Present: Clark Egnor, Annita Ward, Susan Walsh, Nancy Person, Cathy Shank

The minutes of the previous board meetings (2/3 and 3/24/01) were read and approved.

The treasurer, Nancy Person, reported a previous balance of $731.83. As of 4/18/02, the balance was $1094.10. She had just paid a bill of $4.91 for nametags and pens for the conference registration. Annita presented her with a bill for reimbursement for copying handouts for a presenter at the conference. The board decided that it would set a bad precedent to cover the cost of copying material for presenters, so this bill was sent back to the individual. The treasurer's report was accepted.

Next was a report on membership; there were 24 paid members in the 2001-2002 year and 27 prepaid dues for the 2002-2003 year. Forty-three people attended the conference, of whom only 7 are non-members, so the 2002-2003 membership is approximately 36. This report was also accepted.

Our first concern is increasing membership. Clark remarked that we are already making a good start with the conference and the publicity preceding the conference. Now we have to continue those efforts. He stated the problem: why should anyone want to join WVTESOL now that the conference is over? We need to find ways to make the organization attractive.

Annita suggested that this is one area where the area reps could be useful by recruiting in their fields and by sending out information that is pertinent to people in their areas.

Cathy describes a problem for K-12 teachers: they usually cannot afford to be involved in any activities unless they are reimbursed for the activities and travel.

Clark mentioned that the electronic list could help with this concern and it has been underutilized. He suggested that we could do professional development on the electronic list. Or he could put up message boards and maybe propose it as a kind of WVTESOL summer or fall institute.

This brought up the question of something that has been on the website - the WVTESOL journal. The editor did not attend the conference so he wasn't available to talk about future issues of the journal. The conclusion of this discussion is that the organization needs to find ways to get people involved and make them feel part of WVTESOL. Also recruitment should be ongoing all year, not just prior to the conference (this is being done now).

Cathy Shank also brought up a suggestion about using her contact with the WV Adult Education Association at its fall conference. She would like to see WVTESOL do a training session at that conference with "tips and techniques", i.e., practical aids rather than academic discussions. She volunteered to chair up this effort.

Full of hope for reaching our goal of increasing the membership and relevance of WVTESOL, the board adjourned the meeting.

Respectfully submitted,

Susan Walsh, Secretary