Alumni Council Executive Committee Meeting Minutes, October 27, 2001

Welcome—Lou Richardson ’67

Chair Lou Richardson called the meeting to order at 12:30, after council members had a chance to get their lunches. She then asked for reports from committee chairs.

Committee Reports/Updates

Athletics—Alex Wilson ’73
Alex reported that the Colby C Club had held their annual Colby Night dinner the previous evening, and it was the largest turnout ever. Over 300 alumni, parents, students, and friends of Colby athletics were in attendance to honor Head Football Coach Tom Austin as C Club Person of the Year for his support of Colby athletics. About 100 current students and former football players who played under Coach Austin returned to honor their former coach. Also honored were Colby's Olympic athletes. Due to last minute complications in their schedules only Hilary Gehman '93, a member of the US quadruple sculls Olympic team from Sydney, Australia, in 2000 was able to attend. A new crew shell was named in her honor this weekend as well. The other Olympians were unable to attend but sent their thanks and well wishes for Hilary. They were Sesibe Mamo, a member of the Ethiopian Olympic track team in 1964 and '68, and Mark Gilbertson '90, a member of the 1998 US Nordic ski team in Nagano, Japan, who was in Alaska training for a spot on the 2002 Salt Lake City team. Alex also mentioned that the recipient of the Lee Williams Scholarship was Demetri Michaud '03, and the recipient of the Jimmy Hayes Scholarship was Danny Noyes '02. Both scholarships were created in honor of these former C Club honorees. He reported that the committee had reviewed the philosophy behind their programs and had agreed to move the spring Carl Nelson Awards Dinner back to campus so that more students could participate in seeing the senior athletes receive their awards and so they could connect with alumni who come to honor the Carl Nelson Award recipient. The committee also plans to sponsor a get-together at the Colby-Tufts women's basketball game this winter (February 1).

Alumni Fund—Todd Halloran ’84
Todd reported that his committee was originally scheduled to meet in Boston on September 11 to set their goals for the year, but that meeting had understandably been canceled. He reported that the Alumni Fund ended FY01 with $3,086,544 cash in with a participation of 50.92 percent. The FY02 goals have been set at $3,225,000, only a 4.5 percent increase, which is the lowest in many years, but due to the uncertain economy they felt a modest increase was best. The participation goal is for 51 percent. The Alumni Fund Committee also discussed Alumni Fund gift club levels and how they motivate donors, what the levels might be, how else they might recognize donors (i.e. years of consecutive giving), and how the Alumni Fund fits into the College's strategic plan. Todd indicated that the fall solicitations are going out slightly behind schedule due to the Sept. 11 tragedies and that all solicitations will include a letter from President Adams recognizing the events but encouraging continued support for Colby as well.  
 
Combined Communications and Alumni on Campus—Eric Rolfson ’73, communications chair, and Phil Wysor ’70, alumni on campus chair
Communications Chair Eric Rolfson reported for both committees in Phil Wysor's absence. Eric reported that the combined committees had a presentation from Director of Alumni Relations Margaret Felton Viens '77 and Director of Communications Steve Collins '74 on the Maguire Associates Survey of Colby Alumni from April 2001. Eric began by putting the survey in the context of the College-wide strategic planning process undertaken last year. The Maguire Survey was the vehicle to understand alumni perceptions about the Colby of today, their own Colby experiences, and Colby's communications to alumni and other alumni services. He indicated that the College began with the assumption that Colby will continue to focus on its core values, as always, striving to be the best private undergraduate residential liberal arts college that we can be. After analyzing the results of the survey, the College will be formulating a College marketing plan that will look at it's various audiences (prospective students, alumni, and others); decide what message to send to those audiences about the College of today, decide how to measure how well our messages are getting across, and decode how alumni will fit into the picture, especially those who are volunteers. Eric also indicated that one interesting result of the survey was how important the Alumni Council class representative letters appeared to be to the classmates. He urged everyone to take that responsibility seriously and to send meaningful letters to their classes about their Alumni Council role.

Awards—Hope Palmer Bramhall ’56
Hope thanked Linda Goldstein, associate VP of college relations, for her staff support to the committee. She reported that the committee had selected alumni awards candidates for June 2002 (Distinguished Alumnus/a) Award, Ernest C. Marriner Distinguished Service Award, and Colby Brick Awards), but that the names could not be announced until the January Council meeting, when the prospective honorees had confirmed their required attendance at the Reunion Weekend ceremony.

Career Services—Frank Finizio ’66
Frank reported that his committee had recently been re-activated and that he was recruiting any Alumni Council members who might be interested in switching committees to help enhance and add value to the career service programs already in existence at Colby for current students and young alumni. He indicated that career networking in the form of job-shadowing, career panels on campus, video-conferencing, career fairs, and offering internships are some of the most effective ways alumni can volunteer and have an immediate impact on the lives of current students. He indicated that the January meeting would be the first meeting of the entire committee.

Clubs—Heather Daur ’00
Heather reported that the Welcome to the City events held in 16 cities across the country on October 3 were better attended than ever. The events are very much appreciated by the graduating classes each year and any young alumni moving to a new city. The attendance in New York and Washington DC were larger than ever, and the committee decided that all alumni should be invited, even in the larger cities, rather than just the younger alumni, because it is a great chance for everyone to network with the new arrivals. Some trustees had attended the New York event. Heather also reported that the final 5 of the 15 welcome events for President Adams are being (or have been ) held this fall in Hartford, Seattle, Chicago, Denver, and Philadelphia. The events have been well received and have also included invitations to some prospective students and their families in cities where it is important to develop a more visible Colby presence. Heather also indicated that funding for regional events is always a problem in larger cities, and some Colby regional clubs collect dues to off-set the costs of certain events. The committee plans to focus on a Colby Volunteer Day or Month next spring and hope to get many of the active regional clubs involved for 2002.

Nominating—Barry Potter ’60 reported for Chair Wendy Kennedy Ralph ’90, who was unable to attend due to the birth of her new daughter
Barry reported that the committee reviewed candidate profiles for vacant Alumni Council positions, which will be voted on in January, after the candidates have been contacted regarding their interest in serving. He then placed in nomination the names of Alan Van Gestel '57 and Deborah England Gray '85 for second 3-year terms as alumni trustees. John Devine '78 moved we accept the nominees, Jay Whitman '57 seconded, and the candidates were unanimously approved. They will be officially elected by vote of the Alumni Council Executive Committee once the required notification to the entire alumni body is made in Colby magazine.

Admissions
The committee met, but no formal report was given at the general meeting.

Academic Affairs—Becky Birrell ’92
Becky reported that her committee heard from French Professor Suellen Diaconoff, chair of the newly created African studies program, which is only one semester old and already has 10 minors. This program works well because it requires no new faculty but is a collaboration of faculty and courses from several departments already in place. It can utilize the strengths of the Colby, Bates, and Bowdoin off-campus study program in South Africa as well. Dean of Faculty Ed Yeterian explained that this is just one example of how the academic component of the Strategic Plan will focus on Colby's current strengths and yet be innovative regarding the changing needs and interests of the students.

Financial Affairs—Karl Dornish ’54
Karl reported that Administrative Vice President Arnie Yasinski repeated his session from last January on why Colby tuition is so high by comparing the Colby of 1980 to Colby of 2002. Several interested parents were also in attendance. Arnie explained, for example, that tuition and fees in 1980 were $6,700 compared to $34,290 now. This amounts to an average 7 percent annual increase. During this period Colby's endowment grew from $23 million to about $350 million, but Colby's endowment is still less than many of our peer institutions, and we rely more heavily on tuition to cover the budget each year. Williams and other colleges with larger endowments have more flexibility in budget decisions than Colby, which makes it harder for us to compete with them. Compensation (salaries and benefits, especially insurance) is the largest single component of the budget. Other items that have increased significantly from 1980 to 2002 are building maintenance, information technology, and athletics.

Student Affairs—Shawn Crowley ’90
Shawn reported that his committee heard a presentation from Associate Dean of Students Paul Johnson on campus residential life and from Health Center Physician's Assistant Alden Kent on campus alcohol issues. Alcohol continues to be an issue on college campuses across the country, but Colby has a program entitled Colby Alcohol Research and Education (CARE), which focuses on the myths about alcohol use. Its goals include educating students on the misguided perceptions about what their peers are actually doing. One goal of the residential life program is to provide alternative programming and reinforce the idea that alcohol is not the only source of social life. In 1990 only 33 people chose to live in chem-free housing on campus; now 275 students, including fully 21 percent of incoming first-year students, select chem-free housing. The research is ongoing by Alden Kent and Psychology Professor William Klein.