[MCAEnews] MCAE Committees

[The MCAE Advocate]

-- 
Kenny Tamarkin
Executive Director
MCAE
KTamarkin at mcae.net
978-979-1906I hope you are having a good summer.

I want to update you on the work of MCAE’s committees and urge you to consider participating in one of them in the coming year.

Public Policy

Our Public Policy Committee, led by co-chairs Roberta Soolman and Steve Reuys, strategizes and organizes advocacy activities to increase both the state line item and federal funding for ABE as well as alerting us to important public policy issues affecting our field. If you responded to any of the MCAEAnnounce alerts this past year, I want to thank you. Your efforts help result in the Massachusetts Legislature increasing ABE funding for FY 2007 by $3 million under the Economic Stimulus Bill. If you are not subscribed to MCAEAnnounce and would like to be, follow the link on our home page, http://www.mcae.net or e-mail me at KTamarkin at mcae.net, and I will subscribe you. 

Special thanks also go to Regional Coordinators, Don Edwards, Cathy Gannon, Suzanne Martin, Mary Mello, and George Kohout, and to all the Program Point People at local programs. If you do take action in response to any of our alerts, it is important that you inform your Program Point Person who will then pass the information along to your Regional Coordinator. 

The Public Policy Committee experimented this year with two videoconferenced meetings linking sites at UMass Boston and Holyoke Community College. As the links become more reliable, we plan to have more videoconferenced meetings in the coming year.

If you are interested in participating in the Public Policy Committee, which meets monthly, please e-mail Steve Reuys at Steve.Reuys at umb.edu or Roberta Soolman at LitVolMA at aol.com or Kenny Tamarkin at KTamarkin at mcae.net.

Working Conditions

Our Working Conditions Committee has been reactivated under the leadership of co-chairs Andy Nash and Cathy Coleman. The Committee is working on updating the Quality Standards for Working Conditions and using these as the basis for a Working Conditions Award to an ABE program. Our plans for the coming year include conducting an extensive survey of Working Conditions in ABE programs. This survey of all ABE practitioners is meant to complement a survey of ABE directors that was conducted in June and July, 2006. We are, as well, discussing ways to increase the flexibility of the DOE guidelines so that they allow for creative improvements to wages and conditions in individual programs. All of these activities are meant to help build momentum to improve working conditions for ABE practitioners.

If you are interested in participating in the Working Conditions Committee, please e-mail Andy Nash at andy_nash at worlded.org or Cathy Coleman at catherama at yahoo.com or Kenny Tamarkin at KTamarkin at mcae.net.

Development
 
The Development Committee has been reactivated under the leadership of chair Barbara Sherman. MCAE got a grant from Adult and Community Learning Services (ACLS) to provide research to inform the ABE Strategic Plan Advisory Committee. We have also received a three-year grant from ACLS to provide support of various MCAE activities, including the annual Network conference.

The Development Committee is planning to develop new and updated marketing materials, including a new brochure and a new MCAE information sheet, in order to help us pursue new funding opportunities. We will be investigating foundations, private sector funding, and public sector funding.

If you are interested in participating in the Development Committee, please e-mail barbaras at bu.edu Kenny Tamarkin at KTamarkin at mcae.net.

Conference

The Conference Committee is led by chair Gene Gramarossa. After running an excellent Network 2005, we are striving to make Network 2006 even better. We are planning to offer more workshops than ever before, including for the first time in many years, some workshops after the Awards luncheon on Thursday. 

We are working to upgrade our online registration system for Network 2006. In addition to the ability to choose your workshops online, which worked so well last year, we will be adding the option of paying online with a credit card for Network and/or your membership.

If you are interested in participating in the Conference Committee, please e-mail Gene Gramarossa at genohsd at yahoo.com or Kenny Tamarkin at KTamarkin at mcae.net.

Outreach/Membership

In the coming year, we are looking to improve communication with our members using MCAENews. We are also looking to better serve our members and to attract new members. If you are interested in writing for MCAENews and participating in these efforts, please e-mail Kenny Tamarkin at KTamarkin at mcae.net.

Nominating 

Our Nominating Committee, led by chair Connie Nelson, is currently looking for nominations for new Board members. If you might be interested in serving on the board or want to recommend someone for the board please contact Connie Nelson at connie_nelson at hotmail.com or Kenny Tamarkin at KTamarkin at mcae.net.