MDTSEA History Highlights 2000 Highlights The annual State Conference was held at the Crystal Mountain Resort in Thompsonville. Pre-registration and registration fees including the luncheon were $65.00 and $75.00, respectively. There was one general session with a presentation entitled, Be Excellent. The luncheon speaker was Elaine Charney of the Michigan Department of State who spoke about the Repeat Offender: Overview of New Laws. At the breakfast meeting, "Brad" Bradshaw of ADTSEA presented a description of the National Driver Education Teacher Certification/Credentialing Program. "Brad" announced that ADTSEA would sponsor one ADTSEA membership for a MDTSEA member, the board then agreed to sponsor two ADTSEA memberships; and Larry Thompson volunteered to sponsor an additional ADTSEA membership. There were 15 mini session topics, four of which were repeated a second time, scheduled over five time periods. At the business meeting, new officers were elected; and an amendment to the Constitution was approved that added a "good moral character" article. The article provided that all Executive Board members must meet prescribed moral standards to be eligible to serve on the board. At the awards banquet, award winners were honored and presented with a plaque. Robin Bordner, the only Michigan teacher credentialed to teach ADTSEA's credentialing courses, and Craig Hill, of Sacramento, California, team-taught the first course, Driver Task Analysis of the National Driver Education Teacher Certification/Credentialing Program at the conference. The course was taught again in the Fall in Kalamazoo. The Executive Board approved the expenditure of $2,500.00 for the Fall course; and approved two $500.00 scholarships for distribution to two course participants. There were eight Executive Board meetings held during the year. At a special meeting in January, the board reviewed and signed a one-year contract with TSAM to provide the services of a Secretariat and other clerical and administrative services. Under the contract, the Association would pay the TSAM $200.00 per month for administrative services and $250.00 per issue for publishing the newsletter. Tom Reel introduced Norene Lind and stated that she had been hired by the TSAM to be the Secretariat. The agreement included the procurement of a post office box and a toll-free telephone number. The address of the Association then became the post office box number. Also approved at the special meeting was to have a financial review of MDTSEA, up to $1,000.00, by Plante and Moran. At the last board meeting of the year, the Executive Board approved a two-year extension of the contract with TSAM. The contract provided for a TSAM service fee of $12.50 per hour, but not to exceed $200.00 per month; $250.00 per month for the services of a Secretariat hired by TSAM; $250.00 per issue for publication of the newsletter; and 2% of the 7% postage and handling fees on shipping the textbook and other educational materials. The board also approved granting Norene a $1,000.00 Christmas bonus. AAA Michigan offered to pay having 1,300 copies of the January-February issue of the MDTSEA Newsletter printed so they could be sent to Association members, public school districts, and private driving schools. The offer was accepted; and the board also approved having this issue sent to the same people on an annual basis. The board approved transferring all of its accounts into one account; approved ordering fifty more Teacher Resource Guides, and agreed to purchase 10 video sets from Propulsion International at $650 per set that would be sold for $750.00 per set. New stationary and envelopes were ordered. The board approved spending $250.00 - $300.00 towards the purchase of software for the development of a web site. Two levels of sustaining members were created. Individual, that would remain at $50.00 per year; and Corporate, which would be $100.00 per year. The board approved spending $1,456.73 to purchase 250 first aid kits to be included in the conference registration packets, approved donating $100.00 to ADTSEA's Bishop Fund, and approved paying ADTSEA $376.00 for its annual affiliation fee. The board also approved paying the ADTSEA registration fee for all board members who attended the ADTSEA conference. Bob Gustafson was nominated for ADTSEA's Richard Kaywood Memorial Award. To encourage board members to attend board meetings the board agreed to pay the conference registration fees for all members who attended at least 50% of the board meetings. Finally, the board approved spending $1,200.00 for speaker's fees and expenses to bring Del Freeman to next year's annual State Conference. Five issues of the MDTSEA Newsletter were published and distributed to members during the year. Norene Lind, the Association's Secretariat, developed a comprehensive Secretariat's Resource Manual which included all the information, forms, etc., to carry out the duties of the Secretariat. Two driver education Segment II workshops were held during the year, one at the conference and the other in Kalamazoo. Both were taught by Robin Bordner and John Stimac. There was no report on membership totals at the end of the membership year (April 30). On December 2nd, there was $14,595.14 in the checking account and $42,436.48 in the money market account. $173,488.75 had been paid to Propulsion International since February. 2001 Highlights The annual State Conference was held at the Holiday Inn West in Kalamazoo. Conference pre-registration and registration fees including the luncheon were $60.00 and $70.00, respectively. The conference had two general sessions. Dr. Elaine Charney of the Department of State spoke on the Department of State's New Bureau of Driver Safety; and at the second session, Del Freeman gave a presentation on liability issues entitled, Don't Be Stupid; Here's Your Sign. Tom Greenwood, a columnist from the Detroit News, spoke on Traffic Safety at the luncheon; and at the conference breakfast, Greg Lantzy gave a Driver Education Update. There were nine different mini session topics, one of which was repeated a second time, scheduled over four time periods. Robin Bordner and John Stimac also held a Segment II teacher training workshop. At the Conference business meeting, new officers were elected; and two amendments to the Constitution were approved. One changed the location of the "good moral character" article in the By-Laws, and the other established MDTSEA's fiscal year as October 1st through September 30th. At the banquet, the award winners were presented with a plaque. The banquet was followed by a D.J., dancing, and karaoke. The driver education Segment II curriculum was revised again so it could be offered twice a day, once in the morning and again in the afternoon. Robin Bordner and John Stimac held one driver education Segment II workshop at the conference and, two additional ones during the year. One was taught in the morning as part of a Central Michigan University driver education teacher preparation course, and the other was taught in the afternoon on the same day, and was available to all current driver education teachers. The Executive Board held six meetings during the year. The board approved one scholarship for the NSSP conference. The scholarship was for $730.00 to cover the school's $50.00 membership fee, conference registration fees for two students at $210.00 each, and $260.00 registration fee for one chaperon. The board changed the fees paid to instructors of the Segment II workshops. The fee for a full day's workshop was $200.00; but with shortening the workshop to a half day, the fee was reduced to $100.00. The board purchased an overhead transparency projector for use at workshops and conferences; a computer for exclusive MDTSEA use, a laptop computer for use by the Treasurer, and mini mag-lites for the registration packets. Tricia Lamiman was given a $500.00 bonus for all the work she did computerizing the Association's financial accounts; and a Christmas bonus of $1.000.00 was given to Norene Lind for all the work she did beyond that required by the contract with TSAM. A donation of $100.00 was made to ADTSEA's Bishop Fund. The board approved covering travel and lodging (up to 2 nights) for out-of-state conference speakers; and an expenditure of $2,000.00 to bring in Bill Sanders as a speaker at next year's conference. The board established an e-mail address. The link was on MDTSEA's home page (mdtsea@hotmail.com). Norene Lind in working with Gaylee Simonson modified MDTSEA's web site. In anticipation that the Association would approve a proposed amendment to the Constitution next year that would reduce the number of board meetings per year, the board approved requiring attendance at 75% of the board meetings to be eligible for a waiver of the State Conference registration fees. Two Executive Board members were honored during the year. Bob Gustafson was the recipient of ADTSEA's Richard Kaywood Memorial Award, its highest award; and John Stimac received the newly created Richard H. Austin Long-Term Traffic Safety Award. This award was presented by the Michigan State Safety Commission. The Textbook Committee, with a major effort by Secretariat Norene Lind, completed revising and updating Michigan's driver education textbook for the 3rd edition printing. The end of chapter tests were modified and the answers verified. Twenty thousand copies were ordered The Association taught the national credentialing course Driver Task Analysis. It also scheduled two series of the entire sequence of three courses (Driver Task Analysis, Developing Classroom Knowledge, and Developing Vehicle Operational Skills). One was conducted and the other was cancelled due to insufficient enrollment. A check in the amount of $200.00 was sent to one of the national instructors for lack of income because of the cancellation. The Association held two driver education Segment II workshop, including the one taught at the conference, and one Professional Development workshop during the year. Bob Gustafson developed lists of all past officers, all award winners, and all honorary members. On April 30th, membership totaled 555 members. On December 1st, there was $38,632.26 in the checking account and $2,992.62 in the money market account. 2002 Highlights The annual State Conference was held at the Frankenmuth Bavarian Inn Lodge. Conference pre-registration and registration fees, including the luncheon, were set at $60.00 and $70.00, respectively. There were four general sessions including the luncheon and breakfast sessions. At the first general session, Bill Sanders spoke on Are We Teaching or Touching Lives. At the luncheon general session, Morrall Claramunt spoke on A Review of Michigan No-Fault Law; and Paul Weber spoke on Road Rage at the breakfast general session. At the fourth general session, four speakers presented their thoughts regarding student driving after driver education. There were six mini sessions, two of which were repeated a second time, scheduled over two time periods. At the conference banquet, Louis Pesci of ADTSEA described the National Driver Education Certification and Recognition Program. A driver education Segment II workshop, taught by Robin Bordner and John Stimac, was also held. At the conference business meeting, new officers were elected and two amendments to the Constitution were approved. One amendment changed the number of times the Executive Board would meet from six to four times a year (not including the meeting held at the conference); and the other changed the date unpaid members would be dropped from the membership role from October 1st to June 1st. At the conference banquet, all award winners were recognized and presented with a plaque. The Executive Board held five meetings during the year. The board approved setting advertisement rates for inclusion in the newsletter at $100.00 for a full page, $60.00 for a half page, $35.00 for a quarter page, and $20.00 for a one-sixteenth page ad. Ads would be accepted for all issues of the newsletter. The board approved granting $200.00 each for board members to attend the ADTSEA conference; and $200.00 to the President to represent Michigan at the 2003 ADTSEA conference. The board approved paying the $500.00 fee for having an exhibitor's table at the MEA conference, contingent upon the availability of someone to "man" the table. The board also approved MDTSEA holding meetings with the Michigan Department of Education and the institutions proving teacher training in driver education to see if something could be done to provide uniformity among the institutions. The Executive Board purchased lunch box coolers for the 2002 conference registration packets; note folios for the 2003 conference registration packets; and carrying cases with a thermos, cups, etc. to be given to the 2003 conference speakers. The Executive Board extended a bid to ADTSEA to host the ADTSEA conference in Michigan in 2006. The bid was accepted. The board approved granting the Michigan OHSP $2,500.00 to distribute the new parent orientation video to public and private schools; and also approved providing tickets to five board members to attend the North American Auto Show next year; and to have five additional tickets as door prizes at next year's annual conference. The board approved awarding scholarships to four school districts for a member of their staff to attend one of the national credentialing courses offered by MDTSEA. The scholarships were worth 50% of the tuition for one class. A drawing was held at the conference for the winners. The board also adopted the phrase, Educating for Safety, as its slogan. The slogan will be included on all MDTSEA sale items. At mid-year, the board approved paying TSAM up to 40 hours of documented work per month for the services of the Secretariat. At year's end, the board approved a 2-year extension of its contract with TSAM. The terms were basically the same as the last contract except TSAM would be reimbursed $250.00 per month for its clerical and administrative services. This was an increase of $50.00 per month. The board also agreed to purchase a door prize for the Conference banquet of approximately $200.00. Each member attending the banquet would get one free ticket and could purchase additional tickets at $1.00 each. Major enhancements were made to the MDTSEA's website (www.mdtsea.org) during the year. Site information now includes board member names and contact information, district representative appointments, board meeting dates/locations, the MDTSEA Constitution and By-laws, the names and addresses of key state agencies responsible for regulating public and private driver education, links to Michigan driver education laws and administrative rules, student material order forms, driver education classroom forms, MDTSEA award winners and past officers, traffic safety organizations website links, and conference information and registration forms. The NSSP conference was held in Michigan this year. The NSSP, in conjunction with Mothers of Drunk Driving, held a national driving contest on the day before the conference began. The MDTSEA donated $1,000.00 towards scholarships for the top three winners in the amounts of $700.00, $200.00 and $100.00. Robin Bordner, MDTSEA Past President, presented the awards in Detroit. Two series of all three of the ADTSEA credentialing courses were taught during the year, one in Lansing, and the other in Hartland. AAA Michigan notified the Association that it would no longer be able to print the MDTSEA Newsletter free. They began a charge of cost of $0.025 for double-sided pages and $0.25 per spine for each newsletter printed. Norene Lind, in working with the Attorney General's office, obtained approval which established the Association as a Registered Charitable Trust. Bob Gustafson wrote an extensive history of the Association, and developed a list of MDTSEA Milestones. At the end of the membership year on April 30th, 360 of 700 members, had renewed their memberships for the following membership year. 2003 Highlights The annual State conference was held at Crystal Mountain Resort in Thompsonville, Michigan, on May 1-2, 2003. Conference pre-registration and walk-in registration fees were $85 and $95, respectively, and approximately 130 people attended, not including exhibitors and presenters. The presentation format was changed this year from multiple break-away sessions to a single general session format in order to allow all attendees to hear from every presenter. Comments shared on the conference evaluation were the impetus for this change. Newly elected Secretary of State Terry Lynn Land was a presenter at the conference. The popularity of her presentation and the number of people approaching her at the conclusion of her presentation was a clear indication to her of the importance and relevance of our organization. She vowed to return in subsequent years if invited. Understanding that MDTSEA newsletters and conference exhibits may be considered a form of MDTSEA-sanctioned advertising, MDTSEA adopted an advertising policy that allows the board to deny requests for advertising or exhibiting if:
MDTSEA reported a record number of (720) memberships for 2002-2003, however the number of people renewing their 2003-2004 memberships fell to 510 people after final renewal notices were sent. The drop in the number of MDTSEA members is likely related to three factors; (1) the high number of retiring driver educators; (2) an increase in the number of public schools dropping driver education programs from their curriculum, and the resulting increase in the number of private/commercial schools providing driver education services; and (3) school budgets have been negatively impacted by the worst state budget in 25 years; as a result, it is suspected that fewer membership reimbursements are being requested by teachers. Although textbook sales for the year were down approximately 10.5% as compared to 2002, MDTSEA not only paid off its entire inventory of textbook, workbook, teacher resource guide, and videotape inventory in 2003; it has set aside $50,000 in a higher yield interest bearing account. This money has been reserved for reordering supplies in the coming year(s). The cost of the newsletter has doubled since last year, so MDTSEA will utilize local alternatives to AAA printing the newsletter (on a trial basis), provided quality and service are not compromised. Robin Bordner continues to conduct National Credentialing Courses for new and existing driver educators in conjunction with St. Cloud State University. MDTSEA has been able to assist with the program by sponsoring $100 scholarships for class participants. The success of these courses, as well as Robin's involvement in a variety of state and national driver training and testing activities, are the main reasons she received the 2003 Silvernale Award. This prestigious award recognizes "persons throughout the country who have made outstanding contributions to traffic safety education." MDTSEA President, Dave Van Dyke, retired MSU professor, Dr. Donald Smith, and Dr. Thomas Reel, Director of the Traffic Safety Association of Michigan, have worked with State Representative Ed Gaffney to support legislation to add a passenger restriction to the GDL license. The bill has passed the House, but must still pass the Senate and be signed by the Governor. This bill will be monitored carefully in 2004. As of October 1, 2003, the motorcycle training program was moved from the Michigan Department of Education (MDOE) to the Michigan Department of State. Further, the off-road vehicle (ORV) program moved from MDOE to the Michigan Department of Natural Resources. 2004 Highlights All components of Michigan’s driver education program are now housed in one department for the first time. On October 1, Public Acts 70 and 71 of 2004 finalized the transfer of the Michigan Department of Education (MDE) driver education program to the Department of State (MDOS). The newly formed Driver Education Section resides in the Bureau of Regulatory Services’ Program Operations Division. The section’s major duties include:
MDTSEA was asked by MDOS to complete a survey regarding the future needs of driver education. MDTSEA’s 9-page response was submitted to MDOS leaders, and follow-up meetings will be held to develop strong and positive relations between the two entities. Dr. Thomas Reel, Director of the Traffic Safety of Michigan (TSAM), announced that he will retire at the end of 2004. Therefore, in 2005, TSAM will change its name and merge with the Michigan Resource Center for Health and Safety. Cindy Agle, the Executive Director of the new MRCHS will carry the torch for traffic safety in 2005 and beyond. TSAM was founded on June 20, 1966 and was preceded by the Traffic Safety Association of Detroit (TSAD), founded in 1941. Governor George Romney first recognized the need for a statewide traffic safety organization, which would be modeled after the TSAD. It should be noted that 1966 was also the year of the first federal highway safety act (“Highway Safety Act of 1966”), which lead to the establishment of the states’ highway safety offices and, in Michigan, the Office of Highway Safety Planning, currently housed within the Michigan State Police. TSAM will no longer hold the contract with MDTSEA to provide Secretariat services. MDTSEA will contract directly with Norene Lind (Lind & Associates) to resume Secretariat duties in 2005. Dr. Robert “Gus” Gustafson PhD, (retired) Professor Emeritus from Michigan State University, passed away in 2004. Dr. Gustafson was one of the “fathers” of driver education in Michigan and one of the original members of MDTSEA. In his memory, MDTSEA created the “Dr. Robert E. Gustafson” award, an award given to recognize an individual who has demonstrated long-term commitment and dedication to the field of driver education and traffic safety. Dr. Donald Smith, another retired MSU professor, received the first such award. Dr. Robert E. Gustafson, PhD
2005 Highlights The annual state conference was held at the Sheraton Inn in Lansing, Michigan on April 28th and 29th. Approximately 148 of the 573 members attended at this beautiful site. The presenters and the exhibitors did a fine job. Secretary of State Terri Lynn Land spoke again, and was well received. Sgt. Lance Cook spoke again as well, and is becoming a very popular attraction by speaking on traffic law. Jeff Simpson from the Department of also gave a lively presentation on the changes that are happening with the reorganization of driver’s education from the Department of Education to the Department of State. Several award nominations were received for the various MDTSEA awards presented annually at the conference. The names of the award recipients are as follows:
Summary of Evaluations from 2005 MDTSEA Conference: Fifty-four of approximately 148 conference attendees completed evaluation forms. Below is a summary of those forms received. (On a scale of 1-5, 1 being poor, and 5 being outstanding):
As of September 10, 2005, MDTSEA had 441 members. One year ago, MDTSEA had 476 members. The current breakdown is as follows (Note: The columns will not add up to 441, as many people fall into multiple categories.) · 441 members, 46 of which are Honorary Members · 175 members who teach for public schools (217 last year) · 242 members who teach for non-public schools (231 last year) · 32 members identified as “other traffic safety professionals) (38 last year). · 38 members who are also third party examiners (38 last year). · 438 members who are affiliated with automobile training/safety (475 last year). · 17 members who are affiliated with motorcycle training/safety (15 last year). · 12 members who are affiliated with truck/bus training/safety (11 last year). MDTSEA prepares to host the 2006 ADTSEA conference at the Radisson in Kalamazoo, Mi. Robin Bordner is in charge of the committee. MDTSEA members have been attending previous ADTSEA conferences in recruitment for this conference. Several donations have been secured. The golf outing will be held at Angels Crossing’s in Vicksburg. Hosting the 2006 ADTSEA conference will be MDTSEA’s largest task in 2006. Textbook sales were down slightly, but remained a strong source of income. It was suggested a potential reason may be the industries shift from public schools to private training schools, with the smaller business owners just ordering on a “just in time basis.” MDTSEA Moved forward and Jerry Ockert headed the textbook committee. 2005 showed the most aggressive set of updates for the classroom textbook, largely due to the effort put forth by Jerry Ockert. It is theorized that this state of the art textbook will help drive sales. This also went hand in hand with the change of ownership for the manufacturer. Gilles Payant has left Propulsion and is practicing real estate in Toronto. Further, Propulsion has changed its name to “International Traffic Safety Publishers.” The person who will be servicing our account is Andre Vezina, and he can be reached via e-mail at avezina99@hotmail.com. The toll free telephone remains 1-888-444-7001. MDTSEA Product Sales:
The following nominations for election of officers were accepted by the membership from a unanimous ballot: President-Elect: Robin Bordner Treasurer: Ben Cole Secretary: Kimberly Thatch **Intro for new candidates The following three new candidates for district representatives were considered and discussed, and later accepted: Mary Kay Relich; District 7 David Thompson; District 7 Susan Leonowicz; District 10 Norene secured the Soaring Eagle Casino and Resort for a half-day general business meeting and mini-conference. Robin will be able to utilize the same room in the afternoon to conduct a Segment 2 training session. The room cost $700. The date of the mini-conference is Friday, April 28, 2006. Registration will be free, and the Board will meet for lunch afterwards. Secretary of State Land has confirmed her attendance as a speaker, and Dave Van Dyke is working on securing a second speaker, likely Sgt. Lance Cook. Various MDTSEA Executive Board members were contacted by OHSP and will now serve on a Driver License Action Task Force. 2006 Highlights 2006 marks the sunset of the GDL law that was enacted in 1997. There are many potential changes in the upcoming law. MDTSEA’s expertise was called upon for suggestions: The following issues are being discussed, researched, and voted upon:
Submitted by: D. Van Dyke Robin Bordner continues to run the teacher prep classes held in conjunction with St. Cloud University. The attendance has not been booming, but does remain steady. This class is not necessarily a big “money maker,” but MDTSEA feels this is the top training available for new instructors, thus improving our industry. 2006 Historical notes: Textbook Committee: 2006 ADTSEA Conference Legislative Committee:
2007 History Highlights The Driver Education Provider and Instructor Act [2006 PA 384] went into effect on October 1, 2006; however, many of the provisions of the new law included delayed effective dates to allow the Michigan Department of State to develop and roll out the new provisions in stages. The effects of the new law can be summarized as follows: Effects on students: Effects on instructors Effects on providers Effects on college preparatory courses Effects on State
Effects on MDTSEA The MDTSEA conference was held at Soaring Eagle Casino and Resort in Mount Pleasant, April 26 and 27, 2007. Approximately 150 people were in attendance. Highlighted presenters included Terry Kline of Kentucky University and Adele Kristiansson, representing The National Road Safety Foundation. The Department of State gave very informative presentations, and a special presentation was made by Secretary of State Terri Lynn Land. New officers were elected for the year, namely: The 2007 award winners included: Note: All information on MDTSEA activities was obtained from the minutes of MDTSEA Executive Board meetings , the MDTSEA Newsletters, and the author's own recollections.
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Highlights by Decade 2000 - 2009
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