UMass Amherst Alumni Association
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Executive Committee Meeting Minutes
Wednesday June 13, 2007
Double Tree Hotel, Westborough
5:30 p.m.
Executive Committee Members: Mary Custard, Marc Rossen, Kathleen Mitchell,
Hal Lane, Mike Fiorentino, Anna Symington, Kim Sherman
Absent: Christine Lopes, Elaine Barker, Sean LeBlanc
Staff: Deb Masloski, Kevin Fleming
Guests: Bill Carroll, Ron Grasso
President’s Report
Hal suggested that we should let the representatives from President Wilson’s office make a statement and then proceed from there. He noted that we are in a fact-finding stage and that committee members had to be very careful about their words, and urged the group to withhold negative statements. Mike echoed these ideas, but thought it would be a valid question to ask how the Alumni Association could proceed to better the University given the uncertain circumstances. Mary agreed that the Board should not make negative statements, but wanted to make sure that the members could also politely express their opinions. Kathleen relayed a message from the Chancellor to the Committee members in which he had advocated that the Alumni Association continue to support the Amherst campus as they had been doing. Hal also discussed that the committee needed to acknowledge to President Wilson’s representatives that we have not been as collaborative as we could have been in the past, and offer out a spirit of collaboration to them. He noted that collaboration could be very beneficial to the Alumni Association in many areas.
Additionally, Marc noted that we should keep in mind that the plan was released prematurely because the media got hold of it before they had fully formed their ideas. He also offered that, generally, people assume that change is negative without taking time to gather factual information to base their opinions on. He also noted the need to assume that the President’s intentions for all of the campuses are good, and that he is embarrassed about the general response from people to the ideas as much as he is about the story being leaked out. Anna disagreed that people were reacting to change, and believed that they were reacting to the way they had been left out of the planning process. She believed that, even with good ideas on the table, it will be difficult for President Wilson to create buy-in without damage control for people feeling neglected as part of the process. Mary agreed with Anna, and believed that people were justified in their consternation over the way things had occurred – particularly compounded with the timing in relation to the Andy Card situation at graduation. Anna also agreed with Marc that the Board needs to listen and gather factual information, and that the Board is not yet able to take a position due to the fact that there are benefits and drawbacks to collaboration and centralization. Hal noted that, during his time on the legislature, the UMass Amherst campus was often considered the most difficult to work with. The faculty are spirited and active, which has a lot of positive aspects, but was often perceived by the legislature as a problem.
Deb also interjected that there are two questions of critical importance that should not be lost in the discussion in the Board meeting: what are the plans for centralization and access to databases, and what are the plans for a system-wide alumni program. She noted that it was also important to ask how we can help support collaboration without losing our revenue stream. She also told the group that Katherine Smith had relayed to her that there was one “mis-statement” on Hal’s email letter to the UMass Amherst alumni body – that President Wilson’s office did not have a “re-organization plan.” The group disagreed with this statement, given that the media had portrayed it that way, and from some of President Wilson’s statements, it really had been a re-organization plan. Hal said that it was also important to keep in mind that Chancellor Lombardi’s position on these plans was unknown, because he has not been forthcoming with statements on his position.
Executive Director’s Report
Deb discussed the many conversations she had with Bob Goodhue and Katherine Smith over the last couple of weeks. They had told her that they were concerned about the conflicting quotes in the news, they appear to be backing off the “One University” plan, and are being a great deal more collaborative in how they proceed. She did relay that the President’s Office was taking steps to centralize the alumni database, which is of great concern to the UMass Amherst campus and, particularly, the UMass Amherst Alumni Association. There is concern over having curtailed access/less timely access to alumni data than we currently possess, as well as worry about inundating alumni with mail and advertising if each campus has access to all alumni.
Deb asserted that the Board meeting later that night was the perfect time to request of President Wilson’s Office that we need to play a large role in many of the discussions and processes involved in centralization, such as alumni data. She also told the group that the 3 primary concerns of the Board had been expressed to President Wilson’s Office, and that some of the questions generated before the meeting had been shared with their representatives.
Bill suggested that the members present at the meeting go through the compilation of questions for the representatives from President Wilson’s office and choose the ones that committee members definitely needed to ask, as well as weed out any that should not be asked. Kathleen was quite interested in the question regarding the system-wide alumni relations plan, as she considered it a great opportunity for the UMass Amherst Alumni Association to blaze the trail and help guide the plan. Mary wanted to ask how the Alumni Association can best maintain the relationship with President Wilson’s Office, and better communicate going forward. Hal was interested in asking about UMass Amherst representation on the Board of Trustees, noting that the Amherst campus is not well represented. Regarding questions that were off limits, Deb had gone through the original question submissions to make them as non-confrontational as possible, while still conveying their intended message. For instance, one question was phrased “we’ve had a great relationship with the Chancellor; how can we work with President Wilson’s Office to keep this great relationship with institutional leadership going forward?” Additionally, the group thought it was important to meet with President Wilson himself, rather than just his representatives, at some point as well.
Deb also informed the group that they would need to decide if they wanted to invite some or all staff to the Executive session component of the Board meeting, as well as whether to invite new Board members.
Overview of Board Meeting Agenda
It was agreed that dinner would come first, then a welcome and introductions segment, and then let the representatives from President Wilson’s Office could make a statement, with questions from the UMass Amherst Alumni Association Board members following that.
Adjournment
The meeting adjourned at 6:22 p.m.
