UIC UNITED: A Chapter of SUAA Minutes of the Board of Directors Meeting March 6, 2008

Members Present: Marsha Borders, Judy Curry, Merrill Gassman, Richard Johnson, William Jones, Rose Kirk, John McCrosky, Irving Miller, Lawrence Poston, Susan Sindelar, and Jacob Starks

Members Absent: Carol Humble, Marilyn Ruiz, Charles Stanislao, and Frank Tachau

The meeting was called to order by President Irving Miller at 10:35am.

1. Approval of Minutes: Minutes of the Board meeting held on January 14, 2008 were approved with minor corrections.

2. Treasurer's Report (Chuck Stanislao): The following written was submitted - balances as of 3/3/2008:
Credit Union 1 Savings Account: $  12,425.93
Credit Union 1 Checking Account:     2,748.92
Credit Union 1 Certificate Account: 27,013.01

3. SUAACTION (Richard Johnson): The SUAACTION fundraising letter has been mailed to the membership; a report on efforts is expected in the near future. Dick also informed the Board that SUAACTION made contributions to the campaigns of three candidates for the Illinois General Assembly, two of which were successful in the November 2007 election.

4. President's Report (Irving Miller): On March 12th, Irv and several board members will meet with Christine Boardman, President of SEIU local 73, to discuss what can be done together to support the mutual goals of both organizations. Issues identified for possible collaboration include pension funding, maintenance of health benefits, and a state constitutional convention in 2010.

5. Membership (Susan Sindelar): Sue reported that chapter membership numbers have reached a plateau at 1,601. There were approximately 136 non-renewals, some of which were due to deaths. An effort is being made to reconcile the membership list with that of the Central Office.

The following recruitment efforts were also reported:

• An appeal letter was sent to current SURS members through campus mail.
• A survey will be sent to current employees asking what they want or expect from UIC UNITED (copy distributed).
• An ad, at least half-page in size, will be placed in UIC NEWS, highlighting our Spring Membership Meeting.
• A mass email announcement about the Constitutional Convention presentation will be sent to all faculty and staff

6. Program (Carol Humble, Rose Kirk): Carol and Rose confirmed that Dawn Clark Netsch, former state senator and former delegate to the 1970 Con Con, will give the address at the Annual Spring Chapter Meeting on April 22, 2008. Her topic is entitled "Illinois Politics and a Constitutional Convention." Other upcoming events include:

• A Forum in September (panel format) - Con Con will be the topic
• Fall Membership Meeting in October - possible featured speaker: Paul Green
• Brown Bag Program in November - recap of election by (possibly) Dick Simpson
• Holiday Luncheon in December
• Brown Bag Program in Feb/Mar - on Social Security or Financial Planning

Dick will follow up with Paul Green to determine his availability.

7. Annual Retirement Conference - March 29th (Irving Miller): The conference brochure was mailed to current employees 45 years and older. In addition, Sue placed a full-page ad about the conference in UIC NEWS.

Volunteers from the Board, Committee Chairs, and Annuitants will staff the conference and provide assistance on the day of the event.

8. Newsletter (Larry Poston, Judy Curry): Larry announced that the newsletter had finally been mailed. He informed the Board that Trenace Ford is unable to continue as a contributing editor because of her busy schedule. Chuck Stanislao, although not present, informed the Board that he was unable to contact Chris Brogdon about publication matters but hopes to have a report at the next meeting.

9. Nominating Committee (Sue Sindelar): The following slate of candidates was presented by the Nominating Committee:

1st Vice President: Merrill Gassman
Secretary: Carole Koch
Directors-at-large: Marsha Borders, Leonard Ramirez, and William Troyer (tentative)

10. Constitution and Bylaws Amendments (Irving Miller): The following change to the Chapter Bylaws was proposed and approved:

Article V. Meetings of the Board of Directors

Section 2. If a director cannot attend a scheduled meeting, s/he shall inform the President and may be excused. If a director accumulates three consecutive unexcused absences from regularly scheduled Board meetings, that director shall be deemed to have resigned from the Board.

11. Problems with Listserv Postings (Merrill Gassman): Merrill presented several examples of situations that will cause postings to UIC Listserv lists to bounce. He instructed users that, when forwarding a message to a list that was received from a list, the header of the forwarded message must be edited so that the list email address does not appear.

12. Old Business: Irv informed the Board that he plans to follow up with John Schuler of SURSMAC regarding the possibility for collaboration, based on his presentation at the December 13, 2007 Board meeting

13. New Business: The SUAA Spring Board of Directors Meeting will be held on March 11, 2008 in Carbondale. Directors attending from the UIC Chapter include Marsha Borders, Judy Curry, Dick Johnson, and Larry Poston.

14. Adjournment: The meeting was adjourned at 12:00pm.

Respectfully submitted by Marsha Borders, Secretary

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