February 7, 2005

Members Present: Peter Krystowiak (chairman and minute taker), Reed Johnson, Rosanne Reckin, Jim Young, Mary Watson, Bill Briggs, Joyce Frey (Program), Paul Koller (Program), Paul Klauck (Program)

Members Absent: Jerry Prellwitz

Location: Sun Prairie City Hall

Time/Length of Meeting: 9:30 AM to 1:30 PM

INTRODUCTION OF NEW MEMBERS: The chairman introduced Jim Young and Bill Briggs. Both gentleman are new members of the Education Committee. Jim is the Assessor for Sun Prairie and Bill works for Appraisal Services out of Eau Claire. Both men were welcomed to the committee and encouraged to submit their thoughts and ideas about educational ideas/concepts.

REVIEW DECEMBER QUARTERLY: The chairman presented financial and feedback information from the December Quarterly. Both were outstanding. Joyce Frey was thanked for an outstanding job in organizing the class. The chairman shared the positive feedback from the Executive Board in terms of the class. The committee briefly discussed the class in general both its good and bad points. The committee also briefly discussed the length of the class and the committee also discussed a problem that arose with the gifts given to presenters. It was decided that the chairman will contact Eric Miller from Membership Services and give him a heads up that a similar situation may occur for the March quarterly. The problem centers around that WAAO typically budgets for 1-3 gifts for presenters so when there are several presenters, as there was in December and as there will be in March, it can create problems in terms of what to do.

MARCH QUARTERLY/WINTER THAW: It appears everything is in order for both the March Quarterly and the Winter Thaw. Paul Klauck reported that all arrangements are in place for a presentation by the Listers Association and Jim Murphy. The chairman reported that everything looks good for the Appraisal Institute class on valuation of Convenience Stores for Tuesday’s Winter Thaw class. The chairman stated that he will be sending a reminder email out in a week or two to WAAO members.

EDUCATION IDEAS: The chairman led a brainstorming session of education ideas that have either been presented to committee members or ideas that have been thought of by committee members. The ideas that were discussed were: a class by the Appraisal Institute with the title “Analyzing Operating Expenses”, two classes presented to the Education Committee by Mike Couillard, the potential of scheduling the 7 hour USPAP class for those WAAO members that hold dual certification in both assessment and appraisal, a class on older downtown development and how different assessors/appraisers deal with valuing real estate in these areas, a class that was put on at NCRAAO about personal property by an appraiser out of Michigan, and a class about environmental contamination. The Program Subcommittee will look into these and other ideas in trying to put together classes for June and December.

JUNE QUARTERLY TOPIC: There is currently nothing lined up for June. The Program Subcommittee will be looking into the above talked about ideas and also possible coming up with other options. If they need any assistance they will contact the chair for help or guidance.

OCTOBER EDUCATION SEESION: One of this years goals is to again hold the October class. Several things need to be decided: where to have the class, will it be a one day or a week long class, should it be an IAAO sponsored class, and finally what should the class be. The City of Milwaukee, which has “driven” this class in the past, has suggested two ideas. The first was the environmental contamination class. The class would look at the various phases of contamination, how to value contaminated property, and how to set up an office manual to deal with contamination. The second idea was IAAO class 600 or 601, which deal with mapping. The committee also discussed other ideas including: a need for the basic/first class that the IAAO offers, the 7 hour USPAP, and a class on valuation of manufacturing properties. Mary Watson will do some research at the City of Milwaukee to see if the mapping class and/or environmental class is still an option. She will also check to see if anyone would go to Course One from IAAO. Reed Johnson will see about how many people from the state might attend a Course One. The chairman will keep on eye on the state budget to see if a class on valuation of manufacturing property may be needed.

SCHOLARSHIP FUND INQUIRY: The chair led a discussion concerning the education/scholarship fund. Various ideas were discussed in terms of how the fund may be able to be used. The ideas discussed included: subsidizing classes for WAAO members, re-starting the scholarship program, and further use of funds for “educational” purposes such as a lobbyist. The chair will bring this to the Executive Board as a point of discussion and see if the Executive Board would like our committee or another committee to look into how to use these funds.

HAND OFF/CHECKLIST OF DUTIES: The committee discussed the status of the checklist of duties. It was decided that the proposed checklist as presented to our committee was too inclusive and cumbersome. The chair will put together a one-page form that details the major areas where there have been “handoff” problems in the past. The form will include course title and instructor name, whether the course has been submitted for certification and if so by whom and when, what type of A/V equipment will be needed by the presenters, if any copies will be needed, how many and what type of gifts should be presented, if the presenter(s) are getting paid and if so how much, and who the Program/Education contact will be.

MENTORING PROGRAM: As our committee was instructed by the Executive Board to come up with a gameplan for how a mentoring program would work, our committee discussed various options of a mentoring program. After discussion it was decided that the chair would take a simple two-step plan to the Executive Board to start up the mentoring program. The first step would be to have some committee of WAAO create a list of mentors. The mentors should be willing to take phone calls from new WAAO members and should also be someone who has been in the field for some time so as to be knowledgeable about various aspects in the assessment profession. There should be two or three mentors for each state assessment district. The second step would be to send a letter (if we don’t already) to new WAAO members and introduce them to the mentors in their area. The mentoring program could expand in the future but at this time the committee felt these two steps would go a long way to helping those new to our profession. Reed Johnson mentioned that if we get a list of mentors on our website, we may be able to provide a link to Judy Gibbons and the link could be “mentioned” to new certified assessors.

OTHER COMMITTEE CONDUCTING CLASSES: The chairman made members of the Program Subcommittee aware that they have the option of “handing off” educational programs. We as a committee could come up with an idea and a brief outline, the idea and outline would then be directed at another committee and they would come up with speakers and finalize the class. This idea was passed by the Executive Board at their last meeting without any objections. The members of the Program Subcommittee thought that they may make use of this for the December meeting.

POTENTIAL CHANGES TO CERTIFICATION ETC.: A WAAO ad-hoc committee has been formed to look at potential changes to certification. The chairman led a discussion about what if any input our committee should give. At this point some suggestions include: looking at other states, reciprocity with the Dept of Regs and Licenses, potential of having a Code of Ethics in manual, and start by focusing on just education, exam, and experience. There was some disagreement as to how far these changes would reach, the chair will check to find out what the ad-hoc committee has been instructed to do. This will be put back on the agenda for our next meeting in May.

The meeting was adjourned.