treasurer to pay. Duties of the 2nd Vice Chair and the 4th Chair of the Travel Scholarship will include grading applications, arranging travel for students, establishing mentors, planning the State Conservationist Breakfast and creating the student’s portfolios. Gilbert is proposing a 5 year commitment for student scholarship committee members. Gilbert stated there is a current balance of $58,000.00 in the student endowment fund and $60,000 for travel scholarships. The student endowment fund account will soon be transferred to the NRCS Credit Union in Ft. Worth. In summary, the Scholarship Committee Chairperson will work directly with the National Council and Planning Committee. One student application will only be required when applying for NOPHNRCSE’s Student Scholarship. Gilbert Guerrero requested if NOPHNRCSE can provide the food at the Texas A & M Kingsville and Range Club joint meeting to be held Sunday evening on October 5th before the student career fair taking part that week. Astrid Martínez stated she had a concern with NOPHNRCSE paying for the meal, since Gilbert will be on paid travel status by NRCS. Astrid will contact her SAO to ensure that we will not be compromising any ethical codes. Astrid will inform us as soon as she contacts her SAO on this issue. NOPHNRCSE National Council Update: Eileen M. Vale asked the National Council to review the updated contact list to make sure that everything was correct. Eileen stated that she forwarded the information to Mario Morales. Mario intern passed the information to Carmen Ortiz to post on the web. Eileen will forward an email regarding the notification of the new 2008 National Council to regional representatives to distribute to the membership. Astrid Martínez proposed that the National Council send a photograph to be posted on the web by their name so members can recognize them at conferences or meetings. Astrid stated that she has a map of the regions represented by regional representatives that will be posted on the NRCS website in the future. Ted Lucero had concern with members transferring from one region to another. We may have to develop a request through email to the membership regarding this issue. 2008-10 Business Plan and Previous National Exit Report Review: The Exit Report will be developed in the new Business Plan. This will be tabled for next month’s teleconference. Advisory Committee Proposal: Roney stated that Astrid Martínez was still waiting for the evaluations from the 2008 conference in Wisconsin. Astrid stated Carmen Ortiz was supposed to post the evaluation form on the website for members to complete. However, the form is still not posted on the website. Astrid will contact Carmen on this situation. Once, the evaluation forms are posted on the web for comments on the conference, Eileen M. Vale will send out a notification to regional representatives. All comments will then be forwarded to Roney Gutierrez. Standing Committees Chairs Update: Due to Mario Morales absence Standing Committee Chairs will be tabled to next month’s teleconference. NOPHNRCSE History: Luis Hernández stated that Humberto Hernández is currently working on a document regarding the history of NOPHNRCSE. Luis suggested that we consider producing a publication on a CD, brochure, pamphlet or book. Astrid suggested maybe producing a CD and posting the information on the NOPHNRCSE website for members. Luis would like this project to be completed by the 2009 Conference in Philadelphia. 2008 Farm Bill Opportunities: Luis Hernández proposed to the National Council how can we as a professional organization of the NRCS provide assistance to socially disadvantaged farmers and ranchers in a linguistically appropriate manner and improving their participation in Department programs. Eileen M. Vale stated that in her team/office she develops monthly articles regarding NRCS programs or technical information. These articles are sent to local newspapers and agricultural magazines that include a Hispanic audience. Astrid Martínez stated her state, Wyoming was doing the same. Astrid Martínez has a concern with NOPHNRCSE offering their translation services to the NRCS State Conservationist. It may produce a workload that may be hindering for NOPHNRCSE members. Representation in Professional Organization Meetings: Luis Hernández had a concern with attending professional organization meetings, if he did not get approval from his supervisor or funding from his state, Arkansas. Astrid Martínez suggested that Luis first submits a request for government time and expense to his supervisor to attend these meetings. If they, refuse to offer time and expense then NOPHNRCSE may decide to provide financial assistance to Luis to attend these meetings. Luis suggested that if he is denied government time and expense, the National Council can suggest someone on the National Council or one of the members that is nearby these meeting locations. The National Council requested Luis Hernández to develop a budget to propose to the National Council regarding this issue. Regional Representatives: West- Roney Gutierrez reported that it was a quiet month. He has been sending out job announcements to membership, updating his contact information, and has recruited two new members of NOPHNRCSE from New Mexico. Northern Plains-Ted Lucero reported that he has been updating his region membership list and forwarding job announcements to members. Ted had a concern for the low number in members in NOPHNRCSE. Ted suggested that we schedule a membership drive for the month of September or October. This may encourage the membership to recruit more members for NOPHNRCSE. Maybe NOPHNRCSE can offer a prize or award for a member that recruits the most people. Since Mario Morales was absent from the meeting, Eileen M. Vale had a concern if Rocemi Morales, Membership Chair was still interested in being Chair for membership. The idea of a Membership Drive would have to be managed by the Membership Committee Chair. East-Tim Garrahan reported he has been forwarding job announcements to members. It has been a quiet month, not too much activity. South Central-Cresencio Pérez reported he has been forwarding job announcements to members. It has been a quiet month, not too much activity. Cresencio stated that he too would like to be informed when a member moved in or out of his region. Southeast-Jazelle Jusino-reported she has been forwarding job announcements and working on Hispanic Heritage Month poster. Caribbean Area-Jorge Ruiz – Absent Midwest-Heather Medina – Absent Other Business:
Astrid Martínez made a motion to adjourn the meeting. Ted Lucero seconded the motion, no more discussion, motion carried. Meeting adjourned at 9:01 PM CST Luis Hernández, President
< Back to Minutes of the National Organization of Professional Hispanic NRCS Employees |
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