September 2019 Board Minutes East Campus Union
Members Present: Pat Crews, Jim Griesen, Kim Hachiya, Earl Hawkey, Julie Johnson, Jeff Keown, Don Weeks, Kay Rockwell, Sue Gildersleeve, Doug Jose, John Bernthal
President Jeff Keown called the meeting to order at 1:30pm.
1. Minutes of Prior Meetings Approval. The board unanimously approved the minutes as corrected for the following prior meetings:
- May 9, 2019: Approval moved by Don Weeks, seconded by Pat Crews
- July 31, 2019: Approval moved by Julie Johnson, seconded by Kay Rockwell
- August 20, 2019: Approval moved by Julie Johnson, seconded by Kim Hachiya
2. Memory Moments.
- Wieslaw Szdlowski, Mechanical Engineering
- Robert Carl Sorensen, Agronomy
- Jack L. Schinstock, Biological Systems Engineering and Associate Dean of CASNR
- Michael Warren Combs, Political Science
- Anthony F. Starace, Physics
- David Swanson, Holland Computing Center
- Cecilia Daly, Computer Science
- Loretta Riveland, Civil Engineering
3. Treasurer’s Report. Earl Hawkey reported that recapitalization of foundation funds has been completed. The association’s finances are in good standing.
4. President’s Report.
- Jeff noted that reservations have been made for all Board of Directors meetings to be held at the East Union for the upcoming year.
- The meeting with NU Interim President Susan Fritz was productive. She offered to speak to the association at an upcoming meeting on the topic of the state workforce and its connection to NU.
- Jeff and Don will attend the pre-retirement seminar on October 1. There was discussion about the possibility of capturing the names and email of future retirees who would like to be contacted about becoming members.
- Roger Kirby, Membership Chair, has indicated that he would like to step down as soon as a replacement has been identified. Several individuals were mentioned as being good prospects to take on this role. Jeff will also mention this need at the upcoming luncheon in case there’s someone from the membership who would like to volunteer.
- Jeff distributed the revised meeting schedule dated September 11, 2019. The only change noted on the schedule is that the luncheon for February will be held on Friday the 21st.
5. Luncheon/Program Updates.
- The ERA/NU Foundation Luncheon is scheduled for Monday, September 23 at Innovation Campus. Email invitations have been sent to organization members with a request for an RSVP. It was noted that there were some members who did not receive the invitations as expected and Jeff will investigate the cause. Pat Crews noted that the five award recipients are able to attend the luncheon and certificates will be provided to all awardees. The program agenda was reviewed.
- The October 25 luncheon meeting topic will be What’s Happening with Solar Electric – For Homes, Businesses and Utilities, presented by F. John Hay, Extension Educator, Department of Biological Systems Engineering, University of Nebraska-Lincoln.
- The November 22 luncheon meeting topic will be Small in Vivo Robots for Surgery, presented by Dr. Shane Farritor, David and Nancy Lederer Professor of Mechanical Engineering, University of Nebraska-Lincoln.
- The October and November luncheons will be held at the Lancaster Extension Education Center, 444 Cherry Creek Road, Lincoln, NE 68528 at 11:30 AM. A box lunch including either a ham and cheese sandwich or veggie wrap will be available at the cost of $12.00 for members and their guests. For those not purchasing lunch, coffee and ice tea will be available for $2.00. Catering will be by ChefauChef.
- The yellow card notice of upcoming meetings was sent out a few days prior to the September 12 board meeting.
- Kim Hachiya is working on arranging speakers and dates for luncheon meetings for the remainder of the association year. It was noted that reservations for meetings to be held at the Lancaster Extension Education Center beginning in January can be made beginning December 1, 2019.
6. Morrill Hall Tour.
Kay Rockwell reported that arrangements are complete for the October 21 tour of Morrill Hall. The association will furnish coffee and attendees are invited to bring food to share during the Coffee House Chat at 9:00 AM. Kay requested and received several ideas for future tours.
7. Coffee House Chats.
Don Weeks noted that it will be necessary to select a new board member to organize the monthly Coffee House Chats as he has assumed the President-elect position. There was discussion about the possibility of conducting another survey of the membership to determine whether varying the day of the month for Coffee House Chats might result in an increase in attendance.
8. Newsletter.
Julie thanked the other board members for their suggestions and positive comments on the newsletter that was recently distributed. She noted that the announcement of the OLLI Class with which the association cooperates does not work well since the OLLI registration occurred before the newsletter was distributed.
Meeting adjourned at 2:35pm.