Hello all,

The MEEOA Conference Co-Chairs, Linda Freeman and Kelsey Bailey, have been
hard at work on the MEEOA Conference 2022! They have a supportive and
energetic team and are making plans. We wanted you to be aware of the info
we know so far: the conference will be January 6-8 in Bar Harbor (we don't
have a contract yet but it is likely at the Atlantic Oceanside again).
Registration will open in October.

As discussed after the 2020 conference, the cost of the conference needs to
rise, especially post-pandemic. The MEEOA Board approved raising the rates
(by $20 in each category) for the conference to:
Early Bird Regular One Day
MEEOA Member $150 $180 $120
Non-Member $185 $210 $145
Retired Member $90 $90 $70
Retired, Non-Member $120 $120 $95
Banquet, Dinner Only $63

In addition, the MEEOA Board voted to make a donation to COE again this
year. We have been fortunate in our financial situation for 2020-21, so we
will be making a $5,000 donation in July. There was lively discussion about
this over two board meetings and I am happy to fill you in on any of it, if
you would like to reply to me! We are proud to support COE in such a
meaningful way.

COE has some things they would like to share with us:

   - They are expecting news on Talent Search awards by Early July and EOC
   by Mid-July.
   - They are hiring <https://coenet.org/job_opportunities.shtml#COE>right
   now, and  more to come: Donor Relations Officer and Director of Alumni
   Relations (this will be filled by a TRIO alumnus).
   - A second round of Proposal Writing Workshops
   <https://coenet.org/proposal_writing_workshops.shtml> has opened up for
   UB/UBMS, VUB, and McNair.
   - For the COE Annual Conference, they are looking for quality auction
   item donations and moderators for the conference, both virtually and
   in-person.

NEOA is working on their strategic plan, and President-Elect Deb McCann is
looking to involve lots of new members in committee work. If you are
interested in serving with either NEOA or MEEOA, please let me know. I
would be happy to chat about opportunities in either one.

As I am sure you saw by now, President Biden proposed to increase funding
of TRIO programs by $20 Million in his budget! Right now is a monumental
and important time for all of our programs!

Take care, and happy summer!
Mary

*Mary Sinclair*
Student Services Coordinator, Upward Bound
<http://www2.umf.maine.edu/upwardbound/>
University of Maine at Farmington
252 Main Street, Farmington, ME 04938
207.778.7429 (w) 207.712.2930 (c)
Toll Free: 1.888.237.1667
pronouns: she/her
UB Goes the Distance 2020
<https://sites.google.com/umfupwardbound.org/ub-goes-the-distance/home?authuser=1>

*President, Maine Educational Opportunity Association
<https://www.meeoa.org/index.php?id=1>*