Minutes of 2002 Board Meetings

December 7, 2002
October 4 & 5, 2002 (Ex-Comm)
August 3, 2002
June 1, 2002 (Ex-Comm)
April 6, 2002
January 31st & Feb 1st, 2002

CONFERENCE CALL MEETING (Full Board) Saturday December 7, 2002
Present: Harriet-Chair, Brian-Treasurer, Stan-Vice, Chip, Jacklyn, Margaret, Janine-Secretary, regrets from Jack

1. Approve agenda- Harriet, Amended as suggested below

2. Chair's Report - Harriet- met with OCIA staff in Nebraska, positive feedback for our work as trainers of inspectors. Good rapport valued. Harriet about to write her last "Notes from the Chair."

3. Secretary's report- Janine-Minutes from October accepted as presented. Margaret appreciated "From the Dungeon"! Janine accepts responsibility for doing the minutes for the AGM.

4. Vice-Chair's Report -Stan-Nominations Committee formed a little late in the year, Stan plans to work with the new Vice-Chair to help the committee be functional earlier. He has drawn up forms with timelines and duties to help the committee function. Standard questions have been developed to help present the nominees to the membership- questions such as how many inspections they have done in the previous year, and what other activities inform their potential work on the board. 10 people are on the slate and it seems Stan has done a great job! Informal policy suggested that any outgoing member should be extremely active in finding their replacements, to increase effectiveness. Harriet points out that we have been discouraged from doing that to ensure "new blood" comes to the board. Stan replies that once the outgoing board member has a suggestion, that name is turned over to the committee and they do the follow up work. We could do a questionnaire where nominees state their political positions for IOIA to encourage information exchange prior to voting. Most bios are in and they are great!
-*Jacklyn Smith's resignation, Appointment of Alternate BOD member-General Discussion. We regretfully accept Jacklyn's resignation, effective the end of this call. Brian/Stan moves that the board act on replacing Jacklyn at the AGM February 23rd. Discussion of rational- no more meetings til the AGM so no need to fill position, (The point was made that there is a board retreat on Feb 19th) common in organizations to not fill vacancies if an election is near, and thirdly if we don't act now to fill the position, Arthur will be on the ballet. If we act now we remove the opportunity for members to vote on his position on the board. This leaves more room for the democratic process. Vote called; 4 yes and 1 no. Chip Kraynyk no. Carried. Chip expressed his belief that Arthur's lawsuit is a matter of his private life, may be considered by some to be an honorable example of the revolutionary spirit which underpins organics and that Arthur has done nothing unethical, irresponsible or illegal. Chip also expressed his desire for the record to state his belief that the Boards decision represents a selective application of IOIA bylaws.

5. Treasurer's Report - Brian- Was very useful to conduct the audit, as per the membership request.
a. Balance Sheet to date See attachment.
b. Audit Report See attachment. Helped to structure internal strengths!
c. Business Plan - in motion.
d. Proposed Budget 2003 See attachments. Harriet asks if we raise the ED salary, what impact would that have on the budget? Could we develop another budget with a $28,000.00 fee? General Discussion. Discussion of need to include $1000 for board meeting recording fees, if they will be needed for secretarial support. Discussion of file storage and protection options.
e. Executive Director Powers- Common understanding that ED's have the right to hire and fire staff. Discussion of ED Job description and the need for amendment to address this more clearly. Margaret suggests we delete the last phrase of section 21 as needed with executive board approval" Stan/Brian Carried- no objections.
f. Rate of Exchange Discussion re Membership Dues: Members in some countries pay more for membership because of their exchange rates. International member services cost more and we currently subsidize cost of membership services as part of our commitment to our international activities.

6. Executive Director's Report - Margaret See attachment. Good news-Phoebe doing well. M requested increase in raise and hours and Phoebe is pleased.

7. *Training Manager's Report - Margaret See attachment. Policies need confirmation. Trainings going well-plans for 2003 look good. Training Committee response generally positive for the pre/post payment for each training, which is a change. Lower 2 - 2 1/2 day training due to no report to grade, so less work than the longer trainings because of this. Discussion of regional training cost increases and fairness-Harriet suggests we increase the regional fee charging for each training they attend just for the US as a trial period. We support the across the board increase of $5 per attendee. We accept the $500.00 first time co-sponsor fee.

Margaret asks that we vote on the lowering on the maximum enrollment per TC per point IV 3 in the TM Report: Janine/Chip Carried!
Request to use material from our manual for paid consultant type use. Joe is reviewing this request and recommends we charge. Harriet thinks Editorial Review panel should come up with our fee. We agree if it is to be sold, we want to charge.

8. Committee Reports
a. Editorial Review Board-Stan- IFOAM Asia has published a Korean Manual that looks a lot like our Second Edition Manual. We were not aware of this and it is an example of pirating our material. We value our relationship with IFOAM and want to improve this relationship, but we need to protect our resources and be compensated for material used. Stan thinks $1500.00 would be fair. (ACTION-MARGARET) PLEASE write a letter to Thomas of IFOAM to establish if our second edition manual was used as a template. Adjournment for a break.
b. Latin American Committee-Good ideas and comments have come forward. Appreciation for Stan supporting this effort. Stan is hoping we can identify where IOIA can be effective in improving conditions in Latin America for our members. Stan asks all to read especially question 20. Email suggestions for action to Stan. Electronic tool useful for gathering information like this. Our thanks to Lidia! Continual refinement of objectives will happen.
c. Committee on Committees-Discussion on Arthur's submission. General acceptance with some additions thought required. We thank Arthur for this work which gives us a sense of what is happening now. Margaret asks for submission suggestions, as we need to discuss this more thoroughly to create good policy guidelines. Margaret will be asking committee chairs for budgets as well criteria of selection of members, which the board needs to approve.
d. Accreditation Committee Report: Chip reports John Foster has joined. Lance Christie has expressed interest in joining as well. Chip will remain as a committee member. Accreditation-Late application for renewals will not be printed in the Directory as accredited, and will be entered into the next loop of accreditation reviews.
e. By Laws Committee- irate resignation tendered to board from this committee. We need to respond to Rick's resignation and concerns. Harriet as board liaison, is willing to contact the other people on the committee to research the situation. Stan offers to help if needed. Harriet will report back to the board with her findings.

9. Old Business
a. Certifier Liaison Issues-Garth offered to be the Oregon Tilth liaison
b. Progress on Researching Inspector Dismissal Policies of Certifiers, Development of "Certifier Script". Discussion of need to coordinate gathering information about inspector termination procedures. Initial contact should be established by our certifier liaisons and follow up phone calls are required. We ask for this information prior to the board call following the AGM. ACTION-Please use the script that Chip is planning to re-circulate.

c. *Policy Manual (Final Approval)- Brian inquires if the typos were corrected. Margaret felt they were but the 501C3 correction was not made. We approve the Policy Manual with the correction of our tax status being one of 501C3. Janine/Brian Carried
d. *TC Contracts See attachment. Addendum needs to be developed for specific accountabilities for specific trainings based on the legal review. Discussion about removal of right of refusal from redeveloped wording, some of the TCs who responded to this clause disliked it- straw poll indicate the majority of board members want to remove right of refusal. #3 restrictive part to be removed and distributed to Training Committee again. Stan/Janine: 3 for 2 against Carried: Chip and Brian voted no.
Revise #3 to remove First two sentences-& third sentence. Add-For non-IOIA sponsored or co-sponsored trainings, IOIA certificates shall not be given,( the reputation… Certificates and Use of materials Add any "exclusively IOIA copy written materials" at the end. Janine will circulate this approved agreement to the Training Committee for them to see our work. TC's will be receiving two copies in the mail.
e. *Retailer Training- GORP negotiations with OTA, contract -Harriet See attachment. David let Margaret know that he will redirect first payments to Joyce and Harriet and subsequent payments to IOIA. Margaret will put their discussion in writing for David to sign. Margaret's model has IOIA loosing $600.00 or it possibly could be used for upgrading the manual/project. Harriet will be talking to David about further developments and if the $600 could be used for the Power Point update.

10. New Business:
a. *2003 AGM, Election, Ballot Mailing to Membership, AGM Agenda-How members feel about training should be a discussion item; Margaret asks for three topics on Training.
a. Report from Election Committee-see Vice Chair Report
b. Ballot Committee- Stan reports ballot committee will be appointed at the AGM.
c. Bylaws Proposals-8 Ready to go. We can let our opinions be known. The Board needs to see the bylaws proposed and develop a board comment. ACTION- MARGARET- asks for strong opinions only. Jack relays his strong opposition to the Bylaw allowing past chairs on the board in a voting capacity. A majority of board members express their strong disapproval of this ByLaw amendment. Stan suggests we put out a board statement of discouragement. Harriet and Stan will work on it and run it by Jack and the board, in case Brian's effort with Arthur and the By Laws Committee doesn't result in its withdraw.
d. Planning for next BOD Retreat, Orientation Packets for New BOD members-
b.
c. *New Membership Committee Chair. The board thanks Maarten for his service and we regretfully accept his resignation effective Feb 25th. ACTION: Chris as board liaison is asked to contact all committee members about who might serve as chair.
d. *Training Task Force Report: Request for Support in Principle-End of December deadline to prioritize tasks, develop a budget and then get board approval for budget expenditures in Feb.
e. Regional Training Coordinator Position: Margaret reports on the interview process and her recommendation of Lisa Pierce for this position in a 1 year contract position. We received excellent, well-qualified applicants and it was a very challenging decision process.

11. Adjournment (Next meeting will be February 19, 2003 in VT, Full Board)

Executive Committee MEETING Friday October 4 and Saturday Oct 5th, 2002
Harrington Hotel Dungeon, Washington, DC
Present: Harriet- Chair, Brian -Treasurer, Janine-Secretary, Margaret, Chip and Arthur
Welcome to all here and our regrets to Stanley for the lack of a speakerphone preventing his participation. Chip notes this is the furthest a member has ever driven to attend a BOD Executive meeting (We remember D.Crabtree driving to Canada for an AGM!).

1. Approve Agenda-Harriet calls for additions
2. Secretary's Report-Chip asks that any changes and amendments to the minutes be recorded verbatim in the next minutes and publicized as such. Janine reports she circulated the previous draft minutes twice calling for corrections. Discussions that corrected minutes (identified as approved minutes) should be circulated so updated copies are available from the office as well as from the Secretary. Agreed. Minutes from August 3rd approved as presented.
3.Chair's Report - Harriet: Reports it was wonderful being at the IFOAM meeting and seeing the first IOIA professional booth. Our booth was well received, well staffed and the busiest on the floor! As Harriet is ending her term as Chair, she comments that IOIA has accomplished a lot in generating respect for inspectors and has made important gains, including maintaining our integrity and professionalism with certifiers, along with things like forming alliances with European Certifiers.
4.Vice-Chair's Report -Submitted in writing. Thanks Stan!
5. Treasurer's Report -Brian refers to Margaret who directs our attention to the Profit and Loss Budget Vs Actual, which we review. Comments on a new Category as Phoebe has taken over billing and now calculates and adds billing charges. Thanks Phoebe! Margaret comments that board members are not turning in many telephone expenses. These appear to be both reduced in amount and that board members are not completely claiming costs. Harriet refers to the fee structure for Ethics complaints ACTION: Margaret- the next time an Ethics Committee receives a complaint, they will be given the newly approved policy and forms for their use.
· Balance Sheet, Profit/Loss Statement, Accounts Receivable Report, Budget vs. Actual- We accept these as presented and thank Margaret. Action: Brian will draft a letter from the Treasurer for use as a tool for past due accounts and plans to call Eco Cert.
· Upcoming Audit- Brian will be in Broadus the 15th of Oct along with Jack Reams. They plan to structure the development of the business plan as well. Margaret mentions the office will be invoicing new members at this time and this may disrupt the accounts receivable somewhat. Discussion of letter or report to come back to the board on his findings. Margaret suggests some sort of abbreviated report be shared with the membership via the newsletter. Action: Brian will submit a report on his findings to the board.
6. Executive Director's Report - Margaret will review her report and them mail the hard copy to us for the record. Margaret reports that the website is functioning as the invisible office assistant. Discussion of book orders and the possibility of website sales and a cost/benefit analysis of this. Margaret will also look into charges based on a flat rate for postage. Discussion of Phoebe's excellent work and increased assumption of duties. With Diane's computer donation, Phoebe can do more bookkeeping and the office will be even more efficient!
7. Training Manager's Report - Margaret -will submit written report. Position Update tabled

Adjourned till 8am tomorrow, for attendance at the Co-op America reception.
Meeting reconvened at 8:12 am Oct 5th, 2002.

Regional Training Manager Position Report-Margaret reports we extended the application period until Oct 15th or until the position is filled. Three prospective Canadian applicants are Spanish speakers and Margaret speaks to the advantages of an international person. Discussion of possible conflict between coordination of regional trainings and selection of training coordinators if the regional coordinator is a very active training coordinator, such as Harriet. Strengths and challenges of Harriet's application for this work, which will include a proposal to research more funding to develop tools for the work. She would want to be eligible for TC work if she accepted the position.
8. Committee Reports- Training Committee: contract review; Lawyer has not responded with comments. Decision to review documents and ensure inclusion of committee feedback. Margaret leaves to make photocopies so we decide to review the Draft Criteria for RTOC members, to which she has already had input. We agree the 10 point list developed by Harriet and Janine is actually a Guideline list not a Criteria list. Review and discussion of points. Deleted first sentence in #5, changed "some" to "business". Changed "we' to "RTOC". Reviewed #6 and deleted current version, added "RTOC members should not hold board, in house staff or management positions with organic certification agencies.(Rational- avoidance of conflict of interest). We ask Diane to publish the Guidelines in the next newsletter with a welcoming call for volunteers, and a deadline for responses.
Continued discussion of alternate wording for point #6 of the yearly agreement with Training Coordinators:
Version 6a) IOIA TC's are requested to inform IOIA of inspector trainings they are approached to perform outside of IOIA. IOIA TC's are not to use IOIA organic inspector training materials, either produced by IOIA or produced by the TC as part of their pre training fees paid to them by IOIA or a Regional Training co-sponsor. Agreement to send both versions for legal opinion. Action: Margaret will present both versions 6 and 6a in an unbiased manner for legal review. We add the qualifier IOIA prior to the phrase organic inspector trainings in clause #7.

We have had no response from our volunteer lawyer so the Executive committee has approved sending the contracts to another lawyer for a fee. Discussion of Training Committee responding: Should TC's be moved to employee status? We could guarantee payment to TC's if there are regional cosponsor problems. IOIA would have more oversite of TC activities conducted under IOIA trainings and individual trainings. There may be more ramifications from the lawyer so we want to know what our TC's want and how employee status may effect our international TC's.

Stanley has faxed us a Latin American Committee Report which summarizes their survey.
Accreditation Committee Report: Chip announces his upcoming resignation as Chair of the Accreditation Committee. Action: Chip will write a letter for the next newsletter enticing his replacement to come forward.
9. Old Business:
a) Certifier Liaison Issues: OCIA response to our letter. Process worked well to improve communication. Chip suggests we need a structure to collect certifier responses.
b) Certifier Script: ACTION: Diane is asked to encourage all board certifier liaisons to review the script and contact certifiers for their responses for results publication in our newsletter. Stan suggests that we could also stress that when inspectors are dismissed they receive an evaluation form which justifies the dismissal. This would provide the inspector a clear opportunity to learn from the previous infractions. We review Stan's suggestions and feel they are the next step.
c) Membership Inquiry: Issue-How does IOIA represent (stand up for) its members? Promoting good communication with certifiers (given inspectors experiences), is one method we use. Regularly surveying our members for their opinions and developing policy, is another. Another survey could ask our members experience of working for various certifiers. Action: Maartin- Could the membership committee conduct a survey framed in a positive manner, to determine members experiences working with various certifiers? Inspectors should be asked to state the number of inspections performed for a given certifier. Action: Margaret will respond to Sandra's inquiry on the Forum about our activities on behalf of our members.
d) Canadian Training Issues: Continued requests for an in person Advanced training in Western Canada (SK) in early May 03. An application would need to be turned in by the end of January. Janine and Margaret are interested as long as it does not conflict with the OTA Austin show.
e) Retailer Training: Appears GORP has created an 85% return on investment in its first year as OTA is planning to send IOIA a cheque for $2000! Harriet distributes the contract, which has not been signed by OTA or us. Continued thanks to Harriet and Joyce! Discussion of unpaid GORP hours adding the NOP Rule. OTA would not do a contract change order as they felt 10% IOIA royalty payments could be used to compensate the work donated by Harriet and Joyce. Moved Brian/Chip that Harriet and Joyce submit their proposal and invoice to IOIA for consideration by the board. Carried. Harriet abstains. Discussion-Margaret speaks to asking again for OTA compensation for the hours our members have invested. Chip agrees. Arthur requests that the original contract be circulated for board consideration.
f) Business Plan-Brian and Jack will meet in Montana. Harriet still plans to be active here.
g) Long Range Planning Follow Up- As Brian will be the only board member who was part of the Strategic Plan, we ask Margaret and Diane to keep putting our Strategic Plan timelines in front of the board. Janine suggests Brian encourage agenda planning to have timed discussion periods so that Strategic Planning can be prioritized by the new board in their time management. She also encourages Margaret and Diane to ensure this work is clearly presented in the board orientation packages and in the board retreat planning for pre and post AGM 2003.
h) Response to Committee on Committees- Arthur asks for our response to this work.
Tabled to the next BOD meeting though we thank Joe and Arthur for their work on this.
10. New Business:
a) 2003 AGM, Election and Bylaws Proposal: Discussion on the proposed by-laws from the Committee. We thank Stan for his reflections on these. We will review this work. AGM issues include 5 positions open and 5 candidates identified so far. We are still striving for 10 on the ballot and Maarten is doing a good job. Discussion of Doug Crabtree's decision to run and his platform and the Nomination's committee's choice to have him on the ballot, despite the fact Doug is an in-house Certifier employee and the previous boards concern about this.
b) OTA Committee Involvement: Briefing on the background of the Inspector Subcommittee of the QAC. Harriet strongly suggests to Arthur that he get the committee guidelines and all papers be signed and put on file with OTA to ensure its stability. Once we have a new board Harriet recommends the new board appoint a member to this committee.
c) Internal Functioning of IOIA BOD-Need to determine next month's agenda-What should we leave to the new board? Conference calls are averaging a thousand dollars for each one, but Harriet feels new board will not have as much personal stake so the discussions will be less lengthy. Janine is prepared to put forward a proposal to do the recording secretary work. Diane is willing to do the job for $20.00 an hour as well, so fortunately there is back up available. Discussion of alternates on the executive committee and concerns about lack of knowledge and continuity in discussions. Arthur advocates that all alternates attend conference calls for orientation. There is a substantial cost connected, which may be a drawback to this idea.
d) Guidelines for RTOC Members; discussed above.
e) Policy Manual Revisions
We review the board suggestions. Janine's recommendations are accepted as presented. Chip's and Stan's recommendations reviewed and adopted where there was agreement.
2.2 Changed to "atleast twice" in between BOD meetings. 2.4.c We want to keep it at "may". ACTION: Training Committee to determine the length of a day for the $400 payment, and the development of the sliding scale when there are a lot of attendees. Need for discussion on TC responsibilities for food ordering and handling at training. A guideline for sharing of duties has also been requested and could be left to the individual TC's to create a shared work plan.
Margaret will finishing polishing the Policy Manual and have it available for the new board!

9. Adjournment (only 20 minutes over time!) Congratulations and thank you to all for their efforts…

Respectfully submitted, J. Gibson, IOIA Board Secretary

CONFERENCE CALL MEETING Saturday August 3, 2002
Conference Call participants: Stanley Edwards (Vice Chair, Acting Chair), Janine Gibson (Secretary), Brian Magaro (Treasurer), Jack Reams, Garth Kahl, Chris Kidwell, Margaret Scoles, ED.

Stanley called the meeting to order at 3:10.
1) Approve agenda- Stanley- Margaret agrees to take minutes until Janine joins us. Agenda is approved with no additions.

2) Secretary's Report - Margaret presents Janine's minutes and suggested corrections by Chip regarding the TC and cosponsor agreements/contracts. Brian/Chris moves to approve the minutes, as amended. Stan asks MS to remind Janine to circulate amendments ahead of meeting.

3) Chair's Report - Harriet - Delayed until/if she joins the call.

4) Vice-Chair's Report - Stanley Stan reports that he 1) Is finally feeling more active BOD liaison with committees (LA, Communications). 2) Needs to get Election Committee and BOD nomination started, needs input, ideas from BOD members. 3) Acknowledges Chris and Garth, alternates, as participants on this call. Stan speaks in support of a policy that all conference calls and meetings be scheduled annually (probably right after the AGM). Would like to move to adopt the draft policy on scheduling conference calls that he wrote earlier this year. No action taken. We discuss success of the first year trying this new system. Agreed that it is working well and increases participation of alternate BOD members. Margaret says it saves her time.

5) Treasurer's Report - Brian Brian presents reports Balance Sheet, Accounts Receivable, Budget vs. Actual, Profit/Loss Reports. Projected figures show that we are likely to end the year with a positive net income rather than the -$8000 that was projected. Asks if there are questions? Jack asks if we can change the Profit/Loss report to Income/Expense to more accurately reflect the meaning of the report. Action: MS will speak to accountant about if/how to do it. Margaret brings up the need to print more English manuals; we may not have enough to finish out the year (300 manuals last about 1 year and cost about $9000, including printing and payment to IFOAM). We did not anticipate this expense in the budget this year. Jack would like to see us move from cash to accrual. General agreement that accrual accounting would be better. We put this topic off until next meeting, after Brian has done the internal audit and met the accountant. We discussed partially funding the new position of Regional Training Coordinator by raising fees for regional training. Garth asks if we can raise regional training fees now. Margaret explains no, because all trainings for the rest of 2003 are under the agreement of the old fees. General agreement that we need a mechanism to have differential fees for cosponsors who meet all timelines, etc and, which do not require as much time on the part of the IOIA staff. May not need to be formal. Action: Brian and Margaret directed to crunch numbers to determine minimum regional training fee increase.

6) Executive Director's Report - Margaret refers to her written report and has few topics that are not covered elsewhere in the agenda.
GMO Committee: An IOIA member has suggested a GMO Committee to keep abreast of changes. Stan wonders if we can strike an agreement with CSPI or similar organization. Margaret suggests John Fagan as maybe willing to help in advisory capacity. He will be at the Wisconsin training. If we had a point person, members could all send questions to that person. He/she could seek out answers from the expert person. The point person could also digest current news about the topic and make it available to members. Maybe we don't need a GMO committee, but a contact on our new TAP (Technical Advisory Panel). General agreement that more information for our members is a good thing. Continue this with #7 (TAP). Margaret reports that the Non-GMO Source is providing a complementary issue of the Email newsletter for our members. They will work with us to provide a discount rate for IOIA members. IOIA currently subscribes and gets the publication in hard copy for $65/yr. This could be sent it to the 'GMO point person'.
IOIA Representation on OTA Committees: Previous discussion of more IOIA involvement on OTA committees by the end of July. Additional info via Katherine DiMatteo re: conference call participation. July 31 deadline is not an issue as it is flexible. List of committee options were presented and MS invites volunteers. ACTION: Margaret will write a blurb for the newsletter listing OTA Committees and Chairs as contacts and inviting committee participation.
Technical Advisory Panel (TAP): Joe is preparing an article on Sanitizers for the newsletter because he has received so many questions from individuals. This may be a great launch for the technical advisory panel. We need to keep talking about whom we should approach for participation on this panel. Stan suggests we poll our membership about who has expertise in various areas. MS suggests that this sounds like a Diane job. Discussion of alternatives on whether this should be exclusive to IOIA members. MS suggests that when members rejoin or join they receive information on how to access a website to get TAP info. Action point: MS and Diane to poll membership for expertise and willingness to participate in this project, then set up a website and communicate to members how to use this new service.
In addition to the items in the written ED report, Margaret reports that Diane proposes she travel to MT to donate and set up a computer for IOIA stuff. Computer hardware limitations are slowing work at IOIA. Diane offers to deliver the Pentium III computer and software. Moved Garth/Jack we approve up to $800 for Diane's travel costs to complete this project. Carried. We thank Diane for this generous offer. Margaret may schedule to overlap slightly with Brian's visit to the office in September.
"OG Business News": Recent quotes from IOIA Chair and staff on bidding war for inspection work. Good quotes and good coverage of IOIA inspector issues.

7) Training Manager's Report - Margaret refers us to her in-depth written report, for which we thank her. Margaret plans to run the press release, advertising, and application for the new Regional Training Coordinator position past the BOD before it goes out to the public.

8) Committee Reports
a) Training Committee -Janine Action: Janine encourages Margaret to solicit legal opinion on the contracts, which are still in development.
b) Canadian Committee - Janine Budget for IFOAM attendance may go partially unused as there have been no applications. Funds may go to subsidize inspector participation at the event by Jack, Janine, etc.
c) Latin American Committee- Spanish Membership Survey- Stan reports on Lidia's working conditions survey draft and asks for BOD approval to circulate the survey. They hope to use this as a tool to give the Latin American Committee direction in activities. Jack/Garth moved that this survey be circulated for approx 45 days, at a cost of about $80, to be paid by the LA Committee budget. Stan and Chris abstained. Motion carried .

9. Old Business
a. Certifier Liaison Issues Discussion on collecting certifier policies on inspector selection, evaluation, and suspension and the process to solicit this information. Agreement to continue working on this in Oct. Discussion on the MOSA bidding policy and the need for further discussion. OCIA: Chip reports briefly on OCIA Reporting Forms discussion on Forum. He says he had to figure out what questions mean. Feels that the goal of OCIA was to achieve standardization, consistency, and uniformity. The form actually works against this. He thinks they might issue punitive actions following the evaluation of inspectors later this year. Thinks we should not address every individual case. But does suggest that we get a good group of OCIA inspectors (good history with report writing) together to make a statement that if this occurs, that the form has contributed to this problem, and please not be overly critical of inspector, especially if they had a good past record with them. Try to get them to acknowledge that the form has contributed the to the problem. Also mention the 7-day turn around time does not allow time for proper and adequate proofreading. Must allow handwritten reports if they stick to that. Also ask for a little understanding for people trying to do apprenticeships this year. Very difficult for new inspectors. Include that it is difficult for inspectors to improve on the timeline evaluation is on. Action: Margaret volunteers to write the first draft of the letter with Chip's assistance, draft to be sent to BOD, then send to OCIA and publish in newsletter. Jack/Janine moves that this letter be written and sent ASAP. Motion carries. Chip reports that it was very helpful for OCIA staff to accompany him on inspections and that Lynn Moorer has indicated willingness to work on revamping of the forms. GOA: MS reports that it is important for BOD members to be aware/sensitive that acting in the role of BOD Liaison may be perceived by our members as BOD members acting in the interest of certifiers rather than the best interest of our members.
b. Retailer Training- GORP negotiations with OTA, contract -Harriet Tabled, since Harriet was not able to join the call.
d. Long Range Planning Follow-up, Continuation Agreed to review SIs at BOD meeting Oct. 6. Will be important to pass on a strategy to deliver 2003 initiatives in a structured way to the BOD meeting in VT.
e. Fundraising Script for BOD members Stan volunteers to do this within the next month. He will bring something to Victoria for us to work on. He sees 3 categories to target for donations 1) Friends and relatives (not rich, but supportive of our efforts). 2) retail health food stores and 3)totally loaded billionaires and big chain stores.
f. Policy on procedure for approving new BOD policies is considered. Margaret/Janine present the draft policy as assigned. Proposed policy:
Changes or additions to IOIA Policies will be adopted after the IOIA Board of Directors approves them at a minimum of 2 Board meetings. The Board can approve minor changes during those meetings. If major changes are made, the amended policy must be considered for at least 2 additional meetings.
Exceptions can be made for matters which demand immediate action, such as emergencies or to comply with external deadlines beyond IOIA's control.
Chris asks how this relates to the 4/5 policy (Policy Manual 2.6). Not really related. Concerns about whether the 4/5 policy is a violation of our Bylaws. Chip/Garth moves that we reject the proposed policy. Motion carries. Draft policy is not adopted.
g. FSMIP Grant Margaret reports that we know the joint MDA/IOIA grant request was denied. The earliest we could re-apply is Feb. 03 and the earliest we would know if we received it would be July 2003. We await more information. No formal letter has been received. Diane has contacted FSMIP office and confirmed the denial and we will receive a letter of explanation. Stan asks which projects must be done to remain competitive in our business. Janine requests this to be a BOD retreat agenda item for Oct. 6. She will be doing some of the work described in the grant with different funding. Stan says we should leave this meeting with 2 projects and have Diane seek funding from other sources. Priority is A (Training Curriculum) and C (Update TC Manual, TC training). Margaret thinks we could accomplish A1, A2, B, and C all in one project. Suggests using TCs to develop curriculum. TCs would develop training modules and IOIA would pay the cost of travel to get them together for the TC training. Stan points out that A2 (NOP Compliance Guide) becomes the priority because the rest relies on it if our curriculum is based on it.

10. New Business:
a. IFOAM Conference, August 20-28, 2002 Inspector Meeting on Friday, Aug. 23 at noon. Lunch for IOIA members will be paid out of the Promotion budget. MS excited about going, will send message to Forum and Inspector members. Janine recommended OTA meet on a different day so we will hopefully not conflict with OTA or COG. Margaret/Stan move to put travel into BOD and Staff Travel to allow Promotion money for budget to be used for brochures. Garth may be in BC. We won't have money for defraying costs for volunteers at IOIA booth.
b. IOIA Promotion We attempt to re-create lost budget plan. Chris shares his notes (not complete or conclusive, but helpful) from Sonoma. He recorded $900 for IFOAM, $150 for Guelph, and $300 for Biofach. BOD agrees to spend the remainder of the Promotion budget for brochures.
New IOIA Brochure Chip asks that in the future the brochure photos more accurately reflect the ethnic membership of IOIA. BOD agrees. Garth/Brian moves that we withdraw mention of compliance workshops and replace with an info response box. Chris, Jack vote No. Janine and Stan abstain. Garth, Brian and Chip votes YES. Motion carries. Jack/Janine moves to print 1500 brochures. Brian abstains. Motion carries. BOD supports all one brochure; don't get 2 types printed. BOD THANKS DONNA AND DREW FOR THEIR WORK! MS will acknowledge Donna in BC.
c. 2003 AGM location and dates, confirm BOD retreat dates Janine/Jack move to approve the agenda Margaret proposed in the ED report. Motion caries. Garth abstains. He will be able to attend the Friday evening meeting and the AGM.
d. Regional Training Coordinator position - Margaret promises that Press Release and Application are forthcoming, to BOD by Email. Email and hard copy press release mailing is being done this week. Position will be advertised in this issue of the newsletter and from the IFOAM booth.
e. Report on IOIA Membership Survey- Diane, Maarten Will be sent out to BOD by Email for review before printing in the newsletter. Action point: Margaret to ask Diane to send to BOD within the week. If anything needs to be worked on, it will be done in BC with BOD members, staff, and Maarten. Tabled.
f. Expo East, Washington DC, Oct. 3-6, 2002, BOD retreat Oct. 6. Agreed to schedule some down time (access to woods). BOD will convene in DC on Thursday morning, Oct. 3 unless that is a conflict with GORP. Brian and Chip will drive from Harrisburg on Wed. night. Alternates and other BOD members are invited to attend all BOD meetings. Need to let us know in advance for food plans.
g. OTA Committee Involvement was covered under ED report.
h. Policy Manual Review/Revisions Not enough time to start working on this big job. The Policy Manual has been updated in rough draft form. Action: Agreed to a timeline for revisions:
1) BOD members let me know if any need further discussion by Sept. 1.Also get worksheets in by then. Otherwise, all voted policies appearing will be accepted. If any BOD member thinks something needs to be discussed, Margaret will leave it in draft. She will run relevant policies by the appropriate committees.
2) Margaret insert Accreditation, Ethics, policies, etc. Stan/Margaret format by September 15.
3) Sent out to BOD members immediately.
4) Work at BOD retreat, using accumulated worksheet data.
5) Finalize at Dec. 7 meeting with Full Board.

10. Next meeting will be early Oct. (Executive Committee only) Reminder that next Full BOD call is Dec. 7. BOD thanks Stan for Chairing. Stan thanks Alternates for participating. Adjourned at 8 p.m.

CONFERENCE CALL MEETING (Executive Committee plus Arthur Harvey as note-taker)
Saturday June 1, 2002 11:00 A.M. EDT

Conference call participants: Harriet Behar (Chair), Stanley Edwards (Vice-Chair), Janine Gibson (Secretary), Brian Magaro (Treasurer), Chip Kraynyk, Margaret Scoles (ED). Arthur Harvey joined the call at 2:05 PM EDT.

1) Approve agenda- Harriet -Janine agrees to take the minutes until Arthur joins us. We welcome each other to the call. Chip asks if we formally approved the script for discussing certifier liaison about inspector suspension. We add it to the agenda. Stan says he has a few comments.

2) Secretary's Report - Janine Discussion of minutes. Harriet asks to amend #8 to read: that honey will remain as a training module, and omit that bee keeping should be omitted for lack of qualified trainers. Discussion of the need for objective minute taking that captures the essence of the discussion, not the note takers opinions. ACTION: Janine will speak with Arthur about requirements and liaise with Margaret on preparing requirements. Margaret expresses her appreciation for the minutes and asks that any lack of clarity be addressed as it happens, to ensure what is intended. Chip asks for corrections to #12. Add "accreditation" prior to the word criteria. Chip also asks for more specific detail. #13. Change to "the way decisions are made". The issue was the member not receiving feedback as to why they were denied, not the denial itself. #16 second sentence," we do not have the resources to ascertain which cases are worthy and which are not."
Discussion of Arthur as Trial note-taker and minutes of last call. Harriet suggests we send our amendments to the notetaker directly so that we can have the amended minutes for the next BOD meeting using track changes so we can accept the suggested corrections or not. Margaret asks for a policy that board minutes not be published unless there is a disclaimer of no formal approval if that approval has not happened. Janine and Margaret are to refine the wording on this policy. Moved Janine/Stan, Carried. Stan asks that that be made clear in the next newsletter. Margaret asks that policy changes be read (approved) at least twice by the board at meetings, before policy is finalized by a vote. Stan asks that this be tabled and circulated for further discussion and wording clarity. Minutes approved as amended. Janine/Brian carried.

3) Chair's Report - Harriet reports challenges in the Upper Midwest due to inspectors bidding against each other to meet perceived legal requirements. Discussion of IOIA's possible role to assist with sorting this out. This process is shortening the lead time and creating more work for the certifier and disgruntled inspectors. Research required with CCOF as what brought them to use employee inspectors. Margaret has a copy of a letter about this issue that could be useful to the Compensation Committee. We agree to discuss this more later on in the agenda.

4) Vice-Chair's Report - Stanley has been working with Lidia developing an inspectors' working conditions survey for all Latin American inspectors. Problems exist here due to underbidding of more experienced inspectors by less experienced inspectors. We thank Stan for his work on this. Margaret feels this will help strengthen the Latin American committee. Stan hopes to publish the information and that this may lead to some action ideas.

5) Treasurer's Report - Brian reports we are in fairly good condition at the moment. There are concerns that budget line items are being increased, some at significant rates. Brian hopes we don't set up a downhill slide with overspending. He asks we keep an eye open to the future so we do not get into any bad financial conditions. Margaret adds that in the past we spent money in a discretionary manner, but now we are budgeting tightly. We need an unallocated funds budget line so the executive director can make decisions she feels appropriate. Approved for next year's budget. Margaret prefers this spending be done in consultation with the Treasurer. Agreed. Margaret agrees with Jack's suggestion that we establish a reserve fund amount from our savings account. Agreed that a reserve fund amount be set with the creation of the 2003 budget. Harriet asks how much time is spent chasing down unpaid inspector members. Margaret says Phoebe is doing this and it is time well spent. Discussion of some specific payment concerns. Phoebe has established a billing charge amount following Harriet's suggestion. We're glad the workload is dropping and this is being resolved. Chip says it is helpful to know what percentage of the dues goes to membership services costs. Margaret feels this is about one third so tracking down delinquent members is very worthwhile. Harriet asks where auction income is allocated. Margaret states it is under AGM income.
a. Balance Sheet, Accounts Receivable, Budget vs. Actual Profit/Loss Reports

6) Executive Director's Report - Margaret asks that items from her report 8 (Possible GMO Committee), 9 &10 (IOIA Technical Advisory Panel) stay on the table. Harriet points out #9 (IOIA Membership vote through QAC Inspector Subcommittee vs. IOIA as a voting member) needs to be addressed as OTA has a deadline for identifying committee membership. Harriet is submitting her name for the Livestock Committee, possibly in addition to Brian Ives whom Janine asked to replace her on the Livestock Committee. Harriet points out how important attending trade show meetings are to remain a current member and that this is a change from the past. Committee members must attend 2 of 3 meetings, which is more difficult for IOIA members without organizational funding. ACTION: Margaret plans to request a 3-day extension on applying for a position of an OTA committee (if the deadline is July 31st) along with accessing a complete listing of committees they currently have, on which we could participate. Discussion of improved inspector regard on the part of the OCC and committee involvement in general. Harriet feels her participation has been very well received.

Solicitations for IOIA membership. Margaret asks for direction. Do we need a policy on who decides our memberships? Harriet suggests this is a board retreat issue as there are a variety of issues relating to communicating shared information. Stan asks Margaret to work with him on establishing criteria for membership in organizations. Brian joins as well.

EXPO East Participation: Oct 3-6th, discussion of an executive committee day's retreat at Brian's on Sunday the 6th with lodging arranged by Brian on the 5th and 6th. Margaret feels we could invite other BOD members if they are willing to cover some of their own expenses. Chip suggests we consider flying in and out of Harrisburg rather than flying into Washington. General discussion on planning. Exec. Committee members will try to attend the Expo on Oct. 4-5.

Brochure: Stanley will get in touch with the Communication committee for feedback on the new brochure, which will also be modified to include or delete the compliance workshops based on the FSMP approval.

BOD packets discussion (hard copy vs. Email) Margaret suggests she only sends hard copy packets at members request. We are comfortable with email packages and Brian suggests we confirm receipt. Margaret responds that would be reassuring for her.

We agree to a 15 minute break. Janine gratefully accepts Stan's offer to take over as recorder.

7) Training Manager's Report - Training Manager's report was reviewed as submitted in writing by Margaret. Training Manager's Report stands as written. Two items, a and b, are discussed.
a. TC Contract, Yearly TC Agreement, Co-Sponsor Contract:
Discussion of the board's proposed Yearly TC Agreement, in particular item 6, which limits TCs from performing trainings without IOIA permission. Some TCs gave negative comments on item 6. Harriet explains that some TCs are saying it was too restrictive. She asks whether we should re-work the wording and provide more clarification regarding our background on the issues. Harriet asks for the comments that Janine compiled during the discussion period. She will go through the comments and send her the relevant pieces. Chip says that the language in the document could be improved for clarity but substantive changes in point 6 would not be in order. The board already approved it to go to the Training Committee. Stan proposes insertion of reference to the IOIA membership code of conduct/ethics to address TCs "enabling" substandard trainings. The BOD agrees to take this contract to an attorney. The person presenting it to the attorney will be a TC or be well versed in TC duties and present the various issues that were brought up. Further discussion of how to protect TCs from financial loss at regional trainings. Brian agrees to work with Margaret to adjust the required deposits so as to cover any pre-training costs in the event of cancellation. Margaret says another possibility would be to make TCs employees of IOIA instead of independent contractors. Janine mentions that a lot of co-sponsors require the income for the training to make the deposit but Margaret says that can be addressed with an incremental deposit deadline, based on how much has been spent so far. Some of the trainings where they don't have the money sometimes are the most problematic.
b. Canadian training issues
Margaret asks for guidance about meeting the need for trainings in Canada. Inspectors in Regina voiced concerns for this lack, plus currency discrepancies. Although none are planned there this year, it might be possible to offer a $50 discount for Canadians to come to the Wisconsin trainings. Canadians have found that exchange rates make the cost of attending US trainings excessive. Janine asked that no Canadian training be given because she was redoing the distance learning modules to be offered in 2003, including livestock, basic processing and advanced, with Assiniboine College. A discount was not supported by the board.

8) Committee Reports
a. Training Committee -Janine:
1. Signature on Training Certificates (follow-up to last call): Janine prefers to continue to sign certificates herself, rather than using a signature stamp or (if time does not permit) have Margaret sign in her capacity as coordinator or manager. Margaret AGREES. Janine advocates that we increase honorariums (or honoraria) next year for field trip hosts, in view of the increase given to TCs from $300 to $400. The Training Committee is ASKED to make a recommendation, and also, Would the increase apply to speakers and groupleaders?
Chip asked what is the next stage for Peer Mentoring program? Harriet said wait for FSMIP.
Stanley reported on a Canadian university training program (French language) for inspectors, which requests to be exempted from the requirement that an IOIA TC teach every class. Board members said it is important to know whether the university wants IOIA certificates or recognition of equivalence to meet IOIA accreditation requirements. Margaret says they want IOIA co-sponsorship for their trainings. Stanley proposes that we should review their examinations and other documents. This was AGREED as the next step, leaving aside the question of any IOIA supervision of their trainings.
b. Canadian Committee - Janine
1. Janine has been awarded a contract for CGSB standards work, so will not need IOIA support for Ottawa. Money for the airplane ticket will be reimbursed to IOIA when she gets a check.
c. Editorial Review Board -Stanley: Stanley says IFOAM has agreed to pay half of the legal cost (up to $500 total) of reviewing a contract for translations of the IFOAM-IOIA manual).
d. Committee on Committees - Arthur: Proposed policy noted as printed. Appreciation was given to Arthur and Joe for this work. Arthur will circulate the proposal to all committee chairs for comment in preparation for the next board meeting.

9) Old Business
a. Certifier Liaison Issues: Not much to report as results, but some reports of improvements in forms.
b. Retailer Training- GORP negotiations with OTA, contract - Harriet says the contract offered by OTA aims to keep close tabs on what happens at trainings. Margaret will have a lawyer review the contract.
c. Business Plan: Brian says nothing to report; he will contact Jack prior to next meeting.

10) New Business:
a. IFOAM Conference, August 20-28, 2002: Harriet says she paid $233, which is budgeted, for her own registration as the IOIA booth only comes with 2 badges. IOIA will reimburse her. Stanley and Margaret will use the 2 IOIA badges. Janine plans to attend and help with details. It may be possible to have a presentation by IOIA; plus a special inspectors' gathering will be explored by Janine and Anne Macey.

b. OTA Conference, Austin, TX May 8-11, 2002: Harriet's report noted as printed.

c. IOIA Promotion (Brochure, Banner, Display), Re-create lost budget plan. Margaret says the promotion budget is intact but still not itemized (not recorded at BOD meeting in February).

d. 2003 AGM location and dates, discussion of BOD retreat dates: 2003 AGM is set for near Burlington, Vermont at The Inn at Essex. Options were discussed, with tentative decision to hold 1-day BOD retreat on February 19, prior to the concurrent 2-day Advanced and Refresher Trainings, and a full day BOD retreat for the new BOD on Sunday, February 23, after the AGM on February 22. This could easily be extended for part of Monday. This decision will be reviewed at the next BOD meeting with the full BOD present.

e. Training Manager job description and report: Margaret's written proposal summarizing the work of Harriet, Brian, and Margaret, including advertising for a new staff person by August 1, is reviewed. Attention is called to a qualification, i.e. the new part-time regional training coordinator may or may not lead to a full-time training manager job in 2004, although staff is expected to increase by one person by 2004. There are many unpredictable factors. Janine/Brian move to approve Margaret's printed proposal. APPROVED UNANIMOUSLY.

f. Report on IOIA Membership Survey was tabled until next meeting.

g. Request from Maarten Samsom to discuss policy to provide more support IOIA members (in general or as individuals): Discussion of letter from Maarten Samsom. Letter raises issues: should IOIA take action about grievances? Should there be a complaint form? It was AGREED to add the issue to the October board retreat agenda.

Chip/Janine move to approve Mike Wise as alternate to Accreditation Review Panel. PASSED by 4-0 with one abstention.

Harriet raised fresh alarms about inspection fees being pushed down by certifiers and by an abundance of new inspectors

Adjournment at 3:30 PM (Next meeting will be August 3, 11 AM Eastern Daylight Time, Full Board)

IOIA Board Meeting, April 6, 2002, 11 AM EST

Conference call participants: Margaret Scoles (ex director), Arthur Harvey (note taker), Brian Magaro (treasurer), Harriet Behar (chair), Chip Kraynyk, Diane Cooner (editor), Jacklyn Smith, Stanley Edwards (vice-chair), Janine Gibson (secretary), Jack Reams.

1) Harriet welcomed new board members Jack Reams and Jacklyn Smith. It was AGREED to take a break about halfway through our estimated four hours of meeting, if necessary.

2) Agenda presented as printed. Chip added topics of peer mentoring and compensation committees. Harriet added form templates. Agenda APPROVED as amended.

3) Secretary's report. Janine submitted minutes for December 9 as printed; APPROVED. Diane asked whether they should be posted on our website, and/or in the newsletter. DECISION: minutes of December 9 to go on website only.
Janine suggests that minutes of the board retreat (prior to AGM) be reviewed now rather than at next retreat. Margaret has two corrections: policy manual reference; and $800 per issue is paid to Diane not $800 per month. Chip asks was question & answer for board candidates not adopted as a policy; also the minutes contain no
conclusion as to the compensation committee survey. Harriet recommends a one-week delayed approval of the retreat minutes, to give everyone more opportunity to contact Janine with corrections. So moved by Stan/Jacklyn, and APPROVED by 5 yes, none opposed, 2 abstentions. Janine/Stan move that IOIA policy shall be: Minutes of any type of board meeting shall be reviewed at the next meeting of whatever type. APPROVED unanimously.

4) Chair's report. Harriet says her chief concern is that Margaret's workload is too much and we must address the situation.

5) Vice chair's report. Stan has worked on a couple of projects including re-formatting the bylaws.

6) Treasurer's report. Brian presents it as printed. Stan asks how come Margaret's salary is so low. Margaret says she did not accept the entire $2000+ per month, because the budget contains some implications she is not sure about. Jack asks what was the precise amount for salary in the budget. Brian replies the final arrangement is under
discussion; he moves that Margaret accept the raise to $2000 per month, leaving the sum of $2400 for a training manager as retained earnings. Seconded by Jack, and ADOPTED unanimously. Margaret thanks the board for the raise.
Brain says an on-site audit by him in Broadus would take perhaps two days. He plans to discuss with an attorney and others whether other possibilities could implement the AGM decision at lower cost.
A new debit card on the IOIA account should alleviate problems arising from the lack of a credit card.
Chip observes that as Brian may become the next chair of IOIA we should prepare for such an event, Brian should begin mentoring Jack as possible next treasurer. Jack agrees.

7) Executive director's report presented as printed. Harriet proposes adding line numbers to the bylaws. This is
opposed by Arthur. Motion DEFEATED with 2 yes, 3 no, 2 abstentions. Proposals from the Rutherford scholarship committee are received as printed. The board thanks and compliments the committee for its work. The new forms are referred to the editorial review committee.

8) Training manager's report, as printed. Margaret calls attention to two items: OTA's letter of interest about working with IOIA on fiber standards training; also the continuing problem of delays in issuing certificates owing to the long time required to get mail from Canada to the US. Brian suggests we get a signature stamp which can be
used to convey Janine's approval to certificates. A job description is still needed for the training manager.
Harriet and Stan and Janine agree to work with Margaret aiming at a completion date of May 15.
Training coordinator contracts & yearly agreement. Chip's email of April 5 discussed. Comments: Processing should be more focussed toward on-farm processing. Also, beekeeping should be omitted for lack of well qualified inspectors. All comments are referred to the Training committee, and the resulting documents will come back to the board for final approval. The draft co-sponsor contract will be reviewed by Harriet and
Margaret.

COMMITTEE REPORTS

9) Editorial review: Stanley says the contract for IFOAM/IOIA manual has been forwarded to Thomas Cierpka at IFOAM; no response yet.

10) Training committee: Janine reports on the discussion of alternative ways to earn a certificate of completion, if a trainee cannot qualify or complete the course. How about a family crisis causing a trainee to leave? Margaret says such absences are very rare; our informal policy is to make no exceptions for a missed day. A missed session can be handled flexibly. Chip says denials of certificates have been appealed to RTOC, but does this result in a consistent policy? Harriet says appeals should be considered only in "extreme" circumstances. Janine and others mention the benefits they have had from repeating the same trainings.
Margaret says Rod Crossley asked for a certificate of completion after the recent California training, but he received only a certificate of attendance because he has not had basic inspector training (although he has done a lot of organic consulting). Harriet opposes making exceptions, and asks if the training committee wants to re-examine the criteria for advanced certificates. Janine says no.

11) Canadian committee. Janine discusses her costs of travel and lodging to attend official meetings. Margaret says IOIA has so far this year spent $1500 for board and staff travel; we also have $1000 left over from the AGM budget. Jack moves that IOIA pay Janine's hotel bill in Ottawa---around $100; APPROVED unanimously. Brain/Stan move that $900 remaining be put into an unallocated travel fund; APPROVED unanimously.

12) Accreditation committee. Chip says the ARP needs a certifier rep to fill a vacancy. Board liaisons with certifiers have yielded only one nominee---Lynn Moorer, an attorney with OCIA. During the call, a second candidate was named - Joran Viers. Our policy says this rep should be designated by the OCC, but OCC is now declining to do that and suggests we approach their people individually. After much discussion the vacancy on the ARP was FILLED by 5 votes for Joran Viers, and abstentions by Chip and Brian.

On motion by Brian/Stan, the following policies were ADOPTED unanimously:
The ARP shall have two alternates---one inspector and one outside alternate. In future, IOIA will approach major certifiers of our choosing to fill the certifier seat on ARP.
Criteria shall include two years of inspection work, not two seasons.

13) Membership committee. Diane says the survey has been completed and submitted by Maarten in an email. 50% of our membership responded, plus 30 additional comments. This is considered a remarkable turnout. The cost of the survey via the internet was $40. One member commented to object to the denial of his accreditation. Chip will write an article for the newsletter to clarify the process by which such a decision was made. The survey results will be reported in the next newsletter. The board expresses its appreciation to Maarten and Diane for completing
this work within the time specified. Chris is the board's liaison with the membership committee, and we ask him via these minutes to investigate possible alliances with other organizations for such benefits as group insurance rates, etc.

14) Committee on committees. Arthur said preliminary results are in from 11 respondents, mostly chairs of committees. A second survey will go out soon based on the recent OTA draft of their committee policies &
procedures. Arthur believes the comcom final report will be ready in May.

15) Should IOIA designate a rep for the inspector subcommittee of OTA's QAC (Quality Assurance Committee, which reviews standards issues)? Arthur, who is chair of that OTA subcommittee, would welcome such a rep. Janine says that IOIA has exercised its right to representation on one OTA committee, by having a rep on the OTA
livestock committee. The question of IOIA's rep to OTA was TABLED until the next meeting.

16) Compensation committee. Chip is board liaison; Eric Feutz is chair. A business module is being developed.
Chip raises the question---when conflict arises between certifier and inspector, should IOIA intervene? We don't have the resources to handle all worthy cases. But we could lean on certifiers to adopt written protocols for dismissals or suspension of inspectors. Further, we might disclose in our newsletter the names of certifiers
who had refused to adopt or disclose their protocols. Harriet endorsed the concept of dismissal for cause only, and said on behalf of the board that this project should PROCEED.

17) Peer mentoring committee. Chip said Joe is supportive but not active. Brian will review a proposal by Chip & Tony Fleming to experiment on a few processing inspections with role switching. Chip will write a newletter article on this.

OLD BUSINESS

18) Margaret asked---is our policy manual available to anyone. Comments were: no, but specific policies can be disclosed.

19) IOIA liaisons with certifiers. We reviewed who has accept which certifiers.
Jacklyn: Iowa;
Jack: GOA & Washington;
Brian: PCO & NOFANJ&NY;
Chris: CCOF;
Stan: OTCO&Idaho;
Chip:OCIA & NM;
Janine:FVO; Harriet:
QAI&MOSA&FOG;
Arthur:GeorgiaOrganics&MOFGA&Demeter&Maryland.
The question of what
criteria we will use to select these certifiers was TABLED.

20) GORP. Harriet says nothing new to report. Several decisions with OTA are pending. When will trainees at the GORP training in California get certificates? Uncertain.

21) Business plan. Harriet says outline of it went to Brian (chair); it awaits further development.

22) Follow-up to long range planning. Diane mentions technical advisory panel. TABLED.

23) FSMIP grant. Diane said this awaits a decision, probably in July.

24) Replacing board members as committee chairs. Chip says this effort has produced little progress, with the notable exception of the Canadian committee. Chip asks, should the accreditation committee be surveyed in an effort to find a different chair? Comments: yes.

25) Biofach report presented as printed from Jim Riddle. Will be sent to Maarten.

26) IFOAM conference of August 20-28, 2002. Harriet, Janine, Stan & Margaret will contact Anne Macey about finding a way to attract inspectors at the IFOAM event to some sort of gathering. Ideas on this can be discussed on the Forum. Harriet will encouragte the FAO and other agencies to join IOIA as cooperators. Harriet will represent OMRI (beginning Aguust 17). Jack will attend and can staff the IOIA booth for 2-3 days. Margaret plans to go. DECISION: $1000 for financial assistance will be doled out to: Harriet, Margaret, Janine, Stanley, Jack and Maarten.
Larry Lack's request for third world travel support to attend IFOAM. Stan/Janine move that IOIA donate $100; APPROVED unanimously.
Janine notes that IFOAM has received a $60,000 grant for similar purposes.

27) OTA in Austin, Texas. Harriet is going. Maarten & Ann Baier will staff IOIA table. Harriet asks for support for her hotel bill in Austin. Janine/Stan move that IOIA contribute $200; APPROVED unanimously.

28) Our promotion budget is $2000. Margaret says $338 has been spent. Harriet recalls that $600 was for various items including a display. Other objectives include a new brochure and participation at Baltimore expo. Janine/Jack moved and APPROVED unanimously that $600 be used for a display and banner.

29) AGM 2003. Diuscussion of possible locations. Decision not reached. Scheduling of board retreat, AGM and training is left to Margaret, with CONCENSUS GUIDELINES : one evening of board meeting prior to AGM, plus 1 1/2 days for board retreat after AGM, and two days of advanced training.

30) Policy manual. Margaret will email her updated version soon.

31) Jim Riddle has updated templates for NOP-compliant questionnaires for farm plan & renewals, as well as handler & renewals, with financial support from John Deere. Available on NOP website.

32) Next meeting: June 1, 11 AM EST, executive committee.

33) Lengthy discussion of job descriptions for training manager and executive director; or rather----of the assumptions underlying job descriptions. Here is a (not necessarily balanced) description of some comments: Margaret: if timelines are well dsigned, no short-term crisis will occur; a year is needed for the new system to develop. Harriet: don't we need to prepare for greatly increased demand for inspectors, by developing more staff? Jack: best to mold the job around the person. Chip: board should give more direction. CONCENSUS: Harriet, Brian and Margaret will discuss job descriptions further.

34) Adjourned at 4:35 PM EST.
Submitted by Arthur Harvey, note taker

January 31st & Feb 1st, 2002 IOIA Board Retreat Westerbeke Ranch, Sonoma CA
Present: Harriet, Stanley, Chip, Chris, Brian, Arthur for Joe, Margaret and Janine

Welcome to all by Harriet- She leads us in an Echinacea toast to health! Thank you Harriet for the gift of your Echinacea tincture.

Approval of the 2001 Retreat Minutes: Janine asks for comments on the retreat minutes. All approved, Arthur abstains as he was not present. Last Board Meeting Minutes, Dec 9th 01- Compensation committee report Chip asks that the word 'consider' be removed from the first paragraph and the grammar be corrected accordingly.

Circle of Goals as to what we want to accomplish at this retreat. Janine wants to work well together as a team- finishing FSMIP and training committee planning, Stanley wants to be inspired to be a better board liaison, Margaret is looking forward to not having to address any burning issues, Chris hopes we can do everything in one day so we can take the second day off! Brian hopes to secure the structure for the coming year, Chip hopes as we have matured as an organization, we have a more mature experience together, Arthur says he is here to kill time until the AGM- his one smoldering issue is how the budget of IOIA relates to retreat, board meetings and training and how this relates to membership involvement, Harriet's goals are to get through the agenda by working well together so we don't have to work at night. Protocols need to be developed on how we divvy up the work!

Approval of Retreat agenda: Additions- Under N: location and types of training Programs to encourage more member participation. Developing a criteria for membership in committees and what are the powers of the committee chairs in choosing committee members….Chip suggests the board be introduced to the Basic Training attendants, Chip asks if the question and answer session of introduction of potential board members is formalized (policy manual) and that we take some time to discuss the mechanism or even the possibility of doing so. Consensus on approval of agenda.

Chris will be the timekeeper, Stan suggests we use our previous behaviour protocols and Brian suggests we function by consensus unless the named presenter asks for a vote. Arthur asks Harriet to suppress outrageous behaviour. Chip initiates a discussion of alternates voting at this meeting. Janine/Chris that Arthur serve as Joe's voting replacement at this board retreat, until Joe arrives. Carried.

Chair's Report: Harriet says it has been very busy in the office and we need to discuss this and strategize how we can do all the things that need to be done without staff burnout.

Vice Chair Report: Stan has been working on the IFOAM contract addendum for feedback from the board at this retreat. He has also been working on formatting of the bylaws so they are more easily updated. Concerns about the IOIA matching funds for the FSMIP grant.

Secretary's report: Janine states that she may not be able to print the minutes as we go as she does not have her disk drive in her laptop, she has her cd drive. Margaret mentions there is a printer here and we could use it. Stan asks that Janine save the minutes in several places. She plans to.

Treasurer's Report: Discussion of Harriet's Budget being sent but not received by Brian. Discussion of the Profit and Loss Budget Overview. The budget has been determined in the usual manner, with conservative income estimates and liberal expense estimates, including a possible audit. Brian proposes we consider he attend the IOIA office and conduct an internal audit for internal review, that we discuss the expenses and possible timeline.

Harriet calls for announcements: Janine thanks Margaret for the beautiful Membership Directory and the new evaluation form! Chip inquires about staff burnout and we have time later on the agenda to address this issue.

Review of Strategic Initiatives: Harriet turns our attention to the strategic plan and the need for reprioritization. We were not able to accomplish a lot of what we had outlined for 2001, due to being side tracked by issues, such as not following our bylaws and he resulting need to revote our AGM activities. Committees have acted strongly in some areas and weakly in others. This points out areas where the board needs to take more initiative. Stan suggests we take time at the AGM to reintroduce our Strategic Initiatives, overview of the La Veta retreat and revitalize committees. Reassignment of committee tasks may be necessary. Discussion of empowerment of committees, role of board liaison, deadlines, delegation. Harriet points out that we have learned that some tasks remain with the board as administrators.
Discussion of Break timing: Break

Committee Reports:

Membership: Discussion of Maarten's concern about apprentices in our membership- lack of committee support despite agreement with the issue in principle. Discussion of options for membership survey-labour needs and possible electronic supports using a program to compile data. Questions (seven) have been developed. Diane points out that Yahoo has a polling mechanism that could serve our needs. Main question we understand is motivating Maarten: Is there a correlation between those who are active with IOIA and those who are making a living as inspectors? We also want to identify barriers to membership participation in committees and other strategic initiatives. Stanley is interested in helping with this survey and suggests we meet with Maarten while he is here. Chris is interested in helping along with Diane. Harriet suggest the Membership subcommittee, Chris, Stan, Maarten and Diane work out the questions including our strategic initiatives(such as barriers to participation) to Maarten's satisfaction with Stan and Diane taking on the electronic protocols for presentation and tabulation. The work that Diane does will be paid as a contractor to a maximum of the $150 in the Membership Committee Budget, with a timeline of distribution by the first of March, to be returned to the board by the May Conference call. Thank you to Maarten for his perseverance! Action: Stan and Chris and Diane to speak with Maarten about this.

Ethics Committee: Margaret summarizes the process with Joyce and Harriet. Recommendations to the committee: we are appreciative of the efforts to date and recommend minor changes only…
Throughout the document change the staff title to Executive Director.
Point #4 a) change "appointed" to "approved", which we believe is more correct. Discussion of committee participation and process. The board wishes the committee to seek out members and nominate their chair and vice chair. Response requested by March 1st.Motion Arthur/Chris to add the words "within the committee" in #5.B Motion withdrawn. #6 G- we recommend removal of the word "all". #9 A-Please discuss a biannual review of the Code of Conduct rather than a periodic review#10 C at least three individuals #10 G change "for review" to "for approval". Add that approval must be granted prior to distribution. . Delete #10 "J". We ask the Ethics committee to revise the reporting format to include a summary of the nature of the complaint and a summary of the proposed actions to be taken, with the IOIA Board Executive Committee reviewer giving approval for that action.
Investigation Procedures-change Coordinator to Executive Director. Discussion of need for greater clarity in procedures and BOD expectations of reporting and review. The Ethics Committee needs to be clear that all actions should only be taken with the Executive Committee member approval.#5 Following Executive Committee Member approval, actions that may be taken by the Ethics Committee and/or the Executive Director are:
#5 A add the word "punitive" following no and prior to action.
Add as the new "D"- Other punitive or corrective actions as determined by the Ethics Committee. And adjust the following letters accordingly.
#11. Add "however" prior to "recognizing."
Budget Request Discussion

Accreditation: Chip has been actively liaising with OCIA to solicit a certifier rep for the ARP. We need one by March 1st. ACTION: board members should connect with their respective certifiers to make this request. Discussion of possible remuneration for ARP members. We thank Amy Greenburg for excellent service and offer her an IOIA cap as a token of our appreciation. Discussion of possible promotions of IOIA Accreditation Program and concerns with how to promote smooth, timely function.
Scholarship Committee: We thank the members for their excellent work! Margaret nominates them for committee of the year! Budget discussions. Scoring document discussion, general interest expressed in seeing the scoring document. Arthur says he is not sure he should be helped! But we will let him see the documents anyway!
Latin American Committee: $500.00 approved in budget for translation costs. Letter to Lidia waiving her membership fees in recognition of her translation donations will be sent by Harriet on behalf of the board and our ED.Lidia has initiated a Spanish inspectors forum. Stan and Harriet would like to be on the Spanish forum. We thank Lidia for all her good work and sincerely hope stability is quickly restored to her home country.
Editorial Review Committee: Stan reports on the reformatting attempted for the French Manual as well as completion of the translation. We thank Stan and Joyce for their hard work. IFOAM is talking to the Chinese about that translation. IFOAM contracts are taking a lot of Stanley's time in determining what is right and fair. Administration is complex. Stan recommends we do not enter into a 50% royalty agreement again, as workload is not being distributed equally. Discussion of contracting a copywrite lawyer. If we need to produce a document we should locate the funding for 100% copywrite. Discussion of reviewing resources proposed for sale as IOIA resources. We thank the committee for their efforts.
Compensation Committee: Discussion of possible survey. Eric has requested $250.00 budget. Approved.
Communication Committee: Diane reports on the functioning of the website and the Forum. Diane plans to send out a bulk letter reminding people of how to make best use of our forum. Not functioning to full potential. Diane exploring making the Directory a searchable database. Arthur expresses interest in helping out. Budget request for software update.
Canadian Committee: Janine reports that Jim Hudson hosted a meeting of inspectors in Saskatchewan to discuss inspector issues. Janine misunderstood that he was resigning as co-chair. IOIA Support of COG is appreciated as Janine and Marina are now the president and vice president respectively. Costs for IFOAM participation by IOIA will likely be less than the amount requested in the budget. Discussion of the importance of building organizational liaisons to improve the inspector profile in Canada.
Bylaws Committee: Arthur announces a new member of this committee, Lance (Richard) Christie.
Business Plan - no action to date, although Harriet did request a budget item for software, working with Jack Reams, who is also running for the board. HB sees that the business plan should start moving along.
Inspection Reporting Checklist development - MS created a spreadsheet, wrote a summary, passed to Diane.
Fundraising - Development of a script for individual solicitations. Subcommittee for development of this approach is Chip, Stan, Diane and Harriet.
Finance: Budget line for financial services from Gardner Financial Services. They are doing a lot of work for VERY little cost. We thank them very much for their work and offer them caps as a token of our appreciation, if they would like to wear them!
Specific Committee Issues: Change policy to list "at least five" rather than three members, again at the committee's request. Stan says a scholarship is very effective in soliciting donations. Discussion of establishment of second and third scholarships and an expanded scholarship fund. ACTION: Criteria and forms for the "Organic Infrastructure Development"scholarship need development by the Scholarship committee, for awarding this fall. Second stage is that the board needs to develop a larger fund for financing future scholarships. Stan suggests we tie this increased scholarship initiative with the fundraising effort of Diane, Stan, Chip and Harriet mentioned above. Chip suggests we ask for a report back from the recipients. We think this is a good idea and should be added to the application by our Executive Director, who agrees to do follow up.
Bylaws: Should we have provision for a lack of quorum in the Bylaws? Arthur agrees with this and will prepare a recommendation for the board. Stanley has done a wonderful job formatting our Bylaws and assigned article numbers with an outline form, making it easier to reference and locate specifics. THANKYOU STAN!
Membership: Policy if members have outstanding invoices other than membership dues, can they still be in the directory? We agree that no, we withhold member services.
Internal Funtioning Of the Board: Discussion of staff person as note taker, removed from the Secretary function for more complete involvement by the Secretary. Estimated costs for a paid note taker at $15.00/hr is $1500.00 including meals and lodging for 2003. Arthur offers to do one meeting as the note taker to see how it goes. Moved by Janine/Chris that the board separate the note taking function from the Secretary function. Carried. One Abstention. This item will need to be budgeted for as soon as possible.
Board Orientation Packages for New Board Members: Diane presents her current packet of information. Needs new Ethics, information, new Bylaws, La Veta Strategic Planning Minutes, Non Profit Guide Book Series. Diane offers to be an orientor of new board members. She also recommends each board member "mentor" new board members to help with this orientation.

We welcome Joe to the Meeting!

Stanley proposes that as part of the new board orientation we schedule all conference calls a year in advance so we can schedule around the calls. Moved by Stan/ Chris. Carried with one abstention.
Internet Conference calls: Diane's research so far, has limited positive results due to expense. She has found one service Paltalk with a free trial, which needs Windows, 28.8 speed, microphone and speakers. Harriet suggests the Executive Committee try it out, Stanley, Diane, Harriet and Margaret will do a trial run.
Board Member Fund Raising: Brian proposes that each Board member raise $1000.00 for the board. Janine raises concerns about her ability to do so, though she acknowledges that this is a common board responsibility. Harriet points out that the FSMP grant asks for a lot of in kind donations. Chip speaks to the need for a script and a support system to do this with a focussed plan of who to target. Stanley says he needs a polished, professional portfolio with which to work. Agreement in principle.
Audit: We will discuss this at the next board meeting.
Credit Card: Stanley interested in doing research as we agree we should not be using Margaret's private credit card, as we are now doing. Brian and Stan will continue to research low annual fees, with more than one name. Chip suggests Working Assets.

Adjourned till 7pm

Mail-in Ballots: Possible more member participation by mail in. Bylaws could be discussed at the AGM but the actual vote would take place via mail in. People not present would have benefit of the minutes of the AGM and the discussion that took place. Chris also points out that this could make the AGM more constructive. Chip cautions that the level of participation for the past mail in may not be typical. Stan feels that the fact that we would not be voting would free time for discussion. The board vote would remain at the AGM but bylaw changes would be done by mail. What Harriet likes about this proposal is that it gives time for reflection, and then a relatively quick vote after the AGM. Harriet asks if we are in agreement to bring this question to the AGM. We agree.
BOD Term Limits: Do we want to ask for a review of the Board Term limits? Harriet and Chip debate overturning the decision made by the membership with the previous mail in ballot. Chip expressed concern that this might be seen as too "top down." Harriet says she can advocate overturning as it was declined after in person discussion. Arthur says that we are wasting time with this, it was a mandate, and we would be reversing an election. Harriet makes the point that the pro and con discussion was not included in the mail in ballots and that the vote at the AGM was turned down. Janine expresses concerns about continuity on the board given that the current chair would not be able to serve as past chair. We agree to proceed with presenting this issue at the AGM. Stan points out the importance of our Board Orientation packages if term limits are maintained.
Letters of Recommendation: When we are asked for letters of recommendation, the maintenance of independence is of primary consideration. To be added to the Policy manual in the appropriate place. Adjourned til Feb 1st 9am.

February 1st, 2002
Internal Functioning
Staff Salaries- Brian presents an overview of the history of the ED and Training Manager compensation back to 1999 so we have some historical context with which to analyze how we are compensating these positions. Discussion of the ED and Training Manager workload and reasonable, sustainable compensation. Breaking up the workload and distributing it to more staff is one option. General agreement that the compensation for both job descriptions needs to be increased, while Margaret's workload needs to decrease. Discussion of training a new training manager that reports to, the more fairly compensated Executive Director. Our newsletter editor and website manager positions also deserve better compensation. Joe points out that people are our most important asset. We propose we increase the ED compensation to$24,000.00 and hire a training manager as a separate position at the current compensation. We also propose a raise of $250/month for website and $800/month [changed to per issue] for newsletter. Discussion with Margaret and Diane about our proposals. Harriet volunteers to help with the Training Manager job description with Margaret.
Dues Increase
Joe proposes we raise dues $5.00 to $80.00 to cover increased cost of postage. Discussion of effect on international membership, promotion of members services and the importance of timing of such an increase. BOD Agreement for a dues increase for 2003 with amount to be determined later.
Personnel Manual
Needs to be a board committee to work on a personnel manual and an evaluation process for both staff and training coordinators. An evaluation is an opportunity for positive feedback. Diane volunteers to do some basic research on models for our use. Harriet & Brian also volunteer.
Protocol for Late Inspector Complaint Procedures
Discussion of methods on reporting notice to our membership about WHAT is required to research complaints and follows up on concerns, ensuring fair and respectful communication. A line has to go in our policy manual that states our Executive Director will decide what if any resolution can be accomplished. The team of our executive director and our editor will investigate any complaints about late inspector payment. Chip requests that the Compensation Committee be kept in the communication loop.
In Kind Contribution Form
Should be sent in quarterly. Harriet asks that it be sent electronically but Diane reports a signature is required. We need to be more diligent with completing this forms.
Policy on Electronic Formating of Documents to Facilitate Translations
Stan wants to set up a style sheet for IOIA documents, for consistency. Any one who works on IOIA curricula, modules, anything needs to use the IOIA style. Diane suggests we submit raw data in a normal style-these specifics need to be determined by Diane, Stan, Harriet and Margaret.
Payment of Trainings on Site
This is rare. Occasionally Margaret allows later payments and this causes stress. Payment and applications must be tied together. Margaret prefers cheques to credit cards. At Margaret's discretion we empower her to charge a late fee of $50.00.
IOIA liaison with other organizations
Stand suggests one option for possible health insurance grouping. Chip points out that we need to explore perks through alliance with other organizations. We consider this might be a membership benefit. Diane and Stanley have ideas they will communicate with Chris and Maarten of the Membership Committee.
Credit Card costs
We agree to increase training fees by 2% to allow for covering of credit card costs.
Membership Criteria for Committee Members
Are there criteria? What is the power of the committee chairs? We need a subcommittee to of the board to develop these policies. Arthur and Joe plan to meet to discuss this. They will gather all committee chairs as members and discuss powers of committee chairs with Harriet as the board liaison. Stan asks if there is anything standard in other organizations. Harriet points out this is the kind of research that needs to be done.
Question and Answer Session at AGM for Candidates
Chip proposes that we develop a policy on holding Q&A sessions for all candidates to speak to the AGM. Moved by Chip/ Chris that all board elections have a question answer session of the nominees. Carried, two abstentions.
Harriet feels the Chair runs the AGM and this should be left at their discretion.

Training Issues

1. Margaret presents her Training Manager Report: We thank her for this Summary of people trained, trainings held, and revenue.
2. Sunset Clause on selection of TC's when Trainings are postponed. Harriet also feels pre prep work needs to be compensated when it has occurred, and a training is cancelled. Joe suggests whatever costs are incurred prior to the postponement need to be covered. Discussion on options to be considered. Brian suggests that the sunset clause would be: if a training is postponed for more than 6 months, the TC selection will reoccur to ensure scheduling is still optimal. Janine will circulate this recommendation to the training committee.
3. Differentiation of Certificates of Completion and Certificates of Attendance. Discussion on the appropriateness of offering Certificates of Attendance. Our proposal to the Training Committee is to remove all certificates of Attendance and substitute this with a letter of attendance. All feedback must be received by the Chair by the end of February.
4. Cosponsor Contract; specifics to be included in the contract. Looks good to everyone except Stan points out the typo where "days" is omitted in the middle page paragraph about submitting tests 15 days prior… The new training manager will be working on an evaluation of the sponsors to be kept on file. Discussion of compensation for pre and post work being more specific to number of students, than a lump sum. Discussion of fairness of work distribution. Needs formatting.
5. Review of Yearly Agreement with Training Coordinators-discussion of the points on the contract. Add" excluding the manual" to number 7. Adjourned for lunch, reconvene at 1. #10 space missing prior to "30" days…#14. Change should to shall..#15. Discussion of the preference for the word REVIEW rather than the specifics of probation et cetera as listed. Harriet will invite Luis to discuss the issue of self promotion, with us.
6. Regional Training Co-Sponsor Contract
7. Digital Projector: ACTION: The Training Committee is to work on protocols for the use of the digital projector. Joe recommends Panasonic Commercial units as they work well for Cal Poly.
8. Refresher Course: criteria to be developed. Harriet suggests we ask the question on the Forum and in the newsletter to see if this is a need our members have interest. Certifier interest may be sufficient to make it feasible. Discussion of possible structures and various structures. Harriet suggests polling the certifiers to see the extent of the interest among certifiers.
9. Private Training: We believe there is important educational value in the community of inspectors and a larger number of students working together. We do not support the development of private training at this time due to this concern.
10. Peer Mentorship: Working with peers can call attention to details we may miss from habit. Chip agrees to work with Joe on developing a proposal for training committee consideration. Janine will invite participation in this project from the Training Committee.
11. FSMIP: Arthur disagrees will IOIA accepting government funds. Harriet summarizes the Five Points in the current application. Action: Joe suggests Diane be identified as the Principal Investigator, and Joe volunteers to help craft a letter with Diane to the Institute of Food Technology (IFT) in support of this grant. Stan expresses concerns about the number of projects outlined and how we will prevent burnout and over extension. Margaret discusses history of our past forms, why they aren't used, and need for our forms project. Stan wonders if we have time. All agree. Margaret says this is not an extended board project. Harriet brings up that forms project was greatly expanded and needs timeline corrected and money needed calculated correctly. Chris agrees with Arthur now, this is yuppie welfare and is draining our energies off to do work when we could be getting more money doing something else. Joe suggests only going for training modules and get our homework done before dealing with IFT. Discussion of limiting scope of project so we do not stress our volunteer resources. Joe recommends raising the request to $96,000.00- $98,000.00 through the State of Montana. Diane and Margaret present information that their research indicates IOIA fits into very few funder profiles. This work needs to be done but not many funders are willing to pay for it. Chip asks for inclusion of the Peer Mentorship and his Best Inspection Practices. Discussion of the calls that have gone out asking for input to this grant proposal and that though these proposals sound good, it is very late in the development process for new segments to be added. Harriet suggests we could scrap one of the distance modules if Chip and Joe present Diane with the outline of their proposal by February 6th.

Janine/Joe to approve Section A1, Carried with one opposed and one abstention.
Joe/Janine to approve Section A2, Carried with one opposed two abstentions.
Janine/Joe to approve Section B, Carried with one opposed and one abstention.
Joe/Janine to approve Section C, Carried with one opposed and one abstention.
Janine/Joe to approve Section D, Carried with two opposed and one abstention.
Joe/Janine Section to approve Section E, Carried with two opposed and one abstention.

12. GORP Business Plan: for the promotion of the GORP trainings. Harriet intends to use the GORP instructor pool for the promotion and development of this program-this includes Brian, Arthur, Stanley, Chip, Janine, Byron Ham, Mike Wise, Luis, George Danner,
13. Discussion of need to approve this plan. Moved by Stan/Joe Carried with one abstention
We thank Harriet for her diligent work on this project!

14. Memorandum of Understanding with OTA and the National Resources Conservation Services (NORCS); IOIA is positioned to offer OTA our services in providing Organic Compliance workshops for OTA. Harriet will present this on our behalf. Stan cautions us to not share any copywrites. Joe asks that Harriet let OTA know that in the future any requests for training workshops come to IOIA.
15. Tabling of Apprenticeship Program

IOIA External Interactions-
New Brochure - Harriet presents her vision document draft of the new brochure asking for input. Diane points out that Donna Youngdahl is also working on a new draft and Harriet suggests any work done can be pooled. Jim Riddle suggested that there be a place where people can join and buy the manual. It will be sent out to the Communications committee for review by March 1st. So things are ready for Austin May 10th to 15th.
Promotional Program: Budgeted for $2000. We need a banner, have brochures printed and set up press releases. Diane shares her research on locating table top displays for use in our booth at Austin.

Agreement that we should form a new Ad Hoc Response Committee. Arthur will call for membership on the Forum.
Discussion of always putting our co-sponsors first!!! Whenever IOIA is doing a training or printing a manual that uses our brainpower and labour, the IOIA name and logo come FIRST! Janine/Chris Carried Unanimously!!!
Stan stresses again we should NEVER share copywrite as he has found it to be a nightmare!!!

IOIA Representation: Harriet asks what our process is in choosing our representatives. Historically our first choice has been the Executive Director, second is the Chair and thirdly the Vice Chair. Discussion of Representation to Biofach and IFOAM.
Chris suggests that at each board retreat the schedule for the year of upcoming events be established, with recommended participants. Harriet will probably be at Anaheim but feels we are not ready to be there as a booth. Biofach- Budget Estimates-Display $500.00
Guelph-Janine $150.
Asilomar-missed
BioFach-Martin $300
Umidwest Organic Farming Conference -Harriet
Anaheim-Harriet
Austin-Harriet
IFOAM BC-$900.00 Margaret & Harriet (?)
Washington-BOD

Certifier Promotion-Promote Website-Training Schedule & Membership Directory, send newsletter, letter of Congratulations once accredited, mention our mission statement, direct them to the Website and solicit Supporting Membership, suggest they contribute to the scholarship fund- Harriet volunteers to write and send out this package.
Moved by Stan/Janine that Harriet send this package to all Certifiers who are not currently supporting members and are accredited by NOP-Carried Unanimously
Clearinghouse for Inspectors-outside of our current mission and strategic initiatives
Inspector Liability Insurance-Harriet to do more research
2003 AGM location-Early March, need a proposal for Oaxaca, Mexico, they have requested we attend in conjunction with the OCIA. Another proposal is in Vermont in conjuction with an Advanced Training. That the next AGM be in the second or third month of 2003 in the North East . Moved by Stan/Joe Carried

Approval of the 2003 Budget
We have been reviewing the budget components as we progressed through each topic. We have reviewed Margaret's HOW I PROJECTED THE BUDGET. She has unfortunately copied the wrong page for distribution at this meeting. She is prepared to put an overhead of the budget together for the AGM. The major change from the proposed budget is the increase in staff salaries. All the Manual income totaled over $20,000. But we have spent over $15,000. For printing and another $7 for IFOAM royalties. So the actual income was only $4,000.000. We have approved the budget to present to the members at the AGM!
Discussion of Powerpoint presentations for next year!
Board Nominations for OTA- email vote worked last year.

Thank you & Adjourned