MINUTES - BOARD MEETING
OCTOBER 16, 2001
PENN STATE ALUMNI ASSOCIATION
GREATER JACKSONVILLE CHAPTER
PRESENT: Bill Dusack, President, Danielle Howard, Secretary, Bob Streightiff, Treasurer, Richard Holtz, Athletic Events Chair, Meredith Dusack, Media/PR Chair, Dee Davies, Social Chair, Kevin Coleman, Vice President and Mary Yanda, Immediate Past President.
ABSENT: Jim Schultz, Volunteer Chair
The meeting was called to order at 7:15 p.m. by Bill Dusack, President.
The minutes of the September 11th meeting were reviewed and approved 6-0.
President's Report - Bill reported that he has had several conversations with the alumni association and that we now have a better understanding of our chapter's region and the zip codes that it encompasses. Hopefully in the future we will not get labels for alumni in the Daytona area. Bill also brought up the Chapter e-mail address list. The chapter is continually collecting e-mail addresses with the goal of having two e-mail lists; one for paid members and one for all local alumni.
Treasurer's Report - Bob distributed the statement of income and expenses for September 2001. He reported that 25 people renewed/joined after the last dues notice mailing. Bob also reported that at this time we will not pursue a separate Federal Tax ID number for the chapter.
Vice President's Report - Kevin discussed the local chapter web-site - he hopes to have is finished within a week or two. It was decided that all content should be e-mailed to Kevin and he will post it up on the site. It was decided to table the Scholarship Fund issue until a later date.
Secretary's Report - Danielle reported that she has looked over the AIM Software provided by the university. The software has a lot of functionality but will take a substantial amount of time to set up properly. Discussion ensued as to whether it is worth the effort or if we should just stick with our current system. Bill brought up the fact that the AIM Software will enable us to sync our data with the university's mainframe. It was decided to keep our current record-keeping system for now and that Danielle will work on inputting the information into the AIM Software as time permits with the goal of having it ready sometime after the first of the year. Discussion then turned to delinquent members and how to handle them. Bill made a motion to send the chapter's newsletters, etc. only to dues paying members. Rich brought up that he would like to see a list of who had not paid to determine if there were any long-term members who just forgot to renew. Bill remarked that delinquent members have been sent two newsletters and one dues notice so far and that the chapter is spending too much time and money on this issue - if they haven't renewed then they shouldn't received the benefits of paying members. Discussion ensued and Dee made a motion to amend Bill's original motion to allow Rich time to contact members who have not paid and remind them they are about to be dropped. Rich seconded Dee's amendment and it passed 4-0 with 3 abstaining. Bill's original motion then passed 7-0 to send newsletters, etc. only to dues paying members.
Social Chair Report - Dee reported that National Service Week is tied to Spring Break this year and in the foreseeable future so the chapter is shooting for March 2nd or 10th as the date for our Spring Event. She reported that the Riverside Women's Club was available on the 9th and the Adam's Mark on the 2nd and 9th. Prices for a sit down dinner, a band, and the Super Bowl Committee speaker were approximately $55 per person plus tax and gratuity (minimum 50 people). This works out to around $70 per person. Discussion ensued and the board felt that at $70 per person was too expensive and would exclude many of our members. It was decided that Dee will look for a more reasonably priced dinner and that we will not have a band. It was also decided that in addition to the Super Bowl Committee speaker to try to get a secondary speaker from the university for national service week.
Volunteer Report - in Jim's absence Bill reported that several Penn State students are coming to Jacksonville to participate in Habitat for Humanity over Spring Break and that the club will plan something around their visit with Habitat. We will also invite the students to our spring event.
Media/PR Report - Meredith has been sending notices in to the Florida Times Union re: our football parties but hasn't had any luck getting them published. She will continue to submit them. Meredith bought a Penn State flag for $14.95 that the chapter will display at Mudville Grill for the football season. The chapter voted 8-0 to reimburse Meredith for the expense of the flag.
New Business - 7 people have signed up for the November 11th Jaguar tailgate party and game. Three more people are needed before the September 24th deadline.
Athletic Events Report - The only additional PSU sports event currently scheduled for this area in women's volleyball on Sunday, October 28th at 4 pm on ESPN II. PSU @ Northwestern on the 20th is not on local TV so the chapter will meet at Mudville Grill for the 3:30 game. PSU vs. Ohio State on the 27th is at 12:10 on either ESPN or ESPN II. Mary expressed she might have a house party if there was still time. She will check her TV carrier and let Rich know so he can send out a notice on the game.
Bill will advise the Board of the next meeting at a later date.
There being no further business, the meeting adjourned at 8:45 p.m.
Respectfully Submitted,
Danielle C. Howard
Secretary