LA PALMA-CERRITOS AAUW TECH TREK POLICY

If the branch chooses to support Tech Trek (TT), there shall be a designated TT Coordinator.  If schools from more than one school district will be contacted to provide nominees for TT, an additional coordinator for each additional district may be appointed.  If there is more than one coordinator, one will be designated as the branch contact person for the AAUW CA TT Administration and the Camp Director(s) for the camp(s) chosen by the branch.  Furthermore, all branch coordinators will seek nominations following the AAUW CA TT Policies and Procedures. Qualifying girls will be put in one pool for evaluation and recommendation for the number of available sponsorships to be awarded.  Alternates will be chosen in the same manner.

The branch may choose to sponsor one or more girls to attend an AAUW CA TT Camp.  School selection(s) and camp selection(s) will be determined by the Branch TT Coordinator(s) and reported to the Branch Board of Directors.  Preference will be given to public schools including, but not limited to, Title 1 schools.  The number of sponsored campers will depend upon the monies raised and the current fee(s) of the camp(s).  Any surplus will be carried over for the following year.

All donations to TT will be pooled and used for girls no matter which school they attend.  Donations shall not be designated for girls from certain schools, school districts or geographic areas.  Donors will be made aware of this at the time of donation.  Donation checks may be written to AAUW CA SPF or La Palma-Cerritos AAUW Fund with the branch and camp name(s) on the memo line.  All TT monies received shall have separate accounting identification and will be forwarded to the AAUW CA SPF to preserve tax deductibility for the donor.  If the branch or AAUW CA decides to discontinue supporting TT, any remaining funds in the branch account that were designated for TT shall be distributed according to current IRS regulations.

The Camper Selection Committee (CSC) shall be chaired by the TT Coordinator(s).  If there are co-coordinators, one may choose not to participate on the CSC.  The coordinator(s) will select branch member volunteers, limited to the needed number (by lottery, if necessary) to serve on the CSC.  No major donor (more than 50% of a sponsorship) may be a member of the CSC during the time the donation will be credited for our camper selection(s).  Including the coordinator(s), the CSC may be comprised of five branch members, three of whom will interview all of the qualified girls.  At least one CSC member should have prior experience selecting campers.  The remaining CSC members will only observe and listen to the interviews.  They will, however, participate in the ranking of all qualified girls.  All CSC members must commit to attending the interviews of all qualified girls in order to be consistent with established best practice standards for sponsorship selection and tax law as it pertains to 501 (c) (3) criteria.

The CSC will rank all the interviewed girls together based on their personal merit, qualifications and who the CSC thinks will best benefit from attending a TT camp.  Sponsored campers and an appropriate number of alternates will be chosen directly from this ranking.  No girl will receive any preference for a TT sponsorship based on the school she attends or area where she lives.  The coordinator(s) will present the names of the girls selected to attend Tech Trek to the Branch Board of Directors.

October 3, 2019