Agenda Item

Discussion and Notes

Action

Follow-up

1. Open Meeting Act, Call to Order and Opening Remarks

Dr. Robert McCaffree announced that the requirements of the Open Meeting Act, including the filing of the meeting and posting of the agenda had been met and called the meeting to order.

2. Approval of Minutes of the May 16, 2006 Special Board Meeting

Minutes for May 16, 2006 were approved as written.

Motion to approve made by Casey Killblane and seconded by Dr. Cooper. Motion passed unanimously.

Dorothy Antwine will make the minutes part of the permanent record.

3a.  Chair¿s Report ¿ Resolution in Recognition of the University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center¿s Tobacco-Free Policy

Dr. McCaffree, on behalf of the board, presented Dr. Ferretti with a Resolution in recognition of the OUHSC¿s tobacco-free campus policy.

Motion to approve Resolution Commending the OUHSC Tobacco-Free Campus Policy made by Dr. Foster and seconded by Dr. Cooper.  Motion passed unanimously.

3b.  Chair¿s Report ¿ Update on National Conferences and Meetings

Dr. McCaffree asked Bill Lissau to report on his recent attendance at the NIH State-of-the-Science Conference on Tobacco: Prevention, Cessation and Control. Mr. Lissau said that he was surprised that the nation had not made better progress in reducing tobacco use. Tracey Strader commented that only four states were spending even the minimum amount recommended by the CDC for an effective, comprehensive, statewide program and that better results could be expected with appropriate levels of funding.

Dr. McCaffree reported that he attended the 2006 World Conference on Tobacco or Health and that it was a wonderful opportunity to put our work in the context of what is happening nationally and internationally.

3c.  Chair¿s Report ¿ CDC Office on Smoking and Health Site Visit

Dr. McCaffree reported that he met with Kathleen Collomb, Oklahoma¿s Project Officer from the CDC, during her recent site visit. Kathleen had many good things to say about the progress in Oklahoma and about the collaborative relationship between the TSET and the OSDH. Tracey Strader reported that during a recent meeting of organizations similar to the TSET, the CDC recognized Oklahoma as a model for how the separately funded organizations should work with their State Health Departments. Oklahoma remains the only state to have protected the majority of its tobacco settlement funding through a Constitutional amendment.

3d.  Chair¿s Report ¿ Next Board Meeting, November 17, 2006

The board decided to begin the November 17, 2006 meeting at 10:30 am.

Dorothy Antwine will verify the location and notify everyone.

4b.  Board of Investors Update ¿ Final FY 2007 Operating Budget

James Wilbanks reported that he met with the Board¿s Agency Operations Committee to review the budget detail and that there were only minor changes since the August board meeting. The contract for consultation was again awarded to NEPC and that price was lower than the original estimates.

4a.  Board of Investors Update ¿ Notification of Certified Earnings from FY 2006

Mr. Wilbanks reported that the Board of Investors certified earnings from FY 2006 of $6,843,383.06.

5b.  Program Committee Updates ¿ Addressing Tobacco in Specific Populations Grant Awards

Jon¿s Mata announced that the Specific Populations awards were finalized and the planning period for three of the grantees began July 1, 2006 and the final grantee would begin the planning period October 1, 2006.

5c.  Program Committee ¿ Discussion and Possible Approval of Amendment to the Contract with the OSDH for counter-marketing services

Susan Biz¿ discussed the need to amend to the OSDH¿s contract in order to provide an additional $300,000 to support the counter-marketing campaign. 

Program committee recommended an amendment to the OSDH contract to increase the counter-marketing budget from $1.2 million to $1.5 million. Motion passed unanimously.

Tracey Strader and Jon¿s Mata will implement the contract amendment.

5a. Program Committee Report ¿ Proposed Executive Session

Program committee discussion and recommendation for funding of grant renewals for the Communities of Excellence in Tobacco Control grant initiative (RFP #0920000001), as authorized by the Open Meeting Act.-25 O.S. ¿ 307(b)(7) and as authorized by Purchasing Director Authority/Limited Disclosure 580:15-2-7(d).

Susan Biz¿ made a motion to move into Executive Session to discuss the ¿funding recommendations of grant renewals for the Communities of Excellence in Tobacco Control¿.  Casey Killblane seconded the motion, and the motion passed unanimously.

Casey Killblane made a motion to move out of Executive Session.  Ken Rowe seconded the motion. The motion passed unanimously.

Susan Biz¿ made a motion to accept the recommendations of the Program Committee for funding of Communities of Excellence grants for renewal October 1, 2006.  Casey Killblane seconded the motion and the motion passed unanimously.

5b. Program Committee Report ¿ Program Updates (continued)

Susan Biz¿ explained that the grantees had provided feedback about the need to exclude registration fees from the 5% cap on out-of-state travel. Registration fees are not typically included in out-of-state travel expenses and the inclusion further restricted the ability of the grantees to build capacity among their coalition members.

Susan Biz¿ made a motion to exclude registration fees from the 5% cap on out-of-state travel in grants.  Dr. Foster seconded the motion and the motion passed unanimously.

Tracey Strader requested an affirmation from the board about their commitment to continuing the Communities of Excellence program or a similar community-based program after the current grant cycle. Grantees will begin their third year of a five year grant, and it is likely that the program may lose momentum if the grantees believe the program will end with the current grant cycle.

Susan Biz¿ made a motion to approve the affirmation that the Board remains committed to support and encourage effective community based programs.  Bill Lissau seconded the motion and the motion passed unanimously.

6a.  Evaluation Committee Report ¿ Oklahoma Tobacco Helpline

Dr. Cooper reported on the number of Helpline users served in FY 2006 was just under 17,000. The satisfactory rates showed we were at 79% in FY 2006 compared to the 91% rates in FY 2005. 

Data would be examined by Dr. Beebe and to find out why the rates dropped.

6b.  Evaluation Committee Report ¿ Communities of Excellence

Dr. Cooper reported on the first year of the planning phase which involved staff development training and engaging in strategic planning assessments. In the implementation phase, the grantee will focus on the actual community based activities.  He said the program would be evaluated on its effectiveness in reducing tobacco use. In the meantime, the program would be evaluated on performance factors and indicators.

Dr. Cooper also reported on feedback from the grantees about the grant process and the technical assistance and training received. He said that TSET and OSDH would be working on program refinements based on this feedback.

7a.  Agency Operations Committee ¿ FY 2006, Fourth Quarter Expenditures ¿ Budget-to-Actual

Ken Rowe discussed the Fourth Quarter Expenditures ¿ Budget-to-Actual, and noted that the books would be closed out on November 1, 2006

7b.  Agency Operations Committee ¿ Policy on Allocation of Funds

Ken Rowe discussed adding a statement to the policy to establish a process for accessing the reserves.

The Agency Operations Committee recommended that the board amend the Policy on Allocation of Funds, changing the name to the Policy on Allocation of Earnings and including a statement that reserves may be accessed for use in operations or programs upon approval by the Board of Directors.  Motion passed unanimously.

7c.  Agency Operations Committee ¿ Policy on Allocation of Expenditures

Tracey Strader discussed that the proposed policy was to comply with the new TSET Amendment Act, and said that the auditors and our attorney had reviewed this recommendation and approved it.

Motion to approve the new Policy on Allocation of Expenditures made by the Agency Operations Committee.  Motion passed unanimously.

7d.  Agency Operations Committee ¿ Director of Communications and Marketing

Ken Rowe said the position would do both agency communications and work on program marketing or counter-marketing initiatives.  Discussion was raised about the possibility of contracting for this work vs. hiring a fulltime position. Pro¿s and con¿s of each option were discussed.

Motion to approve the position of Director of Communications and Marketing made by the Agency Operations Committee.  Dr. Foster voted against the motion. The motion passed by a majority of members.

7e.  Agency Operations Committee ¿ FY 2007 Final Operating Budget

Motion to approve Final Operating Budget for FY 2007 ¿ to include the budget for the Board of Investors made by the Agency Operations Committee.  Motion passed unanimously.

7f.  Agency Operations Committee ¿ FY 2007 Final Programs Budget

Motion to approve Final FY 2007 Programs Budget made by the Agency Operations Committee.  Motion passed unanimously.

8.  Update on Tobacco Control Legislation and Policy

Wes Glinsmann reported that the youth smoking rate had dropped and said the combination of policy advances and local initiatives has been very instrumental. Mr. Glinsmann also reported on other updates such as the clean in-door air laws, court ruling with the tobacco industry in regards to light and low tar advertisement, and the tobacco tax.

9.  New Business

There was no new business. 

10.  Public Comment

There was no public comment.

11. Research Study Group

Members of the panel introduced themselves and provided a brief presentation on their organization¿s research funding initiatives. They also provided initial recommendations for TSET¿s research funding. Follow-up discussion included the following items:

• Seek an impact on smoking and generate more NIH funding
• • Focus on Cancer and Cardiovascular Disease to help the people of Oklahoma
• Fund across a spectrum of research (basic/clinical trials/prevention)
• Be as clear as possible about the overall goal
• Identify stretch goals and measure progress against them
• Consider ¿buckets¿ of research such as:
• • Steeples of Excellence
  • • Recruit a associate professors who wants to make their mark
    • Senior scientists or research provosts
  • Research infrastructure
  • Research on tobacco control
  • Research on other public health programs
• Look at the unique qualities and resources in Oklahoma and determine where Oklahoma can be a heavy hitter at NIH
• • Cancer should be one of those areas
• Consider a focus on peer reviewed proposals that were approved but not funded
• Don¿t over-engineer
• Don¿t need a lot of staff at TSET, but need some staff
• Focus on a small number of projects ¿ good research that will inform other initiatives down the road.
• Require or incent collaboration between research grantees and other partners, and among research grantees
• Getting people involved in the research that impacts them is essential
• Execution always trumps strategy

12. Next Steps

• Review the Battelle Report and the identified five areas of excellence
  o       Help institutions become stronger at where they¿re already strong
  o       Consider the continuum of rigor vs. relevance
• Assessment of what is already being done or funded.o       Who is funded?
  o       For how much?
  o       Which purposes are relevant to TSET¿s mission?o       Who has written papers and been published in the top journals?
• Determine the current list of NIH ¿approved but not funded¿ proposals in Oklahoma
• Invite key research institutions to discuss their needs

Tracey Strader and staff

13.  Adjournment

Motion to adjourn made by Susan Biz¿ and seconded by Dr. Foster.  Motion passed unanimously.