OEFC Meeting Minutes

Meeting # 41
Ongoing Education Formation Committee (OEFC)
Chicago Province Center
Techny, Illinois

Next Meeting
April 24, 2012
Chicago Province Center - Techny

October 4, 2011

• Present: Jim Bergin, Kathy Borresen, Jim Braband (Chair), George Gawlik, Dan Holman, Mark Weber
• The meeting began at 10:00 a.m. with a prayer led by Jim Braband.

1. Welcome

The Provincial Council approved the following new appointments to serve on the Ongoing Education/Formation Committee (OEFC) for the 2011-2014 triennium: Jim Bergin, Kathy Borresen, Dan Holman and Mark Weber. Incumbent committee member, Jim Braband, assumes the chairman’s position. Also, George Gawlik continues as a member of the committee. Welcome, all.

2. Review

The Minutes of the April 14, 2011 meeting were reviewed and will stand as issued. (No vote was taken as the majority of the current OEFC were not members at that time.)

3. Reports

3.1

Education Office Transitions

The transition, which began in earnest in late May, continues to go smoothly. Kathy, as Education Office Coordinator, has assumed the responsibilities for the Education Office’s website, Accountability program, ongoing education/formation grants, and assisting Jim Braband with immigration issues. Pat Klebba, Education Office Secretary was hired in late May. Pat is responsible for providing general office support to both Jim Braband and Kathy. The staff meets on a regular basis to discuss and plan the workflow. For the most part, the members have honored the staff changes and done their best to direct their questions and paperwork to the correct person.

3.2

Website Updates

The website has experienced a 63% increase in visits since last year at this same time. It now receives well over 1,000 hits each month. The site continues to evolve with several outdated pages being deleted—specifically “Rekindling” and the “Rekindling Survey”; and, two pages added—“On the Trail” and most recently “Immigration Alerts”.

3.3

June 2011 Revised USC Resource Directory

The updated edition of the Resource Directory was completed this past June and uploaded to the website (see www.uscongoinged.org/resdirIntro.html). The Directory will again be updated in 2013.

3.4

2011-14 USC Ongoing Education/Formation Brochure

The brochure, previously produced as a hardcopy, is now a two-page electronic document (in pdf format) distributed by email attachment and available for downloading from the website (see www.uscongoinged.org/accountabilitypolicy.html). The e-brochure contains a letter from the Provincial and outlines the policies and procedures for the Accountability and Grant Request programs.

3.5

Grant Report Updates

3.5.1

Fiscal Year 2010-11

By the close of the last fiscal year, the Education Office had approved a total of 69 grants and used the entire $50,000 budgeted for members ongoing education/formation purposes.

3.5.2

Fiscal Year 2011-12

At the end of this fiscal year’s 1st quarter, 35 grants had been approved by the Education Office providing approximately $25,000 in funding to members. The amount is about average for first quarter funding.

3.6

Annual Accountability Statement Report and Delinquency List for Fiscal Year 2010-11

As of the official June 30 due date, 74 (62%) out of 112 statements had been submitted to the Education Office. As of today (October 4), compliance had climbed to 96 reports received (81%).

3.6.1

Proposed Follow-UP Plan

A request to each Local and District Superior had been sent on September 22 asking for their assistance in following up with the particular members in their community who had not yet turned in their Accountability Statement. To date, nine Statements have been submitted as a result. Another round of follow up by the Local and District Superiors and the Provincial will be implemented in mid-October.

4. Discuss

4.1

Saving Valuable Dollars (SVD) #5

The date is set for June 3-6, 2012. A synopsis was given regarding the difficulties in setting a date for the finance seminar along with the advantages of scheduling it as a Monday thru Wednesday event. A tentative list of topics for the seminar was distributed to the OEFC members. Among the topics was basic accounting, a skill set that every head of a community or parish needs to have—and to review on a regular basis! Participation in the finance seminar will be strongly encouraged. A suggestion to allow other pastoral/lay staff was brought up and will be discussed at the next planning meeting for this seminar.

4.2

USC OEFC Representation on NOCERCC

The SVD membership slot in this organization is currently empty although the SVD have paid a membership fee. The pros and cons of membership were discussed. It was further noted that NOCERCC will be holding their annual conference in February. A request was made that a member of the OEFC volunteer to attend the conference and that OEFC members give the request their serious consideration. Jim Braband will be following up on this.

5. NEW BUSINESS

This being the first meeting of the newly-appointed members, there was no new business.

6. NEXT MEETING

The next meeting will take place on Tuesday, April 24, 2012 at 10:00 a.m.

• The meeting concluded at 11:00 a.m.
• Minutes recorded by: Kathy Borresen

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Office of Education, Recruitment & Formation
Society of the Divine Word | Chicago Province | 1985 Waukegan Road | Techny, Illinois 60082
www.uscongoinged.org | Tel: 847.272.2700