Meeting Minutes - March 17, 2018

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 17th, 2018 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, Heather Brown, Cydney Cavender, Matthew Crawford, Chris Davis, Hunter Edwards, Charlaine Hirst, Erica Howell, Jeris Johnson, Amanda Lloyd, Melody Margrave, Linda Norris, Dante Ricci, Becca Shelton

Directors Absent: Mandi Mulholland, Rob Postel, Rohsaan Settle, Caitlin Zoetis

Representatives Present: Patty Ramsey, Foundation Board

Approval of Minutes

The minutes of the September 23, 2017 meeting were distributed and reviewed. Dr. Lee requested a motion to approve the minutes. Edits were requested to one line of the minutes.

Action No. 1: A motion was made by Ms. Hirst and seconded by Mr. Bracey approving the minutes of September 23, 2017 (as corrected).

Greetings from the Longwood Board of Visitors – Tammy Jones

• Over 4,000 applications for incoming freshman class;
• New construction moving along – Upchurch Center, Brock Hall (Student Success), Renovation to Curry/Frazer

Greetings from the Longwood Foundation Board – Patty Ramsey

• Academic Works scholarship portal – 227 endowed scholarships being managed by Ashley Crute, Director of Scholarships;
• Academic Deans now referring students to view and apply for scholarships through the system;
• Longwood and Foundation Board working on active partnership with Weyanoke Hotel – about to open as new upscale accommodations
• Be The One initiative announced via Advancement Office focused on soliciting money for scholarships – four members of the Foundation Board have created $50K challenge match to start an endowed scholarship

President’s Report – Tammy Jones

• Jones asked the Board for comments and suggestions about past and future alumni events;
• Day of Giving is March 27th – all three Boards asked to participate in Love Your Longwood Day;
• Giving pre-event is encouraged through custom links to giving site and Board members also encouraged to share on social media and act as digital ambassadors;
• Goal is 1,790 donors – last year there were 1,503 donors in 2017;
• Jones asked Directors to consider volunteering at Commencement in May – Ms. Abernatha indicated interest in helping with the Graduate Ceremony on May 18th, and Mr. Crawford and Ms. Johnson volunteered to help at the Commencement exercises on the 19th;
• Thanks to Nicole and Ryan for restarting the Ring Ceremony (to occur after meeting);

Allocation of Royalties funds to Love Your Longwood Day

Ms. Jones opened a discussion to the Board for thoughts on using Royalties account funds to support the day of giving event.

Motion #2: Ms. Lloyd made a motion to allocate $5K from the Royalties account to support LoveYourLongwoodDay and Mr. Edwards seconded the motion. The motion passed.

Vice President’s Report – Mr. Dale Baake

• New bookstore now open on Main Street;
• Weyanoke Hotel soft opening coming up in April;
• Holiday Inn Express and Hilton Tru opening;
• Board would like to stay at Weyanoke Hotel for next meeting;
• Early Childhood Development Center now open;
• Joanie On Her Ownie – New statue being delivered to Longwood for installation over the summer;
• Curry/Frazer renovations begin, Brock Hall Student Success Center opening soon, Upchurch University Center will have updated space for studying and socializing, new academic building to break ground behind French Hall, New admissions building to break ground across the street from the Rotunda

OACS Report – Ms. Macrae Hammond

• Professional Circles program to launch at Mega Reunion
• Tassl platform provides structure for engagement scoring
• Goal of new Professional Networks team is to create opportunities for students by putting them in the same digital and physical space as alumni that share the same interests, including hiring.

Special Report – Kevin Napier, SGA President

• Napier shared new website for SGA
• Advocacy for extending library hours
• SGA worked to raise money for Red Cross Hurricane relief
• Increased resources for counseling and psychology services (CAPS)
• Open to possibility of SGA member on Alumni Board

Committee Reports

Board Relations Committee – Dale Baake

Mr. Baake presented five nominees selected for membership on Alumni Board. The next step is to further review nominations with candidates to gauge interest and then vote at June meeting.

Alumni Awards Committee – Chris Davis

No report

Alumni Events Committee – Amanda Lloyd and Becca Shelton

• Good routine set-up for volunteerism after September and June meetings;
• June meeting 2018 will do FACES food pantry volunteering again;
• Possibility to have volunteer offering at VA Children’s Book Festival (TBD);
• Mega Reunion idea: Have some more vintage items;
• Longwood Alumni Association to have presence (table) at Mega Reunion to recruit future members – representation in two-hour shifts
  
  

Structure & Function Committee – Byron Bracey

Action 3: The board was presented with language updating the selection of the Vice President through a nomination process. Ms. Shelton made a motion to approve amended language to bi-laws. Mr. Davis seconded the motion. The action was approved.

Treasurer and Finance Committee Report -  Ryan Catherwood

• Board presented with report on Royalties account balance, 2017-2018 Class Ring sales to date, and balance of endowed funds for Alumni Lecture Series and Alumni Legacy Scholarship;
• Suggestion was made to possibly include scholarship recipients at a future Board meeting.

Other Business

Ms. Jones presented possibility of having a new Secretary position thereby separating the role of Executive Secretary/Treasurer into two roles. The new Secretary role would work with the Structure/Function committee and keep the minutes. There was positive feedback on the proposal, and Ms. Jones suggested language be drafted for approval at the June meeting.

The meeting adjourned at 12:00 pm.