<p> O&M DIVISION EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE MEETING MINUTES May 8, 2014 Approved May 19, 2014</p><p>I. CALL TO ORDER – Kevin Hollinger convened the meeting at 8:32 PM EST</p><p>II. WELCOME & ATTENDANCE A. Kevin welcomed EC members B. Roll call by Bonnie Dodson-Burk, Secretary C. Attendance C.1. Officers: Present - Kevin Hollinger (Chair), Marjie Wood (Past-Chair), Susan Langendonk (Chair-Elect), Bonnie Dodson-Burk (Secretary) and Treasurer (vacant) C.2. District Directors: Present – Edwina Wilks (Dist 2), Michelle Antinarelli (Dist 4) Audrey Dannenberg (Dist 6) Absent - Tanni Anthony (Dist 1), Sarah Arch (Dist 3), Mickey Damelio (Dist 5) C.3. Division Member Guests: none C.4. Others: none D. Approve the Agenda – Consensus to approve Agenda. E. Exec Committee Meeting Minutes – Minutes from the March 6, 2014 meeting were approved via email on March 10, 2014. </p><p>III.CONSENT AGENDA: A. Blasch scholarship Committee – see attached report. </p><p>IV. SPECIAL ORDERS – NONE POSTPONED FROM MARCH 6, 2013 MEETING </p><p>V. OLD BUSINESS: A. O&M Division Conference 2017 – AERI Board approved (Kevin) A.1. Kevin will send out a blast email to Save the Date. A.2. Grand Wyndham Hotel, Pittsburgh, PA – July 16-23, 2017 A.3. Rates: Single $145; Double $145; Triple $165; Quad $185 A.4. WiFi in rooms and meeting space. A.5. Kevin suggests for Susan to get copy of hotel contract & set a timeline. A.6. Susan will choose Conference Committee. A.7. District Directors will serve as Program Committee.</p><p>B. AER International Conference Update (Susan) B.1. The O&M Division has 34 presentations spread over 4 days. There were many excellent submissions that made it to the final review and Kevin, Marjie, Bonnie and Susan felt all were deserving of acceptance. Susan is working with Joelle to shift sessions so there are more O&M sessions on Saturday.</p><p>Page 1 of 10 O&M EC Minutes May 8, 2014 B.2. Because of the packed schedule, it was difficult to find times to schedule the O&M Division Business meeting. It will begin on Thursday morning during breakfast. I’m hoping we can either hold it near the breakfast buffet or have our own buffet in the meeting room so people don’t have to choose between eating and coming to the meeting. We only have an hour before sessions begin, but we have a second time blocked off at 6:00pm on Friday if we need to continue. B.3. The O&M Division Awards Reception is scheduled for Thursday evening at 7:00pm. Rod Kossick (O&M archives, historian) is working on a powerpoint presentation that he will show in honor of 50 years of an O&M Division. Includes pictures and photos from archive. We are working on providing CDs of the presentation that will be given to all attendees. Will be posted on member section of Division website. B.4. The Past Chair Breakfast will be held Friday morning at 7:00am and 9 past chairs have already accepted. The O&M Division will pay the difference between the cost of the plated breakfast for the past chairs and the continental breakfast. </p><p>C. O&M/GDMI Working Group Update – (Kevin) C.1. Kevin has not heard recently from Dona and Jeremy. Some people dropped out, couldn’t keep time commitment, had initial intrigue but chose to not participate in process. C.2. Lead planner Jeremy joined AER and reached out to try to contact Jim and Lou.</p><p>D. Awards Committee Update D.1. Special Recognition (Kevin / Kathy Yale) to Dr. Grace Ambrose Zaken for her efforts on licensure will be given at Awards Banquet. AER does not have a rubric to score special recognition or certificates of recognition. Kevin asked Jennifer, chair of VRT Division, if she would like to participate in recognizing Grace. Grace will not attend conference as she is speaking at another conference. D.2. Awards booklet being assembled – Kevin reminded Joelle and Kathy Yale to stay within budget. </p><p>VI. NEW BUSINESS: A. Treasurer Report (Kevin) A.1. Susan reports we are under budget for food for Awards Reception and Past Presidents Breakfast. O&M Division will pay the difference. Budgeted $35 per person and may cost us approx. $12. Continental breakfast cost $28. Need to be sure we pass this information on to the next Treasurer. A.2. YTD Expenses – posted as of March 31, 2014 as per central office report Phone $49.59 Printing Awards IT Services Total $49.59 </p><p>B. Election Results & Welcoming new Division EC – (Kevin) B.1. Kevin will develop a phone contact sheet. </p><p>Page 2 of 10 O&M EC Minutes May 8, 2014 B.2. Kevin will recognize them at the business meeting. B.3. OFFICERS CHAIR-ELECT: Michelle Antinarelli SECRETARY: Justin Kaiser TREASURER: Stephanie Chmielinski B.4. NOMINATIONS COMMITTEE: Mickey Damelio; Meg Robertson; Eileen Siffermann; Mary Ball-Swartwout; and Erica Ihrke 5. DISTRICT DIRECTORS: DISTRICT 1: Kelly Parsons DISTRICT 2: Sherry Holder DISTRICT 3: Sarah Arch DISTRICT 4: Kathy Clarrage DISTRICT 5: JoAnne Chalom DISTRICT 6: Audrey Dannenberg 6. Discussion about election process. a. Should we consider requiring members of EC to have previous experience at chapter level or on a Division committee, particularly if person serves as Chair-Elect? Pros/cons b. Consider providing more time for voters to get to know candidates. Perhaps announce slate, give candidates a month to tell members about themselves, and then put Ballot out. Often, people make decision based on name recognition or bio. c. Action step - Ask Nominations committee to review process. C. Committee Chairs and Committee Members 2014-16 (Susan) 1. Kevin asked current chairs if they are interested in continuing to serve. Susan has discussed committee work with folks. EC members asked to contact Susan with if we know someone who might make a good committee member. 2. Kevin & Susan will have a division table in San Antonio – recruitment. Greatest two needs are Social Media/Communication and Newsletter committees. D. AERLift Webinars (Audrey) 1. Wednesday 5/14 3:30 EST. PPRC – Professional Personnel Recruitment Committee. 2. Three university reps talking about their efforts for recruitment and committee plans. 3. It will be recorded. </p><p>E. Ad Hoc Committee Announced – Role Definition and Preferred Practices for O&M with OT/PT (Kevin)</p><p>1. Kevin sent blast email to Division members. 2. That was something Kevin originally had intended to do. 3. Committee recently assembled. Bill Penrod, Chair and members Susan Langendonk, Kevin Hollinger, Michelle Antinarelli, Bill Hixon and Dr. Sandy Rosen. </p><p>Page 3 of 10 O&M EC Minutes May 8, 2014 4. OT would like to put human guide in an OT textbook. 5. Audrey is developing presentations for OT and PT students to learn about O&M field. </p><p>F. Travel Instruction Update (Bonnie) 1. 75 people attended TI conference sponsored by CEATI in Pittsburgh in April. A little more than half of the attendees were COMS. 2. Phone conference with Garett Holm from ACVREP and CEATI Board members in January to discuss possibility of establishing certification for Travel Instructors. 3. Formal letter from CEATI Board to ACVREP in February requesting them to consider developing certification in TI. CEATI has not received an official response from ACVREP. 4. Ongoing discussions between CEATI and ACVREP. </p><p>G. Healthcare Companies and AER Board Action (see report attached) (Kevin) 1. Solient and Procare Health are contracting with State Schools and school districts to provide O&M and TVI services at price that undercuts previous providers. Prior to this, most of O&Ms were getting $150-$170 per hour. Salient came in and said they would provide O&M for $65 per hour. This is occurring in TX, CO, VA, MI. It is capitalism that is taking away contracts from certified professionals. 2. As of last Friday – Solient has 348 contracts with school districts and only a handful of service providers. Four companies have over 500 jobs posted. Students are not getting services. Schools are stating that they hired a company and they can’t help it if they can’t find service providers. 3. How did these companies get awarded a contract without having certified O&M and TVI? 4. This was brought to Kevin’s attention. He brought it to AER Board’s attention. At Kevin’s request, Lou Tutt is putting together a core group of 5-7 people to be involved with this. Michelle volunteered to work with this group. We contacted APH, Vision Serve Alliance, and ACVREP. </p><p>H. Division Goals 1. Setting goals - When Division submits a budget, we need to align budget items with AER strategic plan & division goals. Kevin said what if Division sets their own goals? 2. Yearly goals submitted with budget – Division would like to consider a 5-year plan. 3. Redesign O&M Logo – discussed redesigning logo because we are no longer referred to as Division 9. 4. Overhaul Division website– Division and AER website are outdated. AER is getting a new website. Several links don’t work or take person to incorrect information. Division website needs a complete overhaul. 5. Compounding Communication – Strategy suggested by Jim Adams suggests if we need to disseminate info. Each EC member shares with 8-10 people. Ask them to </p><p>Page 4 of 10 O&M EC Minutes May 8, 2014 share with 5-6 other people. Saves Division money as it reduces the number of blast emails. 6. Recruit Division Members – we should recruit students at University programs each semester for AER membership. We need to identify people geographically who are willing to present and conduct recruitment activities. 7. Tactile Map Competitions for AER Conferences of hotel and meeting space. Make pdf document of different floor plans. Maps used at conference. a. Partner with Universities to recruit student submissions b. Consider a Mentor program and partnerships c. Award $75, $50, $25 credit toward Conference Registration Fee 8. Internship Supervisor Resource – identify COMS willing to be supervisor. Generate a list of people by state who would be willing to serve as supervisor on website on members only section. Michelle stated that in her AER district, many O&M specialists and TVIs are not willing to serve as supervisors for several reasons: (a) Universities are not sending strong candidates, (b) interns have a list of things they need to accomplish for course requirements, (c) compensation is low, and (d) COMS may not be strong themselves. Is there a way of assuring quality of candidates or quality of mentors? Kevin – AER is trying to develop a new student chapter – met at O&M conference. Some universities find placements and at others students have to find their own internship. List of certified people. Bounce back to ACVREP. This could be a job for the Communications committee. 9. Access to Division business meetings - Michelle suggested we consider providing remote access to the Division business meeting for those who cannot attend in San Antonio. People have no means of being part of the meeting. Kevin stated we can reallocate money within our own budget. Division can go back to AER finance committee and they go back to entire board to ask for an amendment. This is time-consuming process and may not be in place in time for meeting in San Antonio. Action Step - Susan will follow up to determine what is needed and costs. 10. Division Town Meetings - Michelle questioned possibility of setting up Town Meetings to give people opportunity to meet and share ideas. Each district might hold a town meeting with district members. People feel distant from AER leadership. AER has a free resource called Talking Communities, which is accessible. </p><p>VII. AERI Board Meeting Update (Kevin) 1. Long meeting in Reno with massive agenda. 2. In the next AER report, Cliff Olstrom, Treasurer, is putting together a financial report for past 10 years. Cliff was reelected. AER is a membership organization and people have a right to know. At one point, AER was operating with $400,000 deficit. For the first time in many years, AER has operated “in the black” in 2014. 3. Membership drive was successful. Gained 800 new members but lost just as many from people retiring, not renewing, and students who did not get professional membership. AER did not retain members. </p><p>Page 5 of 10 O&M EC Minutes May 8, 2014 4. Board is looking at revising listserv guidelines. 5. Bylaws & Structures committee presented a number of recommendations for revisions, including suggestions from O&M division, based on input from P&P committee and EC. The Board chose not to react. If Board votes it down, it never goes to the members. These recommendations will not be presented to the membership in San Antonio. Board is considering one general membership fee and folks can join up to 3 divisions with no additional fee. Restructuring districts and make up of Board. Cannot bring up an item to change Bylaws at the International Conference. It can be a change of policy but can’t be a change of Bylaws. Earliest can be considered in Jacksonville in 2016. 6. AER is going to be making wholesale changes. </p><p>VIII. FROM THE FLOOR A. Audrey asked if healthcare info Kevin shared may be sent to Division members within a region Yes, but delete individual names. Direct any comments to Lou Tutt. B. Bonnie expressed concerns about universities not teaching current, accurate information, particularly in the area of complex street crossings. Kevin stated that AERI Board did approve to add URC as a standing committee. The Standards have been updated. Some universities choose to not go thru the AER approval process. ACVREP Board won’t consider revisions until URC is a Standing Committee of AER. Kevin stated that AER Board in putting much effort back into this movement. </p><p>IX. EXECUTIVE SESSION </p><p>X. ADJOURN - Meeting adjourned at 10:21 PM</p><p>Respectfully submitted by,</p><p>Bonnie Dodson-Burk Secretary, O&M Division May 16, 2014</p><p>Page 6 of 10 O&M EC Minutes May 8, 2014 O&M DIVSION DISTRICT DIRECTORS and COMMITTEE CHAIRS</p><p>DISTRICT 1: Tanni Anthony - NO REPORT (Alaska, Alberta, Arizona, British Columbia, Colorado, Hawaii, New Mexico, California, Nevada, Idaho, Montana, Wyoming, Northwest Territories, Oregon, Utah, Washington, Yukon Territories.) DISTRICT 2: Edwina Wilks – NO REPORT (Arkansas, North Dakota, South Dakota, Iowa, Kansas, Louisiana, Manitoba, Missouri, Nebraska, Oklahoma, Saskatchewan, Texas.) DISTRICT 3: Sarah Johnson- NO REPORT (Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota, Ontario and Wisconsin.) DISTRICT 4: Michelle Antinarelli – NO REPORT (Connecticut, Massachusetts, Maine, New Brunswick, Newfoundland, New Hampshire, New York, Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island, Quebec, Rhode Island, Vermont) DISTRICT 5: Mickey Damelio – NO REPORT (Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, Puerto Rico, Tennessee) DISTRICT 6: Audrey Dannenberg - NO REPORT (Delaware, Maryland, New Jersey, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Virgin Islands, Virginia, West Virginia, Washington D.C.)</p><p>COMMITTEES</p><p>I. Professional Standards Committee – NO REPORT a. Mickey Damelio (University Rep) b. Jodi Sticken (University Rep) c. Lesley MacDonald (Non-University Rep) II. Professional Issues Committee – NO REPORT a. Chair Elect Susan Langendonk b. Dr. William Wiener c. Dr. William Penrod III. Awards Committee (Chairperson – Past Chair Kathy Yale) – NO REPORT IV. Nominating Committee (Chairperson – Tanni Anthony) – NO REPORT V. Research and Publications Review Committee (Chairperson – Dr. William Penrod) – NO REPORT VI. International Committee (Chairperson – Dr. Laura Bozeman) – NO REPORT VII. Archives Committee (Chairperson – Rod Kossick and Dr. Richard Welsh) – NO REPORT VIII. Professional Development Committee (Chairperson – Scott Smith) – NO REPORT IX. Finance Committee (Chairperson – Treasurer (vacant)) - NO REPORT X. Blasch Scholarship Committee (Chairperson – Dr. Danene Fast) –REPORT XI. Environmental Access Committee (Chairperson – Janet Barlow) – NO REPORT XII. Membership Committee (Chairperson – Meredith Griffin) - NO REPORT</p><p>Page 7 of 10 O&M EC Minutes May 8, 2014 XIII. Marketing / Public Relations Committee (Chairperson - TBA) – NO REPORT XIV. Newsletter Editor (Chairperson – TBA) – NO REPORT </p><p>CONSENT AGENDA COMMITTEE REPORTS </p><p>Blasch Scholarship Committee (Danene Fast): There were 21 scholarship applications received this year. The committee members have them and are using the scoring rubric to identify the winners. The winners will be announced and recognized at the Awards Ceremony in San Antonio. </p><p>Page 8 of 10 O&M EC Minutes May 8, 2014 Association for Education and Rehabilitation of the Blind and Visually Impaired</p><p>1703 N. Beauregard St., Suite 440 ▪ Alexandria, VA 22311-1744 (877) 492-2708 ▪ (703) 671-4500 ▪ Fax (703) 671-6391 [email protected] ▪ www.aerbvi.org</p><p>New Business Item Date: May 2, 2014 </p><p>1. Division Name: Orientation & Mobility </p><p>2. Division Chair: Kevin Hollinger </p><p>3. Background information: a. Many TVI and COMS are reporting alarming business practices that are restricting or eliminating services to children and adults with visual impairments. AER Members are reporting at least four known healthcare companies engaging these practices across the U.S. </p><p>4. Summary of articulated/shared concerns by AER members: a. The healthcare companies are bidding and being awarded contracts, especially within school systems, to provide TVI and/or O&M services at non-competitive rates for private practice (reported at $60-$65/hour) a.i. Members are reporting that $60/$65 per hour is often significantly below other related professions (such as SLP, OT, and PT). a.ii. After securing the contract the companies are trying to hire TVIs and O&Ms for $20/hour (Soliant) and $38/hour (ProCare Health) b. The healthcare companies are being awarded contracts across large geographic areas – putting TVI and O&Ms out of business c. The healthcare companies do not have TVI or O&M providers to fulfill the awarded contracts. The student/client will not receive instruction. d. Members question how contracts are being awarded if the company is supposed to provide evidence of certified professionals to serve the student/client. e. Very prevalent at the state schools for children with multiple/severe disabilities. f. The healthcare companies are reportedly only paying for direct services – Members are concerned about the evaluation process, interpretation of evaluation results, attending IEP meetings, etc. g. Members are reporting that schools are re-negotiating contracts with TVIs and O&Ms based on inquiries of the healthcare companies h. Members report that the healthcare companies will offer insurance, benefits, retirement if you are a full-time employee but many of the jobs are not full time. </p><p>5. Example: a. #1: A dual-certified TVI/O&M has had state school contract for many years. She lost the contract for 2014-15 after being undercut in the bidding process. She received a </p><p>Page 9 of 10 O&M EC Minutes May 8, 2014 call from Soliant recruiting professionals to work for them due to their newly awarded contract in that geographic area (not knowing she was the provider they ousted). They offered her $20/hour part-time work. Soliant also secured other contracts for multiple school districts within about a 2-hour radius thus taking all the business from our member. Soliant has no service providers under contract for this work at this time. b. #2: A newly certified O&M specialist from WMU was hired this January by Procare (http://www.procaretherapy.com/ ) to provide O&M services to one of the smaller school districts in Reg. 13 (the greater Austin area). Her family had moved to Austin, and she desperately wanted a job in this area when she graduated in December, but was told by staff at Reg. 13 that there were no O&M positions open at that time. I’m not sure how she heard about Procare but when she talked to them, they said they knew of a school district that was looking for a COMS, and they hired her at $38 per hour and then turned around and charged the district $65 per hour. Now this district is not offering their TVI a contract for next year and is expecting Procare to fill the TVI position as well as the O&M position. The TVI who has contracted privately for several years with this and other districts that didn’t need a full time TVI was told that if she wanted to work in this district next year, she should talk to Procare about hiring her. The last I heard, the TVI was contracting with other districts and was not intending to work for Procare. The O&M specialist also hopes to get a different job with another district and wants nothing to do with Procare in the future.</p><p>2. Soliant’s advertised jobs as of 5-2-14 a. http://www.soliant.com/schools/visually-impaired-teacher-jobs/ b. TVI job search b.i. In JOB SEARCH BOXES enter: b.i.1. Select State: Any State b.i.2. Select Discipline: Schools, Teacher of the Visually Impaired b.i.3. There are 348 available TVI positions c. O&M job search c.i. In JOB SEARCH BOXES enter: c.i.1. Enter Keywords: Orientation and mobility c.i.2. Select State: Any State c.i.3. Select Discipline: Teacher of the Visually Impaired c.i.4. There are 41 available O&M positions </p><p>5. Recommendations, proposals and requests (in the form of a motion) for Board consideration: We move that the AER Board immediately consider assembling a group of AER members and other professionals from agencies/organizations of similar persuasion to explore, report on and recommend a course of action regarding the questionable practices of healthcare companies in respect to TVI and O&M services. </p><p>Page 10 of 10 O&M EC Minutes May 8, 2014</p>