October 2014 Board Minutes

October 2014 Board Minutes Wick Center

Members Present: John Bernthal, John Comer, Duane Eversoll, Jack Goebel, Jim Griesen, Jill Johnson, Roger Kirby, Kay Rockwell, Al Seagren, Delivee Wright, Doug Zatechka.

John Comer, President, called the meeting to order at 1:00 pm.

1. Memory Moments:  Connie Fleming, spouse of Dick Fleming, AgLEC (Agricultural Leadership, Education, & Communication; Norman Geske, Sheldon Art Gallery; Naomi Kay Hull, spouse of Ron Hull, ETV; James G. Kendrick, Agricultural Economics and Emeriti Board Member; Daniel B. Lutz, Agricultural Communications and former Secretary and Board Member; Ralph R. Marlette, Civil Engineering; Walter Mientka, Mathematics and Statistics, and former Treasurer; Pearl Goldenstein, spouse of Erwin Goldenstein, Education and Human Sciences.

2.  Treasurer's Report.   Jack Goebel reported in Agnes Adams absence.  Kay Rockwell volunteered to collect luncheon fees at the next Emeriti Meeting.

3. Nominations. The nominees for elected officers for 2015 are as follows: Vice-President and President-Elect:  James Griesen. Board Member:  John Bernthal.  The election will be at the October meeting unless there are additional nominees from the floor.

4.  Big Ten Retiree Organization Conference 2016.
At the September meeting, a motion passed that we invite members-at-large to make a tax-deductible contribution to support the 2016 Big Ten meeting.  These donations would be tax deductible and should be made to The University of Nebraska Foundation Fund #13266. These may also be multi-year contributions. This proposal will be submitted to the membership at the October luncheon.  TIAA-CREF has been approached for possible sponsorship of some part of the conference which is planned for August 5-7, 2016.   After January 1, 2015, a the planning Committee will make contact with Chancellor Perlman in regard to budget, present plans, progress, and needs.  Budget for the Conference is estimated to be $23,000.

5.  ListServ and Webpage. John Comer reported he is learning procedures for updating the Emeriti Web Site.  Roger Kirby reported he is handling the updating of the two list serves for the membership; this is closely related to his tasks with membership.

6.  Committee Reports

a. Benefits Committee.   Doug Zatechka , Chair, reported no changes.

b. Faculty Senate. No report.

c. Membership: Roger Kirby, Chair, reported the following:
With email addresses (431):
     21 membership expire in 2014.
     24 are behind 1-2 years in dues,
     21 are behind 3 years in dues,
                (these will be dropped from the active list if unpaid),
    141 are Life or Spousal members and do not have further dues.
      41 are new during the past 16 months; fewer than 50% have responded to
               a letter inviting their membership (one year is free so some may renew
               in October 2015.

Those Without email addresses (255):
   14 membership expire this year.
   16 are behind 1-2 years in dues,
   15 are behind 3 years in dues
(these will be dropped from active status if unpaid).
  197 are Life or Spousal members and do not have further dues.

Letters going out in December will alert the following:
36 will be dropped from active list unless dues paid,
125 will need to pay annual dues by the end of 2014.


Issue 1:  Getting lists of new Emeriti continues to be a problem.  The PAF's that are initiated in Departments and these dribble in up to a year or two later. The retirees luncheon list might be a helpful source of names if we could access this.
      
Issue 2:  Listserve maintenance will be handled by the Membership Chair along with updates of membership information to reduce duplicative work.

Issue 3:  The current "buyout offer" may result in an influx of new Emeriti.

d. Member Relations:  Kay Rockwell, Chair, reported upcoming events: October 30, 2014, 9:30-10:30 am, Coffee Chats Halloween Party, (costumes recommended), to be held at Gail and Jeff Keown's home, 9340 Whispering Wind Road.

December, 11, 2014,  Coffee Chats Christmas Party. TBA

e. Wisherd Committee.  Al Seagren, Chair, no change.

7.  Other Business.  Brochure may need revision for future members. The Emeriti Board Retreat will be December 9, 2014. Communication with members and the larger community was included in "UNL Today." This seems like a useful occasional approach.  A newsletter sent via email to members and others may still be a useful device.

Meeting adjourned at 2:00 pm. 

Submitted By: Delivee L. Wright, Secretary