MINUTES - BOARD MEETING 
JULY 24, 2001 
PENN STATE ALUMNI ASSOCIATION 
GREATER JACKSONVILLE CHAPTER 

PRESENT: Bill Dusack, President, Danielle Howard, Secretary, Bob Streightiff, Treasurer, Mary Yanda, Immediate Past President, Richard Holtz, Athletic Events Chair, Meredith Dusack, Media/PR Chair, and Jim Schultz, Volunteer Chair 

ABSENT: Dee Davies, Social Chair 

The meeting was called to order at 7:00 p.m. by Bill Dusack, President. 

Bill opened the meeting informing the Board that Jerry Rademan, Membership Chair, has resigned from his position. 

Bill handed out copies of the Chapter Leaders Handbook to the Board members present. Each Officer and Chair reviewed their position and responsibilities and looked at establishing objectives for the upcoming year. 

President, Bill Dusack - the president's main responsibilities are to coordinate the board meetings, plan activities and receive and distribute chapter mail. His main objectives for our chapter are to apply for and win a chapter award, get our chapter mentioned in the Penn Stater magazine, and to increase our chapter membership. 

Vice President - as the vice president position is still open, Bill asked for nominations. Several people were mentioned but no strong candidate emerged. The main duties of the vice-president would be to assist the president and possibly develop and maintain a web-site. Meredith expressed interest in creating the web site. Bill made a motion to leave the vice president position vacant for now but to continue to look for a qualified candidate. Mary seconded the motion and it passed 7-0. 

Secretary, Danielle Howard - the secretary's responsibilities are to produce and mail out the newsletter, maintain the board meeting minutes, and send copies of the newsletter and minutes to the regional director. It was agreed that a chapter newsletter will be mailed out quarterly with supplemental mailings as needed. The next newsletter detailing football and other upcoming events will be mailed the middle of August. Danielle will also get a copy of the AIM software mentioned in the handbook and take a look at it and see if it will work to track chapter membership and maintain the chapter mailing list. Danielle will work with Bob on getting the membership files organized with respect to delinquent members, FOPS, POPS, etc. 

Treasurer , Bob Streightiff - Bob brought attention to some of the duties and responsibilities as described in the handbook. It was decided due to financial constraints to only provided a written receipt if specifically asked for. Bob will prepare quarterly income and expense statement rather than monthly. As of May 1st when Bob assumed the chapter's books from Lorraine the balance was $2,515.34. As of the end of the 2nd quarter the account balance was $2,545.84. The account currently has $208 set aside as a Scholarship Fund for a Penn State Student. Bob also brought up that we should have our account audited at the end of the year. 

Immediate Past President, Mary Yanda - Bill pointed out item number 7, point number 3 on page 14 in the handbook - "A designated board position responsible for identifying new board members and officers (the immediate past president often fills this role)." Mary said she would keep her eyes open for potential candidates. 

Membership Chair - since Jerry Rademan resigned from the position of membership chair Danielle agreed to handle mailing out a welcome letter and current newsletter to the list of relocated/new alumni that the chapter receives every 6 months. It was decided to delay another membership drive until before the spring banquet. Discussion turned to how to handle delinquent members. Bob said that he had an updated list of chapter member who had not yet paid for 2001. Rich felt that we shouldn't just drop members - that maybe we should give them a call first. Mary also expressed concern that members shouldn't be dropped automatically - maybe we should send out a dues form first reminding them they have not paid. Danielle will mail a dues notice to all members who have not paid for 2001 letting them know that they need to pay their dues or they will not be receiving subsequent newsletters. Discussion ensued on moving the dues renewal date for all members to the same date - both January 1 and September 1 were suggested as renewal dates. Bill made a motion to revert back to making annual dues due by September 1st for all members instead of using the date paid. Mary seconded and the motion passed 7-0 to change to renewal date for all chapter members to September 1st. Discussion ensued on what to do with the chapter members who have already paid in 2001. It was decided that anyone who has already paid will have their membership extended to September 1, 2002. All chapter members will then be invoiced for annual dues for the period September 1, 2002 to September 1, 2003. Bill made a motion to extend all current chapter members' renewal date to September 1, 2002. Mary seconded and the motion passed 6-1 with Bob dissenting. Jim made a motion to keep the chapter dues at $6 per family until September 1, 2002, and to reevaluate the chapter's need for money at that time. Rich seconded and the motion passes 7-0. 

Social Chair, Dee Davies - since Dee was not present, Bill said he would talk to her about advance planning of some of the chapter's larger event like the spring dinner. Mary said that it was not too early to pick a date and location for the dinner. 

Athletic Events Chair, Richard Holtz - the athletic events chair's main responsibility is to identify all Penn State sporting events that occur within a reasonable area and distribute that information to the chapter members. Rich has found a central location for the chapter's football parties. The Miramar Mudville Grill is centrally located at the intersection of Hendricks, Emerson, and San Jose. It has 35 TV's and orders game plan. There are two separate areas the chapter can reserve to watch Penn State games. The current football party schedule was discussed. Bill will be holding a house party for the Miami game. Bob will look into having a house party for the Virginia game on Thursday September 13th at 7:30. The Dining with the Lions event in conjunction with the Michigan Game will be moved to the New Mudville Grill. 

Media/PR Chair, Meredith Dusack - Meredith will work on getting a chapter web-site up and running so chapter members can keep abreast of football party locations and upcoming events. She is also going to try to get the football party locations published in the Times Union. Mary suggested that Meredith post upcoming events on the existing alumni association web-site in addition to the local chapter web-site. 

Volunteer Chair, Jim Schultz - Jim listed some of the chapter's current volunteer efforts including WJCT, Jazz Festival, Boat Show, Zoo Membership Drive, and Habijax. He also expressed concern that only the same 10 people volunteer for any of the events. Meredith mentioned that she felt the chapter volunteer efforts should coordinate with campus activities. It was decided to try to focus on one or two large volunteer activities and try to get more chapter members involved. Jim will look into coordinating our Habijax efforts with the Penn State students that come down for spring break. It was also decided to try to do a big volunteer event during National Service Week. 

Due to time constraints, agenda item number two, Chapter Leaders Handbook, was tabled until the next Board Meeting. 

The next Board Meeting was scheduled to coincide with the Happy Valley Happy Hour at the Jacksonville Ale House on September 11th at 6:30 p.m. It was decided to have Board Meetings at least quarterly, but as often as needed to handle chapter functions. 

There being no further business, the meeting adjourned at 9:45 p.m. 

Respectfully Submitted, 

Danielle C. Howard 
Secretary