Alumni Board Meeting Minutes

Alumni Association Board of Directors

Annual Meeting
Friday, October 8 th, 2004
Hedges-The Commons
Lu Ann White ’78-Presiding

Attending:

Lu Ann White ’78, President
Joe Campanelli ’69, President-Elect
Sheila Kruse Boyce ’85
James Coddington ’70
Michael Conklin ’69
Lisa Fry ’02
John Gilliland ’89
RJ Holmes’99
Fredrick Holtz ’86
Nels Lindquist ’71
Michael Mudlaff ’88
Lisa Naaktgeboren ’90
Allan Ruter ’76
Sally Larson Sargent ’72
Barbara Schultz ’71
Richard Scott ’63
Paige Sindt ’03
Roger Stigers ’65
Carol Busch Telling ’66
Mark Van Etten ’76
Todd Watson ’93
Kate Schlemmer Watson ’95

Absent:

Bobbi Buckner Bentz ’01
Jodi Enger ’91
Carrie Temm ’04
Gary Thompson ’60
Ann Loewe Turner ’94
John Turner ’94

Staff:

Debbie Green-Director of College Advancement
Ruth Keefe Miller ’66-Alumni Director
Jennifer Boettger-Assistant Director of Development and Alumni
Jackie Stewart-Alumni Programs Coordinator
Dee Ann Rexroat ’82-Director of College Communications
Jayne Swanson-Director of Career Services
Sharon Grice-Associate Director of Admission

Guests:

Jonathan Stroud-Vice President for Enrollment, Dean of Admission
Gib Drendel ’58-Chair, Board of Trustees

President, Lu Ann White, welcomed the members of the Alumni Board. Each member was asked to tell their favorite place on campus while introducing themself. Lu Ann thanked the board for the outstanding work they did on the Sesquicentennial Galas and on the fundraising challenge this past year. She gave a special thanks to Allan Ruter for his work on refining the Strategic Plan.

Minutes of the April 27, 2004 semi-annual meeting were read and approved.

Jonathan Stroud addressed the Board:

I-Student enrollment:

Opened the2004-2005 academic year with 1150 students
2005-2006 academic year goal is 1180
Future goal is to level off with 1200 students

II-Improving the pool of students

Higher quality of students are being sought to:
1. Improve retention (82% of sophomore level are back this year)
2. Reduce financial assistance

III-New staffing in the Admission Department

Todd White-Director of Admission
New positions for Regional Representatives:
1. Amy Luitjens ’01-Assistant Director of Admission/Twin Cities
2. Hilary Oswald-Assistant Director of Admission/Chicago

IV-Expanding Program

C.A.R.E.-The target is to add new cities to recruit future students with the help of Alumni.

Questions for Jonathan from Board Members:

Fred Holtz-What is the cost for the 2004-2005 academic year?
- Response-$22,490 for Tuition; total with room and board $28,890
Roger Stigers-How is the endowment used in conjunction with scholarships?
- Response-Going after a stronger pool of students should help the college reduce the support of financial aid needed from the endowment. At the same time the college is recruiting against a higher caliber of competition with other institutions.

Michael Mudlaff-Who are the institutions that we are competing with?

- Response-Two years ago it was:

Coe College
Iowa University
Iowa State
Beloit College
Knox College

- Now working to the top of the list are:

Carleton College
Grinnell College
Colorado College

Allan Ruter thanked Jonathan for the work he has done at different events.

Tom Cox, former Alumni Board President, commented on the new positive out look Jonathan has for promoting the college. This is by getting away from stressing the one-course-at-a-time and by emphasizing our excellent faculty and new facilities on the campus-“One of the nation’s best-one course at a time”.

Lu Ann also thanked Jonathan for all of the great strides he has made in a short amount of time.

Gib Drendel addressed the Alumni Board by thanking everyone for helping with the Sesquicentennial Galas. He remarked that Homecoming and the Alumni Convocation get bigger and better every year. He spoke briefly on the up coming campaign, which is currently in the quiet phase, and the involvement of the trustees. Several academic and endowment initiatives are in the development stages and a member of the Board of Trustees will spearhead each one. As each of these initiatives becomes fully developed, boards of advisors will be formed to provide guidance and secure resources.

In addition to the academic program initiatives, the campaign will also include a few construction projects, including a new suite-style residence hall, renovations to King Chapel, and renovation and addition to the Commons. The public phase of the campaign and the enlistment of support from the broad base of alumni is projected to begin in 2006.

Before breaking into committees, Lu Ann White took a moment to recognize board members RJ Holmes and his new position here at Cornell as Assistant Director of Residence Life, and Mike Conklin on receiving the Distinguished Achievement Award.

Following committee meetings, each committee presented their report.

(Please refer to committee minutes.)

Meeting adjourned to Harlan Dining room for the Alumni Board, Class Agent, and CASA luncheon. Jacqui Swanson, wife of Alumnus Lee Swanson ’60 was inducted as an Honorary Alumna. President Garner then gave the Board his update.

Following the break committees finished their committee reports.

Ruth Miller reported on the Homecoming events taking place over the weekend. Ruth announced the date of April 23 rd and 24 th for Golden Alumni weekend and asked the Board to think about dates for the Spring meeting. She will e-mail the board some dates to consider.

On behalf of the Communications Committee, Allan Ruter made a motion to the board for a resolution to be presented to the Board of Trustees emphasizing the importance of a Cornell College online community. Michael Mudlaff seconded the motion. Ruth Miller indicated that the alumni office is currently in the process of gathering information and interviewing vendors for such a community. The board passed the resolution. (*See attached resolution.)

Lu Ann presented the report of the nominating committee. She thanked Sally Larson Sargent for her service to the board and presented Sally with a gift to express the board’s appreciation. The names placed in nomination by the nominating committee were Lynn Ross Cope ’87 of Des Moines and John Yeager ’74 of St. Louis. Both were unanimously elected. Lynn will serve a vacancy position in the Class of 2006 when she will be elected to her own first term. John was elected to the Class of 2007. Allan Ruter, Carol Busch Telling, Sheila Kruse Boyce, Lisa Naaktgeboren and John Turner & Ann Loewe Turner were elected to second terms.

Meeting adjourned at 3:00 p.m.

Committee Minutes:

Alumni and College Advancement Committee
Committee Meeting Minutes
October 8, 2004

GOLD program

Jennifer Boettger reported on the first round of GOLD Happy Hours held in 7 locations ( Chicago, St. Paul, Denver, Des Moines, Phoenix, St. Louis and Greater Cornell) over a four day span in late August 2004.

Recent grads were e-mailed and sent post card invitations. RSVPs were optional. Some sites used “e-vite” online software; this was well received by those who used it.

$100 was available per site; about $50 was used for snacks. Each local coordinator received a package from Cornell including “how to” checklists; party gifts etc. Lisa Naaktgeboren thought these made the coordinators task very easy.

Not everyone who attended signed in, but it was estimated that about 100-120 attended in total with the largest gatherings in St. Paul and Denver. (The difficulty in finding a convenient location was mentioned as an issue for the Chicago event.)

Jen would like to customize the name to reflect Cornell (GOLD is a nationally used program and acronym). The St Louis group suggested “Cornell Young Alumni” or CYA, pronounced as “C ya”.

Jen would like annual feedback on the GOLD events. She plans another round of Happy Hours late next summer. She’d also like to expand the program to include events useful to recent grads such as networking gatherings, a “how to make a liberal education work for you” seminar, and other social events; for this feedback is needed and a task force to brainstorm ideas was suggested. The Alumni Board will help facilitate this task force and several young alum members have already indicated willingness to participate.

Other suggestions included doing a survey of young alumni to see what activities would be of interest though Jen thought this would be beyond her offices capability at this point.

Lisa suggested a designated GOLD representative in each of the key locales to be a point person for communication and organization of events.

Jen mentioned the St Louis group was energized by the event and talk of striking out on their own. She wonders if there are implications we need to be concerned about if a group proceeds completely independently yet still operates in the name of Cornell.

Area Events

Debbie Green reported on planned area events for the 2004-05 year. Because of the effort made last year with the sesquicentennial events, events are only planned in three of the key areas for this year: Greater Cornell (a CR Roughriders hockey event); Chicago (a holiday party and the annual Ravinia gathering next summer) and the annual Denver ski event.

Events are in the planning stage for areas not recently visited by the Alumni Office: San Diego, Cleveland have plans underway; probably Seattle/Portland, Atlanta and possibly New York City.

Alumni Fellows Program

Trustee Chair Gib Drendel introduced us to this new initiative during his remarks to the board and Debbie Green filled in some of the details.

Trustee Dean Riesen is spearheading this project to create one to two block long internships that are much more than simply job shadowing or performing menial tasks. The internships are intended to be selective and criteria are being developed for acceptance into the program. Students will develop or be assigned a specific project or problem to solve, there will be faculty supervision (including at least one on-site visit during the internship) and some form of presentation will be required at the conclusion. Academic credit will be issued. The purpose is to challenge the student to apply academic knowledge of a subject to a real world problem/project and in so doing demonstrate to him/herself and others (potential employers, parents) his/her ability to do so. Jim Brown, former assistant Dean of Academic Affairs has been appointed as special assistant to the President to further develop and coordinate this program.

The anticipated cost is $5000 per internship. Alumni sponsors are being sought (these sponsors are not necessarily the mentors; they may well be financial supporters only). Potential internships that have already been identified are with the Iowa Department of Natural Resources and with the Colorado Summer Theatre group. Dean Riesen’s political ties to the current governor of Minnesota may result in another internship opportunity.

Class Agent Activites

Jim Coddinton will write a thank you letter to go out on behalf of the board to all class agents.

Lisa Naaktgeboren will again write the letter sent to those classes who no longer have class agents.

The new Cornell Class Agent Handbook created by Ruth Miller was reviewed.

A poster listing all the class agents was created by a printer friend of Allan Ruter and is on display over Homecoming weekend on the Orange Carpet.

Jackie Stewart is the new Class Agent coordinator in the Alumni Office. Jackie will follow up with agents if their letter is not submitted in a timely fashion. At the 2005 spring meeting she will give us a report on how things went with this fall’s cycle of letters and make any recommendations/suggestions she may have to improve the production of class agent letters based on her experience to that point.

Fund Raising Update

Debbie Green presented a summary of the Annual Fund Final Report for the year ending June 30, 2004.

The goal was $1,725,000.

The total of gifts received was $1,749,540 (6% above fiscal year 2003).

The total number of Alumni Donors was 3,885, the largest number ever. This resulted in a 40% participation rate.

During the full board discussion, the question was raised as to the discrepancy between the previously published participation rate of 36% and the 40% figure. Jen Boettger explained that there is no national standard for calculating this number and that previously Cornell had used a very conservative way to count the number of potential donors. The college has now adopted method more in line with that used by similar institutions.

It was noted that while the 40% figure met our goal for last year, the goal over the next several years is to bring that into the mid-40 percent range. For comparative purposes it was noted that the very best rates among the Associated Colleges of the Midwest are in the upper 40s.

2005-2006 Alumni Events

The Alumni Office plans to hold events in all seven key locales in the 05-06 academic year to highlight the new academic initiatives (Alumni Fellows program, Dr. Larry Dorr’s pre-medical humanities initiative, etc.) The intent is not to have a formal sit down affair akin to the Sesquicentennial Galas, but rather to have a social event that would allow for a 10 to 15 minute presentation on these initiatives. A reception at a play or concert was one suggestion. The committee will brainstorm ideas for such events at next springs meeting.

Other items

1. During the full board discussion Joe Campanelli mentioned that he and presumably other former faculty members had received an invitation from Knox College to return for homecoming and dinner. Joe thought that having former faculty might draw some additional alumni back for homecoming activities (as well as being a nice recognition for the former faculty). Ruth reminded us that all current and emeriti faculty are invited to the President’s reception. She also stated that her budget wouldn’t at this point allow for a dinner.

2. As part of the fund raising report, Lu Ann mentioned that late in the FY 2003 annual fund campaign, alumni board members were asked or at least permitted to help encourage classmates to contribute to the fund, an activity not customarily part of the alumni board’s mission.

Sally Sargent and Lisa Naaktgeboren took the approach of writing a personal letter to all/some of their classmates who had not yet contributed and included a dollar bill. They asked that at a minimum the dollar be sent to the annual fund thus helping reach the participation goal. They encouraged, and found that many did, add to the dollar and make a gift to the fund.

Their efforts and those of others were certainly appreciated and helpful; Lu Ann suggested that in the future, however, if the board is asked to help in some way that a more organized approach be taken and that it be in place early enough that alumni board members can be of greater help.

Minutes submitted by:
Mark Van Etten

Minutes of Alumni Board Communications Committee

October 8, 2004

E-news. Dee Ann would like to do 4 per year. There is a news shortage to fill all mailings without repetition. It was discussed that some repetition of news from the Cornell Report would actually be good in order to reinforce the topics.
Cornell Report: Dee Ann talked about editorial layout. The admissions reply card in that latest issue was a first and a test. Communications Committee agreed to fill out evaluation form for each issue. Allan will ask entire Alumni Board to do the same.
Distinguished alumni profile “brag book”. There are lots of potential lists to make, the key is to determine a criteria that is concise, objective and would not ruffle the feathers of those who not included. We will start with the top-ten-list of alums that area regularly given to association surveys.
Honorary Alumnus: Ken Kraft was voted for honorary alumnus to be presented at a Chicago are function per the reasons pointed out in Mike Conklin’s nomination.
Young Alumni award: Committee to propose change to entire board that young alumni time frame is expanded to 15 years versus 10.
Lifetime e-mails: Jennifer Boettner discussed her survey of other ACM alumni webpages and current trends in permanent e-mail addresses. It seems that permanent e-mail addresses are an older technology that has been passed by alumni community sites. Alumni communities present the ability for alumni to update their own information live and pull addresses of classmates. There would also be the potential for other modules to allow for interactivity such as message boards, photo displays, etc. The committee will ask for full Alumni Board support to urge the Board of Trustees to support an online community in conjunction with the launch of the upcoming capital campaign. The properties to be included: alumni directory, class notes, photos, message boards, and event registration. Other modules are other possible.
Alum Chum: Jennifer to send out program overview to committee members for review.
Alumni Speaker Program: CASA has a desire to have regular alumni visits to their meetings for 10-15 minutes and Q&A on a variety of topics.
Family Weekend (nee Parent’s Weekend): Would Alumni Board like to have a presence at the 2005 weekend? To be included on the April agenda.

Minutes submitted by:
Allan Ruter

Minutes of Student Assistance Committee Meeting
October 8, 2004
submitted by Sheila Kruse Boyce

Attending: Michael Mudlaff (chair), Sheila Kruse Boyce, Paige Sindt, John Gilliland, RJ Holmes, Carol Busch Telling. Staff: Jayne Swanson, Sharon Grice

Michael reported that the Committee revised its part of the strategic plan prior to the Spring meeting. The major change was that we removed CLASP from our Career Services objectives.

Objective 3: Assisting ADMISSIONS - Sharon Grice reported on Admissions projects that the Alumni Board can help with.

1) Legacy Phoning Project – Requested board members to volunteer to make calls to alumni parents of seniors considering Cornell. There are 41 families this year, and a letter from LuAnn White will go out ahead of time, letting them know they should expect our calls. The feedback from these calls is priceless to admissions counselors. (# of enrolled legacies: 2004= 5, 2003= 4, 2002= 8, 2001= 4)

Michael commented that when board members volunteer to do things, they should do things they excel at. (e.g., Some people don’t have time for calls or it’s not their thing. They shouldn’t feel the have to make calls – they can volunteer in other ways.)

2) Cornell Admissions Recruiting Effort (CARE) – This program has been very successful and is growing.

a. Development of CARE Teams:

Year 1 Year 2 Year 3 Future Years

Minneapolis Chicago Houston Austin

St. Louis Dallas Milwaukee

Kansas City Northern CA Madison

Denver New England Des Moines

Decorah Phoenix

Decorah group already existed, so they contacted Sharon to become official! Suggested we publicize the story in Cornell Report.

CARE Members: 11 other states. Total CARE members: 191

College Fairs (in progress by CARE members): Total 32 in 2003-04

Alexandria, VA 2 fairs Houston 3 fairs

California 5 Chicago 1

Arizona 1 Wisconsin 1

Dallas 3 Kansas City 6

St. Louis 7 Florida 1

d. Cornell Report CARE Article: CARE Cards: 19 returned

Student Referrals: 8 provided

Sharon commented that the number of alumni referrals of prospective students was disappointing. RJ suggested that a culture change was needed, to get the Cornell community keeping their eyes open for good students. Having an info box in every Cornell Report and e-newsletters asking for referrals with an easy link on the website would send a consistent message to alums and keep it more top-of-mind.

RJ asked how parent involvement in CARE is going. Sharon said it is slow. She would like to see a parent profile site like the alumni profile site that prospective students and parents access.

3) Alumni Profiles on Admission Website: 95 profiles! Doubled since last spring!

Suggested class agents include a request to their classmates to put their profile on-line. Sharon will send link to board members.

4) CARE E-Newsletter – Scheduled for three times a year. Alumni Board members will be included on distribution list.

Objective 4: Assisting CAREER SERVICES – Jayne Swanson reported on projects her office is gearing up for this year. Her new assistant director is Barb Tupper, who came to us from Mt. Mercy, with great career services experience.S

Externships - (an extended job shadowing program during Spring Break) will be advertised at end of October. It is marketed through flyers, banners, direct letters, and Cornellian ads. 7 students participated in first year, 15 in second year, and she expects as many as 30 this year. She has found that she only used about half alums. But sometimes they make connections through alumni contacts.
Invest in Your Future and Life after Cornell programs – workshops, panel discussions helping students prepare for graduation.
Internships – They are trying to increase the number of internships students do. She has seen an improvement in coordination with faculty and staff. They look to employers who have had interns before, because they have experience with the way Cornell works. The alumni database is key and they use it a lot. Jayne requested Class Agents let their classmates know they should be sure to update their business info, too, so Career Services has current info. Carol Busch Telling recommended talking with faculty on a regular basis so they don’t forget to work with Career Services office.
How can Alumni Board get involved?
- Send thank yous to alumni who work with CS.
- Keep alumni profiles up to date and encourage classmates to add their profiles.
- Come back to campus as an Alumni Visiting Leader for theme career panel discussions or other presentations.

5) Alumni Fellow Program – Being developed through President’s Office, based on an alum’s idea. Jim Brown is new director. An alum sponsors a fellowship to allow a student to do a special internship. A stipend would allow the student to travel to NYC or Chicago, for example, and live during the internship. There would be an alum mentor and a faculty mentor who would visit the student on site at some point during the term. The student would produce some kind of report or other deliverable as part of the internship. More details to come!