Executive Committee Meeting Minutes
October 30-November 1, 2006
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Fall Meeting 2006 Present: Lisa Harris (KS LTAP), Patsy Anderson (KY LTAP); Bruce Drewes (ID LTAP), Jim Grothaus (WI LTAP), George Huntington (WY LTAP), Janet Leli (NJ LTAP), Ed Stellfox (MD LTAP), Marie Walsh (LA LTAP), Clark Martin (FHWA), Gib Peaslee (FHWA), Cameron Ishaq (FHWA), Alison Black (LTAP Clearinghouse), Sarah Crane (LTAP Clearinghouse) The Executive Committee met 8:30 AM to 6:30 PM on October 30, 8:30 AM to 5:30 PM on October 31, and 8:20 to 12:00 PM on November 1 at the offices of the National Highway Institute. Approval of minutes from the October conference call was deferred to the November 13 conference call. Budget update - The group reviewed financial activities since the Treasurer's Report dated January 1, 2006 to July 15, 2006. FHWA will reimburse the EC members for the Fall meeting, as usual. NLTAPA Strategic Focus - Lisa Harris discussed the need for NLTAPA to establish direction and develop more of a strategic focus with both short and long term goals. Throughout the two and a half days, the EC worked toward this, beginning with a SWOT (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, threats) analysis. After discussion, the following goals were established by the group:
Next steps are fleshing out and delegating the Association's short and long range goals and establishing milestones for completion. Another exercise resulted in a lengthy list of organizations and agencies that can influence or benefit from interaction with LTAP. This listing was then prioritized by current importance to the success of the Association. After this exercise, it was apparent that our Association does not have the resources to cultivate relationships with each of these groups. Instead, we will need to concentrate our efforts in an organized manner in order to get the most benefit. The EC identified key objectives for interacting with outside entities:
External entities that best fit with the above objectives will be priorities for the Association, especially entities that have influence in all five areas, including our current partners, plus ARTBA, individual DOTs, FHWA Division Offices, Resource Centers, FHWA offices, and several organizations of particular importance to the TTAP Centers. Lisa appointed an ad hoc committee to work on a plan for working with external entities and to have it ready by TRB. Serving on the committee are Bruce Drewes, Patsy Anderson, Lisa Harris, Marie Walsh, and Ed Stellfox. Work Group Updates - Patsy Anderson distributed and the EC updated the roster of work group and committee memberships. After a discussion of what could be member qualifications for service and term lengths, Patsy volunteered to draft some guidelines for review by the EC. She will have this completed before the December conference call. She requested work group chairs send her their ideas prior to Nov. 17. Patsy's list details only those committees formally established by the Association. There is an informal committee on Winter Maintenance that some EC members believed should be coordinated through the Training Products & Resources work group; however, no formal action was taken. Partnership Work Group Report - Marie Walsh reported it's been difficult to get work plans from each of the partnership liaisons. There is some significant time involved in serving as a partnership liaison. Marie asked for more guidance from the EC and the Association on desired outcomes from these partnerships. APWA Partnership - APWA will be hosting an Education Summit to determine training needs of its membership and how Chapters can help meet those needs. Through Dan Cady (NE LTAP), APWA Liaison, APWA has requested involvement of LTAP centers. Lisa Harris motioned for NLTAPA to pay expenses for the Association's officers, the Partnership Work Group Chair and the APWA Liaison to attend the Education Summit in Denver at the end of March. The motion was unanimously approved. Clark Martin indicated a willingness to cover the expense of sending some other LTAP representatives and believed it important to have an LTAP representative there from each region. Those having their expenses paid by NLTAPA or FHWA would be expected to prepare a report for distribution to membership following their attendance. NACE action guides - There has been confusion as to exactly what the Association has agreed to do in updating these guides and what NACE officers and the NACE Executive Director (Tony Giancola) expect. It was agreed that Ed Stellfox and Marie Walsh would meet with Tony on Wednesday afternoon to clearly define expectations and set priorities. It was suggested that, following this meeting, a written work plan be developed for this project. Potential partnership with ACI - The Florida LTAP Center has requested the Association establish a cooperative training agreement with the American Concrete Institute. This agreement would provide for a loosely structured relationship between ACI and NLTAPA with the underlying goals of providing more training and certification opportunities, through ACI, to the LTAP community. While not a formal partnership, this agreement would require nurturing, and therefore, add to the work load of NLTAPA. After discussion, EC members agreed to query their regions and be ready to vote on this matter at the next EC meeting. External communications - Work group chair Bruce Drewes reported that his group had updated the National LTAP/TTAP logo and we need to encourage Centers to use the logo. Bruce believes there is a need to design an NLTAPA letterhead and he has asked for volunteers to do this. His work group is developing an LTAP-customer needs survey, with Terry McNinch taking the lead. Bernie Alkire indicated it is important that the Tribal Centers be included in this effort, but possibly with a different set of questions since their clients may have unique needs not reflected in the survey of state customers. Bernie will be involved with development of the survey to insure his constituency is appropriately represented. Training products and resources - Chair Ed Stellfox indicated his work group unanimously recommends that NLTAPA become a financially participating member of the TCCC. By being a full member, NLTAPA will have the opportunity to influence priorities for course development and actual topics for course work. Another benefit of membership is to have a centralized, maintained list of courses and to have the ability to easily access these training materials. Clark Martin expressed his support for NLTAPA membership and indicated that FHWA/LTAP would be willing to split the cost of the $20,000 membership fee. Lisa Harris moved, and Ed Stellfox seconded, that the EC support the Association contributing $10,000 toward TCCC membership. This is about 1/4 of the Association's assets. The EC unanimously approved the motion. Ed will prepare a presentation to the Association membership during TRB asking for Association approval. He will also prepare a paragraph for Lisa to send to membership prior to TRB outlining the benefits of TCCC membership. Ed also discussed a recycling workshop from MD LTAP that will be advertised to membership soon. Internal Communications - Newly appointed chair Janet Leli asked for guidance on suggested membership for her group and on internal communication needs. In addition to updating the NLTAPA Web site, the EC needs to offer ideas to Janet on new ways of communicating internally and what goals this work group should have. Janet will be recruiting new members within the next few weeks and hopes to have a work plan prior to TRB. NLTAPA/AASHTO Partnership Update - Doyt Bolling, AASHTO Partnership Liaison, addressed the EC by conference call regarding his work with AASHTO's Technology Implementation Group (TIG) and potential action items from the TIG meeting a few days before. AASHTO will be selecting technologies to promote through its Technology Implementation Group (TIG) in February. Doyt will send a current list of nominated technologies to Lisa Harris. There was a discussion of whether or not NLTAPA could influence which technologies were chosen, but no definite decision was reached. Doyt also sought EC endorsement of the Product Demonstration Showcase (PDS) Program operated by the Utah and Florida centers and funded by FHWA. The EC felt that more information was needed on the Product Demonstration Showcase. Clark Martin also indicated that he would be looking into the operation of the PDS and would report back to the EC. Doyt asked the EC to endorse his suggestions for language in the TIG guidebook. The EC will review those suggestions and discuss at the December conference call. Professional Development Working Group - New chair Jim Grothaus said some Centers surveyed last year about professional development needs indicated that some new staff often do not have a transportation background and could benefit from a workshop on the basics of road building. Jim will work with the LTAP 101 committee to determine if there is a way of including a session on the basics of road building and maintenance in the LTAP 101 workshop this year. NLTAPA National Conference Update - Conference chairperson Patsy Anderson gave an update on conference planning. New initiatives are the development of a standardized evaluation process and a process for seeking sponsors. The EC discussed possible keynote speakers and will make recommendations to Terry McNinch, chair of plenary session planning. Patsy said it's important to start measuring whether we're improving our conferences year-to-year. The Conference Planning Committee is on target to have an agenda complete by TRB, which was a request of several members. NLTAPA Governing Structure Proposal - Lisa Harris presented the recommendation of an ad hoc committee on the Association's governing structure, keeping the spirit of Option B presented to the members in August, but retaining a regional element. The new version is known as Option G. A motion was made by Lisa Harris and seconded by Marie Walsh that the EC move forward with determining opinions of members on Option G. The motion carried. Option G does eliminate some regions by redrawing boundary lines and EC members were asked to query their regions to determine if there is sufficient interest in this option to warrant drafting constitutional amendments necessary to implement the option. No further action will be taken until the EC members get feedback from the states in their regions. Visit to ARTBA - LTAP Clearinghouse DC staff Alison Black, Lisa McClusky and Sarah Crane hosted a presentation and reception for the EC at the ARTBA offices. The EC was shown new marketing materials planned for LTAP. NACE - Tony Giancola met with the EC and encouraged NLTAPA to strengthen its relationship with AASHTO through TIG. He also discussed opportunities for collaboration with the Roadway Safety Foundation (RSF), an offshoot of the American Highway Users Alliance. Tony encouraged NLTAPA to re-establish a presence on RSF's Advisory Board and to look for ways to collaborate on promoting public road safety research and technology transfer activities. Tony mentioned that we may be able to meet with the Roadway Safety Foundation representatives at TRB. FHWA Office of Safety - Mike Halladay met with the EC and discussed activities in the Office of Safety that may be opportunities for LTAP customers. Lisa Harris and Marie Walsh expressed the desire of the EC to have better communication with the Office of Safety in order to know when opportunities arise to develop programs or training. Marie expressed disappointment that LTAP centers were not alerted to the availability of work zone safety grants for non-profit organizations to provide training to prevent and reduce work zone injuries and fatalities. Most LTAP centers are already offering work zone traffic control training and would have been a logical fit for these grant opportunities. Mike gave a short overview of other SAFETEA-LU Programs, including the Safe Routes to School Program. Office of Professional and Corporate Development - Joe Toole addressed the EC and reported on a recent LTAP presentation before the AASHTO Standing Committee on Highways (SCOH). Cheri Marti represented LTAP at that meeting and encouraged attendees to become involved with their LTAP centers. Joe praised Cheri's presentation and believed it to be a positive step forward in strengthening ties between the SCOH and LTAP. He said that it will take a lot of effort to develop a relationship at that level, but that it could pay big benefits. NLTAPA must think strategically about how to develop relationships and view this first opportunity to present to the SCOH as a first step, and build upon it. Follow-up is crucial if we don't want to lose the momentum begun at this meeting. Office of International Programs - Mike Avery shared information about current international activities focused on sharing best transportation practices globally. Lisa thinks it's important for LTAP to have stronger international ties, and will work with Mike in identifying centers' strengths. In turn, Mike will keep the EC informed of twinning interests and other opportunities. He is also interested in LTAP representation in the international scanning process where best practices are identified. Mike and Lisa will work together to develop criteria for selection of an LTAP representative and Lisa will advertise the opportunity to all Association members. There was discussion of creating an international page on the NLTAPA Web site and that met with EC approval. The LTAP and NLTAPA Web sites are currently being updated. Alison will follow up with the webmaster to add this page. Mike concluded his time with the EC by encouraging the EC to think about attending an international conference in Malawi. EC Spring meeting and future meetings - The Spring meeting of the EC will be held in Baton Rouge, LA on April 17, 18, 19. Lisa asked that regional meetings occur after that so that the Centers could provide comment on any new initiatives of the EC. Marie Walsh will find a meeting site, hotel site and host the group. The EC will continue to meet monthly on the second Monday of each month at 10:00 Eastern, by conference call. Minutes by Sarah Crane and Patsy Anderson |
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