San Antonio Hyatt on the Riverwalk

San Antonio, Texas

Wednesday September 9, 2002

Those present were:

Chair: David Montgomery, Nebraska Health and Human Services

Members: Sandy Greenberg, Professional Examination Service

Bonnie Rhea, Virginia Department of Professional and Occupational Regulation

Guests: Jayne Bunn, North Carolina DHHS, DFS, Health Care

Clifford Cooks, District of Columbia Department of Consumer Affairs

Donna Kline, Institute of Chartered Accountants of Alberta

Bill Marcus, Consultant, California
Donna Mooney, CLEAR President, North Carolina Board of Nursing

Staff: Pam Brinegar, CLEAR Executive Director

Adam Parfitt, CLEAR staff

Call to Order
Chair David Montgomery called the meeting to order at 9:15 a.m. Central Time and asked those present to introduce themselves. He recognized CLEAR President Donna Mooney and asked her for her comments. President Mooney stated that the meetings of the Education and Training committee were crucial to her ‘Recruit, Reclaim and Retain’ campaign. She stated that she wants each of the four subcommittees of the Education and Training Committee to produce products and initiatives that would feed into these three themes. Two ad-hoc committees have been formed: a Membership Initiative committee to produce a strategic plan for the Board of Directors by May; and a Special Projects committee to produce two web-based programs for investigators by June (the first concerning Fraud Investigations and the second Sexual Misconduct Investigations). She added that CLEAR staff has created a new web-based association named ARI (Associated Regulatory Investigators) that has a wealth of resources for those involved in regulatory investigations and inspections.

Review of Committee Charge
Chair Montgomery then reviewed the charge of the committee which states the following:

The Education and Training Committee shall consist of at least one person appointed from the Board of Directors and other members of CLEAR who are not members of the Board of Directors and shall include at least the following subcommittees: the National Certified Investigator and Inspector Training (NCIT) Subcommittee, Training and Development Subcommittee, International Relations Subcommittee and the Publications Subcommittee. The functions of the Education and Training Committee are to:

(a) make recommendations to the Board of Directors regarding

(b) serve as an advisory committee to the Executive Director for CLEAR News and any other newsletter for CLEAR;

(c) review and recommend the development of various publications as may be appropriate for CLEAR;

(d) make recommendations for promoting and facilitating communication among CLEAR members and with other interested organizations and individuals; and

(e) provide development support for CLEAR educational offerings, excluding the NCIT program and the annual conference.

Minutes of the January 5, 2001 meeting of the Education and Training Committee
The committee unanimously agreed to accept the minutes as written.

Report from the Publications and Communications Subcommittee
Sandy Greenberg expressed her concern that only one Resource Brief was published in 2001 and that none have been submitted for 2002. As part of CLEAR’s international outreach she suggested that CLEAR should publish one Resource Brief in English, Spanish and French. She further suggested that the first page of CLEAR’s web site, which includes information about the organization, should be published in these three languages also, in order to again demonstrate CLEAR’s international commitment.

Report from the Training and Development Subcommittee
Subcommittee chair Bonnie Rhea then reviewed the 2001 (rescheduled) Board Member Training Program. She noted that there are 33 attendees registered and that this year’s program sees a change in the format in which the training will be delivered. While previous year’s training was offered during one full day, the 2001 program will include one half-day of training before suggesting conference sessions of particular relevance to board members. Attendees of the training will then be invited to attend a wrap-up session at the end of the conference, and this will serve as a roundtable discussion about issues of interest, while also offering the chance to hear thoughts about the new format. Ms. Rhea also reported that the subcommittee will consider including Board Member Training material on CLEAR’s web site with a view to offering the training online.

Report from the NCIT Subcommittee
Jayne Bunn reported that there had been a decline in the number of NCIT programs and that the subcommittee will examine ways to improve marketing. She added that the committee would also consider whether it is still necessary to include a dedicated internet module in the NCIT Basic program, as well as reviewing the proposals to create two new online NCIT modules concerning sexual misconduct investigations and fraud.

CLEAR Web site
Adam Parfitt then provided committee members with a report about CLEAR’s web site. He noted that while the public area of the web site continues to attract a good amount of traffic, the members only section does not. Parfitt also reported that the web site has undergone a renovation in the past year and had received a favorable response to the changes. In addition, he reviewed the newly created ARI (Associated Regulatory Investigators) site and its content. Chair Montgomery suggested that the members only section be open to all visitors to the web site and a record kept of the number visiting each section. The committee will review the traffic received by each section in one year’s time.

Chair Montgomery then made two requests of the subcommittees: first to break away from the habit of not communicating between the January committee meeting and the annual conference in September; and to include committee members not present at the meeting in any discussion and business.

There being no further business, at 10:00 a.m. Central Time the meeting was recessed until 5:00 p.m.

Chair Montgomery called the committee meeting to order at 5:00 p.m. and asked the subcommittees for a report about their meetings.

Report of the Training and Development Subcommittee
Subcommittee chair Rhea stated the bulk of the discussion involved ways to deliver the Board Member Training program. She also noted that the subcommittee was not sure that an adequate core curriculum currently existed and that one would need to be developed quickly. Adam Parfitt stated that he believes CLEAR’s current publications could provide much of the material to form a curriculum. He will collect this information and place it on CLEAR’s web site for review by the subcommittee by the end of January 2002.

Chair Montgomery suggested that subcommittee chair Rhea consider appointing a number of small groups to consider pieces for the core curriculum as well as possible delivery methods. A report was also heard about the Leadership Development Work Group which is focusing on three modules. Members of the group have been assigned to develop each of the modules. The development will be complete by May 1 and a targeted list of approximately 25 invitees will also be developed for the first training in September 2002.

Report of the International Relations Subcommittee
Chair Montgomery reported that the International Relations subcommittee discussed marketing strategies for Mexico, Japan, Taiwan and the United Kingdom. It was agreed that research will be undertaken by members of the subcommittee prior to targeted marketing which will take place prior to September. It was also reported that key sections of the web site will be translated into several different languages to signal CLEAR’s commitment to international issues. Finally, it was stated that the address of CLEAR’s international office would be included on the association’s letterhead to illustrate the organization’s overseas presence.

Report of the NCIT Subcommittee
Jayne Bunn reported that the subcommittee made suggestions on ways to market the annual conference to increase attendance by investigators. She added that a decision had been taken to remove the Internet module from the Basic program as evaluations and instructor opinion indicated that those attending the programs already were familiar with much of the material. Finally, Ms. Bunn reported that the Exam Item Writing Work Group will reconvene to produce new questions for the examination item bank and to revise current questions as is necessary.

Report of the Publications and Communications Subcommittee
Subcommittee co-chair Greenberg reported that the committee has recommended that the members-only section of the CLEAR web site is eliminated, and that data from visitors to the web site is reviewed in September. She added that staff will contact conference session coordinators and ask for copies of session descriptions, handouts and PowerPoint presentations so that these might be added to the web site. Having this material on the web site will illustrate the value of the conference to those that could not or chose to not attend the 2002 meeting.

There being no further business, the meeting was adjourned at 5:45 p.m. Central Time.

Respectfully Submitted,

Adam Parfitt