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National Association for Gifted Children
1331 H Street, NW – Suite 1001
Washington, DC 20005
Tel: 202/785-4268
Fax: 202/785-4248
www.nagc.org
NAGC Board of Directors Conference Call
Tuesday, July 22, 2014
10:00 am – 12:00 pm EDT
Board members on conference call: Tracy L. Cross (President), George Betts (President-Elect),
Paula Olszewski-Kubilius (Past President), Lauri Kirsch (Treasurer), Christine Nobbe
(Governance Secretary), Kimberley Chandler, Joy Davis, Brian Housand, Sally Krisel, Susan
Dulong Langley, Catherine Little, Marcia Wall
Absent from conference call: Michelle Swain
Staff on conference call: Nancy Green; Becky Mehringer
President Tracy Cross welcomed the Board members to the call and role was taken.
1. Approval of March 2014 Minutes
Motion by Lauri Kirsch: to approve minutes as corrected
Second: Brian Housand
Vote: Unanimous Approval
Comments:
Lauri Kirsch: Page 8: budget should be changed to deficit, and Page 9: 10.000 should be changed
to 10,000
Catherine Little: Susan Johnson should be Susan Johnsen, Shelagh Gallagher’s name is
misspelled on page 8
Network Proposal responses were included as follow up to the Network proposals discussed at
the March 2014 Board Meeting.
2. President’s Update
Board Transition Update: President Tracy Cross thanked the outgoing Board Members: Sally
Krisel, Marcia Wall, Chris Nobbe, and Lauri Kirsch for their service over multiple years.
Tracy Cross then revisited the issue of appointing a member, which was discussed at length in
March. He reminded the Board of their decision to wait until after Board elections to revisit the
discussion of potential candidates. The possibility of appointing two or three candidates was left
on the table at the March board meeting, with Board members expressing concerns that could be
dealt with more clearly after elections. Now that the outcome of elections is public, Tracy
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suggests James Moore III, professor at Ohio State, for the appointed position. While Tracy does
not have a personal relationship with James, he has put him forward based on recommendations,
his involvement with key issues, and knowledge of his work. Tracy stressed that he is sensitive
to handling this new process correctly the first time.
Paula Olszewski-Kubilius noted that while James Moore may not be an active member of
NAGC, she is aware of his experience and work at the university and at a big picture level, so
she thinks he would be a good candidate. Joy Davis also expresses that James would bring a
rich background with him to the Board and is co-editing a book about gifted education around
the world.
Tracy then confirmed that this decision would be a one-year appointment. Sally Krisel agreed
that the Board has deliberated a long time, and urged the Board to move forward with an
appointed member.
There was a unanimous agreement by the Board that this decision should be moved ahead.
George Betts asked if a vote is needed by the Board. Nancy Green replied that this was
discussed already at the March meeting and there doesn’t need to be a vote on the President’s
recommendation.
Action Needed: Tracy Cross will approach James Moore and invite him to join the Board, and
also send his vita to the Board for informational purposes.
3. Year-End Financial Projections
Treasurer Lauri Kirsch invited Andy Bassett to the conversation as she begins her budget review.
Lauri Kirsch reviewed the highlights of the FY13-14 year-end projections, and Andy added that
these numbers represent the worst case scenario and we will probably end up better than
expected. The bottom line reflects a loss of ($286,000) due to technology investments and
shortfalls in convention attendance in Indianapolis. He noted that NAGC expenses are holding
steady, and in fact staff has been able to reduce costs more than expected in the 3rd and 4th
quarters.
Nancy Green noted that the new website and member database will bring improvements to
operations and build member engagement. Combined with increased fundraising and new
webinars and online courses, we have invested in a strong platform for increasing revenue.
Tracy Cross asked if we could highlight where we saved more money than expected. Andy
Bassett responded that these areas were convention, staffing, committees, and professional
development.
Brian Housand inquired about sales of the new e-books, and Andy agreed to provide this
information, since they have been added to the Amazon.com website. Lauri noted that the
budget for next fiscal year was finalized in March and will start on September 1, 2014.
4. National Office Update
Executive Director Nancy Green reported the significant time spent since the last Board meeting
on the implementation of two major technology initiatives—a newly designed website, which
interfaces with a new member database. Staff has spent a lot of time in the past few months
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doing the membership conversion and cleanup for the membership database and organizing the
website into updated sections. Andy Bassett reported that the transition went very smoothly, as
indicated by the drop in member questions and phone calls since the “go live” date. Staff has
also worked out kinks with getting convention registration online. Yet to be implanted is
Member Fuse, a new feature to share documents and communicate with other members of
networks and committees.
Nancy reported that NAGC is close to selecting Orlando as a location for the 2016 convention.
NAGC’s partnership with Disney will lead to a truly enhanced attendee experience-- including
free airport transfers, action labs on Disney property, a night at Epcot Center-- combining both
fun and a learning experience. George Betts inquired about what will be provided for the
children who attend the conference. Nancy noted that the whole convention model in Orlando
will be family friendly, and integrate learning in the Parks. NAGC has also received a positive
reaction from state members and we believe this could be a win-win for Florida as well as
NAGC. Nancy visited Phoenix a couple weeks ago and said they are very excited to have us
next year.
Nancy then noted that reports from all of the directors are included in the National Office report,
including Jeff Danielian, and Kathy Nilles, NAGC’s two remote staff.
On the development front, Nancy reported that she and part time Development Director Lyndi
Schrecengost have made a great investment of time into fundraising, writing numerous grant
proposals, the Corporate Advisory Council, etc. and are looking forward to seeing results. Lauri
Kirsch mentioned that she liked the program by the Professional Development Network offering
to match Javits-Frasier donations with the reserve funds from the Network.
Action Required: Develop discussion framework around issue of SIGS and Networks.
5. March Action Item Updates
5.1 Network Projects and Awards Policy
Motion by Lauri Kirsch: to approve Network Awards Policy
Second: Catherine Little
Vote: Unanimous Approval
No discussion/comments/questions
Kim Chandler reminded the Board that the GRACE SIG was approved by electronic ballot, but
feedback showed that there were some members who wanted more discussion. The comments
asked how this SIG differs from the diversity committee and whether over-lapping roles exist,
and also how SIGs can become networks, which would then affect convention session slots, etc..
Noting that a Convention Task Force was appointed while Paula was president and
recommendations were left unimplemented, Paula and Kim suggested that time be scheduled at a
future Board meeting to discuss SIGs and Networks in general, and a possible new structure that
is feasible for planning the convention. Both noted the answer is not just “more sessions,”
particularly with convention attendance decreasing over time. Catherine Little pointed out that
we need a more defined procedure for SIG approval. The Board agreed that in the near future, a
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significant discussion needs to occur on how SIGs relate to Networks, overlap, and affect
convention. Need to put this on agenda for the September retreat.
Kim also noted the outcomes of Network elections. Nine Networks elected Chair-elects and one
elected a Chair. Kim’s report also included an extensive update on network requests. After the
March meeting, Kim worked with Nancy, using the questions from the Board, to work with the
networks to refine their budget requests and project proposals. There has been positive progress
with each of the network proposals.
5.2 Position Statement Review Governance Secretary Chris Nobbe presented background on
the Arts Position Statement and the Accountability Position Statement for review and
approval.
a. Arts Position Statement
Motion by Marcia Wall: to accept position paper on “Art Education and Gifted and Talented
Students”
Second: Brian Housand
Vote: Unanimous approval
Background on process: Statement was underway in November and waiting for the Art
Education Standards, which were released in March. First started working with Bess Worley and
John Gaa. Susan Dulong Langley took over and did some rewriting, adding in more of the
Steam piece as well as the standards. The position has also been through publications committee
review, whose members revised as did the Governance Committee. It has been vetted!
Discussion: Chris will email some small grammatical/verb edits to the statement
b. Accountability Position Statement
Background on process: This topic was encouraged as a result of a Policy Task Force that Paula
appointed when she was president. At the time, she solicited feedback from the task force on the
points that should be included, in order for the statement to be valuable to advocates and
educators. The position has been reviewed by Governance and Publications Committee.
Motion by Lauri Kirsch: to approve “Accountability for Gifted and Talented Student
Learning,” Position Statement
Second: Brian Housand
Vote: Unanimous Approval
Chris reminded members of the Governance Committee of the pre-service teacher position that
still requires their feedback, and expressed her desire to get this one approved by vote before
August 31. She also noted that Linda Sheffield is working on a Math position paper with NCTM
and also one with NCS. Jonathan Plucker is working on an “excellence gap” position that should
be ready by the end of August. The Diversity Committee, through Frank Worrell is also working
on a revision of the position statement on diversity and equity. Lastly, GLBT SIG working on a
GLBT and gifted position statement. Chris Nobbe agreed to update the position paper grid for
new Governance Secretary Susan Langley as she transitions out of this role.
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5.3 Publications: Conflict of Interest Policy for Publications
Paula reviewed the current draft with the Board, calling attention to the two changes made to
items 4 and 6 at the request of the Board. These reflect additional oversight by the association
editor in cases where a GCQ editor or co-editor submis manuscripts, and addresses the actions
needed when both the GCQ editor and the association editor have a shared conflict of interest.
(e.g. if the author of a manuscript is a student of both editors)
Motion by Marcia Wall: to accepted Conflict of Interest Policy for Publications
Second: Susan Dulong Langley
Vote: Unanimously Approved
5.4 Technology Education and Gifted TF
Brian Housand discussed developments with the Technology Education and Gifted Task Force.
The document included in Board materials describes the initial charge for the group, which
outlines 3-4 main points. Brian had some initial discussions with interested parties who
represent the leaders in the computers and technology network as well as some others within the
field. The general direction the task force might begin to investigate: What other organizations
are doing and doing well involving integrating technology and social media, ways to best
leverage social media, ways to create a best practices or resource clearing house targeted towards
gifted students.
George Betts suggested that a focus on products and resources be an outcome of the task force..
Brian agreed that the charge includes developing resources for teachers to use, but also ways the
organization as a whole can send out information through social media. Brian suggested three
different areas of focus: Social media, what other organizations are doing, and various resources.
He agreed to share the list of members with the Board once it has been finalized.
6. Approval of 2014-2015 Committee Rosters
Nancy Green provided background on the committee rosters, noting that each year NAGC
invites member volunteers to sign up for committees as part of the election process. Over the
past 3 years we have gotten fewer new volunteers each year, and a lot of the same people
switching around on committees. She suggested that it might be good to bring up getting
newcomers involved with Leadership Development Committee. Nancy reminded everyone that
most chairs are usually appointed by a new president, over the same two-year term as the
President.
Motion by Susan Duong Langley: to approve the committees as published
Second: Lauri Kirsch
Vote: Unanimous approval
No comments or questions
7. Past President Update
a. Talent Development Summit Preview
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Paula Olszewski-Kubilius reported that NAGC and the Development Committee have initiated a
Corporate Advisory Council as part of our work on Fundraising and Development, and Norm
Augustine, former chair of Lockheed Martin, has agreed to chair this group. The group is
working to bring national attention to issues of talent development. The group will have a presummit meeting at convention to plan a full Summit in early 2015. This meeting, to be held on
Wednesday, November 12, will include an invitation-only group of leaders across sectors—
research, corporate community, and education. All Board members will be invited to participate
that morning.
George Betts inquired about the resources involved. Nancy responded that the financial
commitment is minimal, because the people attending from the business community and experts
in the field are either from Maryland or are already there for the convention. From this event, we
will build a case for sponsoring the Summit itself.
Tracy asked that any other comments or feedback be sent to Paula or Nancy since time is
running out.
b. Governance Impact Assessment
Paula then reminded the Board about the change made this past year on the evaluation of the
Executive Director by separating the evaluation of her management skills from the leadership
initiatives tasked to the Board and staff each year. Paula and Nancy have been working on
survey questionnaire to tailor it to the specific goals for this year. This questionnaire will go out
on survey monkey and Nancy will prepare a report summarizing progress and activities. The
Board will then review to determine successes and challenges, how to modify goals, and discuss
why certain goals weren’t met. This will be used to guide work and goal setting for the
following year. Paula concluded by noting that this will be a topic of discussion at the September
leadership retreat.
8. Future Meeting Dates/September Retreat Plans
Future Board Meeting dates include the Board retreat held September 19-21, 2014 in Baltimore,
MD. The second is in conjunction with this year’s Annual Convention to be held in Baltimore,
November 12-16, 2014. The Board meeting is scheduled for Tuesday late afternoon and Board
related activities will continue all day on Wednesday, November 12th. The third meeting will be
held in conjunction with the State Affiliate Conference March 21-22, 2015 in Washington, DC
Tracy adjourned the meeting at 12:11 pm
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