the Maine STEM Council Meeting Minutes

Maine STEM Council Meeting notes from 11 September 2014 Present: Mark Kostin, Vice Chair; Tom Keller, Executive Director; Carolyn Arline, Chris Boudreau, Sharon Eggleston, Kathy Englehart, Beth Fisher, Jan Mokros; On Phone: Steve Pound, Treasurer; Diana Allen; Paul Wlodkowski; Ed Liu and Tom Litwin Absent: Jerry Pieh, Chair; Anita Bernhardt; Bill Belcher; Susan Hunter; Susan McKay Laurie Larsen, MMSA, took notes. Meeting officially began at 3:05 pm with opening remarks by Mark Kostin Welcome: I. Introductions were made from members around the table, as well as those on the phone. II. Secretary’s report – presented by Tom Minutes presented from Annual Meeting in June. After a call for review, suggestions or edits, no edits suggested. Members commented on the well-­‐written and useful notes. Moved by Jan to accept and seconded by Sharon. Minutes Accepted. Tom also congratulated “Nominated Members” who should now be official, having received their letters of congratulations. III. Treasurer’s report – presented by Tom FY15 Budget Steve Pound noted the amount we are in the black and that we are awaiting for contributions from Dept of Ed and UMaine System. They have been billed. Monthly expenditures listed in a copy sent to all members. Steve moved to approve Treasurer’s Report of monthly expenditures, and Diana seconded the motion to approve. All voted in favor to accept. Tom explained the financial sponsorship agreement between Council and MMSA. It runs July 1, 2014 to June 30, 2016. Finance committee reviewed the document and noted the difference between administrative costs of the proposed 20% and the current 15% is negligible. Steve commented that the two-­‐year agreement was good and the Finance Committee recommended passage of it. Steve motioned to accept the agreement and Diane seconded. Mark called for an individual voice vote. On Phone: Tom Litwin – yes, Paul Wlodkowski-­‐ yes, Diana Allen-­‐ yes, Steve Pound-­‐ yes. Members present approved. Chris, Beth, Sharon, Mark. Jan abstained from voting. All in person voted in favor to accept. There was discussion about the existence of guidelines from state for indirect arrangements. Sharon indicated that no criteria have ever been mentioned to her and since the Council is Page 1 of 4 appointed and not state employees, she felt that this agreement did not violate any known policies or guidelines. Introductions again for latecomers: Diana Allen and Kathy Englehart: Diana teaches 7th grade environmental life science at Sanford Middle School and is an MSTA board member. She represents elementary and middle school teachers. Kathy has been with KVCC for 27 years and is now chair of the math & science dept. She represents the Maine Community College System. IV. ED Report – Tom Keller A. Draft of STEM Council report – plan 1.0 Tom explained the rationale behind the draft report, to gain an immediate reaction from the Council to confirm that the direction headed is correct. Overall the plan should say what are we trying to do, how it fits and that it is for the whole of Maine. Discussion ensued: Sharon noted that the current status and setting benchmarks are critically important. Jan said that there were some bold steps and some that will be controversial. She suggested emphasizing community colleges and levels of remediation in math more. Beth liked the overall look. Tom commented that he wanted to put in context – some Maine reports need to be acknowledged, that people are watching and figuring out how do we fit and how to push what we think people should watch. Mark commented on how well Tom addressed the potentially sensitive issue of the learning results. Tom will continue to work on, and can discuss in small group or bring back to group. Discussion followed with questions: what do some of the other plans have or what is your vision to accomplish some of these. Tom’s recommendation – present to Education Committee in early December. Then they can craft language for legislation. Jan commented on needing a mature report to hand off. Sharon said this is our third year out and we need to have something to provide. Chris pointed out that the Education committee will have new members and we will need to reeducate them of the mandate mission. Diana noted that she just finished the Governor’s Academy for STEM Leaders and would love to legislation that promotes STEM teachers can become promoted as STEM leaders in schools. Tom suggested he continue fleshing out the plan and asked who would be willing to serve as a small group to read behind. Beth and Diana agreed to do this. At this point Carolyn Arline joined group in person. Carolyn is a high school math teacher at Richmond – she is representing secondary teachers of STEM. Appendix A. Tom discussed the Appendix A and had two goals for this segment of the meeting. One was to get feedback on the specific recommendations, sub goal by sub goal. The second was to learn if the Council wanted to share these to get further input across the state. Page 2 of 4 Two major points of discussion in general – one is that all of these are worthy for the plan but are of such different grain size that some may just appear in the report, others will be moved as immediate next steps. Second is that some are short term; some long term and identification of this could be helpful. The first sub goal has 9 milestones that the Council may or may not recommend, could add to, could advocate for just one or two, or any other option that members wanted. This Appendix could be taken to public meetings for widespread input from Mainers if the Council so desired with questions such as how do these fit for your career, vocation or place in Maine, do these milestones feel like move us, what else should the Council address. Of the nine milestones for the first sub goal, the Council identified numbers 1, 2 and 5 of priority interest and combining of 7 and 8 as a possible fourth. This is not to be construed as endorsement of the exact language; rather it is the concept that is appealing with additional work on the wording needed. Of the three milestones under the second sub goal, Council members were most interested in numbers 1 and 2 with rewording needed. Much discussion ensued on literacy in the content area. Noting the time, Tom offered to revise the ones discussed. Each Council member was asked to review sub goals C and D, and select and prioritize milestones, or add new ones by September 22. B. Feedback process Tom had distributed a proposed feedback process and schedule to gather broader, statewide input. Council members advised that it is too early and they did not want to do this until we are clear and more focused. A goal is to hold an early December meeting, perhaps in work session, with the Ed Committee. This would be a preview for the Jan 15th report and would allow legislators introduce legislation as needed. The Governor’s office could be informed directly by Tom or the two executive branch representatives could put this forth in their department. Sharon said that once the meeting was set that it is imperative that STEM Council members are there to show cohesive support. Tom will let members know date and Sharon would like to invite to Elizabeth Schneider. Sharon will share with her discussions of the Council meeting with members’ support. V. Collaborative Report: Jan reported that the Maine STEM Collaborative met in August for a planning retreat and have, as one of two goals, teacher professional development. The focus is on K-­‐12 development. And they have developed a logic model. Six people overlap between both the Council and the Collaborative meeting, Chris was at both. Their next step is to pin down goals – define goals for mission of the collaborative. Goals will be narrowed through specific activities and then they will look at them to enact accomplishable ones. Page 3 of 4 Tom mentioned the agreement or MOU between Council and Collaborative. This has been shared numerous times at both groups and the Council needs to address this at the next meeting. VI. Announcements: Maine EPSCoR received a $20 M NSF grant. A press announcement was distributed. MMSA received a $.5 M NSF grant to expand the teaching of computer science in Maine high school. A press announcement was distributed. Chris noted the updated Maine Department of Labor website that listed employment and earning outcomes based on major, mapped to student outcomes. Data on all university and community college programs were tapped. Google ‘mainewdqi’ (Maine Workforce Data Quality Information) to get the url. V. Adjournment It was moved to adjourn the meeting. Note that Sharon is unable to attend the December 11 meeting. Page 4 of 4