Alumni Council Executive Committee Meeting Minutes, October 7, 2000
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Welcome—John Devine ’78 Alumni Council Chair John Devine opened the meeting and mentioned he hoped that everyone was enjoying the weekend, especially since this was the first combined Family Homecoming Weekend. He then briefly told the members in attendance of the very successful and informative Alumni Council Executive Committee meeting with President Bro Adams the previous day. Based on input from religious leaders and the College administration, the Executive Committee had passed a resolution regarding the scheduling of alumni events on significant religious and national holidays. Committee Reports/Updates Admissions and Financial Aid—Chris Tompkins ’89 Parker Beverage (dean of admissions and financial aid), Judy Brody (associate dean), and Lucia Whittelsey (director of financial aid) led the committee in a session on financial aid. The committee plans to sponsor alumni sessions on financial aid to debunk myths and help families with the reality of financial aid options for college. They are considering doing a session at alumni Reunion Weekend in June. They will focus on how Colby does financial aid packages and how the general financial aid forms are done. Colby uses an eligibility (need-based) form (that is, there are no scholarships), and they create a financial aid package. The committee also learned there are some new changes in Admissions Office staff this year, and the entering class has more international students than ever before. This is due in part to a new relationship with the United World College High School, which brought us seven students this fall. The Admissions Office will be doing group tours to college fairs this fall. They will continue to focus on admitting a diverse group of qualified students. The committee may help with personal follow-up calls to ALANA applicants later in the year. Alumni Fund—Todd Halloran ’84 This committee met in Boston on September 19, 2000. They discussed the results of last year ($2,855,620) and set goals for the upcoming year. (The FY01 goals are $3 million and a 50 percent overall participation rate again.) The hope is that if all classes that are below the 50 percent rate reach that rate then the overall rate will be above 50 percent this year. Todd also mentioned the Presidents Circle annual gift club, which was introduced in FY00 and included 12 members last year at that $25,000 annual gift level. The year-end participation was 50.58 percent. Ten years ago Colby was at 41 percent (we have improved, and at the same time some of our peers have fallen off.) The $3 million goal is a 5 percent increase over the previous year. Alumni on Campus—Phil Wysor ’70 Phil echoed his appreciation of Bro's acknowledgment that alumni are critical to a strong college. Phil's committee looked at reunion evaluations for constructive criticism and future ideas. They plan to contact current chairs of reunion committees for this year to discuss ways to improve their on-campus experience. Family Homecoming Weekend: This is the first combined Homecoming-Family weekend, and he invited everyone to attend the Saturday afternoon reception in the Joseph Family Spa for the senior class, their parents, and all alumni and faculty. He urged everyone to share any feedback regarding the combined weekend. Athletics—Alex Wilson ’73 Alex reported that the C Club's Colby Night Dinner was held the previous evening, and the 50th annual C Club Person of the Year award was presented to Ed Fraktman '53. Over 200 alumni, parents, and friends attended the evening's festivities, where the C Club also recognized Jamie Brewster '00 for his 3rd NCAA Division III National Championship in the hammer throw. Alex indicated the C Club had two major goals for FY01:
Awards—Hope Palmer Bramhall ’56 Hope reported her committee had a productive yet confidential meeting selecting this year's alumni awards candidates this morning. The candidates will be presented to the Executive Committee for approval shortly and will be announced publicly at the January meeting. Clubs—Kirk Paul ’79 Kirk reported for Clubs Committee Chair Jamie Bourne '81, who was unable to attend. The regional Welcome to the City events for Class of 2000 graduates were held in 15 cities across the country this past September and were very well attended by the class and young alumni in each city. The regional welcome events for Bro Adams will be starting in Waterville and southern Maine in November, 2000, then be held in 13 other cities throughout 2001. The committee also discussed the scheduling of alumni events on religious holidays, and all agreed it would be helpful to have a document to aid in the planning process. The regional clubs will focus on a volunteer event in the spring at all clubs so that each city has a community service component as well as social and educational events. Communications—Jan Weddell Magyar ’71 Jan reported the committee will focus on both online and printed communications to alumni. The committee is a diverse group of alumni of all ages and represents a cross section of the population. In the early stages of the committee they expect to have good discussions about the directions in which it will head, as it is uncharted territory at this point. Right now they are focusing on class web sites. Previously classes were free to do whatever they wanted on the web. Now they have some rules to protect both the privacy of alumni and to limit the liability of the College. Some Web masters are frustrated, and the committee will be looking at ways to meet the needs of all parties concerned. The committee agreed the Colby alumni Web pages are a good base to start from, but that we need to be sure the site keeps improving as both alumni needs and the technology of the Web change. Nominating—Woofie Fleming Amidon ’75 Woofie presented candidates for alumni trustees; Dr. Ann Ruggles Gere '66 was placed in nomination for her second three-year term. Phil Wysor '70 moved that she be nominated, Fran Finizio '66 seconded, and the motion passed unanimously. Jan Weddell Magyar '71 was placed in nomination for her first renewable three-year term. Jay Whitman '59 moved that she be nominated, Alex Wilson '73 seconded, and the motion passed unanimously. Woofie indicated the committee will need a new young trustee candidate, as Marina Grande '94 is unable to run for her second three-year term. The committee will be working to find a candidate as soon as possible in order to meet Alumni Council by-laws requirements, or they may ask for a temporary waiver rather than wait a full year before presenting a candidate. Academic, Financial, and Student Affairs Informational Committees No formal reports were given, as the committees had open sessions for all Family Weekend attendees, which were to be held later that afternoon. Parents and all alumni were welcome to attend any session from among the following:
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