TECHNICAL ADVISORY COMMITTEE (TAC) AND TRAVEL

The TAC is a group of volunteer professionals who meet once a month in several regions to review the technical, cultural and health aspects of a project prior to the chapter traveling.  Most professionals serving on the TAC have either traveled on EWB-USA projects or they have worked extensively in other countries either for work, Peace Corps or some other related activity.

The purpose of this review is to provide quality control on EWB-USA projects.  Our goal is to help pass on lessons learned from previous experiences or projects to current projects. 

If your chapter plans to travel on either an assessment or implementation trip, we require that an assessment or implementation presentation be submitted and presented to the TAC.  For more information on the overall process, see below and please read through Chapters 5 and 6 of the Sourcebook.

IMPORTANT: There are new requirements for traveling as of August 20, 2007 based on the new 507 - Project Design Compendium.

• The chapter submits their 507 – Project Design Compendium by the TAC deadline
• The chapter is submitting a 507 for a project that is an EWB–USA approved project
• If the project was an open project, the chapter must have submitted a 502 – Chapter Application to Acquire an Open Project
• The chapter’s assessment proposal is approved by an EWB-USA Project Manager or the chapter’s implementation proposal is approved by the Technical Advisory Committee
• The chapter must submit 605 – Travel Waivers and 608 – Proof of Insurance Forms for EACH travel team member within four weeks of the TAC deadline (these forms must be received by EWB-USA before the travel team departs)
  

 What to Submit: (Note: All templates are available on the DOWNLOADS PAGE)

Trip Type	What to Submit
Assessment	507B - Pre-Assessment Report 605 - Waiver for each person traveling 608 - Health Insurance Forms for each person traveling
Implementation	507D - Pre-Implementation Report An Implementation Presentation 605 - Waiver for each person traveling 608 - Health Insurance Forms for each person traveling  507C - Assessment Report Any other relevant design information

When to Submit: The submission dates for proposed travel/work (either within or outside of the USA) are listed below.  Once the materials are submitted, a project manager will contact your chapter to discuss the trip and design plans, and will let your team know when they are to present to the TAC. (Note: These are also the submission deadlines for New Project Applications (501) and Chapter Applications (502) )

Assessment Date	Implementation Date	When To Submit (Deadline)
January	February	Sunday, November 18th
February	March	Sunday, December 16th
March	April	Sunday, January 20th
April	May	Sunday, February 17th
May	June	Sunday, March 23rd
June	July	Sunday, April 20th
July	August	Sunday, May 18th
August	September	Sunday, June22nd
September	October	Sunday, July 20th
October	November	Sunday, August 24
November	December	Sunday, Sept 21st
December	January 2009	Sunday, Oct 19th
January 2009	December 2009	Sunday, Nov 16th

Where to Submit: Please send all submissions to Projects or waivers can be faxed to 303-772-2699.

When to Present:  The TAC reviews all implementation plans.  Most chapters that are implementing a project will give a half hour presentation at one of the TAC meetings listed below.  (Note: Presentations for most chapters will be via teleconferencing and web-conferencing.  It will not be necessary to fly out to the meetings). Assessments will just be reviewed by the project managers via a conference call with the chapter. 

• All Mountain TAC Meetings start at 5:00PM Mountain Time
  
• All West Coast TAC Meetings start at 5:00PM Pacific Time
• All Great Lakes/South Central TAC Meetings start at 5:00PM Central Time
  
• All East Coast TAC Meetings start at 5:00PM Eastern Time

When to Present in 2008 (TAC Meeting Dates)

Mountain TAC	West   Coast TAC	Great Lakes/ South Central TAC	Northeast TAC	Southeast TAC	When to Submit (from above)
Jan 7th	Jan 8th	Jan 9th	Jan 10th	-	December 16th
Feb 4th	Feb 5th	Feb 6th	Feb 7th	-	January 20th
March 3rd	March 4th	March 5th	March 6th	-	February 17th
April 7th	April 8th	April 9th	April 10th	April 8th	March 23rd
May 5th	May 6th	May 7th	May 8th	May 6th	April 20th
June 2nd	June 3rd	June 4th	June 5th	June 3rd	May 18th
July 7th	July 8th	July 9th	July 10th	July 8th	June 22nd
Aug 4th	Aug 5th	Aug 6th	Aug 7th	Aug 5th	July 20th
Sept 8th	Sept 9th	Sept 10th	Sept 11	Sept 9th	August 24th
Oct 6th	Oct 7th	Oct 8th	Oct 9th	Oct 7th	September 21st
Nov 3rd	Nov 4th	Nov 5th	Nov 6th	Nov 4th	October 19th
Dec 1st	Dec 2nd	Dec 3rd	Dec 4th	Dec 2nd	November 16th

*507 - Project Design Compendium

Note:  It is NOT the responsibility of the TAC or the Project Staff to design the chapter’s projects.  If additional technical assistance is needed, the project staff can help in finding a mentor for the chapter's project.

For more information on the Technical Advisory Committee (TAC) click here.