Alumni Board Meeting Minutes
Alumni Association of Cornell College
Annual Meeting
Friday, October 20, 2006
Hedges Conference Room, The Commons
Attending:
Joseph Campanelli ’69, President
Lisa Naaktgeboren ’90, President-Elect
Carol Busch Telling ’66
James Coddington ’70
Mary Elliott ’98
John Gilliland ’89
Andrea Herrera ’85
RJ Holmes ’99
Fredrick Holtz ’86
Mark Hudson ’99
Sheila Kruse Boyce ’85
Anna-Doretta Dilley Riley ’90
Lynn Ross-Cope ’87
Allan Ruter ’76
Linda Spies Schilling ’69
Richard Scott ’63
Roger Stigers ’65
Gary Thompson ’60
Mark Van Etten ’76
LuAnn White ’78
Dan Wilson ’66
Absent:
Kayla Sorgenfrey Buck ’05
Andrew Peternel ’05
Rebecca Roberg ’06
Paige Sindt ’03
Carrie Temm ’04
Kate Schlemmer Watson ’95
Todd Watson ’93
John Yeager ’74
Staff:
Ruth Miller ’66, Alumni Director
Monica Davis ’02, Assistant Director Alumni and Development
Kelly O’Brien ’98, Senior Assistant Director of Admission
Dee Ann Rexroat ’82, Director of College Communications
Jayne Swanson, Director Career Services
I. Welcome:
Joe Campanelli ’69
Lisa Naaktgeboren ’90
II. Introductions:
President elect, Lisa Naaktgeboren prepared a PowerPoint showing each board member on his/her summer vacation or with family and friends.
III Executive remarks:
Peter Wilch, Vice President for Alumni and College Advancement, was introduced and thanked the Alumni Board for their efforts connecting alumni to our college. He announced $50 million of the $90+ million dollar endowment & capital campaign has been raised during the current quiet phase. Jim McWethy’s gift of $5 million to endow the Berry Center for Economics, Business and Public Policy was announced Friday, Oct. 13. The Annual Fund target has been raised to $2.2 million this fiscal year.
Dick Brubaker, current Board of Trustees president was introduced. He apprised the board on several board goals: spending per student will be evaluated and increased as our budget allows. Professor compensation will also be evaluated with the goal of bringing Cornell in line with our peer institutions. A board of trustee task force is examining the current athletic program to help devise a plan for increased success. The board is also looking at ways to increase the school’s ranking in US News and WorldReport. To meet the ever increasing budget demands, the annual fund will need to grow each year.
IV. Committee meetings:
The board adjourned into committee meetings. (See minutes of each meeting.)
V. Elevator speeches:
President Campanelli gave an introduction to the concept of elevator speeches as a quick communication device to explain more complex ideas. The board was divided into three groups to develop an elevator speech to describe the activities of the Alumni Board. The purpose of the exercise was to help focus our mission and give our members a common message(s) as we visit with alumni.
VI. Issues of the day:
President Garner addressed the board and guests after the board luncheon. He reiterated Dick Brubaker’s comments that both the participation level of students in varsity athletics and increased athletic success was important to Cornell and to our alumni. An Athletics Task Force has been formed and is considering ways to improve the current programs.
The newest residence hall is under construction next to Pauley-Rorem. Architectural plans for the Commons renovation and expansion are also underway.
VII. Presenting our Elevator Speeches:
The results of the breakout groups for elevator speeches were given.
Group 1: “I’m on the Cornell College Alumni Board. I love Cornell and this gives me an opportunity to reconnect and have a chance to give back and rekindle my Cornell experience.”
Group 2: “We are the alumni board of Cornell College. We are a nationally diverse group that acts as a conduit between the alumni community and the school to instill pride in the institution through various means such as traditional print, electronic communications and local events. As a result, support of Cornell College by its alumni community is nurtured and grown.”
Group 3: Wrote their elevator speech highlighting what is Cornell is like today.
The board will continue work on the speech at the spring board meeting.
VIII. Highlights of Committee reports:
- Online community’s initial rollout completed. Current seniors enrolled in Oct.
- 20% of Homecoming registrations were done through the online community.
- The school website will have a redesign before the beginning of the next academic year.
- Consensus was not reached on a new college logo and this project will be revisited this year.
- CASA’s calendar of events for the year is full and there is an abundance of interest in the group. Monica Davis encouraged all board members to become alum chums.
Alumni awards: Retiring professors, Dick Peterson and Chris Carlson were approved for honorary alumni status at the spring board meeting. Joan Benson and Robyn Hepker, long time designers of the Cornell Report, were inducted as honorary alumnae at the board luncheon.
Student Assistance:
- Legacy call sign-up sheet was passed around and questions about the program were asked and answered.
- Cornell recruitment experience in select cities that use alums to help with prospective student events was discussed.
- Board members were encouraged to add their alumni profiles online if they have not already done so.
- Summer sendoffs were held in Des Moines and Minneapolis.
- Current externships were reviewed.
- Career Services has started a sophomore dinner for second year students after they declare their major.
Advancement:
- There will be a C’YA event after the football game, rain or shine.
- Convocation organ recital has been cancelled due to organ repairs that were not completed in enough time to allow for adequate practice.
- A Homecoming 2007 online survey will be e-mailed to all who registered for homecoming this year to help the alumni office address alumni needs.
- 15 C’YA events were held in August around the country.
- Coe/Cornell young alumni challenge was won by Cornell with 18 % young alum participation. This was an increase of 150 donors over the previous year.
- The Senior Challenge (gift) is now a 5 year pledge to the annual fund. The Class of 2006 had 51% participation and raised $20,000 in pledges for this project.
- A Loyalty Society has been started to recognize donors who have made gifts to the college for 5 consecutive years.
- A New Donor’s pack was sent to all first time donors this past fiscal year.
IX. Report of the nominating committee:
President Joe Campanelli thanked John Gilliland for his service to the board and presented him with a piece of Professor Doug Hanson’s pottery as a small token of appreciation.
Lynn Ross Cope was nominated to her first full term having previously served in a vacancy position.
RJ Holmes, Fred Holtz, Roger Stigers, Kate & Todd Watson were nominated to serve second terms.
Paige Sindt completed her class agent term and Rebecca Roberg, Class of 2006 class agent will begin her 3 year term.
LuAnn White completed her past president term.
The nominating committee placed the name of Janet Marie Lansing Murphy ’83 before the board for election to the Cornell College Alumni Association’s Board of Directors.
X. Election of Directors:
The slate of nominees was unanimously elected.
XI. Meeting was adjourned.
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Minutes
Cornell College Alumni Association Board of Directors
Communications Committee
Friday, October 20, 2006
Present:
Lynn Ross Cope, ’87; Fred Holtz, ’86; Anna-Doretta Dilley Riley, ’90;
Allan Ruter, ’76 (chair); R. K. Scott, ’63; Dan Wilson, ’66
Absent:
Carrie Temm, ’04; Kate Schlemmer Watson, ’95; Todd Watson, ’93
Staff Liaisons Attending:
Dee Ann Rexroat, Director of College Communications; Jennifer Boettger,
Advancement Services Director; Monica Davis, Assistant Director of Alumni and Development
1. Review and discussion of “ Cornell College Online Community” rollout (Jennifer Boettger)
- Committee members examined and critiqued the online community prior to the meeting.
- Final rollout has been completed.
- Online Homecoming registration was available this year; about 20% of registrations this fall used the online community.
- Later this month, another reminder will be sent out to those alumni who have not registered.
- The discussions board will open with an academic discussion by a professor during a block-long course.
- We are in year 2 of a 3-year contract. We should plan to review next year what capabilities we want in the future.
2. Review and discussion of CASA activities for 2006-2007 (Monica Davis)
- A current schedule of CASA activities was distributed and reviewed; each month has multiple activities.
3. Review of Alumni Association award nominees (Dee Ann Rexroat)
- Honorary Alumni Awards for spring 2007 Alumni Board of Directors’ luncheon: Dick Peterson and Chris Carlson, retiring professors of sociology
- Distinguished Achievement Award nominees for 2007 Homecoming convocation: TBD
- Leadership and Service Award nominees for 2007 Homecoming convocation:
Dorothy Collins Brindle '42, James King '47, David Klaus '67, and D. Peter Holmes '72, Class Agents with at least 25 years of service
- Young Alumni Achievement Award for 2007 Homecoming convocation: Terry Goeldner ’97 (approved for 2006 but unable to attend), who works for the United Nations in Kabul, Afghanistan, where he most recently helped coordinate the parliamentary elections of 2005. In 2004 he provided logistical and contract services support for the first democratic Afghanistan national election. From 2002-2003 he worked for the U.N. World Food Programme (WFP) in Malawi and Iraq. From 1997-2001, he worked for the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) and was responsible for timely delivery of U.S. government relief commodities worldwide for disasters in 62 countries.
4. Review and discussion of College logo redesign (Dee Ann Rexroat)
The College’s “logo team” was unable to reach consensus on a design and typeface that satisfied all major stakeholders. In particular, the admissions staff found that the chapel tower in one of the proposed designs suggested to prospective students a greater emphasis on religious training than is, in fact, the case. Also, it seems that many people did not care for the look of the font style used. It is uncertain when these issues will be resolved and a new logo selected.
(Note: The process is on going and new logo designs are forthcoming in January.)
5. Review and discussion of College website “facelift” and full redesign
(Dee Ann Rexroat)
On the very day of the meeting, the college website’s “facelift” was completed and set to launch. There is no new content or structure, but all of the design elements have been freshened. There will be a top-to-bottom redesign of the college website by June; however, the online community will not be part of this effort.
(Note: Due to the resignation of our IT Director, the launch is rescheduled and on-track for August 13.)
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Minutes
Cornell College Alumni Board of Directors
Student Assistance Committee Meeting
Shaw Lounge – Commons
October 20, 2006
Attendees:
Sheila Kruse Boyce (chair); Carol Busch Telling; Mary Elliott; John Gilliland; Mark Hudson. Cornell Staff: Kelly O’Brien; Jayne Swanson.
I. Call to Order
Chair Sheila Kruse Boyce called the meeting to order at 9:55am.
II. Approval of Minutes
Committee approved minutes of April 21, 2006 meeting by general consensus.
III. Cornell Admissions Report
Kelly O’Brien appeared for Sharon Grice to update the committee on Admissions activity. She reported that the Class of 2010 comes from 33 states and 12-14 foreign countries. The average GPA is 3.51, average ACT is 26.2, and the average SAT is 1200.
Legacy Phoning – There are 62 potential legacy prospects for the high school graduating class of 2007. Committee asked to make calls to parents (Cornell Alums) to encourage application by the legacy students and gather intelligence on students’ college plans.
Cornell Admission Recruiting Experience (CARE) – there are now 215 alums who are CARE members assisting Admissions in 17 states. More are always welcome.
Alumni Profiles – all Alumni Board Members are now featured on the Cornell website.
Summer Send-offs – two cities hosted summer gatherings for incoming freshmen and their families prior to the start of the school year. ( Des Moines and Minneapolis). Very positive feedback from participants who liked to meet other students and parents from the area attending Cornell. Goal for summer 2007 is 6-7 cities.
IV. Cornell Career Services Report
Jayne Swanson reported activities currently operating and asked for continued committee support to spread word about alumni opportunities to help with:
- Alumni Panels in careers that are on-going
- Spring Break internships (25 last year)
- Sophomore Dinner after majors declared-good faculty turn out
- Internships/Externships-just begun putting lists of options together. Will
need committee members to thank alums who participate year round.
V. Review of Strategic Plan
Upon review, committee made sufficient changes within past year to adequately reflect goals and duties of the committee and concluded no further changes necessary.
VI. Adjournment
With no further business to conduct, committee adjourned at 11:00am.
Respectfully submitted
John R. Gilliland ’89
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Minutes
Cornell College Alumni Board of Directors
Alumni and College Advancement Committee
October 20, 2006
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Ruth Keefe Miller reviewed additional events for the Homecoming weekend.
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- Morning classes opened to Alumni
- Seminar on Extraordinary Opportunities
- Pre-Theatre Dinner with 25 participants
- CY’A After the Game- Free brats and lemonade. Beer for sale.
- Ruth challenged us to understand the future challenges that Cornell faces as the demographics of high school students changes.
- Kristi Columbus ’96, the Annual Fund Director for Alumni and College Advancement, discussed the Coe vs. Cornell Young Alumni challenge which focused on donor participation. Cornell won 18% to 16%. There was a 55% increase in young alumni participation. Coe leads the re-challenge 1.8% to 1.1%. The senior challenge is working well. We now ask for a 5 year pledge with different plans. This year 51% of the senior class made 5 year pledges totaling $20,000.00. With President Garner’s gift of $20.06 for each student that pledged, and Dr. David and Jillian Knutson II, both ’91 alums donating a matching gift up to $10,000, the Class of 2006 gave a gift of $32,000.00 to the college.
- The class agent letters returned over $112,000 to annual giving last year. It is a very effective method to stimulate giving to Cornell.
- Currently there is a fall phone-a-thon in progress. The students are making the calls over eight weeks in the fall and four weeks in the spring. Last year $300,000 was raised this way.
- Last year CASA students participated in a thank-a-thon. 700 first time or upgrade donors were called and the reception was warm from the Alumni.
The group will do this again this year.
- The new donor packet and loyalty society programs were out lined. The programs recognize regularity in giving.
- Mechanisms for generating excitement for the support of Cornell were addressed. Mailings, alumni events in our target cities, and launching discussion groups on our Alumni Online Community with Cornell professors and coaches were discussed.