Present: Rodney Mondor (Chair), Lee Kem (Reg 3), Brian Hinterscher (Reg 5), Dave Marchesani (Reg 6), Sherri Jensen (Reg 10), Art Farlowe (Reg 3), Tami Saffell (Reg 8), Charlie Nutt, Bev Martin, Judy Weyrauch

Introductions of members:

• Thank you to all past members for 2 years of incredible work. You have set the bar high for the year.
• Congrats to the 2008-2010 members: Mike Prutsman (Reg. 1), Chuck Allen (Reg. 2), Art Farlow (Reg. 3), Brian Hinterscher (Reg. 5), Patsy Pyke (Canada), Dan Turner (Grad Students), David Marchesani (Reg. 6), Tamie Saffell (Reg. 8), Sherrie Jensen (Reg. 10).

Report from Division meeting:

• All committees reported out. Collaborative discussion about the future of NACADA and what we can do to improve services and resources for its members;
• Charged to assess membership at different levels, gaps, unrepresented groups;
• Strategy to assess and make recommendations for programs and services;
• Looked at graduate students last year;

Membership committee updates:

• In order to reflect the true nature of the NACADA membership we added 2 members to committee. A Graduate Student representative Dan Turner, Northern Illinois University; and Canadian representative Patsy Pyke, Algonquin College were added;
• Worked with Research, Diversity and Awards Committee to develop a scholarship program for graduate students to attend regional and national events.
• Review of numbers – increasing graduate and faculty; worked with Research Committee and Diversity and Awards Committees. Putting together a proposal to provide a number of graduate scholarships to attend regional conferences. Some regions do it; Region 1 and Region 6 to provide all registrations.
• SI and Administrative/Assessment institutes also working on this – to increase graduate scholarships; big collaborative effort.

Membership Committee Goal Setting:

• Reality Check on the Future of NACADA – What to do to prepare?
  • Current budget reports show that we exceeded our income this budget cycle; however the change in our economy will/could affect institutions resulting in less travel, monies to cover membership fees, etc. No idea how San Antonio is going to run.
  • Since traveling is usually the first major cuts for institutions, the committee looked at Webinars as a tool to provide services to its members. Example: Schools not able to attend the annual meeting might be able to utilize podcast or webinar live feed the keynote; get something at annual meeting. Webinar on Best of Region presentations; best of program; download handouts. This choice would increase technology costs for NACADA.
    
• Institutional Membership
• Committee members did not feel that the benefits really support to cost for IM. “Don’t get a lot”.
• Institutional membership issue comes up every year. It is finding a balance to provide membership opportunities for institutions without pulling away for the individual membership base.
• Currently NACADA is up 21% with institutional members.
• Committee does feel that there are some institutions that won’t pay institutional memberships due to policy. But with cuts across the country, could we see an increase interest in the IM option?
• Need to know what an IM gets as a member and follow up with IM members and assess the benefits. Ask them why they are institutional members.
• Suggestions to improve Institutional Membership:
  • 1 free webinar.
  • Work with the AACSS (consultant & speaker service), – When an institution hosts a webinar, NACADA (AACSS) could send someone to help facilitate conversation afterwards. With a minimum of 100 members for AACSS – 2 from each state. NACADA could SEND someone from state to show webinar and show tangible….
  • Student Affairs graduate programs – 1 free graduate student membership as a benefit of NACADA Institutional Membership.
• Action Steps on Institutional Membership:
  • Need to know what an IM gets as a member and follow up with IM members and assess the benefits.
  • Increase IM – yes we care about academic advising; get information out there; don’t want to lose revenue stream. Sweeten pot but not lose individual memberships. Survey. Large memberships with 50 or more.
  • Do the universities having institutional memberships have lower number of individual memberships? For annual conference, number from each region; advertising - see benefits of being a member; put in state conferences; more people show up.
    
• Graduate Students – Need to continue to work on this topic as they are our new blood in the field.
  • Best of Region – Professional Track for conferences.
  • Make sure we are expanding the concept of graduate programs from Student Affairs, to Adult Ed and similar.
  • Create mentor programs for conferences for grad students.

Membership Committee Next Steps (2008-2009):

• Look at ways we can use webinar technologies to increase membership benefits.
• Look at how we currently connect members with each other at conferences and suggest options.
• Review Institutional Membership:
  • Create survey for current IMers.
  • Assess survey and develop options for the IM option if tweaking is needed.
• Continue with graduate program; review, tweak changes; present to Susan and Awards Committee.
  • Look at other Regions programs and review.
  • Promote scholarship/award committee work to increase graduate membership.
  • Find ways to promote the graduate program in NACADA.
• Look at defining “what the benefits of membership are”; why should you be a member of NACADA? Articulate benefits and market them.