COX: ENGLISH 1101 HONORS CHECKLIST OF GRADES



Executive Committee Minutes

GPC/DeKalb College Retiree Association

Tuesday, January 8, 2019 10:00 a.m.

Clarkston Campus, CM1100

Call to Order

President Wadley called the meeting to order at 10:20 a.m. Members present included Ted Wadley, Beryle Baker, Rosemary Cox, Barbara Obrentz, Betty Molloy, Bill Covington, and Montrese Adger Fuller.

President’s Report

President Wadley began by commending Beryle Baker for the exceptional variety of proposed programs for 2019 centered on the theme “No Retiree Left Behind”; Baker will discuss more details in her report.

Meeting dates on the Agenda were the next item of concern. Wadley changed the Quarterly Meeting date from August 14th to August 21st. Rosemary Cox pointed out that the Executive Committee meeting listed as October 8th should also be changed to September 10th because the Committee usually meets a month before a scheduled Quarterly Meeting: in 2018 the schedule had been altered to accommodate conflicts and, hence, met later than normal. The Committee approved both changes to the meeting schedule.

Wadley then addressed the issues of membership and outreach: he had asked Bill Covington to e-mail/print the list of faculty members who have retired, as well as the list of current emeriti; Committee members should have received those lists. Wadley also asked the Committee whether or not he should include his President’s Letter in a separate mailing (as he did last year) or include it in the announcement for the next meeting. The deadline for this mailing is the first week in February.

Continuing the topic of membership, Wadley passed around a copy of the old Retiree Association brochure given to new and prospective retirees, saying that it needs to be revised/updated; the Association also needs to do more to encourage new retirees to join the group. Cox noted that she and Barbara Obrentz are currently undertaking a revision of the brochure for the Emeriti Association, so they would also work on a revision of the Retiree Association brochure at the same time. The Committee agreed that each organization should have its own brochure rather than one that covers both groups. The Committee then enumerated several issues/ideas that need to be addressed or implemented:

• We need to figure out who our members are.

• We need to continue communicating to all members through newsletters.

• We need an email alias (like the Emeriti Association does) so we can use it for member communications without having to use individual, personal e-mail addresses.

• We need to discuss how to engage new members—find out what we are not doing to elevate our group to a greater status.

• We need to get the website back up and running, and make sure retirees can pay their dues online. In addition, the Retiree Association website could link off of the Foundation webpage; we might also be able to link to benefits information from their website.

• We could encourage retirees to bring another retiree with them to the Quarterly Meetings.

• We could have a segment at every Quarterly Meeting entitled “Information you cannot do without.”

• We could have multiple meetings to cover the information which is currently given only at the benefits meeting; for example, we could have a representative from the Teachers Retirement System of Georgia (TRSGA) speak at a Quarterly Meeting separate from the benefits meeting.

Betty Molloy suggested that one reason for declining membership is that after consolidation with Georgia State University, we stopped receiving the list with names and addresses of new retirees. Montrese Adger Fuller said she would try to obtain a recent list. Obrentz also said she would reach out to Christine Gallant (editor of the Emeriti Association newsletter, EmeriTies) and Rebecca Rakoczy (who has connections to Alumni Association affairs), letting them know about Retiree Association activities so that they may pass the information on to prospective members. Obrentz recommends that the Retiree Association disseminate information about the group through as many venues as possible. Wadley also would like to invite someone from Human Resources on the downtown campus to come to one of our Executive Committee meetings because we need to be included in their retiree planning.

Obrentz brought up the need for a Retiree Association Treasurer. One of the duties of the Treasurer is to keep track of membership through the payment of dues. As the position is appointed, rather than elected, Obrentz urged Wadley to make an appointment and recommended asking Beth Harris if she would be interested in serving as Treasurer as she did in the past. However, Molloy pointed out that the Treasurer should work closely with Adger Fuller and Covington but should not have responsibility for membership; instead, we should designate someone specifically for recruitment and membership.

Secretary’s Report

Secretary Cox asked Bill Covington to send her the Agenda for the July 10, 2018, Executive Committee meeting so she could add it to the archive of Minutes. She also requested he send her the financial report for the October 25th Quarterly Meeting; if it is no longer available, she will use the figures from the financial report from the October 18th Executive Committee Meeting because the two meetings were so close together.

Cox presented the Minutes from the October 18th Executive Committee Meeting and from the October 25th Quarterly Meeting; both copies needed several corrections. Wadley moved that the amended Minutes be approved, and the Committee voted to accept both Minutes with the corrections. Cox said she would e-mail the corrected Minutes to the Committee.

Treasurer’s Report

Covington reported that there was $5,208.28 in the Operating Budget, and $30,464.50 in the Scholarship Fund. He noted that funds declined because the Stock Market went down.

Vice President’s Report

Vice President Beryle Baker complimented Adger Fuller and her team for their great efforts in helping to organize the Holiday Luncheon. She then went into more detail about upcoming events in 2019 on the theme “No Retiree Left Behind”:

• Regarding the Elder Law Series speaker scheduled for February 20, if Deputy Chief Assistant District Attorney Jeanne Canavan has a court date, she will reschedule her presentation. In the event of Canavan’s postponement, we will have a substitute speaker for the 20th. Wadley noted that Canavan’s topic would interest people outside of the Retiree Association; Covington said he would look into getting the information about the meeting onto “gen-mail.” Baker suggested that Paul Hudson might be interested in writing an article for The Decatur Dispatch on it, and Obrentz said she would speak to Hudson. Molloy was concerned about reserving a room for the talk that would accommodate a large audience; she also recommended having people RSVP for the event so we would have an accurate head count. Covington said he would look into reserving the JCLRC Auditorium and change the room reservation. Also, we should not serve refreshments after the event because of the difficulty of planning how much food to order.

• The Retiree Association programs for 2019 will continue to promote good community outreach with the Retiree Association Scholarship, the HighLeit Singers from the DeKalb School of the Arts at the Holiday Luncheon, and our volunteers for the Read Across America program at Indian Creek Elementary School. Baker is looking for both book donors and readers for the latter. Molloy asked Baker to let her know the details about the Read Across America event so she can pass the information along to Book Club members.

• There are two tours scheduled for 2019: the first is the William Breman Jewish Heritage Museum Tour on March 21st; the special exhibit is “Vedem Underground: The Secret Magazine of Terezin.” Molloy asked whether or not there would be a talk from a Holocaust survivor: when the Emeriti Association toured the Breman Museum, there was an interesting presentation by a Holocaust survivor. Baker was unsure if a survivor would be there on our visit. The second excursion is the Mercedes Benz Stadium Tour on May 30th. Both events will be followed by lunch at a local restaurant.

• Baker has held the May 15th speaker position open to allow for a presentation by someone from the Georgia Bureau of Investigation (GBI); Covington said he did not hear back from the GBI speaker, so Baker should go ahead with the second topic in the Elder Law Series. Elder Law has two divisions: criminal and civil (which assists people with planning for death, guardianship, and employee benefits), so a second presentation on Elder Law will not repeat what Canavan covers in her presentation on February 20th.

• The August 21st Quarterly Meeting speaker—Josh Stephens, a Legislative Affairs Specialist from the Professional Association of Georgia Educators (PAGE)—will focus on updates to TRS Retirement Accounts. The Committee suggested that the title for this presentation (“No Retiree Left Behind: TRS Updates on Your Retirement Account”) be changed to increase appeal to retirees; proposed titles might be “Updating Your Retirement Account” or “Proposals to Change Teacher Retirement.” Wadley also noted that if “TRS” is in the title, we should have a speaker from TRS. There may also be some substantial changes to the TRS system if the Georgia Legislature votes to go to a defined benefit.

• On the handout listing the 2019 programs, the name for the event for October 30th needs to be corrected: it is the “Death Café,” not “Deaf Café.”

• Baker still needs to confirm December 5th as the date for the Holiday Lunch.

Communications Coordinator’s Report

Obrentz began by giving an update on the Newsletter. The date for the Newsletter is still not firm. She would like for it to come out before the May 15th Quarterly Meeting, so May 1st would be a good target mailing date. The insert should be about health benefits and Elder Law. Concerning health benefits, some details may be taken from the October 25th Minutes; Cox requested that Obrentz ask Gail Imoukhuede to double-check the facts in the Minutes for accuracy before publishing them in the Newsletter. Obrentz would also like to have a story on Scholarship recipients: the new one as well as a former recipient. Kara Gardner would be the best person to contact about Scholarship recipients. This issue of the Newsletter should also have photos from the Read Across America event—Obrentz would like Baker to send her some photos—as well as notes about Book Club readings and other up-coming events. Other possible article ideas include a summary of the Association Bylaws, a description of the website (if it is active), and a feature article on the new Dean of Perimeter College, Dr. Nancy Kropf. Obrentz requested that Committee members should contact her if they have other suggestions/ideas for articles.

Perimeter Office of Development Report

Covington noted that Georgia State Day is April 9, 2019. This is a day devoted to fund raising. This year the campaign will feature prison outreach. Supporting this initiative is important for two reasons: Perimeter is one of very few institutions that is going into both state and federal prisons (most focus just on state prisons), and Georgia Governor Deal had made prison reorganization one of his priorities.

A second focus of the fund raising effort will be on supporting Dr. Ken Fenster’s efforts to serve as gallery manager for the work of the late GPC faculty member and artist Lori Gene. Her works are currently in storage, and they need to be protected and restored. There are also other art works in need of restoration so that they can be displayed all over the state.

Adger Fuller stated that last year Georgia State Day raised over $300 thousand dollars for programs all across the University. People are needed to do a challenge; she will soon share information on how a challenge can be set up to connect with all campuses.

Reports from Membership Associations and Groups

• Retiree Association Book Club: Molloy observed that the old Retiree Association brochure indicates that Book Club members vote on the books they read; this is in error and should be corrected in the new brochure. Obrentz added that she has an updated book list that she will send to Molloy so it can be distributed to members of the Book Club.

• USG Retiree Council: Wadley indicated that the Chancellor wants a list of retirees across the University system, but this may change if Georgia Governor Kemp appoints a new Chancellor. In addition, campus Human Resources departments across the state need to be more cooperative with retiree associations, distributing brochures to new retirees, and, most important, they need to give solid, consistent advice to retirees—this is why the OneUSG Connect system was put into place.

• GA-HERO Meeting: Wadley reported that the theme of the November 9, 2018, GA-HERO (Georgia Association of Higher Education Retiree Organizations) meeting at Georgia College and State University in Milledgeville was how to get institutional support. He was most impressed by Dorothy Zinsmeister’s comment, “Keeping it [retiree associations] sustainable is the challenge.”

• GSU Emeriti Association: the annual Valentine’s Day Luncheon will be held on Thursday, February 7, 2019, at 11:30 a.m., at the Rialto Center.

Old Business

None

New Business

• Following the protocol in the Retiree Association Bylaws, Wadley needs to appoint an Ad Hoc Nominating Committee to put together a slate of officers for the upcoming election. Possible members of this Ad Hoc Committee include Ron Swofford, Betty Molloy, Laura Breedlove, Catherine Carter, Frank McComb, Travis Allen, and Roger Ozaki. Obrentz suggested that Janet Baron should be nominated to serve in a position on the Executive Committee. Obrentz also inquired whether or not there is a term limit on Executive Committee positions; Wadley said there is not.

• Wadley said that he would invite Dean Nancy Kropf to a Retiree Association meeting.

• Adder Fuller stated that the Foundation will begin a search next week for a replacement for Erica Harris; Covington will also stay on as a liaison to the Retiree Association.

Announcements

Wadley announced that he will contact Erica Harris and set up a date and location for her farewell luncheon.

Adjournment

Wadley adjourned the meeting at 12:15 p.m.

Respectfully submitted

Dr. Rosemary D. Cox

Secretary GPC/DeKalb College Retiree Association

April 8, 2019

................
................

In order to avoid copyright disputes, this page is only a partial summary.

Google Online Preview   Download