Executive Committee Meeting Minutes
Conference Call
Tuesday, March 9, 2010
6:00 p.m.
Present: Tom Campbell, Jackie Carlson, Shyno Chacko Pandeya, Ed Godek, Ron Grasso, Andy Hochberg, Sean LeBlanc, Joel Slovin and Ron Spicer
Absent: Sara Coady Howe
Staff: Deb Goodhind and Anna Symington
The meeting convened at 6:05 p.m.
Approval of Minutes
Motion: by Ron Spicer, seconded by Ed Godek, to approve the minutes of the February 9 Executive Committee meeting. The motion passed with nine ayes and one abstention.
President’s Update
Sean was pleased with the level of participation by all directors at the recent board meeting. He thanked Ron Grasso and the other members of the Communications, Marketing and Membership (CMM) Committee for their efforts in developing the membership restructure proposal. Sean was impressed with the volunteer experience and commitment of the eight individuals placed on this year’s Board of Directors election slate.
The database committee is scheduled to meet with campus administrators later in March to continue discussions on the alumni/donor database.
Executive Director’s Update
Anna and Kevin Fleming just returned from California where they met with four club leaders and attended various alumni volunteer recruitment meetings. The alumni they met were appreciative of Anna and Kevin’s attendance and most seemed inclined to become more engaged with their local clubs. At each meeting, Anna provided an overview of the new membership restructure, which was received with positive enthusiasm from alumni. No alumni voiced criticism or concern with the new restructure. Anna and Kevin will be traveling to Florida later this week to attend One Day UMass events and meet with Amherst alumni club leaders and volunteers.
Staff is working to plan various alumni receptions around the upcoming playoff games for the men’s basketball team and hockey team.
The President’s Office is planning additional One Day UMass events in Washington, D.C. in late April. The Alumni Association will host an alumni reception in D.C. the day before these events to introduce several new campus leaders.
Strategic Plan
As determined at the February board meeting, Anna is working with staff to tweak the mission statement developed by the board, and she will soon begin development of a strategic plan framework for possible discussion at the May board meeting.
Board Participation
The current standing rules for nominations and elections state that the Nominating Committee may disqualify a current or past board member as a nominee for election if he or she failed to maintain a minimum attendance record at Board and committee meetings of 50% during their elected term without just cause. Anna noted that the 50% requirement for Board meetings will be difficult to define given that the Board now convenes only three times per year. Consensus among Executive Committee members was to revise the 50% attendance requirement for board meetings and require directors to attend a majority of board meetings (or two out of three meetings).
Committee Reports
Audit
After completing an analysis of the coverage amounts and retention requirements associated with the coverage provided to the Alumni Association through the University’s general liability policy, our insurance broker recommends that the Association procure its own general liability policy. The specific policy he recommends would provide coverage of $1 million per occurrence, with $2 million aggregate coverage per year, and a $500 retention amount for property-based claims only; no retention amount would be associated with any other type of claims. The annual premium is approximately $1,200.
Motion: by Ed Godek, seconded by Shyno Chacko Pandeya, to move forward with binding general liability coverage as recommended by the Alumni Association’s insurance broker. The motion passed unanimously.
Career Connections
A number of career webinars will be presented over the coming months and registration levels are good.
Clubs
The Clubs Committee met earlier today, and discussion included the development of standardized talking points for committee members to use in contacting their assigned club leaders. Plans for Community Service month are underway, as are preliminary discussions on possible webinar topics.
Communications, Marketing and Membership
None
Finance and Investments
The Finance and Investments Committee recently approved a tactical reallocation of assets and the hiring of a new investment manager as recommended by our investment consultant. In addition, the Committee met to discuss the potential use of membership reserves and voted to approve reinvesting a portion of all membership revenues into the reserves fund, and using the interest accrued on these funds to offset operating costs associated with maintaining Life and Legacy memberships. The Committee’s recommendation would maintain the principal balance of the membership reserves at the current fund level, and these funds would only be available for expenditure if formally approved by vote of the Board of Directors. The Committee asked Deb to develop proposed bylaw amendments to reflect this recommendation for vote at the May board meeting.
Honors and Awards
The Alumni Association will host the Distinguished Alumni Awards Luncheon on April 14 at the State House in Boston. The Honors and Awards Committee received 67 applications for five scholarships. These and other scholarships will be presented to the recipients on April 11.
Nominating
Online director and clubs representative elections are now live and Ed encouraged all committee members to vote. The Nominating Committee will pass along names of nominees to Sean as potential candidates for committee appointments. The Committee plans to meet in late March to discuss potential revisions to the nominations and elections process relative to the membership restructure as charged by the Board of Directors.
Programs and Services
The Programs and Services Committee has begun discussions on a possible restructure of reunion programming and is considering options to expand Homecoming programming.
Technology and Online Services
The Technology and Online Services Committee reviewed the information collected through usability testing on a number of redesigned email templates. Increased participation levels were noted through our social media sites during the New Orleans service trip. The Committee is also researching the feasibility of developing various sub-groups within the Alumni Association’s LinkedIn site.
Volunteer Advocacy and Public Affairs
The Volunteer Advocacy and Public Affairs Committee is working to develop options for increasing legislative attendance at the Distinguished Alumni Awards ceremony. A number of alumni clubs have already confirmed their plans to host events for Community Service Month. The Committee continues discussions on diversity and volunteer recruitment initiatives.
Old Business
None
New Business:
None
Adjournment:
Motion: by Ed Godek, seconded by Andy Hochberg, to adjourn the meeting. The motion passed unanimously.
The meeting adjourned at 7:35 p.m.