1. Call to Order: Jennifer Dunnam
Jennifer Dunnam, BANA chair, called the meeting to order.
The following board members were in attendance:
Jennifer Dunnam, National Federation of the Blind (NFB), Chair
Sandra Ruconich, American Council of the Blind (ACB), Vice Chair
Ruth Rozen, Hadley Institute for the Blind and Visually Impaired, Secretary
Frances Mary (FM) D'Andrea, American Foundation for the Blind (AFB), Immediate Past Chair
Dawn Gross, Alternate Text Production Center (ATPC)
Cathy Senft-Graves, American Printing House for the Blind (APH)
Mary Nelle McLennan, Association for Education and Rehabilitation of the Blind and Visually Impaired (AER)
Barbara Finkelstein, Associated Services for the Blind and Visually Impaired (ASBVI)
Tracy Gaines, California Transcribers and Educators for the Blind and Visually Impaired (CTEBVI)
Saul Garza, Clovernook Center for the Blind and Visually Impaired
Darleen Bogart, CNIB (Canadian National Institute for the Blind)
Stuart Wittenstein, Council of Schools and Services for the Blind (COSB)
Maryann Bartkowski, Horizons For The Blind
Judith (Judy) Dixon, National Library Service for the Blind and Physically Handicapped, Library of Congress (NLS)
Kim Charlson, Perkins
Jen Goulden for associate member Crawford Technologies
Susan (Sue) Reilly participated in her role as administrative assistant.
Not attending:
Jackie Sheridan, National Braille Press (NBP), Treasurer
Diane Spence, National Braille Association (NBA)
2. Welcome and introduction of New Board Representatives
Cathy Senft-Graves was welcomed to the board as the new representative for APH. The board looks forward to working with her.
3. Agenda Review
Jennifer Dunnam reviewed the agenda.
4. Arrangements/planning for Spring Meeting
Stuart Wittenstein gave an update on the hotel reservations status for the Spring 2016 BANA meeting (May 19-21). He mentioned that the meeting will end at promptly at 12:00 noon on Saturday to allow people to get to the ICEB meeting.
5. Outreach Committee update
Sandy Ruconich, chair of the Outreach Committee, presented the results of the committee deliberations regarding open forum sessions during BANA meetings. The committee suggested different ways of communicating with BANA constituents, including national conference calls and webinars. They suggested a pilot test of a national conference call. By general consensus: No open forum will be held at the Maryland School for the Blind during the Spring BANA meeting in May.
Regarding the location of trunk, it should stay in California since it is used in that area of the country most often. The Braille Institute probably will not mind housing the trunk for an extended period.
Since CTEBVI does not hold poster sessions, it was recommended that BANA have a presence in the exhibit hall at this year's CTEBVI conference instead. Having BANA share the ATPC or another table was suggested, and the details will be worked out. As it is too late this year for BANA to have its own exhibit table, plans can be made for next year.
BANA's social media presence needs to be discussed. Sue Reilly was appointed to the Outreach committee and will be part of this discussion at future meetings. The next report from the Outreach Committee will include more information about social media.
6. ICEB 2016 General Assembly Update
Judy Dixon provided the update. Registrations are continuing to come in, and the deadline has been extended to April 18. A preliminary agenda is on the ICEB Website. Due to the large number of proposals, poster sessions have been arranged to accommodate proposals that had something to show, such as something created, designed, or built. A mini exhibit hall will be set up for this purpose with 10-minute presentations scheduled.
Regarding the conference bags, APH is donating the bags. Jennifer will send a request to member organizations for financial contributions and bag fillers. Brochures may be included, as long as they are not in print only.
Internet broadcasting may be possible — NFB may be able to do the streaming. If not, sessions will be recorded.
7. Recommendation from the Steering Committee on a Transition Forum in the Fall
Sandy Ruconich reported that the committee met in December. The committee recommends holding a final transition forum meeting because doing so will bring closure to the transition process and participants would benefit from learning from each other and sharing ideas.
Mary Nelle McLennan confirmed that BANA would have a room from 9:00-4:30 Thursday, October 6. Invitations will be sent to CEOs of agencies. Letters of invitation will include a survey about UEB implementation, what is working and what is not, and resources that would be helpful. The survey responses will be used as springboards to a deeper discussion.
Lunch break will be 90 minutes; BANA will not provide lunch.
FM D'Andrea mentioned that the UEB forum listserv will have to be updated.
In response to questions about the agenda, Sandy Ruconich said that it is important to have an engaging item on the agenda for after lunch, for example, reviewing the results of the survey.
MSC Mary Nelle McLennan moved and Saul Garza seconded a motion that BANA conduct a 2016 Transition Forum to provide closure to the transition to UEB; the Forum will take place preceding the annual APH meeting, Thursday October 6. The motion passed unanimously.
8. Friends of BANA
Jennifer Dunnam raised the question about the status of and charges to the Friends of BANA Taskforce. According to decisions made at the 2015 Fall meeting, a 2014 annual report is to be prepared. Jennifer will follow up with Jackie Sheridan to see if any further action is needed in addition to that.
Although the Friends of BANA task force only has two members now, its composition will not be changed until finalization of its existing charge and further discussion at the Spring 2016 board meeting.
9. Graphing Calculator Guidelines publication decision
Jennifer Dunnam and Dawn Gross led a discussion about whether the guidelines should be released for publication in their current form (EBAE) or if a UEB version should be prepared.
MSC Darleen Bogart moved and FM D'Andrea seconded a motion that the board not approve the EBAE version and that the board send the Graphing Calculator Guidelines document back to the mathematics committee and ask them to update it to UEB. Voting Yes: (ACB) Sandra Ruconich; (Hadley) Ruth Rozen; (AFB) FM D'Andrea; (AER) Mary Nelle McLennan; (ASBVI) Barbara Finkelstein; (CTEBVI) Tracy Gaines; (Clovernook) Saul Garza; (CNIB) Darleen Bogart; (COSB) Stuart Wittenstein; (Horizons) Maryanne Bartkowski; (NLS) Judy Dixon; (Perkins) Kim Charlson. Abstaining: (APH) Cathy Senft-Graves; Voting No: (NFB) Jennifer Dunnam; (ATPC) Dawn Gross. Not voting: (NBP) Jackie Sheridan; (NBA) Diane Spence. The motion carried.
10. Code revision Updates
a. Chemistry
Stuart Wittenstein, board liaison to the Chemistry Committee, reported that the document titled "Provisional Guidance for Chemistry within a UEB Context" is in development by the Chemistry committee, and the task is close to completion. Stuart will forward the current draft to board members so they can become familiar with its scope. When it is ready, the document should be sent out to board for review, and a vote taken at the May 2016 meeting, if possible.
b. Formats
Saul Garza of the board review panel reported that Cindi Laurent, chair of the Formats committee, has sent him all the files and responded to all requests. The board will look at Formats again after the panel has finished its work. The target is to send the document to the board by April 1 and have a vote at the May meeting.
11. BANZAT membership and other membership updates
Jennifer Dunnam reported that BANZAT (The Braille Authority of New Zealand Aotearoa Trust) sent a letter indicating that they will not renew their status of associate membership with BANA this year. The decision was made purely on financial grounds, and they expressed their continuing support of the work of BANA.
12. Committee Chair and Liaison appointments: Research and Early Literacy Materials Production
Judy Dixon moved and Mary Nelle seconded a motion that Cathy Senft-Graves serve as the new board liaison to the Ad Hoc Committee on Early Literacy Materials Production. The motion passed unanimously.
Darleen Bogart moved and Sandy Ruconich seconded a motion that Judy Dixon serve as co-chair to the Braille Research committee. The motion passed unanimously.
13. Current Press Release Approval
As there were no further responses after board members reviewed the press release that was sent by email, it will go out.
14. Other business
In response to a question from FM D'Andrea about the status of the "Guidelines for the Production of Standardized Tests in Braille," Mary Nelle McLennan said that it is in the publication process.
Sue Reilly has been making changes to directory and list of charges.
The treasurer asked Jennifer to mention that notices for membership dues go out this week. A fiscal year report will come out with final numbers and Form 990 will be filed this month.
15. Adjourn
The meeting was adjourned at 2:55 p.m. EST.
Respectfully submitted,
Ruth Rozen, Secretary