Meeting date/time: Friday, October 20, 2023 at 3:30pm Eastern
Attendees: Ed Beck, Rachel Cherry, Kiera Howe, Reed Piernock, Eric Sembrat
Guests: Jason Woodward
Invited: L. Danielle Baldwin, Ed Beck, Rachel Cherry, Phil Crumm, Dash Kees, Kiera Howe, Reed Piernock, Eric Sembrat
Goals
- Review and approve the Conflict of Interest.
- Identify reviewers for the WPCampus Bylaws.
- Begin the process of chartering a committee for technology needs.
- Discuss whether the member directory requires a committee or if it's a task within the tech committee.
- Determine a board member and, if necessary, a team/committee to write an organization values page.
Agenda
Roll Call
- Note attendees of this meeting (in the Details section above), and list any absences.
Approval of Minutes
- Review, correct, and approve the minutes from the previous meeting.
Old Business
- Review and approve the Conflict of Interest.
- Discuss unresolved action items from the previous meeting.
Reports or Presentations
- Report on the organization's finances.
- Report on the WPCampus 2024 location selection committee.
New Business
- Identify reviewers for the WPCampus Bylaws.
- Begin the process of chartering a committee for technology needs.
- Discuss whether the member directory requires a committee or if it's a task within the tech committee.
- Determine a board member and, if necessary, a team/committee to write an organization values page.
Private Session
- A private session may be held here if there are matters that only members of the Board of Directors need to discuss at this time.
Action Items
- A list of action items as a result of this meeting
Closing
- Confirm November 17, 2023 for the next meeting.
- Final thoughts, reminders, or general chit-chat.
Minutes
Call to order.
Kiera called to order the monthly meeting of the WPCampus Board of Directors at 3:41pm (Eastern) on 20 October 2023, virtually in Zoom.
Eric, Kiera, Ed, and Rachel were in attendance. Guests included Jason Woodward. Reed and Jason were in the wrong Zoom meeting and joined shortly after. Reed made a note to update the Google Calendar events with the correct links.
Begin the process of chartering a committee for technology needs.
Rachel asked Reed if they needed assistance with updating the blog with previous meetings’ minutes, and Reed was not opposed to delegating this task in the future. The Board discussed Rachel’s past idea of creating a “librarians” committee that could take on the responsibilities for archiving the organization’s documents and documentation, including posting content on the website.
This discussion segued into the agenda item for chartering committees. Rachel volunteered to work on a committee, but would not be in charge of a committee.
Kiera suggested scheduling additional meetings until the end of the year to create a plan for transitioning the Board for 2024, and for making lists of what the organization would need for its committees. Ed recommended three committees to start: technology; archives; nominations.
The Board discussed how to approach chartering committees. Questions to research included:
- What is important to the organization?
- What does the Board need assistance with?
- What does the community want and need in the organization?
Ed suggested the Board transition to a “working” board, with clearly defined roles and responsibilities. The Board admitted to suffering confusion over the ownership of action items.
Eric’s tenure ends at midnight on 31 December 2023; both Kiera and Ed accepted a one-year term, although that would not negate them from reapplying to the Board.
Eric volunteered to draft a charter for the nominations committee; Ed, the archives committee; and Rachel, the technology committee.
Review and approve the Conflict of Interest.
Earlier in the day, Kiera made updates to the draft Conflict of Interest document, and informed the Board there may be changes since they last viewed it. Kiera shared her screen, and the Board members in attendance reviewed it together. Ed motioned to approve; Kiera seconded the motion. The remaining Board members constituted a quorum, and approved the Conflict of Interest.
Report on the organization's finances.
Google approved the organization’s request for non-profit pricing on its workspace suite.
For QuickBooks, the organization paid $75 to TechSoup, which includes five licenses. Kiera will have an account, as will the organization’s CPA. QuickBooks has support for CapitalOne and PayPal, but currently does not support Stripe.
Rachel is still importing existing financial data into the new system, with archival data for 2021 and 2022. Rachel will work with Kiera on financials, and can give a demo for anyone else interested.
Rachel will finish reconciling the accounts and provide an update at the next meeting. She said the organization is in good financial standing, considering we lost a sponsorship for the 2023 conference.
Report on the 2024 conference location selection.
Jason informed the Board that the location selection committee has great participation and strong work. He provided updates that there are only two applicants so far, but that both are good contenders. Progress has been made on the rubric for selecting the final location, and the committee extended the application deadline for a couple of weeks.
Ed asked the Board for financial support in sending “thank you” gifts to the location selection committee. Rachel suggested that a task for the forthcoming archive committee (aka The Librarians) would be to document the process for sending the gifts and writing blog posts.
Community discussion.
Reed moved to ignore the remaining agenda items in order to have time for the community portion of the meeting, as Jason had further questions not part of his role on the location selection committee. Kiera seconded the motion, and all voted in favor.
Jason asked if the Board could clarify its processes, and what its expectations were within itself and within the community. He mentioned that the Board is ultimately responsible for the organization’s growth and its failure, and urged the Board to design its future based on what is best for the organization.
Rachel agreed the organization has traditionally not been good with marketing itself, and would need to have an assigned responsibility. She further stated that the Board never set clear and full expectations on who would be responsible for certain tasks, such as a dedicated social media person.
Ed suggested language be added to all future charters to make sure it is clear where committees are empowered to act and when they are recommending to the board.
Closing.
The Board confirmed Friday 17 November 2023 at 3:30pm (Eastern) as the date and time for the next meeting.
The meeting adjourned at 5:04pm.