Brief Summary of Minutes of Annual Meeting

Minutes were approved unanimously from the 2008 Technical Committee meeting. Election of Officers for the 2010 Technical Committee Meeting Chair: 2009-2010 Robert DelCampo Secretary: 2009-2010 Dorothy Bergland Selection of Dates and Format for the 2010 Technical Committee Meeting (needs to happen before June 30th each year) Date- March 23rd-25th in Washington DC. Robert will work with Caroline to coordinate and set up the meeting. The working plan is for committee members to fly into DC on Wednesday, hold the Technical Committee Meeting Thursday morning, break for lunch, hold an hour long presentation (a tweaked version of the one presented at NASHIMBA) for congressional aides and other pertinent entities. Friday morning will cover any unaddressed points and subcommittee meetings if needed.

Brief discussion of annual reports from participants: New Mexico- Drs. Robert, Diana and Rob DelCampo, Dr. Kourtney Vaillancourt Three focus groups were conducted in the past year. The most important aspect is output: one academic article in press, two talks and two papers presented. Another presentation is scheduled for NCFR in November in collaboration with Dr. Dorothy Berglund and focused on combining research on African American women and Hispanic women. Minnesota- Dr. Kathryn Reittig Due to colleges merging, new policies and severe budget cuts there has not been much progress. However, there is a new graduate student working on the study and more progress is expected in the next year. So far, 8 focus groups have been completed and six transcribed. Of the 40 or so professional women, they report that they are managing the heavy load and enjoying the extra challenges. So far, they have used the data for the graduate students dissertations. One dissertation is completed and another being formulated. These should be completed by next years meeting. Wisconsin- Dr. Cynthia Jasper Three focus groups have been completed and transcribed, but have not yet been formally evaluated. As such, no reports written about these data at this point in time, but will get a report to Jim Christenson in 60 days. Mississippi- Dr. Dorothy Berglund Paralleling New Mexico research prototypes with African American professional and working class women. Six focus groups completed, four consisting of professional women and two consisting of working class women. She and Robert DelCampo will present a poster at NCFR. USDA/CSREES Representatives comments- Dr. Caroline Crocoll CSREES is becoming the National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA) and such, the agency is in a state of transition. Same funding streams and revenue sources. NIFA hopes to raise the level and visibility of science and social science in Washington. Dr. Crocoll recommended the committee meet face to face at some point in the near future. Disseminating information and meeting project objectives: Robert suggested meeting in Washington DC in order to promote our project; Caroline and Jim both in favor of this idea. However, everyone acknowledged that tightening budgets and university funding cuts will be a hindrance. Jim recommended meeting with National Research Institute (NRI) people because there is more interest in science under the current administration. Jim also feels that our project could generate interest since it is a qualitative study in the social sciences. Since not many institutions are undertaking qualitative studies, he feels this will interest the people at NRI and may present a good opportunity for more funding. All agreed on this idea. Robert and Rob suggested taking the information to some business symposiums. Rob feels this would be a good opportunity to disseminate the committees findings to a broader audience. Robert likes the idea of bringing the research to those who can implement new policies: the managers. Rob and Diana presented the NM information to a business symposium last year. This year Rob suggests focusing on the multistate initiative and comparing the Hispanic and African American populations. Robert then made a formal motion to present a nontechnical talk at this years NASHIMBA in Minneapolis at the beginning of October. All members voted yes and agreed to contribute. Robert will write the initial powerpoint and Kathy, Cynthia and Dorothy can add slides on their individual findings. Caroline added that NIFA is really interested in academically reviewed publications presenting the committees research. While talks and posters are good, academically reviewed publications are the preferred method of dissemination.