The Representative Assembly (April 6-7, 2002)
By Nam Nguyen - UC Davis - Communications Editor

Being newly appointed to my executive board position, I was able to attend the Representative Assembly for the first time in my 3 years as an SCTA member. Previously, I attended the Fall Leadership Conference as well as the Northern and Southern Regional Conferences. The Representative Assembly is where the SCTA meets to take care of business and it showed.

Besides the usual raffles and vendor tables (car insurance, credit union, etc), SCTA members met to consider alterations to the SCTA Constitution and to vote on new executive board members. This is what separates this meeting from the rest: we get business done at this one while the others are to socialize, network, and learn.

One aspect of the RA is the consideration of changes to our constitution. This process took several hours and seemed to unravel some members, but it was understood that the process was important to our association and needed to be completed. Another event special to the RA is the election of SCTA officers. The process begins with a declaration of candidacy and the distribution of supporting propaganda. If the position has more candidates than vacancies, then officers are elected by a simple plurality vote. Otherwise, if there is only enough candidates for the available positions, the candidate was elected by voice. Beyond the business aspect, the RA allowed members to network and learn from each other. I urge everyone to attend future RAs to understand more about the SCTA, CTA, and NEA and the political process.

L-R (Back row): LaShay Roberts, President (Sonoma State); Rudy Jimenez Ortiz, Exec. VP, (CSU San Marcos); Joshua Hardwick, Northern VP (Chabot College); Roy Bird, Southern VP (CSU Fullerton); Matt Westmoreland, Sect-Treas. (CSU Fullerton); Nam Nguyen, Comm. Editor, (UC Davis) L-R (Front Row) Shannon Casado, Northern VP (CSUSacramento); Fabiola Cossyleon, Ethnic Min. Rep. (Rio Hondo); Christina Turner, Ethnic Min. Rep. (CSU Dominguez Hills); Not shown-Heather Baltz, Southern VP, (CSU Fullerton)

The CSU Northridge chapter won the Outstanding New Local Chapter Award.

SCTA Representative Assembly Participants from Northern California

SCTA Representative Assembly Participants from Southern California

CTA Vice President, Barbara E. Kerr (second from left) gave the keynote speech at the Awards Banquet. CTA Board member, Dean Vogel (second from right) and NEA Board member, Larry Allen (right) presented the SCTA Awards. SCTA President, LaShay Roberts (left) helped celebrate.

Award winners-Julie C. D. Meyer Houston (Student in Politics), Kelly Sullivan (We Honor Ours WHO Award), Tara Shokitano (Outstanding Local Leader).

The UC Davis chapter won both the Chapter in Politics award and the Outstanding Newsletter award. UC Davis also accepted the Partners in Education Award on behalf of Capitol Service Center who were nominated by CSU Sacramento.

The San Diego State chapter was named Outstanding Local. In addition, Jane Vidal, chapter advisor (not shown) won the Outstanding Advisor award.