PV STEMNET STEERING COMMITTEE MEETING

HOLYOKE COMMUNITY COLLEGE – 226 KITTREDGE CENTER

JUNE 5, 2007

MINUTES

PRESENT: Robert Dickerman (STCC), Karl Martini (WNEC), Suong Ives (Kollmorgen), Zvi Rozen (Mass BHE), Lindy Gougeon (GCC), Peter Polito (Springfield College), Walter Breau (Elms Colege), Janice Doppler (Gateway Regional School District), Helen Gibson (Holyoke Public Schools), Audrey Antosz (Westfield State College), Terri Howard (HCC), Jeff Hayden (HCC), Sylvia Cuomo (Evaluator), Mort Sternheim (UMass), Charles Bodhi (Hampden REB), Anne McKenzie (LPVEC), Ellen Bembem (RTC), Gail Scordilis (Smith College), Allan Feldman (UMass), and Kathy Baker (UMass)

UNABLE TO ATTEND: Patricia Crosby (Franklin-Hampshire REB), Jack Barocas (AIC), Donna Scanlon (Hampden-Wilbraham Regional School District), Cecilia Buckley (Hampshire Educational Collaborative), Ron St. Amand (Springfield Public Schools), Marty Espinola (Gill-Montague Regional School District), Joyce Mahafey (Greenfield School District), and Nick Fyntrilakis (Mass Mutual)

The PV STEMNET Steering Committee meeting was called to order by Allan Feldman, at 9:35 AM, on June 5, 2007, at Holyoke Community College.

Allan Feldman began by briefly outlining the history of the PV STEMNET Network which went back to 2004, the first grant award, and the types of programs sponsored in 2005. In addition, he reviewed the purpose of the Pipeline Network and the current Board of Higher Education (BHE) grant objectives for this second round of funding. Allan touched on the other grants supported by the Network – 2 MMSP grants, 2 CITI grants, Upward Bound, and the STEMRAYS project which is an NSF grant in Franklin County.

Zvi Rozen spoke to the BHE Vision for the Networks. He talked about the original state funding through the Governor’s Economic Stimulus Package for $2.5 million, and this second round of funding for $4 million. This grant has an economic development component, and it looks at the 7 regions in the state, but it does not impose identical priorities on each region. The BHE does encourage Networks to bring the voices of both business and industry to the table. The Networks through its stakeholders needs to assess needs, identify priorities, and develop programs in the region accordingly. What hopefully will emerge are the best practices of each Network which will ultimately be shared across the state with the other Networks. One underlying element is that it is the hope that local leadership who have identified priorities could sustain programs beyond the life of the grant. Network development is extremely important.

Several Steering Committee members spoke about the upcoming summer PV STEMNET programs. Janice Doppler, who oversees the summer Bio Tech camps for middle school girls, outlined the program format and talked about some of the interesting, hands-on activities that students would participate in. Zvi suggested tying this program in with lab experience that was real world and hands on. Ellen Bembem indicated that the RTC would be a great connection to do this.

Audrey Antosz, from Westfield State College, talked about the 3 day program designed for teachers who aspire to mentor new math and science teachers. The program is being run by the New Teacher Center, at USC Santa Cruz. This year WSC is planning to use retired teachers to help to mentor new teachers.

Helen Gibson, from the Holyoke Public Schools, is targeting teachers in grades 3-6, and using the Museum of Science in Boston to do a two week professional development program that focuses on engineering. It was suggested by Ellen Bembem that this program could also link employer partners with the teacher and would increase awareness of the employer community. The RTC could assist with this.

Gail Scordilis suggested having the Museum of Science come to Western Mass to highlight their programs. There’s a possibility of having a speakers event since this program and the Gateway Program are both sponsored by the Museum of Science and are not connected.

Mort Sternheim reported on the STEMRAYS Project in Franklin County. This is an $800,000 National Science Foundation grant that provides students with after school, hands on, science experiences. Zvi suggested including this in the report to the Advisory Board.

The evaluation report was done by Sylvia Cuomo, an independent evaluator. She gave an overview of the evaluation including how she measures change in content knowledge, pre and post test plans, a survey that gives the instructors a sense of what is expected, and a personal background survey required by both the DOE and the BHE.

Because time was running short, Allan quickly reviewed the organizational structure of the Steering Committee from his power point presentation, and he spoke about the development of the Advisory Board. He saw the Steering Committee as a subset of the Advisory Board. It was suggested that late September would be a good time to convene the Advisory Board.

Suggestions for the Agenda –

· Evaluation – better define how we are evaluating programs; input from end users would be helpful.

· What’s happening with other regional networks – it would be interesting to invite representatives from other regions to talk about their programs.

· Present a draft of the strategic plan developed previously by the Steering Committee. It was decided to do this by the Spring meeting.

Peter Polito suggested that we call the Steering Committee the Executive Committee – makes things clearer. The Executive Committee speaks more to a position of leadership. All present seemed to be in agreement.

Zvi suggested that we get Superintendents to participate at the Advisory Board meeting in September as a way to develop a better understanding of what is going on in the valley. It was suggested that Assistant Superintendents or Curriculum coordinators might be better able to participate than Superintendents. Another suggestion was to meet with the Superintendents at the Connecticut Valley Superintendents Round Table that meets monthly beginning in September.

It was suggested that we do the Advisory Board in September and the Executive Committee and Advisory Board combined in November when Allan is available.

Several members thought it would be helpful to have one more meeting before the end of June to determine the structure of the Steering Committee.

The meeting concluded at 11:15 AM.

Respectfully submitted,

Kathleen Baker

Project Manager