November 2012 Board Minutes Wick Alumni Center
Members Present: Agnes Adams, Allen Blezek, John Comer, Les Digman, Duane Eversoll, Jack Goebel, Jim Kendrick, Roger Kirby, Bob Kuzelka, Jim McShane, Jerry Petr, Kay Rockwell, Al Seagren, Dan Wheeler, Delivee Wright. Doug Zatechka.
1. Several new members were welcomed as follows:
Les Digman, Project Advisor for the Big Ten Retirees Association 2016 Meeting;
Duane Eversoll, New Board Member
Roger Kirby, Membership Chair to replace Mel Thornton;
Kay Rockwell, New Board Member to replace John Comer who is President-Elect.
2. Wisherd Committee Report.Al Seagren, Chair, reported recommendations of the Wisherd Committee indicating that he and Bob Diffendal recused themselves from voting on the proposals they had submitted. The following requests were recommended for funding at the $2000: level:
a. Health care costs for rehabilitation.
b. Benjamin G. Rader, History, for research and preparation of a book entitled The Magic of Mahans Creek: A Tale of Neighborhood and Family in the Missouri Ozarks. The history of the folkways and speech including examples of two families, child-rearing, work, play, religion, and politics. Wisherd Funds provide funds for a person to produce maps and drawings, expenses to do additional research at archives and historical societies, and for travel. (Third request)
c. Robert Diffendal, Geologic Survey, for preparation of a book, Great Plains Geology and Descriptions of Wonderful Geological Features at Selected Sites. This book would be Bob’s personal view of the Great Plains and its geologic history and features developed after his travels and observations made across the region on and off over a span of more than fifty years, a publication of many works and talks to thousands of people. Wisherd funds will cover only a portion of the total cost of the project.
d. Alan T. Seagren, Educational Administration, to work with the Center for Study of Higher Education at University of Melbourne to administer the survey instrument used in the 2nd edition of The Academic Chairperson’s Handbook published in 2010 to academic Heads/Chairs in the Australian Universities. The results of the project will be a research report comparing the similarities and differences in the problems and issues facing Heads/Chairs of Academic Departments in the implementation of strategies to improve the quality of programs in Australia to those faced in the U.S. Wisherd Funds will cover cost of travel to Australia with other costs covered by University of Melbourne.
e. Rodney J Soukup, Electrical Engineering, for continuing the collaborative research program between the UNL and the Institute of Physics of the Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic to continue the research on pyrite to create a solar cell with iron pyrite as the prime sunlight absorber material. To be successful in replacing fossil fuel generated electrical power for the production cost must come down and efficiency of conversion of sunlight to electricity must be improved for solar cells. Wisherd Funds provide a laboratory assistant and travel.
Jim McShane moved and Dan Wheeler seconded approval of the committee’s recommendation.
Jim McShane reminded that personal information on health care cannot be published.
Treasurer’s Report. Agnes Adams, Treasurer reported that the Emeriti Association checking account was depleted and she moved that $6000 (six thousand dollars) be moved into checking from the Spendable Income account. Al Seagren seconded the motion. Motion passed. Agnes also reported costs are about $1000/mo.
Membership Committee. Roger Kirby has agreed to work with Mel Thornton to transfer Chair responsibilities to Roger.
Faculty Senate Report. Jim McShane, Senate Liaison, and Jim Kendrick, reported that Emeriti Faculty can use WiFi on campus at no charge and Information Services will provide services such as virus protection, help desk, some repair and other supportive services as they are added.
A buffet lunch was served at noon.
Big Ten 2016 Retirement Association Meeting at UNL. Les Digman presented issues to consider in Project Planning for this event. He emphasized the importance of selecting people and defining organizational structure. He suggested gathering information from other campuses that have developed resources/materials. Identifying key milestone events, timelines, key people, key events, and key activities to make it happen, as well as feedback on progress. Who the project will serve is important. This project needs to explicitly find ways to “showcase” UNL.
A discussion followed concerning how the project should be organized. It was determined that
A Steering Committee initially consisting of: Jack Goebel, Les Digman, Allen Blezek, Al Seagren, Dan Wheeler and John Comer would serve as ongoing Steering Committee members and Sub-committee Chairs would also be added as these are identified. Currently identified committee needs include: Program, Hospitality, Transportation, Funding, University participation, Communication and Publicity. The Steering Committee would report progress to the Board. It was suggested that women and faculty of color should be recruited.
Jack Goebel requested that suggestions for people with special skills be recommended to him in the next two weeks.
Retirees Associations Health Insurance Plan. It was agreed that a need exists to explore further the possibilities of working with Purdue University in regard to health insurance for retirees.
Study of Inclusive Retiree’s Association. Al Seagren, Chair, suggested possible purposes and survey questions to ask other Big Ten Universities regarding broader membership organizations and a suggested timeline for 2013. A motion was passed to study this issue. A number of issues were suggested for further discussion/study.
Other Topics for further discussion included:
Waiting period procedures for removal from membership lists for non-renewals.
Consideration for making extra effort for engaging older and younger retirees.
Archiving the old Emeriti Association files.
Retirement brochure with Human Resources has not been done. Explore other possibilities.
Appreciations:
Board Members completing their terms: Dan Wheeler, Past-President, and Jerry Petr, Board Member, were thanked for their many contributions during their time on the Board and as President. Jack Goebel will move to Past-President as of January l, 2013, and was thanked for his excellent leadership during the past year.
Bob Kuzelka handed out a list of remaining events scheduled, including:
November 28, 2012, Wednesday, 2:00 pm, International Discussion Group, East Campus Union, will discuss Thomas Friedman’s book, That Used to be Us: How America Fell Behind in the World it Invented and How We Can Come Back.
December 12, 2012, Wednesday, 9:30 am, Holiday Open House Coffee House Chat at the home of Gail and Jeff Keown, 9340 Whispering Pines Rd. RSVP to Bob Kuzelka.
January 8, 2013, Tuesday, 9:30 am, “Start-the-New-Year-off-right” Coffee House Chat at the Crescent Moon Coffee House, 816 “P” Street (under 10,000 Villages).
Scheduled Meetings
January 8, 2013, Tuesday, Board Meeting will be at 1:00 pm at the Wick Center.
January 15, 2013, Tuesday, Member Luncheon Meeting will be at 11:30 am at East Campus Union.