Alumni Executive Council Business Meeting

February 2, 2019

President Cortney Terrillion called the meeting to order at 1:49 P.M. EST.

Following role call by Secretary Chelsea Lloyd, a quorum was documented.

Present:
Acevedo, Bates, Beyer, Brown, Cochran, Danielson, Faulkner, Frank, Giles, Glass, Hallock, Hann, Jensen, Kadick, Kallet, Kuno, Lloyd, McKee, McManus, Michaelson, Montgomery, North, Patrick, Peterson, Price, Terrillion, Thomson

Not Present:
Abernethy, Chrzanowski-Sears, Colucci, Dana, Egbert, Hakewill, Hughes, Jeffress, Jenkins, Lawler, Lee, McSweeney,, Rood, Russell, D. Ryan, M. Ryan, Santini, Scuteri, Sethness, Taylor, Twombly, Wells, Weiland, Willis
Approval of the December 1, 2019 Business Meeting minutes were moved by Laura Patrick and seconded by Rick Beyer. There were no objections to the meeting minutes. All in favor.

President’s Report

Cortney shared her upcoming preparations for the board meeting. She highlighted council’s role in Sophomore Bootcamp. Cortney also discussed moving Saturday’s virtual business meeting to a week night in order to not disrupt weekends with family. A survey with options will be sent. Committee chairs were requested to send committee meeting notes for the dashboard. President Terrillion also reminded members of Campaign events being held throughout March and April in the Boston and NY areas.

Campus Report

Kim Hissong mentioned the students who spoke that morning and thanked the Council for their ongoing support for student internships. Rick Beyer asked if we were still considering more support towards our AEC Endowment which will be discussed by Council separately in addition to future fundraising.

Kim introduced the work of ISAC – Institutional Strategy and Assessment Committee. This committee has been tasked by President Fox with building a new strategic map for the University asking questions like, “What will St. Lawrence look like in 2030?” Kim will share a survey with Council and encouraged participation.

Finance and Resources

Treasurer, Paul Danielson introduced the members of his committee and offered thanks to Kim and Brady for their assistance in updating the Council budget. Paul reminded members that we will no longer receive University support from the bookstore which is $30,000 annually. This support will come directly from University Advancement.

Paul prepared some slides that reviewed Council’s budget preparation timeline. He requested that chairs review how funds were spent in 2018 and provide information as to whether the event(s) supported was a success or where there is room for improvement.

There are no changes to the budget from 2018 to 2019. There was $3,039.87 that we didn’t spend in allocated budget resources. Paul reminded young alumni of the AEC travel reimbursement program and the 30 days to submit. Our goal is to be budget neutral. We spend $6,000 each year more than we take in for cash. We have two options, slim back on our supported events or increase funding, the second is not ideal. In 2015, the AEC set aside $10,000 in a “rainy day fund.”

As of January 27, the AEC Endowment Fund had cash and pledges totaling $339,690 and of that total, $269,475 has already been received in cash - for student internships and experiential learning.

Tom Pynchon requested $25,000-30,000 per year to support for the LINC program. This would likely need to be taken out of the endowment if we were able to support. F&R will include that in future discussions.

In summary, we are in good shape. Paul Danielson will follow-up with an event follow-up form for chairs to complete after each AEC-sponsored event. Jacquie Kuno requested a list of events that we sponsor and noted that it costs students $30 just to apply to a study abroad program.

Student Delegate Report

Sonja Jensen shared that the Student Alumni Association is focused on student engagement and opportunities to reach out to students as first-years. They realized some students are missing the answers to why we give and where the money goes. SAA is sharing what events are sponsored by and through donations. They staff tables and reach out to peers on giving challenges and have conversations to educate on participation. SAA is working on going into FYS classes and giving a 15-minute presentation on giving and what it means to be the #3 alumni network in the country.

Oscar Acevedo has been working on recruiting new Community Assistants. This role is important for first years as these individuals are the first people they students meet when they arrive on campus. He shared about his course in game management, for which he works hockey, lacrosse and baseball events. He is working to create a game management manual. Oscar is also involved in the investment club where members have $120,000 to invest and diversify.

Henry Brown thanked Council members for the opportunity of being a student delegate. He discussed his work on the challenge of getting prospective students to come to campus for a visit. His suggestions have included writing hand written letter to students that have his same interest in business and economics and to make these notes more personal (e.g., seasonal discussion about skiing at Whiteface on the weekend.)

Ali Price shared her study abroad experience in China her senior Fall, missing the AEC meeting. She is grateful for the experience and does not regret going her senior year. Her work with the Student Athlete Advisory Committee – enhances the student-athlete experience. She has focused on enhancing the fan experience and finding ways to get students out of their rooms when the teams may not be doing well. The Saints Nation idea is similar to the Tiger Den at RIT. She thanks Council for the incredible opportunity. She reminded members that her family is organizing an alumni event in Toronto this summer.

President Terrillion thanked each of the student delegates for their time and effort, student reports and stellar attendance while balancing class schedules. She presented each student delegate with a gift for their service.

Cortney also recognized and thanked Ron Thomson with a gift for his service as he opted not to complete a second term. He will remain active as an emeritus member.

Committee Reports

Admissions

Kim Hissong gave the Admissions report in Mike’s absence. Mike will share committee meeting notes with Council at a later date. Upcoming yield events in Burlington and Rochester were discussed. Buffalo and Syracuse are also being evaluated for the future. The Darien event will be held on March 27 at the Darien Country Club, the Boston-area events will be March 30 at Blue Hill CC and March 31 at Essex CC and Burlington will be on April 4. The group will begin work on admissions yield note writing and will look for Council volunteers.

Engagement

Laura Patrick updated Council on the senior pin which will be distributed at gradation. Cortney, as President, will be writing a letter for the graduates soon. This is an exciting time for recent Council engagement with the Student Alumni Association. Sally McSweeney and Laura met with Joe Keniston and Karl Schonberg to discuss continuing education for alumni on campus. These summer programs could be classroom lectures along with North Country activities, e.g., three day beginner golf lesson or hiking in the Adirondacks. Send Laura ideas of interest.

Membership & Honors

Molly Hann shared that M&H is continuing second term conversations. They are working to formalize the process. As a reminder, M&H is always seeking nominations for new members and the more detailed information about each individual is most helpful. The nomination form can be found on the Council dashboard. They are reaching out to affinity groups to get nominations as well as from faculty, specific academic departments, athletics etc. New members invited to Canaras will be sent official invitations in the next few weeks.

Student Services

Mary Peterson reminded Council that Student Services is the intersection between alumni and students. The group is blown away by the career conversations participation, results and feedback over the weekend. The group is working on alumni panels - LiR in the Fall is more mature alumni in their career and the Spring guest are younger alumni. A new idea is to offer support for students doing internships in the cities/areas they are placed. The idea is that a recent grad moving to Boston could be assigned to an alumnus i.e. questions about the city, housing, etc. This idea will be explored more at Canaras in June.

Faculty Engagement Working Group

Anne McManus and group are pleased with the enthusiasm of faculty. Thirteen professors agreed to have Council members sit in on classes on Thursday afternoon. The working group is wrapping up phase one of creating an alumni resource database. They delivered 25 names of alumni to the faculty to share with their departments. They are continuing to investigate flipping the idea and asking faculty to be resources for alumni. Two ideas came from our full Council cross-committee roundtable session – bring alumni on study abroad programs or when coaches are out on recruiting trips.

Marketing and Communications

Jackie Hallock shared on behalf of the team and Beth Russell. She thanked Beth Russell for her support. The working group has solidified a relationship with university communications and are reinforcing messaging on events that are sponsored by AEC. They are putting together a style sheet for Council members which will enforce the AEC brand messaging and help create consistency when at events.

Ideas are swirling for assisting with the university magazine. What topics can AEC help with to engage the alumni community? Could Council members answer fun topics for the magazine or other social media platforms? The working group will be sending a survey in the next few months to ask more.

NYC Semester Task Force

Cortney Terrillion reported for Penn Egbert. The task force is currently working on the January NYC Semester event. Dates will be finalized soon.

The NYC Leash event in the Fall was well attended. The students were well prepped by Dan Lee and others worked with them to craft their elevator pitches. Five trustees attended.

New Business

Chelsea Lloyd announced that Rick Beyer will represent Council at the Spring Laurentians in Residence panel.

Rick Beyer requested more discussion on the future of the AEC Endowment and more student networking opportunities. It was agreed that this would be discussed further by the officers.

The meeting adjourned at 3:09 P.M. EST by President Terrillion with movement from Jay McKee and a second motion from Rick Beyer.

Notes submitted by Chelsea Lloyd, Secretary.