Board of Directors Meeting Minutes

Saturday, October 17, 2009
Campus Center
8:30 a.m.

Board Members:  Tom Campbell, Jackie Carlson, Shyno Chacko Pandeya, Sara Coady Howe, Mary Custard, Ed Godek, Ron Grasso, Dave Hautanen, Andy Hochberg, Paul Hohenberger, Sean LeBlanc, Andy MacDougall, Mike Mahoney, Carole Mansur, Adam Martignetti, Molly McCullough, Zachary Morello, Dayna Morton, Michaella Morzuch, Dave Richter, Vaughn Rist, Bob Shaughnessey (for a portion of the meeting) Kim Sherman, Joel Slovin, Ron Spicer, Matt Thornton, Jeanne Traester, Petra von Ziegesar and Kevin White

Absent:  Madeline Haynes and Kendra Porter

Staff:   Deb Masloski, Breck Pierce and Anna Symington

Guests: Michael Leto, Vice Chancellor for Development and Alumni Relations          

Call to Order
The meeting convened at 9:00 a.m.

Welcome and Introductions
Board members formally introduced themselves to each other and outlined their past volunteer experience with UMass Amherst and the Alumni Association.

President’s Update
Sean thanked everyone for their participation on the board.  He encouraged board members to consider attending alumni events in their local areas and to register as a Minuteman Mentor. 

Seven (7) of our 32 current directors are new to the Board this year, four (4) directors are new members of the Executive Committee, and three (3) of the six (6) officers are new to a leadership position, offering opportunities for new ideas to be put forth and positive change enacted.  The Board has ten (10) working committees, which last year engaged 49 student and alumni volunteers. 

Sean provided a brief overview of various key metrics used to measure participation in Alumni Association programs and services, including membership, event attendance, registered users of MaroonCentral, Facebook and LinkedIn, email open rates, as well as number of overall and unique visits to UMassAlumni.com.

Executive Director’s Report
Anna noted that she is now in the tenth month of her tenure as Executive Director of the Alumni Association and is truly enjoying her interactions with alumni, students, faculty and staff, who have demonstrated great pride and affinity to UMass Amherst.

She provided updates on a number of programs scheduled this fall, including our Morning Mixers, which continue to grow in student, faculty and staff participation, as well as the upcoming Bateman Scholar in Residence program. The Alumni Association will host a pre-game reception in Boston prior to the UMass vs. Memphis men’s basketball game at the TD Garden, and will collaborate with Athletics to host a Volunteer Appreciation reception in Springfield prior to the men’s basketball game to be played at the MassMutual Center.

Anna met recently with the Retired Faculty Association to discuss ways in which they and the Alumni Association could collaborate in developing a Faculty Speakers Bureau.  In addition, staff is collaborating with colleagues from the President’s Office to plan a series of One Day UMass events in various regions across the country this fall, highlighting faculty from each campus. 

The Campus Career Advisory Team, on which several of our staff members participate, is working to engage all schools and colleges towards helping to actively prepare career-ready students through various programs, events and other career-oriented resources.  The team launched its first campus-wide event in early October called “Fall into Success,” which included a variety of activities including free resume reviews, mock interviews, and a “Why Hire U” video contest.  Student feedback on the event activities has been very positive.

Consent Agenda
Tom presented the consent agenda that included the following items:

  • Approval of Minutes – June 6, 2009
  • Revisions to Standing Rules – Board and Committee Meetings
  • Revisions to Director Travel and Business Expense Policy
  • Resident Agent Appointment

He explained that the Board would take one vote on all of the agenda items together unless one or more items were requested to be withdrawn and discussed separately.

Motion: by Mary Custard, seconded by Dave Hautanen, to approve the consent agenda as presented.  The motion passed unanimously.

FY 2010 Operating Budget
Joel provided an overview of the proposed FY 2010 operating budget.  He noted that the membership revenue projections are very conservative and based on the current membership structure.  The Finance and Investments Committee will review the budget at mid-year and recommend revisions as appropriate dependent on the restructure proposal ultimately approved by the Board of Directors.

Motion: by Mary Custard, seconded by Ron Grasso, to approve the FY 2010 operating budget as presented.  The motion passed unanimously.

Committee Reports

Audit
The Audit Committee met recently with our external auditors to review the FY 2009 audit results, which included no major findings or significant deficiencies.  This is the third year working with our current auditors and the Committee is pleased with their professionalism and insight into non-profit accounting.

The auditors are working to finalize the new Form 990 tax return.  Once completed, board members will have an opportunity to review this and forward any questions to Deb prior to the filing deadline of November 15. 

Clubs Partnership Agreement  
The Clubs Committee continues to work on refining the revised Clubs Partnership Agreement as it relates to standardizing the nominations and elections process for club officers across the country.  Staff and committee members are currently reaching out to peer institutions to learn more about best practices relative to club governance matters.

Membership Program Proposal
Ron Grasso provided an historical overview of the work completed by last year’s Communications, Marketing and Membership (CMM) Committee, which included a comprehensive review of our current membership program and the examination of a number of other membership models and best practices.  The Committee’s report emphasized two primary points of consideration:

  • The Alumni Association represents all students and alumni and serves to promote the interests of UMass Amherst; any proposed restructure should engage all alumni. 
  • Any proposed restructure should protect the financial commitment already made by life members and maintain a certain level of exclusivity for life members.

The report also outlined several questions that laid the groundwork for the incoming committee’s focus and discussions. 

After taking into consideration all of these questions, this year’s CMM Committee has developed a strategic framework for a proposed membership concept.  It is this concept that the Committee will ask the Board to consider today and, if approved, the CMM Committee will work towards defining the specifics of this membership concept for Board approval in February.

The proposed membership concept will include all alumni as members of the Alumni Association, with no specific dues requirements to access certain benefits and services.  Alumni may invest any amount of dues, as often as they wish, with these amounts as well as any past dues paid, being credited towards an upper tier level of membership.  Alumni in this category who make dues contributions up to $999 will be considered sustaining members.  The membership concept proposes to maintain the current Life membership level ($1,000 up to $2,499) and incorporate a new upper tier level, yet to be named ($2,500 and above).  A new benefits structure will be developed for each membership tier, with certain options to be considered for young alumni.

Motion: by Sara Coady Howe, seconded by Carol Mansur, to approve the strategic framework as presented and charge the CMM Committee with developing a formal restructure proposal based on the approved concept.  The motion passed unanimously.

Guest Speaker – Michael Leto, VC for Development and Alumni RelationsSean introduced Michael Leto, new Vice Chancellor for Development and Alumni Relations.  Mike thanked the Board for the opportunity to speak with them and praised the forward progress made by the Board over the past several years with increasing alumni affinity and participation through programs, services and communications.  He has worked at several other public universities, and understands that many universities are successful based on the strength of their alumni associations.

Mike provided some university highlights, including the class of 2013’s academic credentials, which are the best in university history.  Eight UMass Amherst students were chosen as Fulbright Scholars this year, and Amherst has been ranked the number one college town in America.  A number of development projects are completed or underway, including the new student recreation center and the marching band building. 

The Amherst campus is also facing some challenges this year, particularly related to state funding for FY 2011.  Chancellor Holub and his executive management team are working to develop other funding resources, including adding more online courses, raising the yield for out-of-state students, and increasing fundraising levels.

Old Business
None

New Business
Sean encouraged board members to attend the groundbreaking ceremony for the new marching band building later this afternoon, as well as the halftime ceremony during the football game when the Alumni Association will be honored in recognition of its 135th Anniversary Celebration.

Adjournment 
Motion: by Dave Hautanen, seconded by Dave Richter, to adjourn the meeting.  The motion passed unanimously.

The meeting adjourned at 11:20 a.m.