Minutes of the Meeting of the Board of Directors

of South Dakota RehabACTion

April 21, 2008 by Teleconference

 

CALL TO ORDER: 

The meeting was called to order by Board President, Steve Resick.

 

ROLL CALL OF MEMBERS PRESENT: 

President, Steve Resick;  Past President, Cindy Ryan;  President-Elect, Eric Weiss; Treasurer, Bernie Grimme; Secretary, Mary Lesselyoung; VR Member at Large, Dawn Backer; and  Provider Member at Large, Cindy Kirschman.

 

WELCOME TO NEW MEMBERS:

Our new members, Dawn Backer and Eric Weiss, were welcomed to the Board.

 

REVIEW OF THE MINUTES/ ADDITIONS TO AGENDA: 

Minutes of the meeting held 2/6/08 were reviewed. Bernie made a motion to approve and accept the minutes, and Cindy R. seconded the motion.  All were in favor. 

 

REPORTS:

Membership Report:  The membership report was given by Bernie.  There are currently

90 SD RehabACTion members.

 

Treasurer’s Report:  Bernie presented the Treasure report.  The current checking account balance is $29,315.57. There are still outstanding bills from the Ramkota for Midwinter Conference in the amount of $3-4000, and from various vendors for treats for Counselor Appreciation Day. Bernie will be sending out an updated Treasurer’s report in the near future.  

 

2008 Fall Conference:   The annual fall conference will be held at the Ramkota in Rapid City, October 14-16, 2008.  The Rapid City SHERM group will be involved with the event.  Bernie reported they will be having a conference call next week to finalize the main speakers and make plans for the social.

 

 

ARAN Consortium Report:  Steve presented the ARAN update.  There are currently 969 RehabACTion members nation wide.  The Washington Leadership Conference was held April 20 & 21 in Washington, DC with a number of board members attending.  ARAN’s Policy Advisor, Catriona Macdonald led the discussions which focused on the Congressional funding process, the President’s requests for the public VR program, tips on how to talk to Representative so they will listen, and highlights on sustaining and growing your state ARAN chapter or forming a new one.  Catriona scheduled meetings for conference attendees to meet and educate their state Congressional staff on the public VR program and the proposed budget cuts.  Some conference participants were given the opportunity to attend the opening session of the CSAVR conference to hear from the RSA officials.

 

 

 

ADDITIONS TO AGENDA: 

 

Regional Conference in Denver, Colorado:

The Region VIII TBI and Employment Conference will be held June 10-12, 2008 in Denver, Colorado. Two years ago, SD hosted the Region VIII Conference in Spearfish and this was a big success and was well supported by the other states in our region.  Bernie & Eric reported that Colorado sent 23 people to our Spearfish conference and it would be a nice gesture to show support for their conference.  RehabACTion could assist some individuals wanting to attend the Region VIII Conference in Denver by covering registration costs and some travel expenses.  Bernie will send out an email to all RehabACTion members to see how many may be interested.  Responses will be due back by April 30th and further discussion on this matter will be held at our next RehabACTion meeting in May.

 

Sponsor break for SBVI Conference:

Eric submitted a request to have RehabACTion  sponsor a break at the SBVI Conference, “Focus on Success,” which will be held September 30-October 2, 2008 in Sioux Falls.  RehabACTion brochures will be made available for all attendees at the Registration table. The projected cost for a break is $600 and Eric informed us that some left over Peer Support funds will be used up first and RehabACTion can pick up the remainder of the costs.  Bernie made a motion to accept this request and this was seconded by Mary.  All were in favor.

 

CDs maturing:

Bernie informed us that the RehabACTion CDs at the Bank of the West are maturing and they are being renewed at the 3.45% interest rate.  Bernie consulted with a Financial Planner and was advised to continue with CDs rather than move to mutual funds.

 

Sponsor door prize at Dare to Dream:

The Dare to Dream Conference will be held June 8-10, 2008 at the Ramkota in Pierre.  This conference is organized and sponsored by the SD Coalition of Citizens with Disabilities as well as other groups.  Bernie made a request to have RehabACTion sponsor a DRS and SBVI door prize to be given out at the conference.  Cindy K. made a motion to accept this and it was seconded by Cindy R.  All were in favor.

 

Assist Coalition with newsletter:

A brief discussion was held on the possibility of having RehabACTion assist the SD Coalition of Citizens with Disabilities with their newsletter.  Shelly Pfaff has done very well with keeping RehabACTion informed of legislative activities over the years.  Shelly will be invited to our next board meeting and further discussion will take place at that time.

 

 

Increase Donation to ARAN:

Due to increased costs for travel and other expenses, Steve proposed an increase be made in our donation to ARAN this year.  In the past our SD Chapter has donated $3500 and Steve suggested this be increased but at this time the amount will be kept at $3500 with the option to donate more at a later time.  Discussion was held on the possibility of having ARAN provide more newsletters to the state chapters.  Bernie made the motion to provide this amount in donation funds, and this was seconded by Cindy R.  All were in favor.

 

SD RehabACTion memberships for SDSU students:

Bernie presented a proposal to offer free SD RehabACTion memberships for students enrolled in the Master’s Program for Rehabilitation Counseling at SDSU.  This free membership could be offered for up to 4 years per student or until they graduate.  The students would be made aware of our web site where they could apply and find information on the SD RehabACTion chapter.  Through newsletters or emails, the students would receive information on public VR, disability legislation, and events happening in SD VR to involve future counselors at an early stage in their careers.  Alan Davis would be asked to monitor the applications.  Bernie made the motion to sponsor free memberships to students and this was seconded by Cindy K.  All were in favor.

 

Hire web site monitor:

A brief discussion was held on hiring someone to run our RehabACTion web site.  Some names of possible candidates were mentioned and this will be discussed further at future meetings.

 

Retirement Gift:

Bob Jahner with Montana Rehabilitation Services will be retiring this June.  Bernie suggested a retirement gift of $75 be given to Bob for his assistance with our state services.  Cindy Ryan made a motion to provide a gift and this was seconded by Bernie.  All were in favor.

 

 

OLD BUSINESS:  None

NEW BUSINESS:  None

 

Next Board Meeting:  Next RehabACTion board meeting will be held Monday, May 12th at 10am central time via teleconference.

 

Adjournment: 

Cindy K. made a motion to adjourn the meeting and this was seconded by Cindy R.  All were in favor.