I find it best to highlight information from the past year. The committee chairs and executive board continue to discuss ways to provide training for members and determine ways to improve what we do for the membership. Feedback is always welcome.

A few highlights from the year:

Our annual fall conference was once again self-sufficient; our revenue exceeded our expenses. Although we had low attendance, the hotel did not make us pay any penalties.

Our NEOPHYTE program was successful once again with a large crowd. Although we did not come in below budget, the committee was able to make many cuts and keep the week strong and successful.

Our one-day drive-in spring conference was well attended with over 100 participants. This was also a self-sufficient program as we held the training on one of our college campuses. It always helps when AV is provided and you don't need to bring or rent any equipment, including screens.

Our training programs held throughout the year brought out over 450 participants.

Our membership numbers had a slight decrease, which was less than 5% compared to 2008-2009.

Once again we gave out over $6,000 in scholarship funds.

We held a successful event on Capitol Hill in October with over 30 members coming together with members from Congress and the Department of Education.

We held networking events in each state. We always get positive feedback from the networking events.

We anticipate coming in under budget and thank all of the chairs for working hard this year and watching their expenses.

We were able to exceed our conservative goal for Sponsor Relations and Development.

The Newsletter Committee put together newsletters on time and with valuable content.

In closing, I am honored to have led the association for the 2009-2010 year. I could not have had such a positive year without the support of the members and committee chairs. As I've continued to say, we are only as strong as our membership. Thank you for your support and your institution's support of the association.

Greetings From The Maryland Committee!