UIC UNITED: A Chapter of SUAA Minutes of the Board of Directors Meeting January 22, 2009

Members Present: Marsha Borders, Merrill Gassman, Carol Humble, Rose Kirk, Irving Miller, Larry Poston, Leonard Ramirez, and William Troyer

Members Absent: Judy Curry, Richard Johnson, James Jones, Carole Koch, Sue Sindelar, Charles Stanislao, and Frank Tachau

The meeting was called to order by President Irving Miller at 10:40am.

1. Approval of Minutes: The Minutes of the Board meeting of November 18, 2008 were approved.

2. Treasurer's Report (Irv Miller for Chuck Stanislao): Total assets: $36,170.00

3. SUAACTION Report (Irv Miller for Richard Johnson): Bill Troyer agreed to prepare and sign a letter to our membership for fundraising. Dick Johnson signed such a letter last year. SUAA wants to develop a list of legislative contact persons (LCP), with the help of the chapter presidents and interested members. The LCPs would maintain a personal relationship with their legislators, forming a bridge to better enlist legislators' help when issues involving our constituency arise. The LCPs would also interact with SUAA members and encourage them to be vocal with the State legislature on their own behalf. There are currently 59 LCPs. SUAA is trying to enlist people who already have a relationship with State legislators. Legislative districts must be identified, and each chapter is encouraged to have a legislative chair. The Board was reminded that the Chapter pays the expenses for those who attend fundraising events. Currently, SUAA is against combining the State's five individual pension funds into one.

4. Program Report (Carol Humble): For the January 17th UIC Flames basketball game, 38 tickets out of 50 were sold. It was suggested that UIC UNITED might sponsor another game next year, perhaps a game with a bigger draw. There was a brief discussion of the February 26th Brown Bag on "planning for retirement" with John McCrosky as presenter. The event is scheduled from 11am - 1pm on the West Side. The April membership meeting is scheduled for the 16th. Mike Lawrence will speak on Illinois politics. A title is being developed. Retirees living out of state are reporting that the payment of medical bills is slow. The member portion of medical costs has increased.

We were not asked to take responsibility for the retirement conference this year; it is being planned by Urbana campus staff. There was discussion of to what extent UIC UNITED would be involved. The conference may be scheduled on a weekday, which would make it difficult for people to attend. Marsha Borders suggested that our chapter organize our own retirement conference next year. There are people on campus, like Jacquie Berger, who are willing to help organize such an event, on a day and at a time when people can easily participate. Marsha suggested that we contact speakers who participate regularly to let them know what we'll be doing in the future and ask them to take part. This year's conference is still in the planning stage.

5. Newsletter Report ( Larry Poston): The newsletter is ready for distribution; members should be receiving their copies soon. Larry reviewed some of the content. The newsletter co-editors have decided to publish seasonally instead of using month identifiers for future issues. The co-editors and the Board discussed distributing the newsletter and/or its content to a wider audience, perhaps via the web or to mail hard copies to potentially new members from the university community. Larry mentioned the idea of providing a mailorder request for people who want copies of the newsletter. A "Quick Facts" box was discussed, as well as borrowing useful information from other sources, being mindful of shelf life. Currently, the newsletter goes out to members through the mail, via the website, and distributed at events. The Advocate, a SURS news & events magazine, is no longer being mailed. The SUAA brochure can be mailed to anyone who may be interested.

6. Nominating Committee (Merrill Gassman): Besides the notice included in the Newsletter, a message asking for responses from those interested in serving on the UIC UNITED Board was posted on the Listserv a few days ago. There has been one response.

7. Old Business: UIC UNITED has still not been able to persuade the University to allow SUAA members to have dues deducted through payroll. Perhaps this issue could be broached with the new Chancellor. It may be helpful to get the other university campuses to push for this service. The newsletter is pursuing an interview with the new Chancellor for the next issue.

The meeting was adjourned at 11:40am.

Respectfully submitted by Rose Kirk, Social Chair and Acting Secretary

to the Chapter's home page