9/23/2017

Meeting Minutes - September 23, 2017

Meeting of the Board of Directors
Longwood University Alumni Association
September 23, 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 Tammy Jones on Saturday, September 23, 2017 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, Hunter Edwards, Charlaine Hirst, Erica Howell, Jeris Johnson, Mandi Mulholland, Linda Norris, Rob Postel, Dante Ricci, Rohsaan Settle, Becca Shelton, Caitlin Zoetis

Directors Absent: Heather Brown, Matthew Crawford, Amanda Lloyd, Melody Margrave

Representatives Present: Eileen Anderson, BOV, Patty Ramsey, Foundation Board

President’s Welcome – Ms. Tammy Jones

Great event at Virginia Wine Tasting and thank you to Amanda and Becca for setting up the FACES Food Pantry volunteer opportunity;
Welcome new Board members along with Eileen Anderson, BOV Representative, and Patty Ramsey, Foundation Representative;
Congrats Matt Crawford on birth of daughter, Madison Elizabeth;
Congrats Rob Postel on marriage to Ellen Masters Postel.

Motion 1 - Approval of Minutes

The minutes of the June 17, 2017 meeting were distributed and reviewed and Ms. Jones requested a motion to approve the minutes.

Action No. 1: A motion was made by Mr. Edwards and seconded by Ms. Shelton approving the minutes of June 17, 2017.

Board of Visitors Report – Ms. Eileen Anderson

BOV is light on alumni so there will be a rotation of representatives attending alumni Board meetings;
Eileen attended Convocation, two student speakers were excellent;
Megan Clark AD Attorney was keynote speaker;
Full days of meetings for BOV;
Freshman class has highest GPA, biggest class – great news when we’re pulling from a smaller pool of eligible students;
New Core Curriculum will be a great differentiator for Longwood;
Visited the Andy Taylor Childhood Development Center – win for Longwood and community;
Went through old bank building that will be new Longwood Bookstore – concerted effort to bring boutique grocery store to campus in Landings bookstore space.

Foundation Board Report – Ms. Patty Ramsey

New CFO – Sharon Payne;
Foundation taking on new program called Academic Works to manage scholarships, currently providing 300 scholarships – lots of data to input
Rollout of new system makes public aware of available scholarships
Changed committee structures from 7 to 4 – going through transition – trying to better accomplish mission while simplifying;
At Mega Reunion Foundation is working towards having cocktail reception for 1839 Society.

President’s Report – Ms. Tammy Jones

Around the room people gave positive thoughts on alumni events that they had attended
Jones asked Directors to attend regional and campus events, bring nametags, post pictures;
Date change on June meeting – now scheduled for June 8-9, 2018
Strategic planning feedback – agreed to focus on volunteer and outreach;
We’re on a good path for volunteer activities but might not have one in March meeting – just September and June;
Volunteer application is online for the Virginia Children’s Book Festival;
Like tradition of giving gift at graduate and undergraduate commencement.

Treasurer’s Report – Mr. Ryan Catherwood

Catherwood brought pie charts showing resource distribution for OACS engagement and career services programming;
Shared Alumni Lecture Series endowed funds – usable funds totaling around $2,500 a year for alumni speakers, to be approved by Board vote;

Guest Speakers – Ms. Amy Harris, Ms. Katherine Bulifant, Institutional Advancement

Alumni participation goals – calculation of giving rate, bound by US News and World Report requirements - does not reflect total donor number;
Parents might look at participation rates, President Reveley is passionate about increasing number;
Average alumni participation rate in Virginia is 12.8% - data comes in at year behind;
Longwood rate is 11.2%, Goal for FY17-18 is 10.2%;
Need half of donors to be undergraduate alumni, asking for $25, start small and move through giving levels;
Add donation opportunity to registration forms for events;
Going to work on text to give platform for Mega Reunion 2018;
Love Your Longwood Day is March 27 – get ready to participate

Vice President’s Report – Mr. Dale Baake

Current President of Foundation Board is Mike Ellis, who is also a co-worker of Mr. Baake’s at NW Mutual;
President Reveley talked about Longwood enrollment, down nationwide but particularly in the North East, UVA and William and Mary are also down in enrollment;
Upchurch Center scheduled to open in Summer 2018, Brock Hall in early 2018, new performance hall hopefully, Weyanoke Hotel opening in Spring 2018, new Tex Mex restaurant coming, Curry/Fraser remodel will begin in 2018;
19% of freshman class are first generation college students
¾ African American males apply to Longwood on their phones
Hope to participate in upcoming “Close the Gap” campaign

OACS Update – Ryan Catherwood

Regional events are up year over year, with events outside of Virginia in NYC, Boston, and Philadelphia
Mega Reunion Weekend is May 11-13, 2018, moved to weekend before graduation to enable seniors to attend.

Committee Reports

Finance Committee
Ryan Catherwood

Recap from Treasurer’s report
Board relations and membership drive – please give new nominations;
Huge list of potential Board members from previous year;
Work on adding 2-3 new Board members for next meeting’s

Board Relations Committee Dale Baake

Alumni Awards Committee Caitlin Zoetis

Zoetis presented slate of vetted award candidate selections on behalf of the Committee.
Discussed possibility of reception w/ lecture using Alumni Lecture Series funds;
Also possibility of booth at Mega to promote rings and other OACS initiatives in 9-11am block on May 12, 2018 for – networking/lecture – Dante to check on friend as speaker;
Class Ring program returning with first ceremony at 1pm on March 17^th after next Board meeting – would love to see Chi involvement for Ring ceremony;
June 2018 meeting would like to have reception at – Moton Museum on Friday, June 8^th.

Motion 2 - Approval of Alumni Awards Slate

Action No. 2: A motion was made by Mr. Bracey and seconded by Mr. Edwards approving the slate of proposed Alumni Awards recipients for ceremony on Friday, March 16, 2018.

Alumni Events Committee Becca Shelton

Motion 3 - Approval to Use Alumni Lecture Series endowed Funds at Mega Reunion 2018

Action No. 3: A motion was made by Ms. Shelton and seconded by Mr. Bracey approving the use of Alumni Lecture Series endowed funds of up to $2,500 for a speaker at Mega Reunion 2018

Structure and Function Committee Byron Bracey