UMass Amherst Alumni Association
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Executive Committee Meeting Minutes
Wednesday, November 14, 2007
Worcester Crowne Plaza
6:00 p.m.
Committee Members: Ron Grasso, Sean LeBlanc, Kathleen Mitchell, Andy Hochberg, Anna Symington, Kim Sherman, Hal Lane, Ron Spicer
Absent: Mike Fiorentino, Christine Lopes, Mary Custard
Staff: Deb Masloski and Kevin Fleming
Guests: Bob Shaughnessey
Call to Order: The meeting convened at 6:15 p.m.
Approval of Minutes
Motion: Sean made a motion, seconded by Kim, to approve the minutes from the October 9, 2007 Executive Committee Meeting. The motion passed with seven ayes and one abstention (Andy).
President’s Update
Kathleen allotted this time to the remaining agenda items, and asked that the meeting proceed to the Executive Director’s Report.
Executive Director’s Report
Deb provided campus updates to the Executive Committee members. She noted that the Alumni Association had a large number of attendees at their recent networking breakfast for students, alumni and staff on campus. The Alumni Association will continue to hold these breakfasts once a month for the remainder of the academic year. Additionally, Deb informed the committee members that there are no group tickets available to the Alumni Association for the UMass Amherst vs. Boston College men’s basketball game. Due to several factors related to their conference regulations, Boston College was only required to provide UMass Athletics with 70 tickets, which will only cover the needs of the player’s families. Because of this, the Alumni Association will not be able to organize an event around the game. Deb also noted that she is working on the job descriptions for the two new staff positions previously approved by the Board of Directors, and she hopes to begin the search to fill the positions in January.
Deb also conveyed that Mike Fiorentino has indicated his intent to resign from his member-at-large position on the Executive Committee, but will remain active on the Board of Directors. His new position as a University Provost frequently requires him to travel on short notice, and the hours are preventing him from providing as much attention to the position as it requires. Deb noted that no policy currently existed that outlined the procedures for the resignation of a member-at-large of the Executive Committee. The committee members discussed possible ways to proceed, and opted to hold a special election to fill the vacancy.
Motion: Hal made a motion, seconded by Ron G., to hold a special election to fill the Executive Committee member-at-large position vacated by Mike’s resignation. The motion passed unanimously.
Deb discussed the UMass Amherst initiative to implement a public relations campaign within Massachusetts (concentrating particularly on the Boston area), which will require a partnership between Advancement and the UMass Amherst News Office. The Alumni Association can complement this campaign with its own public relations strategy to help promote the University and generate awareness of the Alumni Association. Executive Committee members suggested that the Alumni Association target any public relations messaging by age, demographic group, and location (for instance, creating a message specifically for students in Boston and another for alumni in Boston).
Finally, Deb noted that an Executive Committee member had previously suggested that Board members be copied on all email event announcements. She noted that the Alumni Association sends out approximately one thousand emails per year, and feels that copying Board members on all emails would clog inboxes, as well as discourage Board members from reading the emails intended specifically for members of the Board of Directors. The Executive Committee members asked that the staff continue to pass on information specifically for the Board of Directors and the Executive Committee, and limit the amount of email they receive to that which they need to know.
Governor Patrick Event
Kathleen discussed the Alumni Association’s desire to host an event on campus with Governor Patrick with Katherine Smith. Some of the suggestions she received from Katherine were to open the event to other topics, to host a moderated discussion with the Governor, and to hold the event somewhere in Central Massachusetts. Kathleen noted that she told Katherine that holding the event on the Amherst campus was essential, and that she would bring the other suggestions back to the Executive Committee. She then asked the Executive Committee members for feedback on how to proceed with the event.
Committee members unanimously felt that the invitation to the Governor should come from the Alumni Association, that we take the lead on organizing the event, and that we hold the event on the Amherst campus. They believed that they should involve President Wilson’s Office, but that the Alumni Association should drive the organization and message of the event. There was some discussion over whether to retain the “UMass Amherst bio-initiative showcase” as the central theme of the event. Anna noted that Katherine had expressed great enthusiasm for the Alumni Association and the bio-initiative theme at the Board of Trustees meeting she attended, and expressed concern that the event was steering away from the original intent of showcasing a prominent component of the UMass Amherst campus that is of strategic importance to the Governor. Hal noted that the topic might not be relevant by the time the event is actually organized. However, most seemed to feel that the Governor continues to highlight and emphasize bio-initiatives, and that the subject will maintain its relevance far into the future.
The group decided to provide an open-ended invitation to Governor Patrick, along with the suggestions of either organizing the event around the theme of bio-initiatives occurring at UMass Amherst or providing a moderated event. From this invitation, they can gauge Governor Patrick’s interest and the format he prefers most, and possibly obtain his available dates as well.
Membership Objectives
The Executive Committee members discussed whether the Alumni Association should strategically review their dues-based membership structure. The group raised several considerations that might warrant a review of the Alumni Association membership program, including whether the many fund-raising initiatives across campus (Alumni Association membership, the Annual fund, college based appeals, etc.) were cannibalizing the overall campus fund-raising effort. The group also noted that Alumni Association membership is used as a major factor in determining alumni engagement in many institutional rating systems. Finally, they wondered what impact restructuring the membership program could have on Alumni Association revenues.
Ultimately, the Committee chose to pursue a strategic evaluation of the Alumni Association membership program and suggested that an outside consultant be engaged to perform the review, pending approval of the resources necessary to hire the consultant. Deb will obtain suggestions from colleagues about organizations best suited to review our membership program, and investigate the costs of a review with several of them.
Committee Reports
Alumni Career Services: Kim reported that Career Services had organized a number of successful events recently in San Francisco, Boston, and New York. Attendees were impressed with both the caliber of speakers and attendees. There will be another career services event in the Pioneer Valley on November 29, 2007, and the committee is looking into a possible future event geared specifically towards women.
Alumni Clubs: Ron S. noted that the Clubs Committee met during the Leadership Conference, and that each committee member will be contacting several club leaders periodically to keep open communications. They have also begun reviewing the Clubs Partnership, and are establishing several new clubs around the nation. Additionally, Kathleen will be meeting with several members of the Cape Cod Club, and Ron hopes to be in Massachusetts during that time to attend the meeting as well.
Audit Committee: None
Communications, Marketing, & Membership: The committee is gathering information about student membership programs from peer institutions. Sean noted that the committee is contemplating selling advertising space on the Alumni Association website, and is determining both the policies that would govern the sale of advertising space as well as how it might impact the look and feel of the Alumni Association website.
Finance & Investments: The committee met to review the Alumni Association investment portfolio. Ron G. noted that the recent slide had negatively affected the portfolio slightly, but overall their investment returns were up. He also relayed that the committee was drafting a proposed change to the investment policy statement that would outline the parameters to be used by the committee and investment consultant to make slight tactical changes to Alumni Association investments.
Grants Review: The Committee was investigating additional ways to promote membership through the grants they award to various campus constituents.
Honors and Awards: The committee will meet shortly to determine the recipients of the Distinguished Alumni Awards.
Nominating: Anna is still working to recruit the two non-Board members of the committee. She currently has extended several invitations to potential committee members, and is waiting to hear back from them.
Programs and Services: None
Volunteer Advocacy and Public Affairs: None
Old Business
Kim asked the committee members to allot time at future Board meetings specifically to the two student representatives, and allow them to present an overview of things occurring on campus. The committee members thought this was a great idea.
Deb also noted that the Alumni Association had tickets available to the Greatful Dead event on campus, and asked if any of the Executive Committee members could use them.
New Business: None
Motion: Sean made a motion, seconded by Ron G., to go into Executive Session. The motion passed unanimously. Deb, Kevin, and Bob left the room.
Adjournment
The meeting adjourned at 8:30 p.m.
