UIC UNITED: A Chapter of SUAA Minutes of the Board of Directors Meeting January 14, 2008

Members Present: Marsha Borders, Merrill Gassman, Carol Humble, Richard Johnson, Rose Kirk, John McCrosky, Irving Miller, Susan Sindelar, Charles Stanislao, and Jacob Starks

Members Absent: William Jones, Lawrence Poston, Marilyn Ruiz, and Frank Tachau

The meeting was called to order by President Irving Miller at 10:38am.

1. Approval of Minutes: Minutes of the Board meeting held on December 13, 2007 were approved with minor corrections.

2. Treasurer's Report (Chuck Stanislao): The following balances were reported as of 1/14/2008:
Credit Union 1 Savings Account: $  15,623.51
Credit Union 1 Checking Account:     6,888.63
Credit Union 1 Certificate Account: 26,801.43

Chuck informed the Board that he continues to grapple with finding a way to audit the Chapter's dues income and to respond to questions raised by the Audit Committee regarding accounting data. He plans to contact chapter treasurers from UIUC and NIU to find out how they reconcile their books.

3. SUAACTION (Richard Johnson): A fundraising letter including legislative goals and a survey will be mailed later this month to the membership. SUAA's statewide fundraising effort for this year is $150,000. Based on the size of the UIC United Chapter, our share toward this goal is $18,000.

4. Membership (Susan Sindelar): The current chapter membership count is 1,601. Approximately 130 non-renewals were reported. To encourage retention and new memberships, an ad will be placed in UIC NEWS, bringing attention to the organization and its purpose. Also planned is an on-campus mailing to current employees, highlighting the organization, its accomplishments, and goals, along with an invitation to join.

5. President's Report (Irving Miller): UIC SUAA remains committed to working collaboratively with other like-minded organizations that share our goals. To this end, President Miller had a conversation with Christine Boardman, President of SEIU local 73; she expressed interest in partnering with UIC UNITED for educational and advocacy purposes.

It was also recommended that AFSCME be invited to participate in a Brown Bag Discussion to speak about how decisions are made with respect to our benefits.

President Miller announced that a task force is investigating the possibility of providing space for Emeritus(a) faculty in the library.

6. Program (Carol Humble, Rose Kirk): Carol and Rose are working on confirming Jeffrey Brown as keynote speaker for the Spring Chapter Meeting. He will be asked to address issues on Social Security methodology and the Government Pension Offset. A meeting space will be sought on a Wednesday or Thursday morning at the UIC Forum.

7. Newsletter (Larry Poston): Larry indicated that a final newsletter will be published in January before things are turned over to the new editor. Chuck Stanislao agreed to take over as co-editor, provided another person is found to share the responsibility. In the meantime, some preliminary figures on the cost of producing a 4-page bulletin, inclusive of editing, printing, and mailing, was shared with the Board. The projected cost for a 4-page bulletin is $1,500 per issue and $3,000 for an 8-page bulletin.

President Miller appointed himself, Chuck Stanislao, Larry Poston, and William Jones to serve on a Newsletter Committee charged with discussing the future of the publication. Consideration will also be given for establishing an Editorial Board.

8. Nominating Committee (Charles Stanislao): The Committee is making progress on developing the slate of candidates for the upcoming election in April. Chuck expects the process to be completed by the March meeting. The offices to be filled are 1st Vice President, Secretary, and two Director-at-Large positions.

9. Old Business: President Miller is continuing a followup with a delinquent member of the Board.

10. Adjournment: The meeting was adjourned at 11:53am.

Respectfully submitted by Marsha Borders, Secretary

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