Report to ISTA-Retired Allen County Chapter

Thursday, March 13, 2014
ISTA-Retired - Jim Clauser

The ISTA Archives Committee met Wednesday, January 22, 2014 at the ISTA Center to continue its work to organize and file archival documents and materials as well as to create displays for the hall-way cases on the ninth floor. The four members present had a profitable day. This committee will meet again March 20.

The Executive Committee of ISTA-Retired met on Thursday, January 23, 2014 to revisit the mission statement of the organization and to discuss goals. The committee also discussed how to increase membership in the organization and reviewed the agenda for the officer training workshop which will be held in March.

The ISTA-Retired Executive Committee met Monday, February 17, 2014 in Indianapolis. The committee revisited the discussion from the January meeting regarding increasing membership. Zone coordinators suggested areas where new chapters might be located or those existing chapters that need revitalization. A 2014-15 calendar was developed which will be sent to all council members so that chapter meetings will not conflict with state activities.

Teresa Meredith, president of ISTA, reported on the state of the association. She is working hard to move the organization from fear to future. She will share her plan at the RA. One proposal is to reduce the $40 assessment made at the time of the Trust failure. [See Sarah's report] In addition, she will call a Judicial Review Panel to deal with the actions of a local president who borrowed association funds which caused that local to be in arrears. The panel will work through the consequences. Teresa is certain that money has been returned and that ISTA is whole. Following her report, she gave time for questions. One dealt with technology and how ISTA was staying ahead of the game. She stated that changes are being made to keep ISTA communication current. Another dealt with the loss of active members and the reasons they did not join. The results of this survey may be helpful to ISTA-Retired as a membership tool.

Sarah discussed the ISTA Board meeting. In the 2014-15 budget, there will be no salary increases. The state will develop a plan to have six offices for operations across the state, one in each quadrant [including one in Fort Wayne] and two in Indianapolis. The $40 dues assessment for active members will be gradually reduced; for each 750 member increase, the dues will decrease $10. A new member resource center will be developed which will focus on member's questions and needs. Seven staff will be re-purposed to man this center which will be located in the ISTA Building. Additional staff shuffling will result in a new professional quality specialist, a social media resource coordinator, and a supervisor of the member resource center. In addition there will be three new UniServ Directors. Because of retirements, shifting and re-purposing positions, there will be no new hires.

The State Council met on Tuesday, February 18, following lobbying at the state legislature. Due to the weather, a number of members were unable to attend. Much of the meeting focused on what was discussed at the executive committee meeting. In addition, reports were given and pertinent announcements made.

On Monday and Tuesday, March 10 and 11, workshops were conducted for training of local chapter officers. On Monday a repeat of the treasurer's training held in November was conducted for those who were unable to attend that workshop. Then in the afternoon, a session led by Teresa Meredith, ISTA president, dealt with the responsibilities of local chapter presidents. On Monday evening after dinner, a social time was held at the hotel. On Tuesday, training for vice-presidents and secretaries was held. Keith Gambill, ISTA vice-president, and Teresa Meredith conducted the veep training, and Jim Clauser joined Keith to present the secretary training. Vivian Johnson and Jim Clauser represented the Allen County chapter. Fran, Dorthy and Jack were unable to attend.

Tuesday afternoon, the committee to develop materials for the second NEA grant, Organizing for Membership Growth, met to develop curriculum for assisting the establishment of new chapters or assisting those chapters which may be struggling. Five areas for this curriculum are being targeted: political action, governance and structure, NEA member benefits, technology and communication, and membership outreach. Kathy Sharp is leading this committee which includes the Zone Coordinators, the state chair, the state secretary, and four at-large members. The work of this committee will be ready for use in the 2014-15 membership year.

The executive committee, the state council, the grant #2 committee and the ISTA-RA will all meet during the third week in April.