rocky mountain governmental purchasing …...2019/07/24 · kerry will look into marketing courses...

Dedicated to Excellence in Public Purchasing

Rocky Mountain Governmental Purchasing Association

BOARD OF DIRECTORS MEETING

July 24, 2019 1:00 – 4:00 PM

Location: City of Thornton Civic Center, 9500 Civic Center Dr, Thornton, CO 80229

DIAL-IN NUMBER: (712) 451-0200 | ACCESS CODE: 626277

Snacks: Keith Ashby Beverages: Traci Gorman

AGENDA 1) Call to Order 2) Welcome and Introductions 3) Approval of Minutes for January Board Meeting and March Business Meeting 4) Treasurer’s Report

a) Succession Plan

b) Accounting for free registrations

5) Vice President Report

6) Past President Report 7) Committee Reports

a) Awards

b) Chapter Enhancement

c) Communications

d) Education/Professional Development

e) Elections

f) Historian

g) Legislative

h) Marketing


i) Membership

j) Newsletter

k) Programs

8) Old Business a) Student Member Program

b) Mentor Program

c) Internship Program

d) New Member Orientation

e) Brand Identity

f) MemberConnect Policy

g) Chapter Swap with Kentucky

h) RMGPA Hall of Fame

9) New Business a) Wyoming Legislation. Should the Legislative Committee do legislative updates and pursue

March Procurement Month proclamations for Wyoming membership if no Wyoming members

are on the Committee?

b) Committee How Tos

c) Conference Survey

d) Alternatives for Future Conferences

e) Lifetime Member Conference Registration – promo codes & correspondence

10) Round Table/Open Discussion 11) Adjournment Map:

UNOFFICIAL MINUTES OF THE

ROCKY MOUNTAIN GOVERNMENTAL PURCHASING ASSOCIATION (RMGPA) BOARD MEETING

1/23/2019

Page 1 of 6

Call to Order The RMGPA Board of Directors’ meeting was called to order by President, Kerry Sheahan on January 23, 2019 at 1:11 p.m. at the City of Thornton Infrastructure Maintenance Center, Thornton, Colorado. Board Members Position Name Present/Absent President Kerry Sheahan Present Absent Vice President Traci Gorman Present Absent Secretary Tara Larwick Present Absent Treasurer Valerie Scott Present Absent Past President Keith Ashby Present Absent Awards Chair Mandy Zila Present Absent Awards Co-Chair Curt DeCapite Present Absent Chapter Enhancement Chair John Chaplain Present Absent Communications Chair David Musgrave Present Absent Communications Co-Chair Molly McLoughlin Present Absent Education/Pro D Chair Andy Mild Present Absent Education/Pro D Co-Chair Christine Weber Present Absent Elections Skyler Thimens Present Absent Elections Co-Chair Tim Wellman Present Absent Historian Chair Pat Johnson Present Absent Legislative Chair Richard Pennington Present Absent Legislative Co-Chair Nancy Allen Present Absent Marketing Chair Kim Taylor Present Absent Marketing Co-Chair Brenda Hannu Present Absent Membership Chair Diana Cantu Present Absent Membership Co-Chair Jim Walker Present Absent Newsletter Chair Vera Kennedy Present Absent Newsletter Co-Chair Kelly Wooden Present Absent Programs Chair Toi Matthews Present Absent Programs Co-Chair Nikita Hildebrandt Present Absent Members present: 18 (13 of 15 voting positions present. Quorum of 10 is met.) Approval of Minutes Minutes for the December Transitional RMGPA Board of Directors Meeting were reviewed. Call to Order in Transitional Meeting notes should read “The RMGPA Board of Directors’ meeting was called to order by Past President, Keith Ashby, on December 7, 2018 at 12:48 p.m. at the City of Thornton Infrastructure Maintenance Center, Thornton, Colorado.” “President Keith” will be changed to “Past President Keith Ashby”. President Kerry Sheahan asked for a motion to accept the minutes. Chris Weber made a motion to accept the minutes. Traci Gorman seconded the motion. The motion passed and minutes were adopted.



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Treasurer’s Report (Valerie Scott): Valerie Scott submitted the Treasurer’s Report. The following is the Treasurer’s Summary as of 1/23/2019:

Primary Account $40,316.83 Secondary Account $43,437.32 Money Market Account $10,809.90 Total $94,564.05 as of January 18, 2019 Profit/ Loss Statement year to date for 2018: 2019 Revenue $1,965.00 2019 Expenses $ 809.41 Net Income $1,155.59 as of January 18, 2019

See full Treasurer’s Report for details. Nancy Allen requested clarification on increasing budget this year. President Kerry Sheahan asked for a motion to accept the Treasurer’s report. Keith Ashby made a motion to accept the Treasurer’s report. Nancy Allen seconded the motion. The motion passed and the Treasurer’s report was adopted. Vice President’s Report (Traci Gorman)

• See Attached Report o Additional Discussion

Chapter Enhancement has not reported numbers for 2018

Volunteers needed • Traci will reach out to people to find volunteers • Committees need to be proactive. Let Traci know what do committees need for

volunteers • Will ask before each conference rather than just once a year • Email Traci whenever you know you have a need

Looking for ideas for community outreach projects

Past President’s Report (Keith Ashby)

• See Attached Report o Additional Discussion

Update on Sock Drive • Keith delivered socks to Samaritan house who were very appreciative. Thank you

to everyone who participated.



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Rewards Program

• Number of awards in 2018 – 8 • Total dollar amount awarded in 2018 - $1,600 • The date has been extended for 2019 reward application from January 11 to

February 8. • Everyone can apply for rewards except for President, VP, Past President • Cannot be used for travel, lodging, or food

o Food exception for retired members Committee Reports

• Awards (Chair – Mandy Zila, Co-Chair – Curt DeCapite) o See report o Additional Discussion

Mandy will resend nomination forms for Buyer and Manager of the Year

• Communications (Chair – David Musgrave, Co-Chair – Molly McLoughlin,) o See report o Additional Discussion

Discussion on difference between Communications and Newsletter David will present a How To on Chapter Manager at the next meeting

• Chapter Enhancement (Chair – John Chaplain)

o See Report

• Education/Professional Development (Chair – Andy Mild, Co-Chair – Christine Weber) o See Report o Additional Discussion

Thank you everyone who volunteered locations for courses. We are always looking for more locations.

Marketing may be able to help promote courses Kerry will look into marketing courses to other chapters in Utah and Arizona NIGP is planning new courses –

• One new class is Specification class which is polling well. • New text being written for Developing and Managing Requests for Proposals. May

be published in the Spring. • Creating timely topical webinars

It was suggested that we offer a class tied to a conference

• Elections (Chair – Skyler Thimens, Co-Chair – Tim Wellmann) o About 30 members were nominated for Executive Board Officers this year but only 4 accepted the

nomination o Voting numbers up but still short of the 30% goal

21% in 2016, 25% in 2017 and 27% in 2018 Thinking how to increase participation in voting, i.e. offering incentives like a drawing of a

free registration from the pool of voters o About 20-30 people who read bios didn’t vote o Looking forward to this year, shifting milestones earlier

Repeat trend sending out position descriptions in July Open up call for nomination in August to September Open voting in October through Winter Conference How do we get more engagement?



1/23/2019

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• Promote the benefits of serving in leadership • Offer paper voting/voting at Winter Conference

Format bios to make them easier to read “I Voted” stickers to hand out at conference

• Historian (Chair – Pat Johnson)

o Welcome to Pat o Archiving backend items o Flicker is getting out of photo storage

Vera will pull our photos and store them on flash drive by 2/25 o Is there an opportunity to use Google Drive? o Promote FaceBook to collect photos from members

Perhaps offer incentives to upload photos

• Legislative (Chair – Richard Pennington, Co-Chair – Nancy Allen) o See Report

• Marketing (Chair – Kim Taylor, Co-Chair – Brenda Hannu)

o See Report o Additional Discussion

Pushing more towards social media, sharing training opportunities, articles, increasing social media postings

Tara will work on getting Kim access to posting on FaceBook Kim will check on the Terms and Conditions for a marketing tool she would like to use.

• Membership (Chair – Diana Cantu, Co-Chair – Jim Walker)

o See Report o Additional Discussion

Chris motioned to approve Lifetime Member Application for Marcia Sieben, Nancy seconded.

• Lifetime application for Marcia Sieben approved Can we do anything to recognize Marcia for her commitment to RMGPA?

• What will be the criteria for future recognition? o David suggests using the Gala to honor retirees o Challenge Coins or pins

How to involve retired members more It was decided that we will waive the cost for Lifetime members to attend conferences Kerry is working on a new Student Member application

• Who’s considered a student, high school, college, post grad? • What do they get? Can they come to conferences and at what cost?

• Newsletter (Chair – Vera Kennedy, Co-Chair – Kelly Wooden)

o No report

• Programs (Chair – Toi Matthews, Co-Chair – Nikita Hildebrandt) o Summer Conference will be May 29-31 in Beaver Creek o Spring Conference

Douglas County Currently looking for Speakers

o Toi will post Spring Conference info on website right away o Promote awards at every conference and through marketing o Speed dating for committees at two conferences – at a one-day conference and a two-day

conference



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Make it more meaningful by narrowing down the committees people visit to three

Old Business

• Updated form • Everyone has to turn in a 2019 Conflict of Interest form • Send deadlines for inclusion on At-a-Glance calendar to Kerry • Bylaws wrap up (Copy in our packets)

o Membership will review and have comment period before voting o Changes are highlighted throughout the document

Honorary Membership added Internal controls policy added New Lifetime, Associate and Honorary Member policy

• Internal Controls o Vote to adopt internal controls

Traci moves to approve as written David second Policy is approved as written

• Lifetime Associate and Honorary Membership o Vote to adopt new Member policies

Keith motioned Toi seconded Policy is approved as written

• 2019 Proposed Budget o Increased Programs for technology by $400 o Increased Chapter Enhancement by $1,000 o Increased Miscellaneous Expenses by $300 o Reduce Membership from $2,000 to $1,000

Valerie motioned to approve as revised Traci seconded 2019 Proposed Budget approved as revised

• Professional Development: Share ideas for educational opportunities with ProD so they can add courses • How to Engage Members – tabled • Montana Chapter: NIGP has offered the opportunity for Montana to be a branch chapter of RMGPA, a

virtual chapter, or to provide opportunities for educational programs. They will review the options and get back to us if they need our assistance.

• CDOT is working on Advance Colorado Procurement Expo. The website, coprocurementexpo.com, is up and accepting registrations.

o Date: May 16, 2019 o Location: McNichol’s building downtown across from City and County building o Cost: No cost to register for an agency table

New Business

• Scholarships were moved to a new place on website: Documents & Files • There is a New Member NIGP Forum Scholarship with the following requirements:

o in public procurement for less than 5 years o new application will be online

• NIGP Forum registration is open. There is a $140 discount if registered by April 30. There is no longer aa group discount so registration will be done individually.

• RMGPA Scholarship requests due back by April 1 so ProD can make decision before April 30 • Secretary filing required forms with Secretary of State before end of January



1/23/2019

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Adjournment A motion to adjourn was made at 3:59 p.m. by Keith Ashby. and seconded by Toi Matthews . Motion passed unanimously and the meeting was adjourned. Respectfully submitted, Tara Larwick, CPPB RMGPA Secretary



April 24, 2019

Page 1 of 4

Call to Order The RMGPA Board of Directors’ meeting was called to order by President, Kerry Sheahan, on April 24, 2019 at 1:20 p.m. at the City of Thornton Infrastructure Maintenance Center, Thornton, Colorado. Board Members Position Name Present/Absent President Kerry Sheahan ☒ Present ☐Absent Vice President Traci Gorman ☐Present ☒Absent Secretary Tara Larwick ☐Present ☒Absent Treasurer Valerie Scott ☒Present ☐Absent Past President Keith Ashby ☒Present ☐Absent Awards Chair Mandy Zila ☒Present ☐Absent Awards Co-Chair Curt DeCapite ☐Present ☒Absent Chapter Enhancement Chair John Chaplain ☒Present ☐Absent Communications Chair David Musgrave ☐Present ☒Absent Communications Co-Chair Molly McLoughlin ☒Present ☐Absent Education/Pro D Chair Andy Mild ☐Present ☒Absent Education/Pro D Co-Chair Christine Weber ☐Present ☒Absent Elections Skyler Thimens ☐Present ☒Absent Elections Co-Chair Tim Wellman ☒Present ☐Absent Historian Chair Pat Johnson ☒Present ☐Absent Legislative Chair Richard Pennington ☐Present ☒Absent Legislative Co-Chair Nancy Allen ☒Present ☐Absent Marketing Chair Kim Taylor ☒Present ☐Absent Marketing Co-Chair Brenda Hannu ☐Present ☒Absent Membership Chair Diana Cantu ☒Present ☐Absent Membership Co-Chair Jim Walker ☐Present ☒Absent Newsletter Chair Michelle Brown ☐Present ☒Absent Newsletter Co-Chair Kelly Wooden ☐Present ☒Absent Programs Chair Toi Matthews ☐Present ☒Absent Programs Co-Chair Nikita Hildebrandt ☒Present ☐Absent Members present: 13 (13 of 15 voting positions present. Quorum of 10 is met.) Approval of Minutes Minutes for the January RMGPA Board of Directors Meeting were not reviewed as no copy was sent out in advance to the Board. Treasurer’s Report (Valerie Scott): Valerie Scott submitted the Treasurer’s Report. The following is the Treasurer’s Summary as of 4/19/2019:

Primary Account $30,501.37 Secondary Account $57,061.60 Money Market Account $11,260.71 Total $98,823.68 as of April 19, 2019 Profit/ Loss Statement year to date for 2019: 2019 Revenue $12,449.00 2019 Expenses $5,842.00



April 24, 2019

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Net Income $6,607.00 as of April 19, 2019 See full Treasurer’s Report for details. President Kerry Sheahan asked for a motion to accept the Treasurer’s Report. John Chaplain made a motion to accept the Treasurer’s report. Molly McLoughlin. seconded the motion. The motion passed and the Treasurer’s Report was adopted. Vice President’s Report (Traci Gorman) Looking for volunteers and community outreach projects Past President’s Report (Keith Ashby)

• Measurements on Rewards hasn’t changed. • Lawann Terry of NIGP passed away. She worked in Education and was a mainstay at Forum. NIGP office

is closed this Friday. • Sock drive – Keith would like to collect at Summer and Winter conferences. The effort was very well

received by Samaritan House in 2018. Nikita will let Toi know. Committee Reports

• Awards (Chair – Mandy Zila, Co-Chair – Curt DeCapite) 2 Buyer of the Year (BOY), 2 Manager of the Year (MOY) applications.

o Awards were distributed at Spring Conference. o Looking at revamping the forms for BOY & MOY. Seems to be some confusion about what forms

are needed and how to fill them out. o Want to bridge the gap with Programs and their awards at the Winter Conference as there is some

confusion about which group has the information. o Open nominations up throughout the whole year. They will discuss as a committee.

• Communications (Chair –David Musgrave Co-Chair – Molly McLoughlin,)

o David is receiving an award from CDOT o Molly did a tutorial on the Backend

-Historical committee information stays with the user and doesn’t pass on to new committee chair. -Be sure to date your information. -If your data is in a different account or you use a different software program, be sure to let the incoming person know the login and password. It would be good to keep a copy in the Backend also. -If you use two factor authentication, be sure to take it off if you are no longer in the position. -Please do not delete documents. This is the Chapter’s history. Documents were scanned in the past and are kept here.

o Tracking job postings so send them a copy and they’ll post as quickly as possible

• Chapter Enhancement (Chair – John Chaplain) o Amazon Business – Winter Conference sponsor of the dinner if they can have time to speak.

Otherwise they may sponsor social event. They have trained professional presenters who present vs their sales person.

o Spoke to Kim at BidNet – We’d like to do a blast email for last minute sponsors for Summer Conference. BidNet will decide this week.

o Canon will sponsor at Winter Conference o HP interested in being a sponsor o Longmont Chamber – Fall Conference/RVTS at Moose Lodge September 19th at 2210 Pratt Street

Karen Staller is the lead, The Conference will be in the morning, then lunch, and then RVTS. They are still determining whether to have a panel or not. John suggested yes, but perhaps

at a different time. There is no Peak event this year so the Chamber is handling the details for us.



April 24, 2019

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Would like to give away two conference registrations to get entities to set up tables and have a vendor sponsor lunch.

o Vinyl banners are printed. o Table drape is in hand o Brandon (from UNC) will assist John with the Committee o Sponsorship wish list - if a committee has items that could be sponsored, let John know. Lanyards

were a suggestion. o BidNet wants to sponsor Summer Conference. They are meeting today to get final approval.

• Education/Professional Development (Chair – Andy Mild, Co-Chair – Christine Weber)

o Spec writing class - no cost on May 29th in Beaver Creek, before Summer Conference

• Elections (Chair – Skyler Thimens, Co-Chair – Tim Wellmann) o Have a new voting tool so other committees may use E-Voting o Want to start officer voting process early with earlier nominations o Online nominations were discussed and may be an option in the future. o Would like to get more people to vote o May ask HP to sponsor a voting kiosk

• Historian (Chair – Pat Johnson)

o Please take photos at Summer Conference and upload them afterwards to the folder on the Backend

• Legislative (Co-Chair – Richard Pennington, Co-Chair – Nancy Allen)

o Will have latest update in a few days o Discussed volunteers who signed up at Winter Conference haven’t been contacted yet

• Marketing (Chair – Kimberly Taylor, Co-Chair – Brenda Hannu)

o Getting more clicks on social media, trying to put more articles and job postings on social media o Members going to Forum, send Kim pictures or quick blurbs

• Membership (Chair – Diana Cantu, Co-chair - Jim Walker)

o Active members have increased to 517 o Applications to approve:

1. Ashley Green – Student Member Motion to approve student membership was made by Valerie and Keith seconded. The motion was unanimously approved. Diana will create a certificate. 2. Theresa Chappell - Lifetime Member

Has been active with RMGPA Proactive within the county, setting up standards and template documents Ran the division when Keith was out of the office Nancy says she’s been wonderful to work with and provided good info Nancy Allen made a motion to approve lifetime membership. John Chaplain

seconded. The motion was unanimously approved. o Ordered some Lifetime Member pins and will recognize them at the conferences

• Newsletter (Chair – Michelle Brown, Co-Chair – Kelly Wooden Georgia)

o Strategic Report Card Update – measure 4 vendor articles needed per year, they only received 1 o Newsletter posted, no one saw it come out but it’s on the website. Michelle will send to Membership o Some changes were made and they’d like feedback. Valerie suggested to include the Strategic

Plan. Kerry will send it to Michelle. o Michelle would like ideas for the next newsletter o Have Michelle send a reminder to submit articles by the date she needs them.

• Programs (Chair – Toi Matthews, Co-Chair – Nikita Hildebrandt)

o Winter Conference: It will be at the Gaylord December 4, 5, & 6. Room rate $181, waived resort fee. Dr. K is coming back.



April 24, 2019

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Conference theme is technology Gaylord theme is Winter and will have ice skating, sculptures, etc. Discussed moving up the Gala so there is not as much time between the last session and

Gala. o Starting to look at conferences for 2020. o New ideas

Creating an idea tree for Summer Conference to get ideas of the content wanted at conferences.

Need speaker ideas for 2020. Powtoons is one – maybe for winter. Video brought up on You Tube. Do a video and send

it to the Board. Have candy tables at a conference to see if people will sit with a different group and

network/talk to others. o Resort fees at Summer should be waived

Old Business

• Early bird deadline for Forum • International Women’s Day – posted on the website • Advance Colorado Procurement Expo – register by May 1. Agencies can register for free. • Scholarship winners for Forum • Brand Identity – standards that we should be using such as font, colors, etc.

New Business

• Kentucky Chapter of NIGP wants to do a chapter swap. Their event is November 13-15. Someone would go to their meeting with accommodations and registration are paid for by the host chapter. They approached Tracy at NIGP’s Leadership Training. If anyone wants to go, talk to Kerry. Someone from their conference would come to one of ours.

• Leader’s Edge - Deadline extended to May 17th. • Email from NIGP – scholarship fund depleted. Rick Grimm match all scholarship donations up to $1000.

Motion to approve a donation was made by Keith and seconded by Kim Taylor. The motion was unanimously approved. Has to be paid by April 30th.

• Rules, etiquette and privacy guideline to be put into place - Kerry to send to us • RMGPA Hall of Fame (honoring retired members)

o Have to be a member a certain number of years o Retired in good standing, retired for at least 5 years o Served RMGPA in some elevated capacity o Recognized for an exemplary organization or professional accomplishment o Held a higher office in NIGP. o Could be all of these or three, Kerry looking for ideas, thoughts.

Adjournment A motion to adjourn was made at 4:13 p.m. by Valerie and seconded by Keith. Motion passed unanimously and the meeting was adjourned. Respectfully submitted, Pat Johnson RMGPA Historian

Revision A – 10/16/2008 Dedicated to Excellence in Public Purchasing


Treasurer Report as July 18, 2019 Cash Primary Account $9,268.64 Secondary Account $47,062.99 Money Market Account $11,711.56 Total $68,043.19 As of 07/18/2019

Profit/Loss 2019 Revenue $37,475.58 2019 Expenses $53,135.03 Net Income -$15,659.45 As of 07/18/2019

The primary account is the source for day-to-day expenses of the association, and is the account where revenue is deposited. The secondary and money market accounts are reserves to help finance the association through difficult years. Updates:

• Journal entry to properly account for deferred revenue from 2019 member dues received in 2018. • Transferred $10,000 from secondary to primary account to hold us over until we generate more

revenue. Scholarships, Forum expenses, etc. are being paid and we are not going to be able to significantly offset those expenses until we receive the revenue from the RVTS in September.

• A billing error resulted in us not being charged for the web subscription and hosting fee in 2018, so we are paying both last year’s and this year’s fees in 2019.

• I am working on training/succession plan for future Treasurers to maintain consistency in how we account for things.

• Discussion item: accounting for free registrations to conferences (how can we be more consistent?) And accounting in general… how much detail does everyone want in the budget?

Respectfully Submitted, Valerie Scott Treasurer

Cash Basis Thursday, July 18, 2019 06:24 PM GMT-7 1/2

Rocky Mountain Governmental Purchasing AssociationPROFIT AND LOSS

January 1 - July 18, 2019

TOTAL

Income

Revenue

Interest Income 4.33

Membership Dues

2019 Dues 8,845.00

Total Membership Dues 8,845.00

Pro-D Education Courses 5,507.25

Refunds -35.00

Registrations

Spring 5,921.00

Summer 7,233.00

Total Registrations 13,154.00

Sponsor 10,000.00

Total Revenue 37,475.58

Total Income $37,475.58

GROSS PROFIT $37,475.58

Expenses

Awards 251.04

Elections Committee Exp 31.99

Elections 63.98

Total Elections Committee Exp 95.97

General Fund 1,000.00

National Forum Expense

Pres & Vice Pres Air Fare 992.91

Pres & Vice Pres Hotel -217.35

Pres & Vice Pres Registration 1,600.00

Total National Forum Expense 2,375.56

VP Leadership Registration 680.00

Total General Fund 4,055.56

General-Operating

Accounting Services 373.74

Credit Card Fees 537.82

Executive Board Meal 275.82

Total General-Operating 1,187.38

Licenses and Fees 10.00

Membership

Membership Promotional 202.96

Total Membership 202.96

Pro-D Class Expense

Catering-Pro D 376.27

postage-class 37.49

Scholarship Expense (From RVTS) 8,950.72

Scottv

Text Box

2019 dues paid in 2018 have now been added to revenue recognized in 2019 with a journal entry.

Cash Basis Thursday, July 18, 2019 06:24 PM GMT-7 2/2

TOTAL

Total Pro-D Class Expense 9,364.48

Programs

Conference-Spring

Catering-Spring 1,399.14

Programs-Spring-Printing 108.38

Total Conference-Spring 1,507.52

Conference-Summer 30,092.97

Door Prizes-Summer 81.51

Hotel/Room Rental-Summer -1,556.47

Speaker-Fee-Summer 2,152.82

Total Conference-Summer 30,770.83

Conference-Winter

Prizes-Winter 107.62

Total Conference-Winter 107.62

Equipment 330.61

Total Programs 32,716.58

Rewards Program 200.00

Software 51.06

Treasurer Committee Exp

Audit 5,000.00

Total Treasurer Committee Exp 5,000.00

Total Expenses $53,135.03

NET OPERATING INCOME $ -15,659.45

NET INCOME $ -15,659.45

Scottv

Text Box

The Rewards Program number does not reflect 2 $149 redemptions for Summer Conference, which will be addressed with a journal entry.

Scottv

Text Box

Extra door prizes purchase for summer conference will be used for the winter conference.



Vice President Report July 2019 – July Board Meeting

1. Strategic Report Card Update:

Measure 2018 April 30 July 31 Sept 30 Dec 31 YTD

Volunteers (#) 28 28 32

2. Old Business from Previous Report Purchasing Month I did not receive any information on how agencies celebrated or recognized Purchasing Month.

3. New Business 2019 Volunteers We are still actively seeking volunteers, committee members, and co-chairs for various committees! It’s a minimum 2-hour commitment to receive 1 point. Chairs receive 2 points. If your committee has two Co-Chairs, you each receive 1 point. For those committees who did have volunteer requests and brought them onboard with your committee, THANK YOU!!! We are currently seeking a Chair for the Professional Development (ProD) Committee. So if you have an interest, please contact Kerry Sheahan or Traci Gorman. Community Outreach In order to get more RMGPA members involved, I would like to get some community outreach projects organized across the state and in Wyoming. If you know of anyone who would be a good fit to lead a project in this area, let me know. Or if you have some ideas for great community outreach projects, please reach out as well!!

Submitted By

Traci L. Gorman Traci Gorman Vice President



Past President Report July 24, 2019



RMGPA Rewards (awarded/used)

8/8 None 3 6/8

2. Old Business Nothing to report

3. New Business

• Update from NIGP • RMGPA Community Project • Eight Rewards have been awarded for 2019. Two have been partially redeemed for the

summer conference and one full redemption for V-Con Submitted By Keith Ashby, CPPO Keith Ashby Past President



Awards Committee Board Report July 24, 2019



Nominations 8 4 0 4

2. Old Business from Previous Report • Awards committee added Pam Smith from Academy District 20 as a volunteer. • Update the nomination forms for MOY and BOY • Looking into other opportunities or marketing avenues to advertise for the MOY and BOY. • Develop continuity between Programs and Awards for the awards at the Winter Conference

3. New Business

• Awards committee has added volunteer, Angie McDaniel from Metro Wastewater.

Submitted By Mandy Zila Awards Chair



Chapter Enhancement Committee Board Report

July 19, 2019

Strategic Report Card Update:

Measure 2018 April 30 July 31 Sept 30 Dec 31 YTD RVTS Vendor Participation (#)

200+ TBD 200+

Corporate Support Program Contacts (#)

10+ 12 15 as of 7/19/19

10

New Business

1. Chapter Enhancement now has a Co-Chair: Christine Weber! YAY!

2. Revision of Sponsorships and Media Kit under way, working with Toi Matthews, Nikita Hildebrandt, and Christine Weber to present to Kerry Sheahan and Traci Gorman – deadline August 15.

3. Fall Conference & Reverse Vendor Trade Show (RVTS) – September 19, 2019 • RMGPA has partnered again with the Longmont Chamber of Commerce to host a Reverse Vendor

Trade Show at the Moose Lodge, 2210 Pratt Street, Longmont, CO 80501. 8:30 – 12:30pm RMGPA will have it’s Fall Conference in the Morning 12:30 – 2:00pm RMGPA exhibitors will set up their tables 2:00pm – 5:00pm Reverse Vendor Trade Show and Q&A Panel 5:00pm – 7:00pm – Networking Social Hour (RMGPA Member Invited)

• Longmont Chamber of Commerce has created a landing page for interested vendors to register to attend the RVTS. A push notification will go out via BidNet by the end of July.

• Registration for RMGPA membership will open shortly. Member organizations which sponsor a booth will be provided with 2 free conference registrations.

3. Winter Vendor Trade Show (WVTS) – December 5, 2019 • Event to be held at Fort Collins Marriott • Canon has agreed to be the RMGPA’s “Official Printer”, securing a Corporate Sponsor level

agreement with interest in sponsoring the luncheon. • Amazon Business sponsorship still in discussion for Winter Conference. • Multiple vendors interested in being sponsors following ACPE contacts made. • Save-the-Date notice to be sent by Bid Net in mid-August.

Submitted by,

John Chaplain Chapter Enhancement Chair



Communications Committee Board Report Wednesday, July 24, 2019



2019 Number of Job Postings 69 25 27 52

2. Old Business from Previous Report / Reminders Job Postings: If you have a posting from your agency that you want posted on the RMGPA website here is what we need:

● An email to [email protected] ● Copy of posting or a link to the online job posting (preferred) ● The agency website where your job is posted.

Membership Reminders:

● If you change agencies, RMGPA memberships stay with the agency, it does not move with the individual. ● Please contact Membership or Communications to help you change your agency status.

Website Navigation/Issues: Contact us at [email protected]

3. New Business

Documents & Files: Did you know you can add documents and files that will show up on the front end? Check out this information if you want to share information with the membership (only available to registered members of RMGPA.

Respectively submitted by:

David Molly

David Musgrave Molly McLoughlin, CPPO, CPPB RMGPA Communications Chair RMGPA Communications Co-Chair

mailto:[email protected]



Education/Professional Development Committee Report July 24, 2019

1. Strategic Report Card Update


Courses Confirmed (#) 8/11 Members Attended a Course (%) 68/95 71.6% Scholarships Awarded ($) $7,526.59 Mentor Review Sessions (#) 0

2. 2019 UpcomingCourse Schedule

Register at: rmgpa.org

Course Date

Registration Deadline Course Title Host Registrants Required

August 6-8

July 6 Strategic Procurement Planning in the Public

Sector

City of Golden 11 10

September 17-19

August 17 Introduction to Public Procurement

City of Centennial

18 10

November 6-8

October 6 Sourcing in the Public Sector Denver 5 10

3. 2019 CPPO and CPPB Certification Schedule

Fall Examinations Spring Examinations

Application Submission Deadline July 15, 2019 February 3, 2020 Application Submission Late Deadline July 29, 2019 February 18, 2020 Schedule Exam By September 23, 2019 April 13, 2020 Exam Dates October 14 - 26, 2018 May 4 – 16, 2020

Respectfully Submitted,

Andy Mild RMGPA Education & Professional Development Chair



Elections Committee Board Report July 24th 2019



Members Voting Electronically (%)

27% N/A

2. Old Business from Previous Report: N/A • Create a standard form to use when sharing bios of nominees – No Action

3. New Business:

• Eballots were sent out to active members for voting on acceptance of the proposed revisions

to By-Laws. August 15th is deadline to vote.

• Per previous reports, we are starting elections earlier than historically done. Secretary, V.P., President and Past President position descriptions were sent out 7/18/19

Elections Timeline is as follows:

August 15th - October 1st Call for Nominations

October 15th Nominations Confirmed

October 20th Voting Opens

December Results are announced at Winter Conference

Submitted By Skyler Thimens Elections Chair c.c. Tim Wellmann Elections Co-Chair



Historian Committee Board Report 07/18/19



N/A

2. Old Business from Previous Report • Still working to clean up the historical documents on the back-end of the website.

3. New Business Submitted by Pat Johnson Historian Chair



Legislative Committee Board Report July 18, 2019

1. Strategic Report Card Update: N/A 2. Old Business from Previous Report:

a. The final Colorado legislative update 2019 (updates by Nancy Allen, Jenna Cifala, Farrah Bustamante) was published on June 12th, after the Governor took final action on bills.

b. The committee (Jenna Cifala and Richard Pennington) wrote a newsletter article reporting the results of its after-action reviews about the legislative update process.

3. New Business

a. Floy Jeffares and her paralegal looked at whether there are Colorado reported cases in the context

of procurement—they found none—about survivability of executive orders when administrations change.

b. The committee will begin working on revisions to the Committee job description to reflect changes to the Governors’ proclamation process and procedures for Wyoming Legislative updates/procurement month proclamations.

c. A Board meeting agenda item is requested regarding Wyoming legislative updates/procurement month proclamations. The following background information is provided:

(1) As far as we know, no Wyoming Legislative updates had been done before. Nor had a Wyoming proclamation been requested for March procurement month.

(2) The governor’s proclamation website states that only proclamation requests from Wyoming residents will be considered. Melissa Lawrence approached the state procurement manager to assess her interest and offered her help. The SPM initially was interested but then—after Melissa’s followup—asked to defer the initiative until next year.

(3) The Wyoming legislative session is only two months’ long. Richard Pennington wrote two Wyoming legislative updates (until the February 28th adjournment of the general assembly) while three committee members worked in on the Colorado legislative


update. There were 316 House and 166 Senate bills introduced and reviewed. There were 13 bills tracked in the updates.

(4) Despite a membership-wide email last year recruiting volunteers, there were no Wyoming members on the Legislative Committee.

Submitted By Richard Pennington Nancy Allen Legislative Committee Co-Chair Co-Chair



Marketing Committee Board Report July 24, 2019


Measure 2018 April 30 July 31 Sept 30 Dec 31 YTD LinkedIn Members (#) 122 122 LinkedIn Posts (#) 17 5 Twitter Posts (#) 12 1 Facebook Posts (#) 16 7 Increase Social Media Click-Through

N/A

Increase Members Following on Social Media

N/A

Year End Survey N/A N/A N/A N/A

2. Old Business• We are focusing on communicating events and scholarships etc. and increasing professional

utilization by posting articles, etc. on social media sites that may be of interest to our members.This is being done as a marketing campaign on the social media sites.

• We would like to work more collaboratively with other committees to help push out theircontent, programming etc. so please contact me if you have anything you would likemembership to know.

• Finally we are going to work on a survey for the end of the year that will go out to members totrack what they did see as to marketing, what they would like to see, what they want less of, etc.

3. New Business• None

Submitted By

Kim Taylor Marketing Chair



Newsletter Committee Board Report July 18, 2019



4 vendor articles per year 1 0 1

2. Old Business from Previous Report Newsletter format – reorganized; educational articles forthcoming!

3. New Business Vendor Articles – Need vendor-written articles. At least 2 for Fall newsletter would be great!

Submitted By Michelle Brown Newsletter Chair


Membership Committee Report

July 24, 2019



Members 458 519 528 528

Lifetime Members 2 17

Student Members 1 1

2. Old Business from Previous Report

519 Active members

17 Lifetime members

3. New Business

528 Active members

Discuss Wilman Nahui Student/Associate Membership application (application attached)

New Member Packet

Respectfully submitted by,

Membership Chair


Dedicated to Excellence in Public Purchasing rev. 02/20/19 dc


APPLICATION FOR STUDENT MEMBERSHIP (Please PRINT clearly)

MEMBER NAME: Wilman Nahui Ccaccya SCHOOL NAME: National University of San Marcos

ADDRESS: 2080 Ellis Street

CITY: Golden STATE: CO ZIP CODE: 80401

TELEPHONE: 720-633-4419 EMAIL ADDRESS: (required) [email protected]

DISCLAIMER: By completing and submitting this application, I am requesting that the Board of

Directors of RMGPA confer Associate Member status. It is my intention to become active in the

Chapter, attending conferences and other functions as I am able. I understand that my annual

membership dues will be waived, and, in return, I will be asked to update my contact information

on an annual basis. In any year that I do not reply to the Membership Chair before February 28th

to verify my continued interest, I may be subject to being placed upon the inactive membership

roll.

SIGNATURE: DATE:

SEND THIS COMPLETED FORM TO:

RMGPA Membership Chair

C/O Diana Cantu

2929 Clover Basin Drive Longmont, CO 80503 [email protected]

06/11/2019

mailto:[email protected]



Programs Committee Board Report 07/24/2019


Measure 2018 April 30 July 31 Sept 30 Dec 31 YTD Survey Participation (%) 48% 20% 29% Member Satisfied with Conferences (%) 95% 100% 92%

Members Attended Spring Conference (#) 64 65 N/A N/A N/A

Members Attended Summer Conference (#) 60 N/A 59 N/A N/A

Members Attended Fall Conference (#) 56 N/A N/A N/A

Members Attended Winter Conference (#) 91 N/A N/A N/A

Increase Conference Membership for New Members N/A 12 5

Increase Conference Opportunities on the Western Slope and Northern CO

N/A 0 1

Increase Participation of RMGPA Award Nominations N/A N/A N/A

2. Old Business

• Fall Conference and RVTS 2019 Date: September 19, 2019 Location: Longmont, CO Theme: TBD

• Winter Conference 2019 Dates: December 4-6 Location: Fort Collins, CO Theme: Technology Presenters: Dr. K coming back for a follow-up training already confirmed availability

• 2020 Conferences

Looking at venues


• New Ideas for Conferences

o “Idea Tree” for topic brain storming for future conferences (input for our members) – need to get leafs and brown paper

o Pot Toons videos on each committee information on volunteering – we need a YouTube account created This is free Would we want to do this?

New Business

None

Respectfully submitted, Toi Matthews Nikita Hildebrandt RMGPA Programs Chair RMGPA Programs Co-Chair

Mentoring Guide for RMGPA

TABLE OF CONTENTS

1 WHAT IS MENTORING

2 THE ROLE OF THE MENTOR

3 TECHNIQUES FOR MENTORS Questions Active Listening Role Modeling Giving Feedback

4 TIPS FOR MENTORS

5 ENDING THE RELATIONSHIP

6 CLOSING THOUGHTS

WHAT IS MENTORING? Since a relatively small number of colleges and universities offer specialized degree programs in public procurement, procurement professionals come from a wide variety of workplace and educational backgrounds. As such, much of the learning about how to be effective at your job comes from on-the-job training, professional development opportunities, and mentoring from others in the profession. This handbook focuses on mentoring in public procurement and is appropriate for directors, supervisors, and more seasoned professionals to help those newer to the profession thrive as well as advise those moving to new roles or more complex leadership positions.

There are many perspectives on the role of mentor including traits and responsibilities to the mentoring function:

• A mentor guides a less experienced person by building trust and modeling positive behaviors.

• Mentors assist mentees by providing growth experiences, listening, coaching, challenging ideas or behaviors, discussing attitudes, encouraging professional behavior, sharing, teaching by example, offering wise counsel, triggering self-awareness, building self-confidence, and providing information.

• An effective mentor understands that his or her role is to be dependable, engaged, authentic, and tuned into the needs of the mentee.

• A mentor works with others in a positive, constructive way so that both mentor and protégé have the potential to grow through the relationship.

The mentor exists in the relationship to serve the growth of the mentee. New professionals in public procurement each may bring their unique strengths to the field. No new professional comes prepared with strengths in all areas. Additionally, the new professional may lack significant practice, even in the areas in which they have considerable theory, training, or formal education.

THE ROLE OF THE MENTOR Seasoned procurement professionals are likely to be well-positioned to provide mentees with perspectives that go beyond the office in which the mentee works. The field has gone through transitions over the years and the services of today differ from what came before. Mentors should be able to help their mentees understand the developments of the past so they understand current best practices. The mentor has the opportunity to help the mentee see that their “newness” can be an advantage in that they bring fresh perspective and fewer anchors to the traditions of public procurement.

Mentors can help new professionals learn the core competencies and perspectives of the field. They are also positioned to critically analyze those same core competencies. Mentors can encourage flexibility, adaptability, and nimble thinking in new professionals to help them identify “next practices” and help lead the profession forward.

The mentor should empower the mentee by listening actively and serving as a sounding board, helping mentees explore where a course of action might lead them and help define the gap between current skills and what is needed. Mentoring can include helping the mentee learn best practices, methods of advancement, and options for career pathing. In addition, it can include the emotional well-being and growth of the mentee.

As the mentee begins to map his strengths and weaknesses to his role, the mentor can assist through various functions. The mentor can challenge and support the mentee in this journey and serve as a sounding board for self-discovery.

When new professionals join public procurement, they are often surprised to find the volume and variety of demands in the role. Depending on the structure of their department and their specific position, new professionals are likely to find themselves attempting to balance their workload. In order to achieve balance, good planning is required. The mentor, with the insights gained through experience, is in a position to assist the new professional in this regard.

New professionals and those transitioning into new roles may experience a number of transitional work-life balance issues related to their new positions. Mentors can provide a sounding board, new perspectives, and personal anecdotes to help mentees

explore balance issues and develop strategies to manage the busiest times and the competing demands of professional life and personal life.

The mentoring relationship should be driven by the needs of the mentee and should emphasize increasing the mentee’s understanding and ability to lead committees and/or volunteer opportunities for RMGPA.

TECHNIQUES FOR MENTORS

Questions Asking questions is a valuable part of any mentoring relationship and can serve a variety of functions in the mentor-mentee relationship. Questions work when they contribute to the purpose and objectives of a process. For new professionals in the field of public procurement and those taking the next step in their careers, asking good questions helps explore issues and perspectives. Although context and individual preferences are incredibly important in deciding what questions will be effective, the list below will provide the mentor with a good starting point:

1. What are your goals for our relationship? 2. In what areas do you need the most help? 3. What barriers are you experiencing? 4. How are you getting connected to others in the profession? 5. Have you noticed any patterns in how you approach professional situations? 6. What has been unexpected in your experience so far? 7. Describe what has excited you the most in this role. 8. What does success look like for you? 9. In what ways are you planning to connect with professional associations? 10. What are the expectations about confidentiality, both as participants in the

program as well as the content of meetings and discussions?

Active Listening Active listening involves listening for total meaning, which includes both the content and the emotional context that surrounds the content. Mentors should employ active listening as a means of support and a tool to allow for the mentee to explore issues at a deep level.

Role Modeling As the trust between mentor and mentee develops, it is natural that the mentee will use the mentor as a role model for behavior, whether consciously or unconsciously. As such, behaviors—both good and bad—can be passed on without explicit dialogue or instruction. It is possible for a mentor to verbalize all the “right” information to an emerging professional, yet still steer the individual poorly by role modeling problematic behaviors. These can come in the form of interpersonal interactions, ethical decision making, microagressions, and general workplace etiquette.

Giving Feedback Providing feedback to emerging professionals is essential, but can also be a challenging task for mentors. However, the mentee is likely to not only need the input, but welcome it. Using the coaching technique of asking permission is wise, but the dynamics of the mentor/mentee relationship should influence how and when feedback is provided. A key is for the mentor to use a supportive, growth-oriented perspective on the feedback being delivered and work to make it a conversation rather than a lecture.

Effective feedback is: • Specific. It is precise rather than general.

• Factual. It details observations and information.

• Descriptive. It focuses on what or how something is done, not why.

• Clearly Understood. It involves checking in and clarifying.

• Timed to be most useful. It is closely tied to the action.

• Sensitive. It is sincere in a desire to help.

• Constructive. It focuses on controllable actions and outcomes.

• Directed at behavior. It is not focused on assumed intent.

It is important to remember that constructive feedback is not criticism. The goal is not to tear down, but rather to develop and support personal growth. When feedback is given, the mentee should decide if he prefers to discuss alternative actions at that time or if he would prefer to take time to reflect on the feedback and consider alternatives at a later time.

TIPS FOR MENTORS • Discuss mentee’s career goals and interests at your initial meeting and revisit

them during the course of the mentoring relationship.

• Be available for your mentee and be responsive to his or her needs. Let the mentee control how you can help him or her.

• Be a good listener. Sometimes, the mentee just wants to bounce ideas off of you and is not looking for a solution.

• Ask how you can best help your mentee. Identify his or her goals and develop a plan for meeting those goals.

• Be clear about what you are willing and able to do for the mentee.

• Take the time to understand your mentee. Find out who they are, who they want to be, and what direction they want their career to go.

• Encourage your mentee to come to you with issues and proposed solutions and be receptive to open discussion. People learn more from dialogue than from a lecture.

• Create networking opportunities and provide encouragement to assist the mentee in achieving their goals.

• Be patient with your mentee, and don’t be judgmental. Remember that you were once where he or she was.

• Be a receptive audience. You will learn as much from your mentee as he or she will learn from you.

ENDING THE RELATIONSHIP Even the best mentoring relationship can run their course and become ineffective. Take some time in the beginning to establish expectations on how long the mentoring relationship will last. You may want to negotiate a mentorship that is for a fixed time period. Once that is over, you can always extend the relationship. The time you work together will depend on what your mentee wants to achieve through the mentoring and can be anywhere from three months to a year. Agreeing on an end date at the beginning of your mentoring relationship can shape your work together, giving it structure, purpose and a timeframe. Discussing how and when the relationship will end makes it comfortable for the mentor and mentee at the beginning. This makes it easier at the end. There can be a variety of reasons for ending the relationship early:

• The relationship has fulfilled its purpose. Most mentoring relationships are started to help the mentee achieve a particular goal and once this has been achieved another mentor might be more appropriate.

• The mentor and mentee are not getting along or have different philosophies.

• A change of goals, priorities or commitments.

If the relationship is petering out, or your mentee’s goals change to become ones you can’t help with, bring up the prospect of ending your work together. Sometimes, you may have an early ending to your relationship because of changes like these. It’s important to try not to take this personally and if you have a clearly defined SMART goals, it helps focus the discussion objectively. Many people find it helpful to end a mentoring relationship with a sense of purpose and direction for the future. Use your last session to look back and discuss what went well and what you may do differently next time, focus on future goals and talk about the support systems the mentee will put in place for continued development. Most importantly, encourage your mentee to continue on the journey as a lifelong learner.

CLOSING THOUGHTS Serving as a mentor can be incredibly rewarding. Mentors should treat the opportunity to help a next-generation professional as an honor and a duty to the field. The process of mentoring is instructional in nature and a personalized experience will yield the best results. Through appropriate techniques (active listening, good questioning, positive role modeling, and appropriate feedback), the emerging professional will grow to deliver best practices and develop next practices. Now more than ever, the field of public procurement needs engaged, forward-thinking professionals who are focused on procurement best practices and meaningful professional experiences.

Before you get started with your mentee, take some time to review “Being a Successful Mentee: A Guide for RMGPA.” This resource will prepare you for the questions that your mentee may ask as well as what they may expect from you as their mentor.

Being a Successful Mentee: A Guide for RMGPA

TABLE OF CONTENTS

1 THE ROLE OF THE MENTEE

2 SELF-REFLECTION

3 STEP BY STEP Setting Goals Managing Expectations Time Management

4 PLANNING FOR YOUR MEETINGS

5 CLOSING THOUGHTS How to Get the Most Out Of a Mentoring Relationship

THE ROLE OF THE MENTEE

To get the most out of the mentoring relationship, the mentee must not be a passive participant. They have an essential and active role to facilitate the professional relationship. The quality of the mentoring relationship is driven by the mentee.

A mentee is responsible for preparing meeting agendas and any other pre-meeting work to ensure that the topics and themes to be discussed are of key concerns to the mentees. Mentees should be very proactive, taking responsibility for their own development and growth.

A good mentee must:

• Listen

• Act on advice

• Show a willingness, desire, and commitment to learn and grow

• Check his or her ego at the door—ask for and be open to feedback and criticism

• Be open-minded and willing to change

They must be a:

• RELATIONSHIP DRIVER. Identifying goals to achieve and topics to discuss

• DEVELOPMENT PLANNER. Maintaining schedules and time frames for the mentoring plan

• TEACHER. Sharing information that might be valuable to the mentor

• CONTINUOUS LEARNER. Taking full advantage of this learning opportunity

The guide offers step-by-step direction about how to prepare for a mentoring relationship and how to work with a mentor to get the most out of this learning experience.

SELF REFLECTION

A mentee must engage in self-reflection before meeting with a mentor. The self-reflection is needed to understand what the mentee hopes to accomplish to get the most out of the mentoring opportunity. Because mentees take the initiative in a mentoring relationship, they must be prepared to reflect on and speak about goals.

Contemplate the following when considering becoming a mentee:

• REVIEW STRENGTHS. Where would you like to grow?

• UNDERSTAND WEAKNESSES. What would you like to learn?

• EVALUATE EDUCATIONAL GOALS. Do you need guidance in this area?

• ASSESS PROFESSIONAL INTERESTS AND OBJECTIVES. What are your goals?

• CONSIDER LEARNING. What is your learning style? Do you like accountability? Do you like to have a plan?

• CONSIDER NEEDS. How can your mentor help you most?

Finally, ask yourself if you are ready for mentoring. Are you ready and able to commit the time, effort, and energy? Are you ready and willing to learn? If you answered yes to these questions, it’s time to join RMGPA’s Mentoring Program.

STEP BY STEP

Setting Goals During a mentoring relationship, both the mentor and the mentee are actively involved in the learning process by jointly developing goals. Ultimately though, the mentee is responsible for driving development of these goals under the guidance of the mentor. To maximize the likely success of the mentoring experience, set SMART goals—these are Specific, Measurable, Action-oriented, Realistic, and Timely. Well-defined goals will help the mentoring relationship proceed in an efficient path to achieve those goals. Check your goals regularly to ensure they are still relevant and that your mentoring relationship is designed to achieve them.

Managing Expectations Early in the relationship, discuss expectations. Mentoring relations can be powerful and life-changing events in people’s lives but that does not ensure success. While mentees can benefit greatly from mentors’ experience, support, and advice, there are limits. Mentors cannot directly solve personal, work, or career problems. But the mentor can be expected to provide valuable support and advice, even for complicated and aggravating issues.

As a mentee, ask your mentor what he or she expects from you. Tell your mentor what you expect or need from him or her. Clarify at the outset that both mentor and mentee are willing and able to live up to the other’s expectations. It might also be helpful to discuss how to handle disagreements or conflicts.

Discuss the expectations around confidentiality including as a participant in the program as well as the content of meetings and discussions. Is everything confidential unless agreed otherwise? Are there certain topics you would like to remain confidential?

Time Management Discuss with your mentor how frequently to meet, how long each meeting will last, and where the meetings will take place. RMGPA recommends that mentors and mentees meet monthly for a minimum of one hour. Discuss with your mentor if this works for both of you and then determine the specifics:

• Do you want to set up a specific date (e.g., first Thursday of the month) and time to add to your calendar?

• Would you prefer to schedule the next meeting at the conclusion of each monthly meeting?

• How long will the meeting run (e.g., 40 minutes, one hour)?

• Will your mentoring relationship last six months, a year, beyond?

• How will you meet (e.g., in person, over the phone, via Skype, a combination)?

As a mentee, put the scheduled meetings on your and your mentor’s calendar Be respectful of your mentor’s time. If your meeting is set to run for 1 hour, keep to the time limit. Also, during the scheduled time, give your mentor your full attention, whether meeting in person, over the phone, or online. You should not be distracted by others or by electronics (e-mails, phone calls, and texts). Finally, maintain professionalism in your communications with your mentor. Respond in a timely manner to e-mails and phone calls.

PLANNING FOR YOUR MEETINGS Crafting an Agenda For each meeting, draft an agenda to share before or at the start of each meeting. Preparing an agenda forces the mentee to carefully consider the importance of various topics. As a mentee, you are responsible for determining the topics to be discussed. The agenda will help your mentor keep discussions on track. Send the agenda in advance to allow a mentor to plan ahead for the discussion.

Agendas don’t need to be too complicated or detailed. Think about agendas as a discussion of the past, present, and future:

• BEGIN WITH THE PAST TO REVIEW/UPDATE YOUR MENTOR ABOUT A PREVIOUS DISCUSSION. Provide feedback to your mentor about the usefulness of his or her advice.

• MOVE TO THE PRESENT. Introduce the meeting topic. One topic is sufficient as long as you prepare in advance (e.g., research, draft questions).

• FINALLY, DISCUSS THE FUTURE. At the end of a meeting, confirm the date and time for the next meeting and note any topics you’d like to defer or continue to discuss at the next meeting. SAMPLE AGENDA TEMPLATE

MENTORING MEETING

NAMES OF PARTICIPANTS

DATE & TIME

I. Update: Report on last week’s issue

II. Today’s topic to be discussed

III. Next meeting (determine next date)

Remember, the goal is not to get your mentor to solve your problems or provide answers. Use the mentor meetings as an opportunity to seek advice and guidance.

Discussion Topics Your time with your mentor is your opportunity to learn and grow. Reflect on the initial goals established for the mentoring relationship. Consider your mentor’s experience, skills, and strengths. Finally, review the goals you set with your mentor. Below is a chart of discussion topics to spark ideas for your mentor meetings:

TOPICS FOR DISCUSSION Topic Questions Get To Know Each Other What was your first job in this industry? How did you get started? What

key experiences shaped your career path?

Work/Life Balance How do you manage your time? How do you balance personal and work obligations?

Managing Conflict How do you deal with office politics? Do you have suggestions for diffusing conflicts in your office?

Career Growth Where do you see yourself in 5 or 10 years? What are the key skills needed for success in this industry? What experiences do you recommend? How do you make a bigger impact in an office or in our industry?

Philosophy What are your personal goals? Who had the greatest influence on you? What drives you?

Insights What do you wish you knew when you started? What do you wish you could change? What else would you be doing if you were not in your current position? What has been the most challenging experience in your career?

Leadership Development How have you successfully influenced others? What are the key leadership skills to develop?

Networking How do you network effectively? Can you share any networking success stories? Which other informal mentoring relationships should be developed? Is there anyone with whom you suggest I speak?

Resources Which resources do you recommend for keeping up to date in this industry? Which groups (Facebook, LinkedIn) do you follow? To which professional organizations do you belong?

CLOSING THOUGHTS How to Get the Most Out Of a Mentoring Relationship As a mentee, the mentoring relationship is what you put into it. You are responsible for setting meetings, communicating goals, and asking questions. See some ideas below for getting the most out of a mentoring relationship:

1. JOURNAL. Keep a notebook or journal of your meetings. In the journal, include copies of your agendas and highlight key learnings to review and revisit later. Reflect on your learning by reviewing the information provided or re-reading your notes.

2. QUESTION. Use a journal to jot down questions or issues that can be used as topics for upcoming meetings. Do not ask questions that can easily be found by simple research. A mentor is there to guide, advise, and teach. Don’t waste your mentor’s time by making him or her look for information that you can find on your own.

3. THANK. Show appreciation to your mentor. After each meeting, send a message

(e-mail, text, or note) to thank your mentor for the meeting and reflect back some insight gained or learned.

4. KEEP IN TOUCH. Check in with your mentor between meetings. For example,

you may follow-up on advice that you took. You also can simply wish your mentor happy holidays or a nice vacation. Confirm the next meeting to make sure the date and time still work. Make sure you understand the ground rules for contacting and meeting with your mentor.

5. REASSESS. To determine that things still work on both ends, reassess with your

mentor. Midway through your planned time together, add a check-in session to determine that all is satisfactory.

6. RESPECT. A mentor is there for advice and guidance, not to solve personal

problems or find a job. Also, your mentor meeting should not be a time to grouse. Do not complain about your job, your supervisor, or your co-workers. This is your time to develop professionally and to learn more about the industry. Respect the mentoring relationship and do not put your mentor on the spot in any way.

7. BE ENTHUSIASTIC. Be eager and excited when you engage with your mentor. Show passion about the industry. It also helps to be friendly and warm with your mentor to show how the experience is enjoyable and how you appreciate his or her time.

8. END. Know when to end the mentoring relationship. At some point, it is time to

move on. Summarize the mentoring experience in a thank you note. Use your journal to recall all you gained and learned.

9. SHARE. Consider sharing the experience with others. Discuss what you learned

at a team meeting in your office, include any nuggets of wisdom or consider writing an article for the RMGPA newsletter about what you learned. Also share with your mentor by offering your own fresh perspectives and new ideas.

10. DETERMINE NEXT STEPS. Where are you in your career? Determine if there

might be a benefit from working with another mentor. Finally, consider becoming a mentor yourself.


Mentor Program

All of us can look back to someone in our lives who impacted who we are today; someone who encouraged or supported us, and sometimes pushed us beyond what we thought were our capabilities. Mentoring is the process by which those with more experience provide advice, support, and knowledge to those with less experience. Mentors possess the wisdom that only experience can provide and share it with Mentees who are truly interested in expanding their depth of knowledge. Thank you for your support to strengthen the field of public procurement. The following information will outline the Mentor Program and define roles and expectations for both the Mentor and Mentee. The RMGPA Mentor Program matches procurement professionals with more seasoned partners who can offer guidance, encouragement and the benefit of wisdom that only comes with experience. The Program also offers a Peer to Peer option for those members who realize that two heads are better than one and could benefit from having a point of contact whenever an issue arises that requires a second opinion. The Membership Committee will partner Mentors with Mentees and facilitate an introduction. The Mentor/Mentee agreement will last as long as both members would like. We hope that you are as enriched by this experience as the individuals you may mentor. Mentees are encouraged to contact the Mentor with purchasing questions. In turn, Mentors are encouraged to check in with the Mentee on a regular basis to discover how they may assist in professional development including exam preparation. If you are looking for a mentor to assist with preparation for the CPPB or CPPO examination, note that on your application. Do you want to:

• share knowledge, ideas and resources • learn procurement best practices • grow as a leader • sharpen your skillsets • expand your networks If so, complete the Mentor Program Application and submit to the Membership Chair today.

Mentor Program Overview: The Mentor Program is designed to encourage past and present RMGPA Members to serve as mentors who provide assistance, leadership and guidance to new members as well as those transitioning into new roles or leadership positions. Purpose: The purpose of the Mentor Program is to provide a means of cultivating the skills of the Chapter’s members. This translates into talent retention, more engaged members, and healthier succession plan. Mentor Roles and Responsibilities: Mentors are past and present RMGPA Members who are interested in and committed to helping develop a fellow RMGPA member. Mentor Roles and Behaviors: 1. Assist Mentees by providing growth experiences, listening, coaching, challenging ideas or behaviors,

discussing attitudes, encouraging professional behavior, sharing, teaching by example, offering wise counsel, triggering self-awareness, building self-confidence, and providing information.

2. Empower the Mentee. The mentoring relationship should be driven by the needs of the Mentee and should emphasize increasing the Mentee’s understanding and ability to lead committees and/or volunteer opportunities for RMGPA.

3. Listen actively and serve as a sounding board, helping Mentees explore where a course of action might lead them and help define the gap between current skills and what is needed.

4. Provide information, personal insight, options and ideas. 5. Provide encouragement.

Mentor Responsibilities: 1. Identify potential candidates for the program. 2. Initiate contact and arrange a preliminary meeting with Mentee assigned. 3. Be willing to share the knowledge and experience gained during their career and provide information

and guidance. 4. Be willing to commit the time and energy needed to establish and maintain a productive mentoring

relationship. Contact with Mentee is required at least monthly. 5. Actively observe, coach and guide the Mentee. 6. Exhibit skills in active listening, coaching, and the ability to establish rapport with others. To become a Mentee, the person must: 1. Exhibit a commitment to self-development. 2. Promote professionalism in public purchasing. 3. Be willing to commit the time and energy required to establish and maintain the Mentor-Mentee

partnership. Mentee Roles and Behaviors: 1. Be receptive to information and feedback. 2. Ask questions. 3. Be an active listener. 4. Follow through on commitments and seek assistance when necessary. Mentee Responsibilities: 1. Contact with Mentor is required at least monthly. 2. Must be an active RMGPA member throughout the duration of the Program.

https://www.management-mentors.com/mentoring-benefits/mentoring-benefits-develop-talent

Mentor Program Application Select One: ☐Mentor ☐Mentee ☐Peer to Peer Name of Applicant: Certification Held: ☐CPPO ☐CPPB ☐Other ☐None Mailing Address: Work Phone: Cell Phone: Email Address: Geographical Preference: Preferred Communication Method: ☐email ☐face to face ☐phone ☐other Current Employment Status: ☐Active ☐Retired ☐Between Jobs ☐Student Agency: Title: Years in Current Position: Total Years in Purchasing: Purchasing Expertise or Areas of Expertise:

Professional Affiliation: NIGP Member: ☐Yes ☐No RMGPA Membership: ☐Active ☐Retired ☐Associate ☐Lifetime ☐Student How long have you been a member of NIGP? RMGPA? Describe your expectations for this program and list the areas you would like professional guidance:

Have you held a leadership role or volunteered with RMGPA or NIGP? If so, describe:

*** FOR COMMITTEE USE ONLY***

Date Application Received: Date Reviewed by Committee: Recommended Match: