Niebaum read two letters. The first was a confidential letter. The second letter was to the Bleeding Kansas-National Territorial Alliance in support of the effort for the Bleeding Kansas National Heritage Area project. Both Niebaum and Phipps signed this letter. The next meeting for the Alliance is February 12 at the Lawrence Visitors Center. No word has been received from the National Park Service regarding the grant.

Treasurer

Piller was unable to give a report as the year-end figures had not been received. It is hoped the report can be given at the Board meeting on January 27. Phipps noted that the business group solicitation done at the end of 2003 was unsuccessful. Discussion was held regarding the shared use of the 501C3 designation by Friends of Watkins. It was agreed to reexamine the relationship between the Museum and Friends at the next Board meeting.

Director

Phipps reported that there were eight applicants for the Development Officer position and three will be interviewed. She hopes to have a candidate selected by the end of February.

There were twenty applicants so far for the custodian position.

Niebaum will distribute some suggested evaluation materials to be used in evaluating Phipps. It was agreed that this evaluation would be for the past six months. Future evaluations will be done annually from January 1-December 31 of a given year. The Executive Board will do the evaluation process.

Phipps announced that after consulting with other staff, there would be a change in hours that the Museum would be opened. The new hours effective February 1 are Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Fridays from 10:00 a.m.-6:00 p.m., Thursdays from 10:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m., and Saturdays from 10:00 a.m.-4:00 p.m. The Museum would be closed on Sundays. If an event were scheduled on Sunday, the staff would be available to open the Museum. In their research, it was noted that there was a minimum of visitors on Sundays unless an event was scheduled.

Niebaum asked for agenda items for the next Board meeting. Suggestions for items to be included were correspondence, financial report, staffing and personnel issues, reports from committees, and operational issues. Judy Billings, director of the Lawrence Visitors’ Center will be at the next Board meeting to talk about the Bleeding Kansas National Heritage Area project. Also to be included on the agenda are the first of the questions from the retreat agenda.

Administrative Committee meeting dates for the first six months of the year were set. They are February 17, March 16, April 13, and May 18. Meeting hours will be from 5:00 until 7:00 p.m.

Meeting was adjourned at 6:16 p.m.

Respectfully submitted,

Patty Johnston

Secretary