Illinois Committee for Agricultural Education (ICAE) Meeting
IAA Building
1701 N. Towanda Avenue, Bloomington
Conference Room 2 & 3
March 21, 2017
9:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m.
1. Welcome and Introductions
Parker Bane, Jay Harris, Brad Pilcher, Clay Zwilling, Becky Ropp, Don Norton, Kevin Daugherty, Vern McGinnis, Doug Hanson.
Harley Hepner, Jess Smithers, Corinne Harding, Paxton Morse, John Edgar, Dean Dittmar
The ICAE meeting was called to order at 9:04 a.m.
2. Additions/Revisions/Approve Agenda
Vern McGinnis moved to approve the agenda, Clay Zwilling 2nd; motion passed.
3. Approve Minutes of January 12, 2017 Meeting
Parker Bane moved to approve the minutes, Clay Zwilling 2nd; motion passed.
4. Business and Discussion Items
a. ICAE Committees
o Committee assignments for 2017
Becky Ropp reviewed committee assignments and outlined the process of confirming appointments to those committees.
o Marketing
ü FY18 Agriculture Education Line Item Advocacy – The ISBE budget hearings were well attended by ICAE and other advocates for agricultural education and were successful in that ISBE’s recommended budget includes the Agriculture Education Line Item at $5.3 M.
ü Ag Ed 365 – Doug Hanson provided an update on the Ag Ed 365 which is a coordinated effort to fund the Agricultural Education advocacy efforts. The draft Ag Ed 365 postcard and Question and Answer document were shared.
ü Adopt an ISBE Board Member - After lengthy discussion the final recommendation is to include ISBE Board Members as part of the LEAP program – Becky Ropp and the Marketing committee will handle the details.
ü ISBE Board presentations – Plan an ISBE Board Presentation for the May 24th board meeting. Don Norton will make the presentation with a state officer and a high school teacher. Harley will make the request with the Board Services staff.
o Budget
ü Review / Recommend an FY2018 Agricultural Education Line Item budget.
§ A lengthy discussions occurred regarding how the Incentive Funding Grant Application funding is used and allocated. Are there options to increase allocations (by receiving allocations on alternating or every third year for example) and thus increase the options for which to spend the funds.
§ Clay Zwilling asked “how do we determine the ROI on the GAST Grant? How many have received the GAST grant have become Ag Teachers.”
§ Kevin Daugherty moved to approve the proposed FY2018 Agricultural Education Line Item budget, Vern McGinnis 2nd; motion passed.
ü Long Term: Relook at overall Line Item Budget
§ Dick Steffen: Budget committee will develop a survey tool to gather suggestions for the FY19 budget.
o Curriculum / Program Improvement: Committee will plan to meet soon.
ü Curriculum Changes – committee will continue to develop / revise a survey regarding curriculum and teacher professional development needs.
ü Online Course Update – Jess updated the group regarding a free pilot with CAERT to offer an online course in the fall of the 2017-2018 school-year for students from public and non-public schools without Agriculture programs.
§ Don Norton: “Need a statement of support for online courses from ICAE”?
§ Kevin Daugherty will explore the development of a statement of support for online courses.
o Nomination and Appointment
ü Status of appointments: Harley Hepner reminded new and re-nominated members to submit the notarized forms from the Governor’s office.
o Human Resources Committee:
The committee will meet via conference call on April 4th at 4:00 p.m.; Becky will meet with Jess Smithers next week to conduct a coaching session and discuss evaluation procedures and processes.
b. Teacher Recruitment and Retention
o Illinois Farm Bureau Agriculture Teacher Grant Program
o Teacher Shortage Area: Suggestion – FCAE will create a one-pager to assist teachers with navigating the process of loan forgiveness and to promote the benefits of the “teacher shortage area” designation.
5. Lunch and Affiliate Reports with ILCAE
ICAE report: Becky Ropp
· New committee assignments have been made and new initiatives are moving forward.
· One major goal is Ag Ed line item advocacy for 2018. ICAE is trying to get into ISBE board meetings and also match up FFA chapters with ISBE board members from their area to make more connections.
· ICAE approved their line item budget for next year. Looking at long term line item budget to support teacher grants and activities. They discussed online course material and will be creating a statement.
· Discussed Ag Ed 365 program.
· Illinois teacher shortage designation has been submitted to the federal government to apply for loan forgiveness and other benefits.
ILCAE report: Doug Hanson
· Will have an in-depth discussion of Ag Ed 365.
· Explained the legislative wish list – things that Jake Butcher might be able to help accomplish along with other legislation. This will be a permanent item on ILCAE’s agenda.
· The Legislative Seminar will be on March 29 – the day before Legislative Day – preparing students to lobby when they visit their legislators.
· Making final revisions to the Plan.
ISBE: Harley Hepner
· State payments way behind and currently waiting to hear about FY 18 budget.
· Received a letter from the federal government granting ag ed and CTE critical need designations for 2017-18 school year. This is an annual process.
· There is a rules change in process regarding new middle school requirements.
· ISBE is down on staffing positions. They are working on restructuring following some retirements.
FFA Officers report: Paxton Morse and Corinne Harding
· Reported on the ILSSO trip to South Africa.
· FFA Week was in February. Officers did chapter visits during FFA Week for the first time, and also did an industry tour.
· State Convention countdown is live on the FFA website. Officers are busy putting together the program for Convention.
FFA Center: John Edgar
· Katie Burns has been hired as the communications specialist. She will work part time until May, when she graduates, and then start full time.
· FFA Center staff is in the midst of restructuring. Current administrative assistants are becoming specialists to try and remove silos of working with individual entities.
· Budget review – Krystal Jungmann shared a report with upcoming sponsorships available at Convention.
FCAE: Jess Smithers
· Finally received all FY 16 funds, no FY 17 funds received yet. Putting some spending restrictions in place to better manage available funds.
· Working with the IAA Foundation for a grant program for 1st and 5th year teachers that will be ready to publicize soon. Four teachers will be selected at the start of their second year to receive $1000 and can receive up to $10,000 by the start of their sixth year.
FCAE: Megan Coy
· Ag Ed CDE is new this year at State Convention. Students have to submit a lesson plan and the top 10 will be invited to present at State Convention. She is looking for judges!
FCAE: Dean Dittmar
· Finished document on schools without ag programs. Approximately 550 total, both public and private. We have averaged six new programs/year in the last five years.
IAVAT: John Edgar
· Advocacy remains a high priority.
· Convention sponsorships are available.
· IAVAT is seeing increased participation in events.
· Parker Bane: National FFA Center staff in discussions about the fate of the FFA federal charter. Change will occur but not sure what those changes will be. FFA is chartered by Congress to be part of ag ed. Been having issues placing people on the National FFA board of directors. Could have significant impact on ag ed.
University ag ed staff continues to meet – last met in February, will meet again in June.
Discussed bringing in the four ag deans to an ILCAE meeting to talk about ag ed needs. Becky Ropp shared a conversation she had with Dean Kidwell at the U of I who said she would welcome that kind of opportunity.
AITC: Kevin Daugherty
· Ag ed license plate through IAA Foundation – the money comes back to AITC line item. More than $600,000 collected over the last eight years.
· New Ag Mags - nutrient loss reduction strategy for elementary teachers and pollinators (in conjunction with GROWMARK).
· Ag Week is this week.
· Illinois Reads – found an ag-related book about STEM careers (Thomas Edison and Henry Ford).
· January 11 – National Dairy Day promotion planned for teachers/students.
6. Future Meeting Dates:
a. June 19, 2017 – 1:00 p.m., DoubleTree Hotel, Bloomington
b. August 25, 2017 – FFA Center
c. November 17, 2017 – Department of Ag
d. January, 2018 – Set Date, Time, and Location
7. Adjourn
Vern McGinnis moved to adjourn the meeting at 1:02 p.m., Clay Zwilling 2nd; motion passed.