Midwest Regional Association for Developmental Education

Spring 2003

MRADE elections will be held in September for President-elect and Secretary. Contact Michele Bach at[email protected] if you are interested in nominating or running for these offices.

Our plans for an easier-to-find MRADE website continue. In the meantime, you can access our site at www.geocities.com/mrade2002 or, my favorite way, through the NADE website at

Omaha – Oh, what a town!!

Fostering Collaborations in Developmental Education, the joint conference of IDEA and MRADE held in Omaha, October 2 – 4, 2002, was an unqualified success. Ninety-four conference attendees (32 from MRADE and 62 from IDEA) participated in sixteen concurrent sessions, listened to the keynote address by Jeanne Higbee, and learned about the Goodrich Scholarship Program at the University of Nebraska Omaha from Judy Harrington.

The Omaha weather cooperated, the convenience of the conference site and the professionalism of the hotel’s staff were especially appreciated, great restaurants and local attractions abounded, and the networking of such accomplished colleagues made for an especially rewarding, enriching conference.

A special thank you to the IDEA leadership for all their work in making this conference happen. Mark your calendar now for our next joint conference October 6 – 8, 2004 in the Amana Colonies.

Several MRADE leadership positions are available:

• Cultural Diversity Chair
• Political Liaison Chair
• Newsletter Editor

Contact Kathy Haberer at[email protected] if you are interested.

The business meeting of MRADE was held Friday, October 4^th, 2002 at 11:00 a.m. during the joint MRADE/IDEA fall conference at the Doubletree Hotel in Omaha, Nebraska. There were approximately 35 members in attendance and Michele Bach, President, presided.

The minutes of the spring meeting were handed out and a correction for changing Jean Harrington to Judy Harrington was noted. On a Kathy Haberer motion, and a Don Dendinger second, the minutes were approved pending the noted change.

Fran Shafer reported that from the conference there were 36 memberships paid and that the MRADE account contained $8611.31. This balance did not include MRADE share of the conference expenses.

Committee Reports:

• Mary Alice Lyon, Chair of the Awards Committee, read the letter written by Margaret William, this year's Outstanding Developmental Student Award Recipient. Fran Shafer, State Fair Community College, accepted the award for Margaret.
• Don Dendinger, Chair of the Nominating Committee, reported that the elections were complete and that Yvonne Mitkos is the new President Elect and that Sue Regan is the new Treasurer and Membership Coordinator.
• Jesse Harris, Historian and Web Site Coordinator, announced that the web site in coordination with Pat Farabee is completing the past initiatives. The website will advertise chapter awards, contain conference announcements and the current newsletter, and exhibit a photo of the chapter leaders.

Old Business:

• Committees: Mary Alice Lyon took control of the initiative to have each state represented on the Awards Committee. It was emphasized that this is also important for the Political Liaison Committee (PLC) since each state has different political agendas concerning education. Sue Regan reported that in the past the PLC’s actions dealt with providing the membership with the various ways that the committee can be active. She encouraged the members of this committee to find out what is going on in developmental education and report back to the membership.
• In an effort to find a newsletter editor, it was announced that the MRADE Executive Council approved awarding the free NADE membership to the person who volunteers for this position.

New Business:

• Shirey VanHook asked for volunteers to assist with NADE 2003 in Austin, Texas. She specifically identified the NADE 2004 booth in the Exhibitor’s Hall and the President’s breakfast. Karen Patty-Graham also noted that Austin was an excellent opportunity to job shadow those positions where people had already volunteered.
• NADE 2004 still needs chairs for various sub-committees and all are welcomed at the afternoon planning session beginning at 1 pm.
• The 2003 MRADE conference will be held October 1^st through October 3^rd at the Adams Mark in St. Louis, Missouri. An announcement was made concerning the MRADE/IDEA joint conference for 2004 that will be held in the Amana Colonies the first week of October.
• Mary Alice Lyon announced that MRADE awards nominations will be sent via email and that there needs to be more nominations in all areas. Furthermore, she also indicated that the process should be streamlined to encourage more nominations especially since the deadline occurs during the summer when many members are not in their offices. Finally, since last year’s Developmental Student Winner wasn’t forwarded as a nominee to the national pool of nominees, the committee would push to included the present winner and last year’s winner as nominees for the NADE award.
• Jesse Harris discussed the Executive Council’s recommendation to purchase a MRADE domain name and a web site hosting package for approximately $90 per year. With this hosting package we would have sufficient space to store more photos, have greater transferring capacity and five email addresses that could be used for MRADE officers. The membership voted to accept the recommendations of the Board.
• Announcements of open positions at Central Missouri State University, Warrensburg, and Kansas City Kansas Community College were made.

The meeting concluded with Kathy Haberer presenting plaques to Michele Bach and Fran Shafer for their past service to MRADE. The meeting adjourned at 12:05 p.m.

Respectfully Submitted,

Karen Tompson-Wolfe, Secretary

NADE 2004 St. Louis, March 10 – 14, 2004, Adam’s Mark Hotel www.nade2004.com/

Pat Farrabee, SIUE Reading Instructor and MRADE History Committee member, recently retired and is enjoying her travels to Brazil and South Carolina this winter.

NADE 2004 is looking for volunteers to help in conference planning. Contact Karen Patty-Graham at [email protected]

or Shirey Van Hook at[email protected].us

Kathy Haberer, President. Lewis and Clark Community College. 5800 Godfrey Road. Godfrey, IL 62035. Phone (618) 468-4126. Email:[email protected]. Fax: (618) 468-2341.

Yvonne Mitkos, President-elect. Lincoln Land Community College, 5250 Shepherd Road, Springfield, IL 62792. Phone (217) 786-2428. Email: [email protected]

Karen Tompson-Wolfe, Secretary. Westminster College. 501 Westminster Ave, Fulton, MO 65251. Phone (573) 592-5264. Email:[email protected].

Jesse B. Harris Jr., Historian. Southern Illinois University Edwardsville, PO Box 1640, Edwardsville, IL 62026. Phone (618) 650-3780. Email: [email protected]

Sue Regan, Treasurer. Cloud Community College, 2221 Campus Drive, Concordia, KS 66901. Phone: (785)243-1435 x214. Email: [email protected]

Michele Bach, Past President. Kansas City Kansas Community College. 7250 State Avenue. Kansas City, KS 66112. Phone(913) 288-7160. Email: [email protected]. Fax: (913) 288-7677.