PIN Founded

April 29, 1979

This meeting was hosted by Salvador Rotella, Chancellor of the Chicago City Colleges, and it was held in the central offices on Michigan Avenue. Stan Sahlstrom chaired the meeting, and first recognized an advisor from AACJC, Cy Fersch, who headed the national organization’s international and intercultural efforts.  The meeting was attended by:

Canada:

  • Bert Curtis, Confederation College, Thunder Bay, Ontario
  • Ted Ramsey, Red River Community College, Winnipeg, Manitoba
  • Abe Konrad, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta

United States:

  • Chet Gausman, Central Nebraska Technical College, Hastings, Nebraska
  • James Kraby, Westark Community College, Fort Smith, Arkansas
  • Don Morgan, University of Minnesota, Twin Cities, Minnesota
  • John Gazda, Metropolitan Community Colleges, Kansas City, Missouri
  • Rod Steigner, Nicolet College and Technical Institute, Rhinelander, Wisconsin
  • Sr. Ann Joachim Moore, St. Mary’s Junior College, Minneapolis, Minnesota

Morgan gave a brief account of the events and meeting leading up to the present. Konrad presented a draft of the Document of Understanding for PIN which he had been instructed to prepare at the Winnipeg meeting in January. Included was a report on the election of a president, three members from each country to serve on the Executive Committee, and two country secretaries. The Document of Understanding and slate of officers were presented for ratification.

Chet Gausman, United States, moved that the document and officers be approved and then added a wry, “Let’s get on with it.”  Bert Curtis, Canada, seconded the motion which carried unanimously.

 

PIN had been formally launched. The first order of business was to decide when and where to meet next. Following the principle of rotating meetings between the two countries, it was decided between Ramsey and Konrad to ask Red River Community College to again be host for what would be the first annual business meeting of PIN.  Ramsey was directed to pick the best dates in September 1979 for Red River.  It was also settled that Minneapolis would be the site of the second annual business meeting, and was scheduled for September 1980.

 

ADDITIONAL AGGREEMENTS:

  1. An initial conference was strongly urged and was set for Winnipeg in the early fall. Tentative dates were September 29 to October 2 1979. The conference would be co-hosted by the neighboring institutions of Red River Community College of Winnipeg and the University of Minnesota Technical College – Crookston. North Dakota State School of Science at Wahpeton would also be involved. These three schools share a common geographic area, the Agassiz Valley, which drains the Red River of the north. The theme would be: Postsecondary Response to a Common United States-Canadian Community. The purpose of this conference was to involve program administrators or leaders from the member institutions. Now that the network exists, the idea is to put it to work. It was necessary to discover each other in a neighbourly way and to critically examine what all members might have to share with each other in the way of programs and personnel.
  2. It was also settled that Minneapolis would be the site of the second annual business meeting, and was scheduled for September 1980.
  3. The Executive Committee was to have equal representation from Canada and the United States. The United States representatives were Stan Sahlstrom (Minnesota), John Gazda (vice chancellor of the Kansas City Metropolitan Community College District), and James Kraby (president of Westark Community College, Ft. Smith, Arkansas). Abe Konrad (University of Alberta) agreed to coordinate with Ted Ramsey and Bryan Angood of Manitoba to secure the three Canadian members.

PIN dues were established at $75 annually.