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CURC Steering Committee
August 2, 2006
Conference Call Began at Noon EST

Present: Michael Alexander; Tracy Artley; Richard Brundage; April Crow; Mark Darling; Dana Donatucci; Judi Gard; Deb Hanson; Mary Jensen; Christine Von Kolnitz

Absent: Jack Debell; Judi Dunn; Rob Gogan; Ed Newman; Mike Planton

1. Discussion with NRC & Coca Cola
Michael Alexander, from the NRC, discussed the scholarship program to the 2006 NRC Congress sponsored by Coca Cola. He stated that this was a new program which was being fast-tracked and that CURC is seen as an important partner in this. He also stated that it was an opportunity for CURC to attract new members.

April Crow, from Coca Cola, explained that they didn’t want the scholarship opportunity to be a one-time offer and they are looking to extend it for future opportunities. She also stated that CURC’s input into the program was desired.

Dana inquired about the number of scholarships available. Michael stated that their target was five. He also requested that CURC Steering Committee (SC) members put announcements out on their listserves announcing the program. He stated that scholarship winners will be paired with mentors to help them navigate the conference and network with professionals. Dana inquired about CURC members serving as mentors. Michael stated that the specifics had not yet been figured out. Scholarships will be awarded with preference to applicants from CURC-member schools. A webpage will also be established about the program.

Michael next explained the use of the scholarships as a means of increasing both NRC and CURC memberships. He requested that one or two SC members volunteer to serve as contacts for students seeking more information on CURC. Richard stated that he could set up a new email address for this purpose. Christine requested that information on the CURC workshop be included on any associated web pages. Richard replied that there is information on the website about the CURC sessions and conference tracks.

April solicited for ideas on how to make scholarship winners’ experience special at the conference. Richard mentioned that a blurb on the winners would appear in the conference program. Mary requested that someone from the membership committee serve as a contact for CURC. Mark offered to serve as a contact. Mary also stated that she would like to see a larger percentage of the awards go to students from CURC-member schools but some should also go to non-CURC affiliated applicants as well.

April next mentioned that they did not want this scholarship opportunity to be a Coke-branded program, but instead to have it as an NRC program.

The group requested a few edits to the draft press release that had been sent to the SC via email. Michael requested comments by the end of August 3. Michael, April and Richard then left the call.

Judi Gard stated that she has ongoing concerns about such a program being promoted on a Pepsi campus. Mary agreed, stating that her campus has a non-compete clause. Christine moved to support the Coke/NRC/CURC scholarship opportunity. Dana seconded the motion. Mary suggested amending the motion to include “support as a pilot program,” however this was not included because it was pointed out that the scholarship information states that the scholarship is for this year only.

Mary stated that she wanted to talk with NRC about the difficulties associated with presenting a brand new program to CURC and giving the SC a very short period of time in which to give their feedback. Mark suggested pursuing another corporation for scholarship sponsorship for the 2007 Congress in Denver. Mary stated that if the scholarship program continues, there needs to be more breadth in sponsorship. Mark added that CURC should be involved earlier and to a greater extent.

Mary called for a vote on the motion and it passed unanimously. Mary stated that she will be discussing sponsorships in general at the CURC SC meeting and general membership meeting in Atlanta. Mary requested that steers review the scholarship press release and application and send her their comments.

2. Election of Officers and Issue/Project Leaders
Held for September.

3. RecycleMania Sponsorship Update
Held for September.

4. Council Guidelines Conversation
Jack, Mary Michael Alexander, Kate Krebs and Melinda Uerling of the NRC Board discussed the revised Technical Council Guidelines. Questions about the wording of the new guidelines were discussed. The guidelines are now in revision. Once the revisions come out, Mary will forward them to the SC.

Mary elaborated that the main wording concerns surrounded the funding section of the guidelines. Verbally, Mary was told that the NRC does not expect Technical Councils to raise money for NRC. The Board’s concern was about Councils doing work outside of their approved work plan and having NRC fund it. Additionally, if the work plan is revised by CURC mid-year, then the budget almost must be revised.

5. Congress
Christine stated that she needs 4 additional moderators for the CURC workshop. Mary suggested contacting Erica Speigel. Christine also stated that she needs someone to conduct the annual grab bag. Mary suggested sending out a reminder over RECYC-L which includes a list of CURC-related events.

6. Committee Updates
Mary informed the group that Erica Speigel had given her old CURC notes to Mary. She will forward some of this along.

Mary asked Judi G. to email Rob and Ed to let them know of her interest in RecycleMania so that she can be included in planning phone calls related to the competition.

Mary will send out a list of committees and their associated responsibilities to the group. Mary will also ask about members’ availability on September 6th and September 13th.

7. Adjourn
The meeting adjourned at 1:20 pm.

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