UMass Amherst Alumni Association

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Executive Committee Meeting Minutes

Worcester Crowne Plaza
Thursday, August 31, 2006
6:00 p.m.

Committee Members: Elaine Barker, Mary Custard, Mike Fiorentino, Hal Lane, Sean LeBlanc, Christine Lopes, Kathleen Mitchell, Marc Rossen and Anna Symington

Absent: Kim Sherman

Guests:

Staff: Cristina Geso and Deb Masloski

Call to Order

The meeting convened at 6:20 p.m.

Approval of Meeting Minutes

Sean noted that he would like to make one revision to the minutes of the June 29 Executive Committee meeting to read as “Sean LeBlanc suggested that the Alumni Association consider “pulling the plug” on the license plate for the time being because he felt it was not economically prudent to continue funding the program”. 

Motion: by Kathleen Mitchell, seconded by Christine Lopes, to approve the June 29 Executive Committee meeting minutes as amended.  The motion passed unanimously.

President’s Update

Hal congratulated Sean and his committee for their great job on the various Freshmen Welcome Receptions hosted in August.

Hal reported that Justin McCutcheon, son of John McCutcheon, Athletic Director, passed away recently and suggested making a donation in memory of Justin.  Hal will contact Thorr Bjorn, Sr. Associate Athletic Director, on this matter.

Governance Task Force

Board Policies

The Governance Task Force was charged earlier in the year with reviewing the overall governance structure of the Alumni Association’s Board of Directors and developing recommendations to enhance the current structure.  One such recommendation is the development of a volunteer code of conduct, confidentiality and conflicts of interest policy.  To develop the policy, the Vice Presidents reviewed resources and incorporated best practices from other alumni associations and non-profit organizations.  The policy is not intended to infer that volunteers are acting inappropriately or not doing what they should; instead, it is intended to be a value statement of the board’s aspiration for volunteer conduct and participation.  In addition, the document could be used to guide any future discussions on volunteer conduct as necessary.  Cristina noted that the document is somewhat informal in its current presentation; however, proposed legislation for non-profits may require that the document be revised in the future to incorporate more legal terminology and tone.

Committee members discussed several suggestions for amendments to the document including:

• Clarifying the meeting requirement statement
• Adding a statement regarding volunteers representing themselves as an agent of the Alumni Association without board approval
• Adding a signature line to indicate that all volunteers have read the policy
• Clarifying the statement about serving a term of office without expectation of a second term

New Board Member Orientation

Cristina reported that she has conducted individual meetings with all new board members to provide an overview of the Alumni Association’s strategic plan, programs and services, as well as an update on the progress the committees have made on the strategic plan to date. 

Mary noted that the Vice Presidents met with Hal earlier in the afternoon to begin development of an agenda for new board member orientation.  Their initial conversations identified several areas for discussion at orientation, including an overview of board member roles and responsibilities, the board’s strategic plan and future focus, and membership growth.  They also hope to encourage thoughtful discussion among participants during the session.  Orientation is currently scheduled to convene prior to the board meeting on September 19.

Motion: by Elaine Barker, seconded by Sean LeBlanc, to recommend the Volunteer Code of Conduct, Confidentiality and Conflicts of Interest policy as amended for full board approval.  The motion passed unanimously.

Board Meeting Format, Content and Schedule

Committee members discussed the need to engage board members in more strategic discussions at board meetings and outlined various possibilities for doing so. One suggestion involved convening more board meetings each year; another involved continuing to meet quarterly but for longer periods of time at each meeting, either on a weeknight or on Saturdays.  Several committee members agreed that the latter possibility would also allow for increased participation by the board’s growing number of out-of-state directors.   

Motion: by Christine Lopes, seconded by Sean LeBlanc, to recommend a new Saturday meeting schedule for future board meetings for full board approval.  The motion passed with 7 yeas, 1 nay and 1 abstention.

Committee members discussed the need to engage board members in more strategic discussions at board meetings and outlined various possibilities for doing so. One suggestion involved convening more board meetings each year; another involved continuing to meet quarterly but for longer periods of time at each meeting, either on a weeknight or on Saturdays.  Several committee members agreed that the latter possibility would also allow for increased participation by the board’s growing number of out-of-state directors.   

Motion: by Christine Lopes, seconded by Sean LeBlanc, to recommend a new Saturday meeting schedule for future board meetings for full board approval.  The motion passed with 7 yeas, 1 nay and 1 abstention.

License Plate Exit Strategy

Motion: by Christine Lopes, seconded by Anna Symington, to recommend the license plate exit strategy as presented for full board approval.  The motion passed with 7 yeas, 1 nay and 1 abstention. 

Committee members discussed possible content and tone of the news releases.  A majority of members agreed that, should the Alumni Association opt to re-launch the license plate program sometime in the future, it would be in our best interests to maintain a positive relationship with the Registry of Motor Vehicles at this time. 

Meeting Conduct and Documentation Guidelines

Deb noted that the draft guidelines were distributed to the full board in May and all feedback received to date from directors has been incorporated into the current draft.

Motion: by Sean LeBlanc, seconded by Mike Fiorentino, to recommend approval of the Meeting Conduct and Documentation Guidelines as presented for full board approval.  The motion passed unanimously.

Committee Assignments

Elaine requested that she be assigned to serve on the Grants Review committee as the representative of the Finance and Investments committee.

Motion: by Mike Fiorentino, seconded by Sean LeBlanc, to approve the committee assignments as amended.  The motion passed unanimously. 

Cristina reported that she continues to recruit various alumni experts with specific educational or professional backgrounds to serve on the Audit, Finance and Investments and Communications, Marketing and Membership committees.

Christine noted that all Executive Committee members should strive to work as a team in supporting committee initiatives, particularly in the area of membership growth.  Understanding that the Communications, Marketing and Membership committee initiatives are critical to the continued success of the Alumni Association, and that Marc is a relatively new member of the Board of Directors, she asked Marc if he was comfortable with his new role as chair of that committee.  Marc responded that he and Hal talked at length regarding the responsibility and time commitment necessary to be a successful chair and he is definitely looking forward to assuming that role.  Having served on the committee last year, Hal believes that Marc will bring continuity to the chair position. 

Executive Director’s Report

Cristina reported that Ann Thompson recently accepted a position with Stony Brook University as Director of Alumni Relations.  With Ann’s departure, Cristina and Deb have taken this opportunity to create a staff reorganization proposal that will increase efficiencies and collaborative efforts among staff members.  Janine Sicks will be promoted to the vacant Director of Alumni Clubs and Programs position and Melanie Corbeil will assume increased responsibilities as the new Sr. Associate Director of Student and Alumni Programs.  Melanie will be responsible for managing all student and alumni career services programming and a new assistant director will be hired this fall to further support these efforts.

Andrea Robbins has joined the staff as Assistant Director for Alumni Programs and Arleen Anderson, our new Associate Director for Alumni Career Services, is on board and well on her way to implementing several new alumni career programs. 

Deb has extended an offer of employment to Norma Heim as Director of Membership and Marketing pending the results of final reference and background checks.  Norma has over twenty years of public relations, communications and marketing experience and plans to begin her university employment in mid-October.

Cristina and Kim Fill have negotiated two new affinity partnerships that include pet insurance offered through Marsh Insurance and customized lamp sales through Acirrica Co. 

Cristina noted that she plans to present a proposal for the purchase of an Alumni Association branded van to the Finance and Investments Committee for their consideration.

The Five Colleges system is working to plan a collaborative event in London during the spring of 2007.  This would be a very cost-effective way for the Alumni Association to engage the 350 UMass Amherst from that area.

Cristina plans to launch a monthly board newsletter in October similar to the current @UMASS format as a means to engage all board members on a regular basis.  The newsletter will include committee updates, links to pertinent board documents, information on upcoming events, general announcements, etc. 

Cristina referenced the year-end statistical documents that were included in the meeting packets and asked committee members to contact her if they would like any additional information.

New Business

UMass Club List Request

Committee members discussed the email from Lorrey Bianchi, on behalf of the UMass Club in Boston, requesting access to the Alumni Association’s membership list.  Both Hal and Marc agreed that providing this information to the UMass Club would be a good faith effort on the part of the Alumni Association in demonstrating our support of the university system.  Anna noted that all requests should be given equitable consideration, despite whatever connections the requestor may have to the Alumni Association, and she cautioned the committee to first consider what the impact of releasing the list to the UMass Club might be on future list request policy.

Cristina explained that our current policy and practice has been to restrict the release of our alumni list and use of the Alumni Association name and logo to volunteer leaders and affinity partners.  We release the lists only after the requestor has agreed to certain licensing conditions, primarily related to privacy concerns, as well as appropriate compensation to the Alumni Association for use of the list in the case of affinity partners.  Cristina also noted that she regularly receives list requests from individuals, alumni groups and other organizations who wish to contact our alumni related to products, services or other initiatives that do not support the Alumni Association’s mission.

Several committee members expressed concerns that releasing the list to the UMass Club, a for-profit organization, would not be in the best interests of the Alumni Association’s membership, particularly without a licensing agreement in place.  Providing free access to the list could become problematic, as it would be difficult to deny requests from other groups or businesses associated with the university given the precedent set by releasing the list to the UMass Club.  Moreover, committee members do not want to alienate members by providing the impression that the Alumni Association is “selling” the list, nor do they want to increase confusion among alumni regarding the UMass Club and the Greater Boston Alumni Club.

Sean suggested that the committee consider asking the UMass Club to license use of the list.  Hal will follow up with Lorrey on this possibility.

Cape Cod Alumni Club – Golf Tournament

Hal reported that Andy Knowles of the Cape Cod Alumni Club has requested the Alumni Association support the club’s annual fundraising golf tournament for $500.  The Alumni Association would receive a hole sponsorship and foursome in return for their support.  Cristina noted that past practice for similar requests from Athletics, Stockbridge, and various schools and colleges has been to award $100 for a hole sponsorship.

Motion: by Elaine Barker, seconded by Sean LeBlanc, to allocate $100 to fund a hole sponsorship for the Cape Cod Alumni Club Golf Tournament.  The motion passed unanimously.

General Announcements

Christine reported that she has relocated to Rhode Island.
 

Adjournment

The meeting adjourned at 8:35 p.m.