At the Friday evening, July 25 board meeting in Salisbury –

The board approved in principle the creation of a North Carolina “Branch Without Borders” that will serve the entire state. It will be an alternative to our 21 community-based branches for those who live far from the nearest branch or for whom a traditional branch is not a good fit. After the branch recruits at least 15 charter members, the AAUW NC board will be asked for formal approval, and the request will be forwarded to the Association board. For more information see http://bwob.aauwnc.org.

The FY09 budget that was published in the last issue of the Tar Heel News was modified by increasing the “Minigrants and Other Projects” line from $2500 to $5000. Part of the increase is $1000 for the AAUW IT Techs pilot project that was described at the Saturday, July 26 meeting. This authorizes the executive committee to use AAUW NC resources for community and state-wide projects that advance the mission. The Policies say that the board will be asked to approve new projects/expenses more than $500 (as it was asked about AAUW IT Techs).

The reimbursement policy was changed from “$.25/mile after deducting the first 50 miles” to “reimbursement at the rate the IRS allows as a deduction for travel on behalf of 501(c)(3) organizations.” This applies to elected and appointed officers traveling to state meetings, and it may, at the option of the particular teams, also apply to team members traveling on behalf of AAUW NC, and limited by the amount in the budget for each team. The current IRS reimbursement is $.14/mile or actual expenses for gas and oil. The hotel remibursement policy ($35/night) was not changed.

See www.aauwnc.org/documents/ for copies of the Policies, the Reimbursement Form, the application form for branch mini-grants, and other key information.