Darlene Samson, President Brandi Scott, Colorado State President

Cynthia Ayala-Cooper, President-Elect Theresa Rader, Montana State President

Kyle Ethelbah, Past-President Dennis Stangl, North Dakota State President

Marilyn Thayer, Treasurer Thomas Madut, South Dakota State President

Jami Bayles, Secretary Rachel Lund, Utah State President

Alison Grendahl, Wyoming State President

CALL TO ORDER

Meeting was called to order by Darlene Samson at 8:34am.

PARLIAMENTARIAN

Paul Hesco was appointed Parliamentarian and a quorum was established.

APPROVAL OF MINUTES

Minutes from the October 2017 ASPIRE Business meetings were reviewed. With no corrections, Barney Nye made a motion to approve the minutes as written. Ben Shapiro seconds and motion carries.

PRESIDENT’S REPORT

Darlene gave a brief president’s report. ASPIRE has a newly implemented ASPIRE Leadership Institute which was initiated by Paul and Marilyn Thayer. Darlene encouraged the membership to participate in ALI next year. She also reported that the Board made the decision to hire a bookkeeper to help keep track of finances. Several bookkeepers were vetted by the Board and the decision was made to hire Jennifer Wade, wife of Michal Wade who is an ASPIRE Past President. She reported that the region is “connected” via Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, YouTube, and Workplace online and encouraged membership to submit articles and any other information regarding ASPIRE and TRIO.

Darlene stated that one of the biggest discussions amongst the Board was how ASPIRE could give back to the membership. They did this by giving away two free conference registrations which were given to new members from Montana and North Dakota. She also reported that this year was the largest attended Policy Seminar ever with over 40 ASPIRE individuals in Washington, D.C. All TRIO programs were offered a 4.25% increase with the stipulation that they increase the number of students served and many TRIO programs took that increase. The Prosper Act was defeated on the House floor this year and $1.06 billion has been allocated for TRIO programs. Another goal reached was the ability to support American Indian Tribal colleges in ASPIRE by securing a grant written by Darlene for $10,000 from Wells Fargo.

TREASURER’S REPORT

Marilyn reported that ASPIRE is in a good financial position. As of September 25, there is over $103,000 in CD’s, and over $105,000 in the checking account. She talked about challenges regarding the Treasurer’s position and the need for ASPIRE to hire a Bookkeeper.

ELECTIONS

Ben Hamman reported that one official nomination had been submitted for the position of Secretary, which was Dennis Stangl from the University of North Dakota. Ben called for nominations from the floor for the position of Secretary. Ben then reported that one nomination had been submitted for the position of President-Elect, which was Theresa Rader from Montana Tech. Ben called for nominations from the floor for the position of Secretary.

ACTION ITEMS

Brandi Scott made a motion to close nominations for the position of Secretary. Amy Verlanic seconds and motion carried.
Rachel Lund made a motion to close nominations for the position of President-Elect. Darlene Sampson seconds and motion carried.
Thomas Madut moved to accept Dennis Stangl for the position of Secretary by acclamation. Dan Benge seconds and motion carried.
Rachel Lund moved to accept Theresa Rader for the position of President-Elect by acclamation. Aaron Lucero seconds and motion carried.

COMMITTEE REPORTS

MEMBERSHIP REPORT

Before Cara Davis presented the official Membership Report, she gave a brief explanation of the benefits from becoming an ASPIRE Professional or Associate Member. She then reported that for 2017-18, there were 366 members. Within the states, Colorado had 130 members, up from 29 the previous year; Montana was down five with 53; North Dakota stayed at 42; South Dakota was up two members at 29; Utah was up seven with 86; and Wyoming was down eight members at 26. Overall, the region was up 24 members.

DEVELOPMENT

Jami Bayles reported that ASPIRE reached 112% of COE Fair Share. Colorado had 131%; Montana had 76%; North Dakota had 115%; South Dakota had 83%; Utah had 143%; and Wyoming had 118%. For Project Membership, Jami reported that 70% of the programs in ASPIRE paid project memberships. For states, Colorado had 55%; Montana 92%; North Dakota 41%; South Dakota 50%; Utah 100%; and Wyoming had 77%.

GOVERNMENT RELATIONS REPORT

Ally Garcia reported that the Prosper Act was defeated by the house, and the “AIM Higher Act” was introduced by the House Democrats. She encouraged the members to register to vote and to encourage their students to register as well. She also encouraged members to join the Policy Committee which meets every month. She reported that the 2019 Policy Seminar is scheduled for March 24-27.

The ASPIRE Business meeting recessed at 9:24am and reconvened on October 2, 2018 at 2:43pm with Cynthia Ayala-Cooper presiding as President.