Meeting Minutes - June 17, 2017

Meeting of the Board of Directors
Longwood University Alumni Association
March 25, 2017

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 Kendall Lee on Saturday, March 25th, 2017 in the Martinelli Board Room at Longwood University in Farmville, Virginia.

Directors Present: Kendall Lee, President; Tammy Jones, Vice President; Ryan Catherwood, Secretary/Treasurer; Dale Baake, Byron Bracey, Cydney Cavender, Matthew Crawford, Chris Davis, Hunter Edwards, Brandon Fry, Jeris Johnson, Amanda Lloyd, Melody Margrave, Mandi Mulholland, Linda Norris, Rob Postel, Dante Ricci, Rohsaan Settle, Becca Shelton, Caitlin Zoetis

Directors Absent: None – all Directors present

Representatives Present: Eileen Anderson, BOV

Welcome and Celebrations – Dr. Kendall Lee

•    Thanks to the Awards Committee in collaboration with OACS for Alumni Awards Banquet
•    Largest attendance ever at an Alumni Awards Banquet
•    Ashley Crute, Associate Director of Career Services had a baby
•    Rob Postel announced his engagement to Ellen Masters ‘97

Approval of Minutes

The minutes of the September 24, 2016 meeting were distributed and reviewed. Dr. Lee requested a motion to approve the minutes.  

Action No. 1: A motion was made by Mr. Ricci and seconded by Ms. Johnson approving the minutes of September 24, 2016.

President’s Report – Dr. Kendall Lee

•    Update on Longwood’s Giving Day: Color Wars theme, Red Class victory -511 alumni gave $33K, strong Longwood community participation
•    Young alumni class was challenged by Dan Hughes ’13 – gave $1,000 challenge match
•    1,400+ total donors during LoveYourLongwood Day
•    Commencement 2017: Dr. Lee asked for thoughts about what to do for Commencement
•    Decision made to research other gift ideas including luggage tags
•    Mathew Crawford and Jeris Johnson agreed to volunteer again during Commencement
•    Approval of Alumni Board President – Tammy Jones to be the next President

Motion 1: Approval of Tammy Jones, Vice President, to President of Alumni Board

Dr. Lee requested a motion for approval of Tammy Jones to be the next President of the Alumni Board. Ms. Margrave made the motion, Mr. Baake seconded the motion. The motion passed.

Treasurer’s Report – Mr. Ryan Catherwood

•    Updated Directors on balance of Royalties account
•    Suggested Board look for ways to increase revenues by approximately $7,500 annually
•    Mr. Davis mentioned looking into license plates as a new revenue source
•    Ms. Lloyd asked for dates/times of upcoming volunteer opportunities to help sell more Longwood Class Rings. 

Vice President’s Report – Ms. Tammy Jones

•    2017-2019 meeting dates: board meetings during Mega Reunion Weekend in upcoming years
•    Discussed possibility of an open meeting for attendees to observe
•    Discussion of having meetings during Mega Reunion on Friday, Saturday or Sunday – decision made to have meetings at the same time as usual on Saturdays.
•    Presentation of 2017 Slate of Directors

Motion 2: Presentation and Approval of the 2017 Slate of Directors

Charlaine Hirst ’95, Heather Brown ’11, Sharyn Abernatha ‘67, Erica Howell ’07 were presented for new member approval. Dante Ricci ’92, Caitlin Zoetis ’11, Rohsaan Settle ’95 were approved for another three year term.

Dr. Lee requested a motion on approving the slate of candidates. Mr. Bracey made the motion and Mr. Crawford seconded the motion. All votes were “yes.”

Presentation, Vote and Approval of the Slate of Vice President Nominees

Tammy Jones introduced the three candidates nominated for the Vice President position and Dr. Kendall Lee explained the role of the Vice President. Amanda Lloyd, Dale Baake, and Becca Shelton were the nominees. Each candidate gave a short speech as to why they were the best suited for the role. Board members were given a ballot, and after a vote, Dale Baake was chosen as the next Vice President of the Alumni Board for a two-year term beginning July 1st, 2017.

Motion #3: Approval of Alumni Board Vice President

Dr. Kendall Lee announced that Dale Baake was selected as the next Vice President. To officially approve the vote, Ms. Cavender made a motion and Ms. Margrave seconded the motion. The motion was approved.

Board of Visitors Report – Eileen Anderson

•    $10 million mark in fundraising for this year – first time in history
•    General assembly making things harder – dictating more in-state/out-of-state admissions requirements
•    Update on campus construction – Upchurch and Student Success Centers
•    Working to increase the number of students taking four years to graduate
•    Tenure meetings are happening
•    Eileen’s last meeting will be in June and a new Alumni Board representative will be selected

Office of Alumni & Career Services Report – Ryan Catherwood

Mr. Catherwood gave an update on the Mega Reunion Weekend coming on June 2-4, 2017. He also described that career services moved from Lancaster to Maugans to join the Alumni team in the same physical space.

Committee Reports

Finance Committee

Mr. Catherwood noted that the Finance Committee would get together before the next meeting to discuss the future funding request for 2017-2018 Alumni Board programs and events. The goal is to underwrite Board meeting expenses: hotel accommodations, meals and activities, expenses attributed to the Alumni Awards program, as well as a contribution to the LoveYourLongwood Day annual day of giving as a gift.

Alumni Events Committee

Ms. Shelton discussed working to create community service project experiences around Farmville that will follow future board meetings. Ms. Lloyd mentioned not being able to coordinate a BOV, Foundation and Alumni Board joint retreat. Ms. Lloyd asked Mr. Catherwood for future dates reflecting an opportunity of Alumni Board members to volunteer on-campus helping to promote and sell class rings. Ms. Lloyd asked for thoughts/opinions on a social media blitz around class ring sales in tandem with the Mega Reunion event in June.

Structure/Function Committee

Mr. Baake distributed copies of the updated section of the by-laws reflecting newly approved language. He said his committee would work to update the wording for the selection of a candidate for the office of Vice-President.

Board Relations Committee

No report

Alumni Awards Committee

No Report – Mr. Ricci thanked everyone for a successful Alumni Awards Banquet.

Other Business

Brandon Fry was given a gift honoring his service to Longwood as a member of the Alumni Board of Directors. Brandon will not be present at the next meeting in June.

The meeting adjourned at 12:00 pm.