North Carolina Counseling Association: ALGBICNC

ALGBICNC

2009-10 Officers

President: Jennifer Johnson
jenjohnson905@yahoo.com

Secretary/Treasurer: Cindy Rochester
crochester@gardner-webb.edu

Greetings NC AGLBIC members
and interested parties!

I am writing to update you on a recent meeting for our division that was held at UNC Charlotte on October 3, 2008. The objective of the meeting was to set some goals for the NC AGLBIC division for the upcoming membership year. Nine people attended the meeting, both members and non-members.

The following ideas were brought to the table for discussion and consideration:

1. Engaging in and/or supporting research efforts across the state related to GLBT issues
2. Sponsoring and organizing a one day “drive-in” conference featuring GLBT issues and educational programs
3. Initiating advocacy efforts, particularly within the school systems, geared at addressing anti-bullying policy and procedure
4. Establishing an e-newsletter (2 or 4x/year) for members
5. Co-sponsoring the reception hosted by our national division (now named ALGBTIC) at the ACA Annual Conference to be held in Charlotte in March ’09
6. Increasing membership in the NC AGLBIC division

The group decided to take the following actions:

1. Contact the current president of the national ACA division that is “parent” to ours (ALGBTIC) regarding:
   • • co-sponsoring the division reception at the conference (an evening event)
   • • having a table or booth representing NC AGLBIC in or around the area designated for the ALGBTIC Day of Learning at the conference (the national division organizes a full day of educational sessions geared towards GLBT issues held in the same location throughout the day)
   • • making announcements at each Day of Learning educational session recruiting for membership in NC AGLBIC as a division of the North Carolina Counseling Association.
   • • the possibility of applying for a state division development grant from ALGBTIC
2. Begin planning process for offering a small research grant annually that will be designed to fund projects that focus on GLBT issues in North Carolina, with a goal of implementing a proposal and grant award process early in the next membership year (beginning July 2009)

All state divisions of NCCA have been invited to present a poster session at the ACA Conference in March. NC AGLBIC has submitted a proposal to do this. The proposal was designed to be very general, but with an intention to report some relevant statistics regarding the current state of GLBT issues in NC and also the US (e.g., policies, laws, services available, hate crimes). At the meeting there was much discussion on the importance of improving our state’s response to GLBT bullying in the public schools and acquiring some accurate information on incidence/prevalence, etc. Some volunteers stepped forward to work on incorporating this theme into the ACA poster session and developing the poster session materials. Please contact NC AGLBIC Co-President Jen Johnson jj56214@appstate.edu if you would like to assist in this endeavor.

There was also some brief discussion on whether or not our division should change its name to match the newly re-named national division (ALGBTIC), but no decision was made at this time.

Many of the non-NC AGLBIC members at the meeting expressed interest in joining the division.

Thanks to all who attended the meeting and to all division members for your time and interest in this important NCCA division,
Caswell Martin
NC AGLBIC Co-President
acmartin@gardner-webb.edu