Meeting Minutes - March 16, 2019

A regular meeting of the Board of Directors of the Longwood University Alumni Board was called to order at 9:15 a.m. by President Tammy Jones on Saturday, March 16, 2019 in the Martinelli Board Room at Longwood University in Farmville, Virginia.

Directors Present: Tammy Jones, President; Dale Baake, Vice President; Ryan Catherwood, Secretary/Treasurer; Sharyn Abernatha, Byron Bracey, Cydney Cavender, Chris Davis, Kathy Fox, Charlaine Hirst, Erica Howell, Jeris Johnson, Robin Liesfeld, Shawn MacDougall, Melody Margrave, Linda Norris, Dante Ricci, Paige Rollins, Rachel Rose, Becca Shelton

Directors Absent: Heather Brown, Amanda Lloyd, Mandi Mulholland, Rohsaan Settle

Representatives Present: Liz Harris, Foundation Board, and Polly Raible, Board of Visitors

Greetings – Ms. Tammy Jones

• Thank you to the Awards committee and OACS for great Alumni Awards event
• Thank you to Giving Tree and Elwood’s Pantry donors

Approval of Minutes

The minutes of the September 22, 2018 meeting were distributed and reviewed. Ms. Jones requested a motion to approve the minutes.

Action No. 1: A motion was made by Ms. Hirst and seconded by Ms. Margrave approving the minutes of the September 22, 2018 Board meeting.

Board of Visitors Update– Ms. Polly Raible

• Last BOV meeting was right after hurricane – proud of students and staff for getting Longwood back up and running again
• Civitae curriculum is going really well and has leadership as a foundation which is helping to garner some national attention
• Longwood’s Nursing program passed 100% of students
• New buildings still on target for fall openings – Frazer, Admissions, and new academic building
• Love Your Longwood Day is slated for March 27th
• Athletics is celebrating women’s soccer 25th anniversary and also celebrating student and team member, Paige Robertson is a Rhoades Scholar nominee
• Troubling flyers hung around campus that were racist, there was a quick investigation which is now complete

Longwood President’s Update – W. Taylor Reveley

• Gun violence and the prospect of it really hits students – been atmospheric for students throughout their lives – being mindful of that is important
• Country is not profoundly happy place including the Commonwealth which means all the more for Longwood to be doing well
• We’re navigating choppy seas when it comes to higher education with specific pressures that make road ahead very interesting. One of those pressures is the size of college-going cohort is no longer growing which prevents real challenge for academia
• Our applications increase and enrollment slight increase too
• State budgets in 90’s were generous to higher education which is now less and less the case. Spending on healthcare has grown exponentially for last 30 years. I’m proud to have lowest percentage increase in tuition for public schools
• Also larger macro-perspective is whether higher education is good largely from political right but now on the left too about cost

Foundation Board Update – Ms. Liz Harris

• Buttons and stickers for Longwood Cares Emergency Fund for students. The Foundation Board found that 82% of all colleges/universities have some sort of emergency fund. The Care team here on campus has representatives from all over campus on the lookout for students in need.
• Established new scholarship that’s currently accruing interest
• Two students are receiving funding from new scholarship totaling $3,600
• The Foundation Board went through a productivity audit to determine what everyone’s strengths are

President’s Report – Ms. Tammy Jones

• Caitlin Zoetis resigned from the Board and has been unreachable
• Attended official opening of Upchurch and was impressed and envious of student government room
• Also attended holiday concert event which is one of the best events of the year
• All Directors should attend regional events
• During Ring Ceremony please mingle with students and get them to stay for the ceremony and have lunch                                          

Vice President’s Report – Mr. Dale Baake

• Award ceremony went great last night
• College of Business and Economics had annual golf tournament with 60 alumni participants
• Over $25K was raised to help support speaker series, Executive in Residence, and resume workshops
• Tough decision not to move forward as next President of the Board, but just not enough time with recent job promotion and family challenges

Guest Speaker – Katherine Bulifant

• Day of giving coming up now the 4th annual on March 27th
• There will be an email going to the Board asking for help as digital ambassadors – please help share messages for LYLD on social media
• Lots of campus involvement on LYLD and also a regional event at Hardywood Brewery at West Creek location

Treasurer’s Report – Mr. Ryan Catherwood

• Ring sales down YOY due to marketing and data challenges though opportunity to increase next year
• OACS will be fundraising for a Career Development Fund during LYLD

Guest Speaker – SGA President, Josh Darst ‘19

• SGA has been busy and Upchurch has become new home for students
• Elwood’s Cabinet helps food insecure students and has been operating and serving up to ten students each week
• Added civic engagement committee to SGA
• SGA worked with underrepresented students in order to help with comfort levels around climate and safety

Committee Reports

Board Relations – Dale Baake

• Six people are rotating off the Board: Melody Margrave, Jeris Johnson, Mandi Mulholland, Amanda Lloyd, Dale Baake, Tammy Jones
• Two Directors have renewed for a second term: Chris Davis and Linda Norris

Action No. 2: A motion was made by Mr. Bracey and seconded by Ms. MacDougall approving the renewed terms for Mr. Davis and Ms. Norris.

Action No. 3: A motion was made by Ms. Johnson and seconded by Ms. Howell approving the slate of new nominees to the Alumni Board of Directors: Ms. Becky Schnekser ‘05, Ms. Eboni Lee ‘01, Mr. Chris Tunstall ‘88, Ms. Brenda Ojibway ’72, Mr. Dan Hughes ’13, and Ms. Lynne Chambers ‘69.

Alumni Events – Becca Shelton

• Looking to decide on whether to do a volunteer event at FACES after next meeting
• Still thinking about Alumni Weekend and how the Board is participating

Alumni Awards – Chris Davis

• Thank you to Erica for stepping up to MC the Awards ceremony
• One recipient declined award due to not sharing the values of Mr. Curry, for whom the Humanitarian Award is named
• Please begin thinking about next year’s nominees right away

Action No. 4: Voting was conducted by the Board resulting in the selection of Ms. Becca Shelton as President, Ms. Erica Howell as Vice President, and Ms. Paige Rollins as Secretary with terms beginning July 1, 2019. A motion was made by Mr. Davis and seconded by Ms. Hirst approving the leadership positions.

OACS Update – Ryan Catherwood

• Regional events coming up in Richmond at The Circuit Arcade Bar and also on Love Your Longwood Day
• New event called Senior Toast slated for May 10^th and Board members are invited as VIP guests
• Alumni Weekend is May 31 – June 2^nd – please plan to attend
• Gift selected for handing out during Commencement to be business card holder and key chain

Adjourned

Next Alumni Board Meeting: Reception – Friday, June 7^th, and Meeting – Saturday, June 8^th.