SC minutes 8/19/2020

EEAC Steering Committee Regular Monthly Meeting
Wednesday, August 19, 2020, 5:30 – 7:00 pm, ZOOM Conference

Participants:	Isa Del Bello
	River DiLeo
	Mary Leou
	E. Shig Matsukawa
	Bonnie McGuire
	Mary Most
	Sarah Pidgeon
	Ray Pultinas
	Bonnie Ralston
	Christina Tobitsch (NYSOEA)
	Robert Wallace
	Mike Zamm
Visiting:	Marcia Kaplan-Maan
	Karla Pinzon (from Hall of Science)
	Vicky Garufi

1. Committee approval of previous meeting minutes EEACminutes20200715 to be posted on website.
2. Strategic Planning Committee
   1. Meeting monthly, opposite wednesdays from steering committee meetingsBonnie Ralston reported that Google Document 2020 EEAC SC roles and responsibilities, draft is a distillation of work of strategic planning group to this point. A longer 10 page document is also being drafted but what is presented here is boiled down and it is the goal of the committee to add to by laws. The language still may be refined. A vote was called to approve new descriptions of roles and it was passed YES unanimously.Mary Leou raised the question of whether Strategic Planning will remain active as a standing committee. Strategic Planning will remain a standing committee although may meet less often (4x/year?) to hold EEAC accountable to the agreed upon changes. Chair of committee will have authority to call meetings when necessary aside from those that will be scheduled.
3. Nominating Committee
   1. Nominating committee working on a formalized calendar and procedures for the nominating process
   2. Looking for one more person to joinJudith Hutton will join the Nominating Committee to help with process. The terms of Steering Committee members Fran Agnone, Lynn Cole, Brittany DiLeo, Sarah Pidgeon and Mike Zamm will expire in 2021.Sarah wondered if her anticipated absence (maternity) will affect her status to which River replied no. River cited bylaw pertaining to the missing of more than 2 meetings but said that this policy had never been enforced. Even if this were to be enforced, Sarah would still retain status.Some discussion about this year’s annual meeting at which time nominations for steering committee are traditionally made and voted upon. This year will not be as much of a lift as it will be virtual.
4. Program Committee
   1. Climate Change Conference – results from emailing climate change conference volunteers?Feedback on Hosting Virtual Conference from original volunteer group- some folks are interested in cancelling, some are interested in pursuing a virtual program or conference.
      • BENEFITS
        • gets EEAC’s name out there
        • can focus solely on Climate themed education and EEAC can define the audience
        • could be simple virtual event with one line of programming at one time
        • good indoor activity to participate in during the winter
      • CONSIDERATIONS
        • do we have the technology savvy to host and organize
        • will we all be “virtually” insane at that point : )
        • could we get it certified and offer CTLE credits for teachers
        • We could also think about a different format for EEAC – does it have to be a conference if we’re going virtual? Could it be a series of workshops on different dates, which could be a lot easier to manage on the technical side?
      • Feedback from meeting- Spread out and do some smaller trainings/events
        • Lots of virtual burnout, a few 45 minutes sessions is more manageable
        • More frequent, smaller, and shorter presentations
        • Have a session focused on virtual/remote climate workshops
        • Series of 3- one per month, another idea could be K-5, 6-8, and 9-12
        • Speaker + Activity + Break outs
   2. Virtual program ideas:
      1. Zoom/Virtual learning idea sharing/collaboration (light lift)
      2. How to Use Your Outdoor Space – for classroom teachers (heavier lift)Thank you Sarah for providing preceding notes on discussion about Climate Change Conference. Just to add, Bonnie McGuire raised the question of whether Climate Change was the right topic for the moment we are living. Discussion ensued about thinking outside the box, the importance of getting engagement, utilizing youth voices, River paraphrased UPROSE group’s statement: When you talk about Climate Change you are already talking about Environmental Racism. Karla mentioned her interactions with Extinction Rebellion.Sarah followed up with following email:Hey everyone,I am going to be on maternity leave very soon. (technically 2-3 more weeks but I am preparing now to be gone at any minute!)My current plan is to be totally gone from EEAC for September, but joining back in as much as possible after that (virtual programs make it possible!) With that said, I will definitely not be able to take on a leadership role for planning Fall programs and planning the annual event.I am wondering if anyone on the steering committee would like to volunteer to take on leadership until late fall/winter of 2020. I am also going to reach out to our members to ask for volunteers to help with programs and join the program committee. Also- for anyone who was unable to make the meeting we are also looking at planning a 3 part mini training series to (virtual) to replace the climate conference. (detailed notes are in the meeting agenda, EEACMeetingAgenda20200819.pdf)Let me know if anyone is interested and we can set up a program committee meeting! Help can either be to take on a temporary leadership role, or to just help out with one or more virtual programs.Thanks all!
         Sarah
5. Communications
   1. Newsletter
      1. Newsletter Deadlines: February 3, May 4, September 7
      2. Content NeededBonnie McGuire had no updates to reportMary Most pointed out that what was missing was the write up that would extend the GoFundMe Campaign to help Environmental Educators affected by COVID’s decimation of programming and income. Mary proposes that all donations now go to NYSOEA’s web page.
   2. Website
      1. Clearinghouse updateShig reported that he has figured out the architecture required to be able to feature the database on the EEAC website. After reviewing with us EE Clearing House data collection spreadsheet he asked whether there are additional entry fields required on spreadsheet.
      2. Document storageBefore meeting ended at 7:00 pm, there was brief discussion of ongoing situation of having EEAC documents spread out over Drop Box and Google Drive. This issue remains unresolved.
   3. Steering Committee group email list (if any issues, so far)
6. EEAC and NYSOEA PartnershipRiver reported no updates on the partnership except that it continues.
7. TEEP
   1. TEEP Updates
      Possible new framework for TEEP, Environmental Education Projects Forum (EEPF): EEAC_EEPF-EnvironmentalEducationProjectsForum2020.pdf
      
   2. Grant for Curriculum Resource Development
      1. Clearinghouse next steps:
8. Membership and Finance
   1. MM – current stats
      30 LIfetime, 23 Individual Members, 2 Student, 55 Indiv thru 16 Org
      (vs 2019 = 30 Lifetime, 42 Indiv, 12 Student, 79 Indiv thru 29 Org)
   2. Membership Drive; updating Eventbrite and Google Group listsMary Most called our attention to the statistics above. Membership is down 55% from last year. There is an additional $600 remaining in GoFundMe campaign that will go back to NYSOEA to generate an additional relief.

Respectfully Submitted

Raymond Pultinas
EEAC Secretary