The New Grantee Orientation Pre-Conference workshop at the 6th Annual NESA Conference proved to be an even greater success than first anticipated. This new opportunity was expected to draw between 50 and 75 participants. To NESA's surprise and delight the registrations topped 179 by conference day.This exciting new addition to the annual conference was a first-time collaboration by the National Even Start Association, the National Center for Family Literacy (NCFL) and the U.S. Department of Education designed to provide both a "jump start" and strategies to keep programs on track. The goal of the preconference was to provide the new grantees with a broad overview of the legislative, legal, programmatic and management issues facing them as new program leaders. Each participant was then able to identify specific workshops among the 90 presented within the main conference program that could provide the depth each needed in a chosen area of interest.
Preconference speakers included Ms. Pat McKee and Ms. Miriam Whitney, USDOE; Mr. Scott Himelstein, NESA chairman; Ms. Becky King, Dr. Sylvia Cobos-Lieshoff, and Ms. Jean Carter, NCFL; and Dr. Tom Conner and Mrs.Libby Culver, both NESA board members.
The morning opened with a welcome from Pat, Scott and Becky followed by a video presentation entitled, ?lThe Heart of Even Start?L from the Video Moms of the Port Chester, New York, Even Start Program. This heartwarming video provided a personal touch by bringing to life several emotional stories of families striving to improve their lives. It showed the obstacles they faced and the goals they met.
In a session entitled "What is expected as a new grantee?" Pat McKee and Miriam Whitney focused the attention of new grantees on the legislative and legal areas of the grant. Pat reviewed the legislative requirements and
expectations of the Even Start grantee and stressed the importance of evaluation, collaboration and communication as the programs progressed. She clarified the "most in need" concept using the federal register documents and the Preliminary Guide for Even Start Family Literacy Program both of which were provided to each participant.Miriam Whitney, USDOE attorney, focused on the legal expectations and requirements of the grant. Using many of the same references as Pat McKee, Miriam referenced the Education Department General Administrative Regulations (EDGAR) as her main source. Each participant was provided with the appropriate sections of that document which included allowable costs between and among various federally funded programs. Due to the number of questions and additional need for clarification, additional time was provided at the end of the day.
Dr. Tom Conner, NESA board member and educational consultant, and Mrs. Libby Culver, NESA board member and coordinator of the Southern Ute Child and Family Center, closed the morning session with "How do I get started as a new grantee?" This two-part presentation was designed to emphasize collaborations and program management as two important ingredients of program start up. Part one focused on developing and maintaining a collaborative. A set of guiding questions was provided to allow participants to respond according to their own needs and current situation. These questions were related to defining a collaborative, understanding the importance of collaboration, defining the characteristics of a collaborative partner and identifying strong partners.
Part two focused on Program Management strategies. Libby presented from the perspective of a program director with the goal of providing the program directors with some basic tools necessary to make the management function more efficient in both the collection and interpretation of program data. Strategies