Meeting
Quick
Links
- 2004 Literacy Project Ballot
(Voting now closed.)
Congratulations GREENFIELD PARK SCHOOL OF DETROIT!
- OFFICER ELECTION
(Voting now closed.)
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- Officer Nomination Form
(Nominations now closed for 2004.)
- Chapter bylaws
Please read proposed revisions and add your comments.
- Initiation
Ceremony for new chapter members. If you joined the chapter
recently and have not yet been initiated, please visit this link to
learn more about PDK, our chapter, and your position within it.
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Spring 2004 meeting—April 18 through May 15, 2004
[Click to May 1st Update below]
[Click to May 3rd Update below]
[Click to May 8th Update below]
[May 9 Update: Election Ballot is posted—link at left]
[Click to May 14th Update (last update)]
Welcome!
Opening Message from the President, April 18, 2004
Aaahh, Springtime!!!
Thank goodness it comes around again each year to remind us of the inevitability of renewal and rebirth. I for one, need that quiet, annual reassurance that bolsters confidence and hope for the best possible future, especially in this world that seems to be awfully full of turmoil and heartbreaking trauma.
I always like seeing weeds and grasses that sprout up through cracks in sidewalks and parking lots—they seem to be saying, "HAH! Concrete and asphalt cannot stop ME! I'm LIFE!" Moving slowly, glacier-like, even tiny delicate growing things can crack apart boulders.
You must forgive my rather maudlin blathering, but it is a way of introducing my explanation for what is going to be a slowly-developing chapter meeting, as I have been seriously struck by "Spring Fever" and I simply cannot get all my work done on schedule (yet again!) I don't want to be at this computer. I want to be out gardening; I want to be hiking in the canyon with my friends, where wildflowers are beginning to dance in the breezes; I want to tell my kids to skip their homework tonight and join me at a ballgame! So I hope you also will let a little Spring Fever into your routine. I'll conduct this meeting in several short bursts, as I can get the files prepared and posted to the website. I will send email to the membership list whenever I've posted something new. If you are not on the email list, check back here every 2 or 3 days through the end of April for updates.
It is time to open our 2004 Literacy Project!
If you are new to the chapter, read about the history of this project here. Our first task is to accept nominations for a school library that would benefit from our book donations. Any member in good standing may nominate a school. You will find a link to the nomination form in the "Meeting Quick Links" column at left. Nominations will remain open through midnight on Sunday, April 25th. The information you submit on the web form will be posted to a ballot page which we will use to select our 2004 recipient during our meeting in May.
Chapter Officer Elections
Our next task will be to discuss openly and make decisions about how best to fill our executive board for the next term. I am very grateful to those of you who have submitted nominations! However, I am quite concerned that we have only received 4 nominations—and we have 10 positions to fill. At our last couple of meetings we initiated some discussion on changes to our constitution related to officer positions; changes are needed both to bring us in line with the recent revisions in PDK International's constitution regarding chapter officers, and to better meet our chapter's leadership needs. This discussion must continue before we conduct our election. Do we need to reduce or combine the positions? Please follow the link to the About Chapter Officers discussion page, at left. This is an opportunity to ask questions about the tasks involved in each position, to suggest changes we should make to our constitution regarding the leadership team, and to try to come up with the best possible slate of officers for the next term. I encourage all current and past officers to post any recommendations that come to mind based on personal experience, and to share information that will help others understand more fully the duties and responsibilities of serving on the executive board for the chapter. I have started the ball rolling by posting there some of the reasons I am not the best choice for the President position this time around!
Later during this meeting I will present a budget proposal for the 04-05 fiscal year for your first review. We will continue discussing and adjusting it as appropriate at the May meeting, before holding a vote on that.
Finally, please feel free at any time during the meeting period to post comments, questions, pertinent links or what-have-you, on the Meeting Reports and Open Forum (link at left).
Gay Wiseman
gwiseman@mindspring.com
President, Walden University Cyberspace Chapter #1586
Phi Delta Kappa
P.O. Box 255
Dutch Flat, California 95714
 UPDATE
May 1, 2004
We have received two nominations of school libraries to receive our Literacy Project book donations this year. Please vote for your choice by clicking to the ballot at the top of the column at left. The voting is open to chapter members only, so you will need a User ID and Password to log in. I have sent these out via email (same log in as we've been using for all our voting for the last year) but if you are not on the email list and need this information, email me directly, gwiseman@mindspring.com
After voting, catch up on the recent meeting discussion posts. We are getting closer to identifying a slate of officers for next year, and we need to hold our election before closing this meeting. We still do not have anyone nominated for these positions:
- VP for Membership (absolutely essential!)
- VP for Programs (almost as essential!)
- Listserve Manager (sorely needed, to keep our email list in correspondence with the membership list so we can stay in touch with all our members)
- Secretary (would sure be nice to have!)
- Historian
(This person would create and maintain an album or scrapbook for the physical artifacts received by the chapter such as certificates, pins, photos, patches... They could also, optionally, update and maintain the History section of our website. I think this is the least essential position—tasks could be done by Secretary, or by the VP for Membership if we get someone in those jobs—or continue to not get done at all.)
I've listed these unfilled positions in order of priority. We DO have Andre Elliott and Burma Green, who expressed willingness to serve where most needed. See my further comments about the officer positions on the discussion page linked at left.
I have not completed work on my budget proposal for 04-05, but I am planning to get it posted by late Monday to enable a first review before this meeting closes. We will then be able to vote on the budget at our next meeting, which will be later in May. At that time we will also install newly elected officers, and implement the book donations to the successful library candidate.
UPDATE
May 3, 2004
This is turning out to be a very difficult meeting period for some of our officers and members. We heard about Sandi Gardner's dad's passing a few days ago, and last night the officers learned that Susanne Beier, our Foundation Representative, has just lost her brother-in-law, and she will not be able to participate further in this meeting. The news of these sad events, as well as our concern for Brent, are dampening our group spirit I think, and making it difficult to carry on "business as usual". But let's continue our discussions, and conclude some things before we close.
Please check both of the discussion pages for this meeting by following the links in the column at left. On the Chapter Reports and Open Forum discussion, I have posted some thoughts about how we might appropriately respond to these recent (and future) traumatic events affecting our members. In the Officer Election discussion, we are coalescing around a slate of officers, and I will give that discussion a couple more days, hoping for more names to come forward for the unfilled positions, before preparing the ballot. I want to open the election by this Friday morning, and we'll accept votes through Sunday noon (May 9), so we can announce results that night. I will leave the Literacy Project ballot open through Sunday noon as well—please vote on that if you haven't yet. (With any luck, I'll also get that budget proposal posted for your review over the weekend too.
There are STILL crucial "loose ends" I haven't been able to tie up before opening the election for our next officers. Please bear with me—I still hope to get responses from a few people today so they can be included on the ballot. I will email the chapter mailing list as soon as I open the ballot for voting. (The budget proposal is being bumped to the next meeting—I just couldn't get to it as I'd hoped.)
Please pardon me for not concluding the meeting properly at the close of the election. Other committments flooded in on me... I still have not tallied and verified the actual count of votes but it is clear the slate of officers WAS approved. I will have the totals when we open our final meeting of the year (a MUCH BRIEFER meeting, I promise) starting in just two weeks, on May 29th. We need to conclude that meeting by June 7th because I will be leaving the country the next day for my summer teaching job in England, and communications will be difficult for me during the rest of June as I'll be doing some traveling before I settle in over there.
I will have the 04-05 budget proposal ready for your review at that meeting, and we'll begin to send our book donations to the Greenfield Park School.
We will also have a special election to adjust our executive board to accomodate a nomination which came forward too late to be included in the election we just had. I'd like to formally welcome our newest chapter member, Jarek Janio, who was prompted to nominate himself for the position of Vice President of Membership when he was recommended by our advisor, Marilyn Simon. This is exactly what we needed to fill out our board! Andre Elliott had accepted the nomination for that post only if no one else could be found, since that is a position that is required by International. Andre was duly elected, but now we wish to shift him to the less-demanding Secretary/Historian position. I will ask for member approval of this change at our next meeting.
I am DELIGHTED that once we have that official vote of approval, we will have a full slate of officers on board for 2004-2005. This will help make sure that no one officer will have too big a load, as we continue to learn how to work together to accomplish our goals in the most efficient ways possible. Here is the line-up:
- President: Marion Carpenter
- Vice President for Membership: Jarek Janio (election pending)
- Vice President for Programs: Jennifer Pullman
- Vice President for Communications/Webmaster: Gay Wiseman
- Treasurer: Arthur Ogden
- Foundation Representaative: Susanne Beier
- Secretary/Historian: Andre Elliott (election pending)
- Newsletter Editor: Barbara Hopkins
- Listserve Manager: Theran Mugleston
- Advisor1 (Walden faculty representative): Marilyn Simon
- Advisor2 (Chapter past President): Charles Smith
Congratulations and thanks are due to all of these members who are willing to go that "extra mile" to insure our chapter's continued success and development. Also, thank you all for being SO supportive of me during my two terms as president. Wow, have I learned a lot. I look forward to being just as supportive of Marion, as she now prepares to take control of the virtual gavel. And I'd also like to take this opportunity to extend a special welcome to our three new board members, Barbara Hopkins, Jennifer Pullman and Jarek Janio. Will the three of you please send me a message from the email address you wish to use for executive board communications? I will then add you to the officers' email list so you will begin to get used to how the group operates, and we can all start working together as we prepare to transition to a new leadership team.
Cheers, all!
Gay
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