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The regular meeting of the Washington Geographic Alliance (WGA) Board of Directors was called to order at 6:48 p.m. by Tim Schultz in the home of Richard Kennedy and Heidi Morgan, 18825 6th Avenue SW, Normandy Park, Washington.
Present: President Tim Schultz of Green River Community College (GRCC), Vice-President Meghan Hoyer of St. Philomena School, Heidi Morgan of the National Geographic Society's (NGS) Grosvenor Council, and Secretary Richard Kennedy of the NGS's Grosvenor Council.
Amy Chertock of Shorewood High School and Genya Parks of Lawton Elementary School submitted their resignations from the Board of Directors via email. The term of Treasurer Charles "Chip" Dodd of Shoreline Community College (SCC) has expired.
The Board of Directors members present expressed thanks to these three individuals for their service.
A motion to approve the draft minutes of the Board of Directors meeting of July 20, 2007, as amended by Tim, was made by Tim and seconded by Meghan. The motion passed unanimously.
Tim has asked Chip numerous times to send the artwork for the WGA Apple logo to Richard. Tim has received no reply.
Tim is drafting an email to Rep. Schual-Berke with details about his work on the Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction's Geography Grade Level Expectations committee and how the Washington Assessment of Student Learning (WASL) tests handle geography.
Tim said that Joyce Zeigan from Stanwood is a good candidate for the WGA Board. Joyce has expressed interest in helping to create consistent materials for the WGA, e.g. formatting the summer's lesson plans into a consistent style. The suggestion was made that existing members of the Board may be able to accomplish this task.
Meghan has completed the tool kit materials for the web site on how teachers may be better made aware of the existing lesson plans, teaching aids, etc. that are already prepared.
Meghan said that Pat Leroy from St. Francis School in Seahurst and Sarah Hill are interested in joining the WGA board.
Richard has reached a dead-end with Senator Murray's office about becoming a cosponsor for S. 727 (Teaching Geography is Fundamental Act).
As Chip has not delivered the originals of the logo artwork, Richard will try to recreate it.
Chip's action items are moot. Tim mentioned that he was approached about becoming vice-president of the Association of Washington Geographers; a two-year commitment followed by the presidency.
The International Baccalaureate North America Support Desk said that there is no such post as Washington State International Baccalaureate coordinator for social studies or geography. Heidi spoke with the International Baccalaureate Coordinator at Mt. Rainier High School. He suggested contacting at South Salem (Oregon) High School.
National Council for Geographic Education is holding their Annual Meeting on October 18-21 (Thursday-Sunday) in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. Richard distributed the annual meeting's agenda.
Tim said that there were sufficient funds from our NGS grant to fund a trip to the annual meeting. Meghan cannot attend, as the giant Asia map will be here during that time. Heidi has other commitments that prevent her attendance. Tim and Richard will represent the WGA at the NCGE Annual meeting.
On September 7, Richard and Heidi met with Jon Roush, Joyce Chinn, Teresa Bulman, Roni Jones, Allison Newton, Chris Shearer, and Bob Dulli on the campus of Portland State University.
Bob is Gil Grosvenor's assistant. Jon and Joyce are doing some consulting work with NGS on strengthening the alliances. Roni and Allison are two new part-time NG staff that will be working as liaisons to alliances beginning next month. Allison will be responsible for eight states in the Southeast and Roni will work with CA.
Jon and Joyce are working on Phase II of their study right now. Phase II involves creating a strategic planning process and a strategic planning guidebook for alliances to use to create a strategic plan for their particular situation. We reviewed this work and brainstormed about next steps.
A copy of the materials distributed at the meeting follows these minutes.
A reception for the Washington Geographic Alliance was hosted by Richard and Heidi at the E. B. Foote Winery on Thursday, August 23. The weather was infinitely more hospitable than was last years.
Twenty persons attended. We used this opportunity to publicize the WGA and the My Wonderful World campaign. Handouts of printed materials including maps were given to the attendees.
As the turnout was lower than expected, a different type of activity should be considered for next year.
Meghan Hoyer gave the following schedule for the giant Asia map:
Richard has spoken with Dan Beaupre of National Geographic about producing a large map of Washington State. Dan's initial reaction was positive and he is looking into the details. The map would most likely be donated by NGS but we would have to fund the printing of the map. Richard gave Tim a portion of grant form from The Boeing Company for him to complete. Meghan commented that our map should be about 20 feet by 30 feet to make shipping, packaging, and display easier.
Tim nominated himself, Meghan, Richard, and Heidi for a three-year term as a director of the WGA. No further nominations were offered. A motion was made by Tim and seconded by Heidi to elect the nominees as directors. The motion passed unanimously.
Tim, as the Washington Geographic Alliance coordinator, continues to serve as President. Tim made the following nominations:
Vice-president: - Meghan
Secretary: - Richard
Treasurer: - Heidi
No further nominations were offered. A motion was made by Tim and seconded by Heidi to elect the nominees to their respective offices. The motion passed unanimously.
Green River Community College was only willing to handle the grant money received from NGS. Therefore, another account is required to hold money received from other sources.
A motion was made by Tim and seconded by Meghan to authorize and direct the Treasurer to open a bank account with Washington Mutual Bank. The motion passed unanimously.
Richard reported that the following informational filings were made with the State of Washington:
Richard completed a draft of the WGA Internal Revenue Service Form 990-EZ. It will be reviewed by Tim and Green River Community College prior to its filing.
Richard registered the WGA with the organization GuideStar. They gather and publicize information about nonprofit organizations.
Richard and Tim registered the WGA with Boeing Employees Community Fund. This makes it possible for Boeing Employees to contribute directly to the WGA.
Lanny Proffer of the NGS has developed a short briefing paper for Washington State legislators on why they should fund an endowment for the WGA. The draft copy follows these minutes.
This item was postponed until the next meeting.
Tim has a large number of maps. As time permits, he will be mailing them to principals in various schools throughout the state.
Meghan mentioned that on Wednesday, October 24 the giant Asia map would be at St. Philomena. An open house will be held that evening.
Tim suggested that a "Hill Day" be done in Olympia during the next legislative session to encourage funding of an endowment for the WGA.
The lesson plans created during the WGA Summer Institute need to be put into a common format. Tim suggested that Meghan attempt this. The reformatted lesson plans will be posted on our web site.
The next meeting regular meeting of the WGA Board of Directors will be held on Tuesday, October 23, 2007 at 6:30 p.m. in the home of Richard Kennedy and Heidi Morgan, 18825 6th Avenue SW, Normandy Park, Washington.
Respectfully submitted,
/ss/ Richard T. Kennedy
Richard T. Kennedy
Secretary
Approved October 23, 2007
Draft: August 30, 2007
The Strategic Planning Workbook, will have two sections: (1) an introductory narrative about the principles of planning and (2) a step-step-planning procedure in workbook format. This is a draft outline of the second section, for discussion at the September 7 meeting in Portland.
1. Organizing to plan
1.1 Planning Team
Alliance leaders will assemble a Planning Team of alliance members. Working with Your Liaison, the Planning Team will organize the process, make assignments, meet, and write and review drafts.
For members of the Planning Team, look for people who are comfortable with concepts and ideas and are intellectually open and flexible. Assemble a diverse team, including people who are not members of the alliance's inner circle.
Include as many people as possible. You will get better decisions, and better implementation. Those who will implement a plan should help design it. They will understand it, be invested in it, and tie it to reality.
Look for people who are future oriented and are comfortable dealing with ideas.
Try to include alliance members who are not part of the inner circle. Bring in some newcomers as insurance against groupthink.
Select one person as Planning Team leader.
1.1.1 General Membership
All alliance members must be aware of the process. The Planning Team should look for opportunities to ask for input and must develop procedures for reporting to the membership.
1.1.2 Teamwork
Some planning tasks will require the whole Planning Team meeting two or three times, once to organize the process, once to agree on key elements of the plan, and possibly once again to review the final first draft.
Between meetings, the Planning Team members will work individually or in ad hoc groups, and they will confer via Internet.
1.2 National Guidance
NGS will provide appropriate guidance about its expectations of alliances and about national level strategic goals for geography education.
1.3 Planning to Plan
After consultation with Planning Team members, Your Liaison will draft a planning schedule, with times and places for meetings.
Depending on logistics, the entire process will normally take four to six months.
2 The First Meeting
2.1 Agree on the process
The Planning Team will review the draft planning schedule and revise it if necessary.
2.2 Strategic Issues
What are the most important questions that the planning problem must resolve? These are questions that (1) the alliance has the power to answer, (2) have important long-term consequences (get them wrong, and trouble will follow), and (3) they need to be addressed soon.
2.3 Internal Strengths
What are the alliance's most important strengths? Think about your knowledge, information systems, influence, capital, internal culture, and any other relevant hard or soft assets.
The whole Planning Team will brainstorm ideas about this, listing as many strengths as they can think of. Then the group will consolidate the list, agreeing on a shorter list that includes main headings for everything on the original list.
The group will discuss the consolidated list to identify the final list of truly important strengths. There are two important questions to ask of each item on the list:
Write and store the final list of strengths.
2.4 Scenarios
Each Planning Team member will imagine the best possible future for the alliance, three to five years out. Each will list the key elements of that future, which will be recorded on flip charts. The group will analyze commonalities, differences, and possible resolutions.
The key is to protect new and diverse ideas. People's first inclination is to extrapolate from current strategies. That might be the right thing to do, but this is the time to encourage unexpected ideas.
3 Between Meetings 1 and 2
Planning Team members will continue to draft and discuss alternate scenarios via internet. They also will discuss the scenarios implications for the alliance's strategic goals.
4 The Second Meeting
4.1 Scenarios
The Planning Team will complete the evaluation of scenarios and agree on a preferred scenario for the alliance.
4.2 Goals
Given the scenario, what are the alliance's strategic goals? The discussion of strategic issues will help elucidate goals. Why are the issues important, and what does that tell us about goals? Strategic goals should be broad but not vague or ambiguous. The final set of goals should be exhaustive and exclusive. That is, it should include everything your alliance plans to accomplish and exclude everything it does not. Do not have too many goals. Five strategic goals is a stretch for any organization, and three is usually a comfortable number.
4.3 Strategies
What strategies will the alliance pursue in order to achieve its desired position?
Strategies are patterns of behavior by which an organization tries to achieve its goals. A good strategy uses the organization's strengths effectively to take advantage of external opportunities and overcome external obstacles. So an organization's strategy is its attempt to find the best fit with its environment to achieve its goals.
Look again at the scenario and goals. What additional possible strategies do they suggest? Brainstorm alternatives. There must be at least one strategy supporting each goal. If a strategy supports more than one goal, so much the better.
Analyze the possible strategies. Can any be consolidated? Again, imagine alternatives. Which best resolve the strategic issues, advance the alliance toward the goals, and make best use of the alliance's strengths?
4.4 Objectives (Optional)
An alliance might choose to embed measurable objectives within the strategies. These are specific accomplishments with deadlines. Think of them as sub-goals. You will either quantify them or describe them in specific terms that will leave no room for argument about whether they have been met. And you will specify the date by which your alliance plans to achieve them.
Monitoring results is an essential part of planning. Measurable objectives the benchmarks for monitoring.
[We recommend including objectives in the plan, but if adding this step makes the planning schedule too demanding, it can be bypassed for now. In that event, annual work plans can fill in objectives year by year.]
Recommended Process
Assign each strategy to one member of the Planning Team. Their assignment is to lay out the key objectives for that strategy.
5 Between Meetings 2 and 3
The internet will hum with emails discussing strategies and objectives.
With input from Planning Team members, the alliance coordinator and Your Liaison will draft two documents: a description of the alliance organization needed to carry out the tentatively preferred strategy, and a broad-brush financial plan that describes in general terms the sources and uses of funds.
5.1 Organization
To carry out the strategies, what human resources will the alliance need, and how should they be organized? Include coordinators, consultants, paid staff, and volunteer committees.
5.2 Financial Plan
Based on the capacity needed to carry out the strategies, project sources and uses of funds, in general categories, year by year for the next three years.
5.3 Final First Draft of the Strategic Plan
The Planning Team leader or a Planning Team member delegated puts all the elements together in a draft of the strategic plan.
6 Reviews
6.1 Meeting 3: Planning Team Review
The Planning Team meets to discuss the draft plan and to agree on changes, if necessary.
NOTE: If a third meeting is not practical, the Planning Team can comment on the draft by email.
6.2 NGS Review
NGS staff review the plan.
Jon Roush and Joyce Chinn
August 2007
These notes are background for the September 7 meeting in Portland.
We define "strategy" as a pattern of behavior by which a living system interacts with its environment to achieve a goal. By that definition, whether amoebae or The United Nations, we all have strategies.
Breathing is a strategy, through which we inhale environmental air, and exhale back into it to achieve the goal of survival.
Every organization employs strategies, although often those strategies are like breathing—we usually are not conscious of our breathing, and we have limited control over it. Our strategies are often the results of habit, unexamined assumptions, or personal biases. Whether the goals are the best goals, how well the strategies get results, or whether alternative strategies would get better results—those are questions not usually asked.
The purpose of strategic planning is to help organizations design the most effective strategies for the most important goals. With strategic planning, organizations gain control over their strategies, and thus over their futures.
Even organizations that already have gone through a rigorous strategic planning process need to revisit and revise their plans periodically. Conditions change, inside and outside the organization. Results rarely turn out exactly as expected, and we can learn from those differences. Planning is not simply a matter of producing a written plan. It starts with that and then involves monitoring the environment, monitoring results, making adjustments, and eventually re-planning.
Strategic plans can be tens or (ouch!) hundreds of pages, including charts and graphs. Or they can be five or six compelling pages. Whatever the scale or format, a useful plan must answer four basic questions.
We cannot take credit for inventing these four questions. They are adapted from a nineteenth-century British military officer's Field Manual. When an officer was in the thick of battle, and things were not going as planned, he could pause for ten minutes, answer the four questions, and come up with a new plan. You can use the four questions to plan dinner or plan your life. Using them to plan an organization, however, will require considerably more time.
As the four questions suggest, strategic planning benefits greatly from research and analysis. Alliances' planners must succeed in three areas:
The first step is to assess existing resources and obvious gaps. Then generate alternative strategies for using the resources dealing with the gaps. Finally, describe the strategy that best achieves the goals, enlists stakeholders' support, and gets the most of existing resources and promises to attract additional resources.
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Think of the three areas as overlapping circles. They create a fourth area in the center, where the circles overlap. That is where an alliance can use its resources to advance the mission while meeting stakeholders' needs. Call that the area of opportunity.
Strategic planning first identifies the area of opportunity. Then it designs strategies that optimize the area of opportunity and if possible enlarge it.
The Written Plan
The plan will describe a clear logical line that begins with the mission and broadest goals, connects them to strategies and organizational structure, and then to the budget and financial plan. The alliances' broad strategic goals will derive logically from the mission of advancing geographic literacy in the environment of its state. The strategies will be derived to achieve the goals. The organization will be derived from the strategies, and the budget from the organization.
Working from the bottom up, you can think of the plan as a set of nested hypotheses: If we make our budget, then we can afford the organization we need. If we have the organization, then we can carry out the strategies. If we carry out the strategies, then we will achieve the goals. If we achieve the goals, then we will advance the mission.
The final section of the plan (excepting appendices) will describe how your alliance coordinator and steering committee will monitor results and respond. The management process should include an annual progress review and provision for ad hoc reviews in the event of major unexpected developments.
Note. Each of the hypotheses depends on assumptions. An assumption is a statement about a condition over which you have little or no control. For example, a hypothesis that a given organization will be able to carry out strategies might depend on assumptions about stakeholders' cooperation. It is very useful to list the key assumptions in the written plan. Later as your alliance monitors results, signs that assumptions are not evolving as expected can be early warning signs that the plan might be in trouble and might need adjustment.
Four Common Excuses for Not Planning
Excuse 1: We don't need to plan. We already know what we are doing.
Answer: If so, congratulations! But just to be sure, can you affirm all the following?
If there is one of those statements that you cannot affirm, you should consider planning. If several cannot be affirmed, you should consider planning right now.
Excuse 2: Planning is important, but we don't have time now. Maybe we'll get around to it later.
Answer: Planning creates time. It tells you what not to do. For things you need to do, it shows you how to do them efficiently. It helps you avoid spending time on unproductive projects. It aligns everyone in the organization behind shared goals. Because everyone knows the goals and priorities, it enhances coordination. Possibly the reason you are feeling overwhelmed is that you haven't planned.
Excuse 3: Our situation is too chaotic to plan. We can't predict what is going to happen next, let alone two or three years from now.
Answer: Planning is not about prediction. You don't need to know what you will be doing two years from now. You need to know what to do tomorrow morning. A plan tells you what direction you need to go, so that you know where take the next step. You do need to set goals, but you will learn as you go, and you will encounter surprises along the way. That is why planning is continually adaptive. Christopher Columbus apparently was a good planner. He had a goal, outfitted his ships with the necessary supplies, and kept a course in uncharted waters. Of course, he thought he was going to India. Being a good planner, once he understood his mistake, he redefined the goal.
Excuse 4: Our work is too creative for planning. We need to be nimble. The last thing we need is a millstone of a plan holding us down, when we should be flying.
Of course you're creative. We all are. Planning will help you be more creative. It will give you the opportunity to think outside the box, to imagine previously unimagined alternatives. And you get to do that without risk. You get to make your mistakes on paper. Erasers are cheap.
The U.S. Department of Labor has identified geo-technology as one of the fastest growing job categories. Geographic Information Systems and spatial technology are changing the way companies do business and creating thousands of new jobs for young people literate in geography and familiar with the modern tools of geography.
The National Geographic Society has invested tens of millions of dollars to build a national network of State Geographic Alliances dedicated to preparing teachers and students for the geographic challenges and opportunities of the future. The Washington Alliances is a volunteer organization composed of academic geographers and K-12 teachers. Like its counterparts in other states, the Alliance offers summer institutes and year around workshops for teachers, distributes classroom materials, and facilitates the exchange of information and teaching strategies among Washington State teachers. Since its inception in the early 1990s, the Washington Alliance has trained hundreds of teachers and impacted thousands of Washington students.
To provide permanence and growth potential for the Washington Geographic Alliance, the National Geographic is offering the State of Washington an unprecedented opportunity. For every dollar the state appropriates for a Washington Geography Education Fund, the National Geographic will match it dollar-for-dollar up to $500,000 yielding a $1 million endowment. The Society will also invest and manage the fund without charge ensuring that all the earnings are available for geography education in the state. Twenty-three other states have already seized this opportunity and many of these endowments have been paying out for more than a decade.
The State of Washington has a great opportunity to create a legacy that will help generations of the state's teachers and students become more geographically literate and meet the high expectations for geographic literacy set out in the State K-12 Curriculum.
The opportunity to join with the National Geographic is a great investment
For more information on the programs and activities of the Washington Geographic Alliance go to their web site at <http://www.washgeo.org/> or contact Tim Schultz, the Alliance coordinator, at Green River Community College.
For more information on the NGS Geography Education Endowment program, contact at the Society's Education Foundation