12/14/2006

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I. Welcome

Sue welcomed everyone to the AVCA Convention and the Two-Year College General meeting. She then gave a short overview of what would be covered, and then introduced Greg Wilson, from Game Plan, who was there to give out a couple awards.

Greg Wilson from Game Plan presented academic awards to two coaches:

• Rick Younger of Butler Community College, and
• Mary Young from Central Community College.

Sue congratulated the Two-Year College Champions and other year-end award winners.

• NJCAA DI Champion: Iowa Western Community College - CoachTerry Gamble
• NJCAA DII Champion: Kishwaukee - Coach Ron Sweet
• NJCAA DIII Champion: Ridgewater - Coach Joe Sussenguth
• California Champion: Orange Coast - Coach Chuck Cutenese
• NWAACC Champion: Mt. Hood - Coach Lena Chan

• Tachikara/AVCA National Two-Year Colleges Coach of the Year: Terry Gamble, Iowa Western Community College

Sue had the committee introduce themselves to everyone in attendance.

V. Two-Year College AVCA Membership Growth
Sue told attendees of the growth of Two-Year College membership in the AVCA over the last year.  It went about 150 members to 179 members. However, she mentioned that two more would be joining soon, as she would be purchasing two more memberships, which would bring the membership total to 181. Sue mentioned that the group needs to try and increase the number of members even more next year. Possibly have a membership drive.

VI. Salary Survey

Sue told attendees that plans were being put in place to come up with a salary survey in 2007 geared specifically to Two-Year Colleges. She mentioned that some people felt that the survey sent out in 2006 was not geared toward their specific needs, which made a lot of people choose not to respond. (Only about 15 responded.) To try and improve the response numbers, a new survey will be developed.

VII. Nominating Colleagues

Shay Clemensen discussed the process to ensure that Two-Year College coaches would be able to nominate each other for season ending awards. She read and explained the AVCA nomination information. One question came up about the due date, in that it was too soon for California and NWAACC teams to get their info in, as their tournaments were still going on. Will need to look into this and see if the date can be pushed back a little more for Two-Year Colleges.

VIII. T.J. Meagher and Clearinghouse Presentation

T.J. Meagher, the AVCA Legislative Representative of the Board of Directors, gave his presentation about the Clearinghouse. (See the document posted to the AVCA web at http://www.avca.org/includes/media/images/ClearingHouse-TJ-2006Convention.pdf  for his power point presentation.)

Some Q&As and other comments that came up during this portion of the meeting...

Q: Is there a form to send to International Student to help them get started?

A: I'm sure there's something on the Internet, but the reality is that you need to direct them to the Internet - (web site) - ncaaclearinghouse.net and that's how they are to go through the process. It is available in English. There are no plans to make it available in another language.

Q: If the student has gone through and been certified under the initial eligibility component, will they have to go back and do the amateurism one?

A: Yes. The amateurism component is new. Nobody has been finally certified yet. They will have to go back, reactivate their record, (and) hopefully, they'll remember their user id and password... They have to go back and reactivate their record and complete the questions.

* A point made by Sue, which was clarified by TJ - the two components - academic and amateurism - are mutually exclusive, while under one roof. A two-year non-qualifier is now certified based on anything other than their two-year transcripts. So the academic component is not something we would submit to our conference office as any relevant information. It would simply certify that they've been gone through process for amateurism and they're certified for Division I, and the academic component would be satisfied by the 2-4 non-qualifier legislation as verified with the transcript.

* Another point by T.J. - The first day for the clearinghouse to begin certifying is April 7 for fall enrollment. If it's spring enrollment 2008, and every other subsequent cycle, it's Oct. 1. Those are fixed dates - April 7 and Oct. 1.

* A Point by T.J. - There's legislation on the table right now that says that a student athlete cannot visit the campus officially until they have registered with the Clearinghouse. So, if your student wants to go see institution X, we cannot approve that visit unless we can go online and put them on our IRL. It just creates an inconvenience more than anything else. These processes are unavoidable. I think that this legislation will go through... 

* A Point by T.J. -- You might think that the NCAA is making money with $50 for a domestic student and $75 for international, but the NCAA is projecting a $1 million loss this year, and they might lose more. However, they believe this (the amateurism clearinghouse) is needed, so they will do it. They are not making any money out of this.

End of T.J.'s Presentation.

Sue thanked him for his time in presenting it to the attendees. She also mentioned that T.J. is creating a legislative committee that will have all different groups across the board (on it) - Kanoe Bandy (representing the COA) will be sitting on it, as will Karen Guthmiller (representing the NCJAA). She expressed gratitude that they've invited Two-Year colleges to the table, so that the Two-Year groups can stay educated and won't miss out on any key points that might happen.  We will be looking for a representative from the NWAACC also. 

IX. More on Membership
Sue reminded people that the brochure about membership benefits is still available at the AVCA offices. Just ask for it (either Rick or Wendy Payne). She told folks to try and help recruit more members. She also mentioned a little about the mass mailing the AVCA did this year as well, and that membership will always be on the Two-Year Colleges agenda. It is a continued interest.

Q: What percentage of all NJCAA schools does that 181 represent?

A. Don't have numbers in front of me. But, let's think about it... How many schools in California? Kanoe - 85.  How many schools in NWAACC? 26.  Mary Ellen in all three divisions?  290

So, there's the potential of 400 plus, just counting head coaches. Plus, one other thing to consider is that, in that 181, three of those are my assistants. They (the AVCA) realize our potential for growth is right up there with clubs and high schools. So those are areas that they will continue to target.

An interesting fact -- Sue also mentioned that Kathy said during the AVCA Board meeting - in 22 of our states, volleyball is the highest participation sport - number-wise. What is interesting about that is there are 10 females for every one male, and that this is what the AVCA is going to try to use when marketing.

She told attendees to use this in their own marketing campaigns in their areas.

X. Facts on File and Record Book

* Facts on File - Sue mentioned that there might be a replacement for this coming. She told of how the research has been done for these, and that it was determined that not many people read it. And, considering how much time it takes to put this together, this might be changing to something different in the near future.

* Record Books - She mentioned that there are similar problems getting people to submit the information for records. Sue does not want to let this one "die" just yet, as all of the other divisions have a record book because the NCAA does it. She mentioned that Two-Year Colleges are very unique, because even though they have a NJCAA record book, it is still not all-inclusive with the NWAAC and California. So, this is something that might be revisited.

XI: General Meeting #2 Not Required

Sue announced that since everything on the agenda was covered in this meeting, that the Two-Year College General Meeting #2 would not be needed. However, she offered that if anyone wanted to discuss anything, the meeting room would be open for use.

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