Florida Adult and Technical Distance Education Consortium
General Membership Meeting
Captiva, FL
May 6, 2010
I. President Marilyn Duclos-Balliet called the meeting to order at 5:05 p.m. and welcomed attendees. President Duclos-Balliet asked each person to introduce him or herself. Attending were:
Luci Mello – IRSC Judy Johnson – Citrus County
Kim Gates – Broward County Joann Jefferson - IRSC
Don Piduch – Brevard County Ann Watts - Baker County
Barry Sams – Union County Cissy Shaw – Citrus County
Curis Gaus – Nassau County Patricia Young – Nassau County
Marilyn Duclos – FATDEC Jamie Eddleman – Orange County
Irina Zimmerman – Manatee County Ann Dwyer – FCTC
Denise Moen – Hernando County Leslie Isley – Charlotte County
Karyn Gary – Charlotte County Kamlyn Ammons – FSCJ
Catherine Lester – FSCJ Curtis Gaus – Nassau County
William Kelly – Escambia Stuart Mears – Palm Beach County
Brett Taylor – Pinellas County Claire Valier – Palm Beach County
Kristin Przelomiec – Lee County Darlene Carrillo – Lee County
Kevin Stokes – Orange County Geri Michelsen – Third Wave Learning
Caroline McNair – Third Wave Learning Charla Bauer – Citrus County
Tiffaney Barnes – Orange County Zelda Rogers – FL DOE
Following the published agenda:
II. Business Items
A. Minutes from the general meeting of January 29, 2010 were presented. A motion was made by Barry Sams to accept the minutes as presented, seconded by Judy Johnson, and passed unanimously.
B. Kim Gates reported membership news. The newest member is Hernando County. They will be starting officially on October 1st. Other organizations currently interested are Sarasota, Flagler, NWFSC (formerly Okaloosa-Walton CC), Baker, and Lee Counties.
C. Course repurposing update: Upcoming courses for repurposing are Psychology and Algebra 1-B. FATDEC currently has course files for Critical Thinking & Study Skills and HOPE. Curtis Gaus stated that he had someone who could repurpose Driver’s Ed, and Kim Gates stated that Art Appreciation had been requested from FLVS. Art Appreciation, though, is an AP level course, so it may not work for FATDEC’s student audience.
D. Non-profit status – President Duclos-Balliet reported that FATDEC was finally approved for non-profit status. We now have 501 (c) (3) status.
III. Discussion Items
A. Budget – At this current time, it appears that our budget for next year, although not firm yet, will allow the base user fee to stay at $7,000 (this current year’s fee). Three of our biggest vendors (Ucompass Educator, Desire 2 Learn, and Elluminate) have submitted proposals that keep the cost of services the same as the previous year.
B. Health Core – Jamie Eddleman gave an overview of the Health Core course, and an update on CTE development. The Health Core is modifiable and does not follow a master course setup. There was a conference call that took place to discuss the course and some changes, including the addition of modules 12-16 to focus on new “essential skills.” Polk County and others are sending Jamie resources for this; Jamie will collect them, and then the group can look over everything. They plan to meet again in 2 weeks. Anyone who would like to be included should tell Kim Gates. Jamie stressed that CTE Curriculum and Adult Curriculum needs to be served by separate committees. The suggestion was to break up the curriculum committee into 2 groups (AGE and CTE).
C. Skills Tutor – Marilyn stated that we are within our seat allowance for Skills Tutor. Kim told that Impact Education closed its Fort Myers office, so all tech support requests need to go to the main Skills Tutor number. Marilyn suggested emailing this information to all admins with users in Skills Tutor. Kim informed the group that we are coming to the end of year 2 in a 3 year contract with Skills Tutor. Marilyn reminded the group that they are still to follow the “naming convention” when entering students into Skills Tutor.
D. FLVS Grant – Kim and Marilyn discussed the FLVS grant that’s targeting GED enrollment in rural areas within the state. It’s a $12 million grant that FLVS has applied for, and they have incorporated FATDEC into it to handle the GED part. Money is included to cover mobile technologies (laptops, cell phones, etc.), Internet service, and part-time teacher pay. There is no timeline as to when FLVS will hear about approval of this grant application.
E. Certification – It was discussed that any teacher teaching an AHS course needs the appropriate subject area certification. The certification needed for HOPE is both health and PE. FATDEC does have HOPE, but it’s in a holding pattern because it’s not funded for adults. Barry Sams mentioned that Personal Fitness is funded for adults and does fit the requirement. Marilyn suggested a survey to see who is interested in HOPE. Zelda Rogers said that there had been discussion at DOE about whether HOPE was fundable for adults, but said she’d check on that for accuracy. A suggestion was made by Ann Watts to look into other elective courses (Career Blueprint for Success and Entrepreneur Success).
F. Sarasota – Marilyn discussed that Sarasota’s Mellissa Morrow had sent in a revised resolution agreement as per their district’s attorney and that the membership was asked to review it. The revised agreement was projected for all to see, and the general consensus was that only minimal changes were made. A motion was made by Judy Johnson to accept Sarasota’s proposed resolution as it was submitted to Marilyn, with a second by Cissy Shaw. All members were opposed, so the resolution failed to be approved.
G. English Discoveries – Kim informed the membership that multiple organizations using English Discoveries had been experiencing problems with it. These organizations included Brevard, Pinellas, IRSC, and Orange. Rudi Peseckas from Pinellas had been developing online content in Moodle as based on the EASY curriculum. Kim stated that Rudi would like to set up an online demonstration to show everyone what he has done. Stuart Mears collected names & email addresses for those in attendance who were interested in that. Suggestions were also made to look into the Longman Interactive product (with a comment being stated that the codes/seats are not reusable), as well as looking into EASY, and Tell Me More. The membership agreed that whatever product is selected, it must be able to serve low level ESOL learners. Luci Mello shared that the USA Learns program is free and addresses low learners. A suggestion was made to look into Ventures by Cambridge University Press, but then was later found to be set up for only face-to-face curriculum.
IV. Best Practices/ Q&A Time / Further Discussion – Kim Gates welcomed new members in attendance from Charlotte and Hernando Counties. Kim reminded the membership that Marilyn’s presidency ends on June 30th, and Mr. Kelly will move from president-elect to president, which will leave a vacancy for president-elect. The membership was asked to send nominations for president-elect to Kim. Jamie Eddleman gave an update on the ABE course development. Marilyn asked that more information be gathered on that & presented to the executive board for approval of continuation.
There being no further business, Kim Gates motioned and Jamie Eddleman seconded adjournment. The meeting was adjourned at 6:25 p.m.
Respectfully submitted by Kim Gates, consortium coordinator.