February 5, 2003

Present:
Jack Bernard, Christine Vaughn, Jack Nouodoff, Shelly Kovacs, Joan E. Smith, Christine Brown, Mike Chmura, Jennifer Symanns, Jim Knox, Warren Clark, Carole Dubritsky, Stuart Segal, Doug White, A.T. Miller, Mary Vigilanti, Kalindi Trietley, Els Nieuwenhuijsen, Julio Perez, Cynthia Overton, Brian Clapham.

Announcements/Discussion:
Jack welcomed all to the meeting, and expressed that he had heard positive feedback about the meeting time change. He said he is committed to the strategic planning process, and asked if anyone had any thoughts about Michael Harris' comments on the stadium issue. He said this issue will be saved for the next meeting when we can review any information sent to the council.

Joe Minarik, Strategic Planning Process:
Joe explained that this process is an information gathering process. He expressed how this process fits together with the overall objective of accessibility within the community.

He handed out a questionnaire that we would complete as a group exercise. This questionnaire will be filled out by all CFDC stakeholders. The group exercise has three objectives: a vehicle to express passions and ideas about disability, an opportunity to connect with others around the table, and for participants to provide feedback on the tool.

The questionnaire was distributed and partners went through a dialog process to discuss issues and compile ideas, and these will be presented at the next meeting.

The questionnaire will be distributed to all CFDC members and stakeholders via email.

Feedback on the questionnaire:
Feedback on the process of the questionnaire was offered, and comments ranged from, "it would be good to narrow the scope of time to plan from 10 years to 5 years in the first question," to "this is a great first step to critically look at disability issues."

It was suggested that anyone completing the questionnaire who does not have a working knowledge of the councils objectives and mission would only complete the first two questions.

Wrap up:
Due to time constraints, Carole has moved the last two items of this meetings agenda to next month.

Els suggested that people start thinking of a theme for this years Investing In Abilities Week since it will be the 20th anniversary. For example, perhaps it could elaborate on famous people with disabilities, or highlight a list of accomplishments for the council.

Joni suggested a focus on the history of the council to create awareness and be able to influence people because we would be more recognized by the University community.

Kalindi suggested a possible "looking back and looking ahead" theme.

Brian gave a history of the James Neubacher award, and is looking for volunteers who would be willing to serve on the committee. If you are interested, contact Brian Clapham.

Action Point for the next meeting:
Carol would like people to think about ways and ideas they can specifically contribute to Investing In Abilities week or the Strategic Planning process, and bring those thoughts to the next meeting. In addition, she would like everyone to take a look at their calendars and identify better or worse times in the year to spend on these projects.

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