Annual Business Meeting Minutes, October 29, 1999, Long Beach, CA

1999 EDUCAUSE Annual Business Meeting

The EDUCAUSE Annual Meeting was called to order at 7:00 a.m. on October 29, 1999, in Long Beach, California.

Report of the Nomination and Election Committee - Carrie Regenstein, Cochair

Regenstein reported that of 1,264 eligible voters, 535 (42.3 percent) voted in the 1999 EDUCAUSE Board of Directors election. This number represented a drop in participation of 6 percent from the board election held in1998. Elected to serve four-year terms, beginning January 1, 2000, were Joel Hartman, University of Central Florida, and Joanne Hugi, University of Oregon.

Treasurer's Report - Laurence Alvarez

Alvarez reported that EDUCAUSE was on target with its 1999 budget and that the Board approved a balanced budget of $9,720,373 for 2000. No dues increase was anticipated in the coming year. The Board adopted plans to use the reserves of approximately $7,000,000 in the following way: (1) maintain a reserve of $5,000,000 in case of a major fiscal catastrophe; (2) treat the remaining $2,000,000 as a leadership fund for extraordinary opportunities that could not otherwise be funded; (3) use income from the fixed income portion of the investment portfolio in the operation budget; and (4) create a strategic initiative account from the income and gains on the reserve and opportunity fund to be used for strategic initiatives that develop during the year. Budget details are on the EDUCAUSE Web site.

President's Report - Brian Hawkins

Hawkins described eight transition issues for EDUCAUSE in its second year:

1. organizing a successful unified conference
2. serving the diverse constituents formerly served by the parent organizations
3. ensuring adequate staff and office space
4. integrating six major functional programs of EDUCAUSE into board planning cycles and developing metrics to evaluate program progress
5. building on the strong relationships established with the six higher education presidential associations and the growing credibility of EDUCAUSE as a trusted voice for higher education information technology in federal relationships
6. demonstrating efficiencies from the merger
7. addressing emerging issues as they arise
8. transitioning organizational structures as needed

Vice President Reports - Carole Barone, Richard Katz, Mark Luker

Barone reported that:

• the National Learning Infrastructure Initiative is partnering with the Center for Academic Transformation established by Carol Twigg;
• the Instructional Management System (IMS) program will become an independent nonprofit organization at year's end under the leadership of new CEO Edward Walker;
• two new NLII task forces have been established to address technology transfer and institutional and student readiness;
• two NLII fellows have been appointed; and
• three regional "focus session" meetings will be held during 2000 to advance discourse on issues related to instructional technology.

Katz reported that in the past year EDUCAUSE:

• put on a record number of professional development events that reached more than 8,200 attendees;
• consolidated and reinvented its publishing program;
• forged new partnerships with other associations and corporate members; and
• provided many new Web-based applications to facilitate member interactions.
• With regard to the last point, EDUCAUSE was recently awarded the American Society of Association Executives' award for the Most Innovative Use of Technology to Support Association Business.

Luker reported that the Net@EDU program:

• has developed a set of working groups to address issues such as wireless networking, PKI, voice over IP, and network pricing;
• negotiated special rates for advanced networking services for all of higher education through the VBNS+ program;
• played an active role in ICANN; and
• was successful in its application for $6 million to support minority institutions' efforts to build networks.
• The EDUCAUSE policy program developed a process for addressing issues and developing positions and made a number of presentations to congressional representatives about technology-related policies.

Other Actions

Martin Ringle moved that the president and vice presidents and all EDUCAUSE staff, especially Beverly Williams, be given a standing ovation for achieving a successful unified conference in Long Beach. The motion was seconded and passed unanimously.

Polley Ann McClure extended thanks to retiring board members Jill Arnold and Patricia Battin and welcomed new board members and officers. New officers are Chair Ron Bleed, Vice Chair Polley Ann McClure, Treasurer Laurence Alvarez, and Secretary Mely Tynan. Jill Arnold was also recognized for her leadership in creating an entirely new paradigm for the EDUCAUSE conference.

The EDUCAUSE Annual Meeting was adjourned at 8:05 a.m.

Respectfully submitted,

Donald Riley, Secretary
EDUCAUSE Board of Directors