Legal and Archives Committee


The Curriculum and Pedagogy Group received its North Carolina 


incorporation documents and Non-Profit Solicitation license from the 


state of NC in 2002.  And over the course of 2003-04 the Legal and 


Archives Committee has began assembling documentation for preparation 


of an application for IRS 501(c)(3) non-profit designation -- though to 


date we have not made formal application nor received an IRS 


determination letter.


 


As the C&P Treasurer and Chair of this committee have both moved from 


the State of North Carolina, plans have been made to generate an IRS 


application for exemption for C&P from the State of Ohio, where the C&P 


Co-Chair, Treasurer and this committee Chair all reside.  In November 


2004, following the annual conference that was held  in October at 


Miami University at Oxford, Ohio, the Treasurer and Legal Chair devoted 


a full day's working session to archive and reconcile all years of 


financial activity and inventories of conference proceedings currently 


maintained by the organization since its inception.  An outline of the 


requisite bookkeeping and accounting procedures -- in alignment with 


generally accepted principals of accounting have been established, and 


this two-person team consisting of Catherine Haerr and Jim Sanders are 


currently working to get all financial records, minutes and 


documentation on the organization in appropriate order before 


submitting records for review by the Internal Revenue Service.


 


Approving the move of the current "home" operations to Ohio is now the 


only step holding the committee  back from completing the IRS 


application.  The proposed move will not change our Employment 


Identification Number (EIN #s are federally issued) but will free C&P  


from the annual non-profit solicitation licensure fees and filing 


requirements of the NC Office of Solicitations.  This office was put 


into place by the North Carolina Legislature to oversee philanthropic 


solicitation activities in the NC -- a monitoring of activities that, 


until the IRS 501(c)(3) tax exempt status was received, was basically a 


meaningless exercise of compliance with State bureaucratic formalities.


 


The 72 page application for an IRS non-profit status designation had 


printed out and new legal support is currently being courted by the 


chair of the committee. With the cooperation and assistance of C&P's 


very capable and congenial Treasurer, Catherine Haerr,  I  feel very 


confident in completing the application myself over the course of the 


summer of 2005. By that time the formal records and accounting system 


for the group should be in order, and past fiscal discrepancies and 


omissions reconstructed in a fashion acceptable to the IRS.


 


Now that C&P has a five-year track record of successful conferences, 


two or three tangible educational products (the annual conference, 


published proceedings, and a Journal), and has successfully operated 


without deficits, we should be able to move through this process with 


less difficulty than had we might have had, had we attempted it sooner. 


With two conferences at Miami U in Oxford, Ohio, the legal and 


bookkeeping rituals and processes should start coming together in ways 


that may be sustained into the future.


 


Respectfully submitted,


Jim Sanders


 


James H. Sanders III, Ph.D.


Visiting Associate Professor


Department of Art Education


The Ohio State University


Room 351 Hopkins Hall


128 North Oval Mall


Columbus, OH 43210