MEETING MINUTES

Credential Engine Board of Directors June 23, 2017 Meeting

LOCATION
Teleconference

2:00 p.m. – 3:00 p.m. ET

 

Board Members in Attendance

Chris Bustamante, Barbara Gellman-Danley, Jim Gibbons, Eleni Papadakis, and Elizabeth Shuler.

Absent

Joe Bhatia, Anthony Carnevale, Waded Cruzado, Carol Quillen, Chris Roy, and Andreas Schleicher.

Staff and Other Attendees

Scott Cheney, executive director, and additional individuals from the CTI team and advisory chairs were in attendance.

 

Call to Order and Welcome

Scott Cheney welcomed the Board and turned the meeting over to Eleni Papadakis, Board chair, who called the meeting to order.  The Board members in attendance approved the Minutes from the May 25, 2017, pending full approval from a quorum of the Board in a follow-on email.

 

Executive Director Updates – Q&A with Board

Scott Cheney provided a variety of updates since the May 25, 2017 meeting for the Board. All new and continuing conversations with potential funders are positive.

It was reported that there is positive growth in the number of credentials in the registry. In terms of state participation, Credential Engine staff are hosting meetings with interested states throughout the summer. Jeanne Kitchens, Southern Illinois University, other members of the IT team, and technical advisory group members are currently developing the roadmap to map existing data to the registry and working with institutions to begin entering their credentials in bulk.

Mr. Cheney mentioned that he has sent out a document to the Board that outlines the current ideas for the “launch” of the “public beta” of the registry and the Workit app for Board feedback and suggestions. He also announced that Registry participants have both expressed interest in being a part of the launch efforts.

Credential Engine is sending out a survey to all advisory group members to gather feedback and develop recommendations on the quality control initiatives for Board discussion during the upcoming September meeting, and to have finalized by the time of the launch. Credential Engine is working with the Quality Assurance Advisory Group, led by Paul Gaston, to develop the ethics statement and policy around updating information in the registry. In addition, an internal auditing process is also being developed by staff, but will not likely be in place by the launch.

Liability insurance for the Credential Engine Board and staff is also being investigated.

 

Old Business

On the matter of a fundraising policy, a policy that provides guidance on how the work of Credential Engine aligns with the mission and goals of organizations that may provide funding for it was discussed. Using best practices and other non-profits as a starting point, the Board and Credential Engine will work together to further explore other resources, such as Board Source – an online exchange for nonprofits to share information, best practices, etc., to further draft the policy. Once developed, Mr. Cheney will send the policy out to all Board members prior to the next meeting in September, and seek Board approval during that meeting.

Mr. Cheney has received a number of suggestions for possible nominations for additional Board members. Before selecting new members, however, Mr. Cheney asked whether priority should be given (and filled first) to areas where representation is missing from Board membership (i.e., military/defense, apprenticeship, credentialing organizations, etc.). Discussion on this topic occurred. The full Board remains committed to carefully considering any new appointments.

 

New Business

The Board was provided with draft a budget. Of note, the agreement with Southern Illinois University has been restructured to provide them with more resources up front to expedite their deliverables, and it accounts for funds Credential Engine will provide for selected partners. Additional suggestions were made to begin developing a job description for the director in the education sector. At the end of the discussion, the Board members in attendance recommended approval of the budget, and Mr. Cheney will reach out to the full Board with this recommendation for approval.

 

Coming Business

On the matter of accounting policies, the accounting firm is finishing their background analysis and will be reviewing the first month’s statement with Scott Cheney after this meeting. Mr. Cheney will also be working with the Treasurer on the capital/depreciation policy as well as setting a spending amount limit on which she needs to sign off on.

Stax has sent very thorough recommendations relating to a revenue model, and as it is extensive, Mr. Cheney will send them out to all Board members prior to the next meeting in September, for discussion during that meeting.

 

Open Discussion

Since there was little remaining time for further discussion, the Board is encouraged to send any remaining questions or feedback to Credential Engine staff for consideration.

 

Next Meeting and Reminder

The next meeting of the Board will be held on September 15, 2017 in Chicago, Illinois. An agenda and further meeting details will be forthcoming.

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