Meeting Minutes
USATF Board of Directors
Conference Call
May 26, 2010
ATTENDANCE
Stephanie Hightower, Ken Taylor, Philip Dunn, Max Siegel, Dr. Evie Dennis,
Elizabeth Phillips, Aretha Thurmond, Jack Wickens, Jeff Darman, Kim Haines,
Willie Banks, Steve Holman, Larry James (non-voting Council), Darlene Hickman
(non-voting Secretary)
Office Staff: Doug Logan, Mike McNees, Lamont Jones, Jill Geer, Benita
Fitzgerald Mosley, Gina Miller, Terry Crawford, , Shayna Sangster
Quorum was present. Stephanie Hightower opened the meeting at 4:00pm
(EST).
APPROVAL OF MINUTES
MOTION(Taylor): Approve the February 27 minutes.
All in favor. Motion Passed.
MOTION(Taylor): Approve the April 21 minutes.
All in favor. Motion Passed.
MOTION(Taylor): Approve the May 7 minutes.
All in favor. Motion Passed.
FINANCE REPORT
The Budget committee met May 10 to review the revised expense policy, which was
distributed to the Board prior to the meeting. The Budget Committee
approved the policy for the Board and for volunteers.
MOTION(Dennis): Approval of Revised Expense Policy.
All in favor. Motion Passed.
A resolution was circulated prior to the meeting to authorize USATF’s Chief
Financial Officer and Chief Operating Officer to open direct billing accounts.
MOTION(Hightower): Authorize the CFO & COO to open direct billing accounts.
All in favor. Motion Passed.
COMMITTEE REPORTS
Audit Committee
An audit committee meeting was held on May 22 in Indianapolis. A full report
will be available to the Board once the auditors complete their analysis.
Personnel & Compensation Committee
The Personnel & Compensation committee is in the process of revising the CEO
contract. There was a meeting with Doug Logan, Jeff Darman and Elizabeth
Phillips to discuss the contract details. Larry James will submit a
proposed contract to the Board when completed.
Competition Committee
The Competition Committee has been working on the Coaches Code of Conduct and
revising the criteria for the High Performance Programs.
Operations Committee
The committee’s first meeting is scheduled for June 14. The Operations
Committee is focusing on how to leverage the Board’s expertise to implement the
tactical plan.
Business Development Committee
The priority is finding additional sponsors. There are some new
sponsorships possibilities. The next meeting will be June 25 at the
National Championships in Des Moines, Iowa.
CEO REPORT
Future CEO reports, for in-person Board meetings will be in a written format.
The report will be distributed to the Board a week prior to the meetings and
will include sections for Senior Staff members to report on their areas of
responsibility.
Logan recently visited Colorado Springs for the ACES Conference. In Colorado,
several NGB’s showed interest in USATF’s growing merchandise program, which was
recently featured in The Sports Business Journal. Scott Blackmun, USOC
CEO, asked Doug to participate in establishing a one day panel with respect to
enterprise functions.
Logan discussed his appointments in the next few weeks to discuss sponsorship
possibilities with a few organizations.
The 2010 NACAC Under 23 meet will take place in Mirmar, Florida in July.
The NACAC Congress will meet that weekend and at that location Hightower will be
hosting a women’s conference.
The memorial service for Pat Rico will take place in New York on Friday, June 11
at 7:00pm. Dr. Evie Dennis and Elizabeth Phillips will represent the Board at
the memorial. Hightower and Logan will also attend.
Mike McNees is putting the finishing touches on the first quarter report for the
tactical plan. The report will be available at the June Board meeting.
The Challenge Grant application deadline has passed and the national office
staff is in the process of organizing the applications before they will be
dispersed to the Board committees for review. McNees encouraged the Board
to focus on how the money is awarded the first time around to make sure that
applications are focused on reaching the level of excellence that must be
demonstrated to receive grants.
OLD/NEW BUSINESS
Hightower reminded everyone to make travel arrangements for the Des Moines Board
meeting as soon as possible.
The Board’s conflict of interest statements need to be completed and returned to
Gina Miller or Larry James.
Coaches Code of Conduct
The national office has collaborated to define the criteria for the Registered
Coaches Program. The document has been presented to various constituency
groups and revised.
USATF Management believed that the U.S. Track & Field & Cross Country Coaches
Association (USTFCCCA) supported the proposed program because Curtis Frye,
President of the Association is a part of the Coaches Advisory Committee that
reviewed the program. Frye was quoted in the press release announcing the
program. After the Code of Conduct was released to the public, Sam Seemes,
CEO of USTFCCCA, sent a letter to Doug Logan and Stephanie Hightower stating
that the organization does not support the document. The main concern of
the USTFCCCA was the $35 cost to become a registered coach. The other
concern was the quote presented in the press release from Frye. Terry
Crawford explained that the $35 fee is not a premium fee that returns to the
USATF budget; instead it covers the cost of the background screening.
The Athlete Advisory Committee (AAC) expressed concern that the program was
being put together too fast to be implemented at the outdoor championships. They
were assured that the actual program implementation would take a much longer
period of time. They were also notified that a plan has been put in place
to notify coaches about the registry prior to the outdoor championships and for
those coaches whose background screenings will not clear prior to championships.
Willie Banks questioned the use of the coaches database. Logan explained
that this is one of the issues that the national office will address as they
move forward with the implementation process. Hightower requested the
protocol for implementation from the national office, including identification
of those who have access to the database and other confidentiality concerns.
To address the confidentiality of the accuser plans have been put in place to
establish an anonymous hotline to field complaints. If the accuser wants
to make a formal complaint they will need to reveal themselves for purposes of
assuring the accused due process rights are respected. Name of those who
are not cleared through the background screening will be kept confidential.
MOTION(Banks): Approve the Coaches Code of Conduct.
Ten in favor. Zero opposed. Zero abstentions. Motion Passed.
Meeting adjourned at 5:15pm (EST)
SUMMARY OF MOTIONS:
MOTION(Taylor): Approve the February 27 minutes.
All in favor. Motion Passed.
MOTION(Taylor): Approve the April 21 minutes.
All in favor. Motion Passed.
MOTION(Taylor): Approve the May 7 minutes.
All in favor. Motion Passed.
MOTION(Dennis): Approval of Revised Expense Policy.
All in favor. Motion Passed.
MOTION(Hightower): Authorize the CFO & COO to open direct billing accounts.
All in favor. Motion Passed.
MOTION(Banks): Approve the Coaches Code of Conduct.
Ten in favor. Zero opposed. Zero abstentions. Motion Passed.