UIC Chapter of SUAA Minutes of the Board of Directors Meeting August 2, 2005

Members Present: Mary Bartucci, Marsha Borders, Kathy Crittenden, Merrill Gassman, Nancy Hirsch, Dick Johnson, William Jones, Geraldine Piorkowski, Jacob Starks, and Frank Tachau

Member Absent: Walter Wadycki

The meeting was called to order at 10:05am by Irving Miller, President

1. Approval of Minutes: Minutes of the meetings held on August 20, 2004 and June 1, 2005 were approved.

2. Membership report (Gerry Piorkowski): As of June 30, 2005, the membership totaled 1,261, representing an increase of 212 members over the previous year. The current total-to-date for the new fiscal year is 1,181.

A mass e-mailing was sent to all UIC employees in July as part of a two-phase strategy to increase membership. Depending upon the response level, a followup mailing may occur in the Fall. A separate mailing is scheduled for mid-August to target individuals who have retired from UIC within the past 5 years.

It was suggested that a request be made to the State office to allow dues deduction for currently employed faculty and staff. With respect to family membership, it was pointed out by Merrill that the chapter would lose a $1 if the rate of $50, which had been previously agreed upon, is accepted. Following further discussion, a motion by Merrill to increase the family membership from $50 to $55 was tabled and will be revisited following clarification on proper parliamentary procedure.

3. Update of calendar for 2005-2006 (Nancy Hirsch):The following dates were proposed for upcoming SUAA events:

4. Issues arising from June State SUAA meeting: It is clear that SUAA needs to make its presence felt in Springfield. A number of suggestions for strategies to raise visibility and increase clout of the organization were put forth by Dick Johnson. He and David Hilquist will request a meeting with Mark Donovan to begin making our positions known to members of the SURS Board of Trustees. He felt it important to establish a Chicago interest group and to work collaboratively with SEIU and other unions to make Chicago's presence felt in Springfield. Further, he commented on the need for greater advocacy amongst the growing membership. To that end, Dick suggested that we make available to our constituents a list of state legislators by district and encourage members to speak with representatives at local gatherings about issues that are of importance to the Organization.

5. Update on PIC and the political situation (Dick Johnson): PIC is gearing up for 5 political action training sessions. Paula Purdue is putting together the training material for the session scheduled for Tuesday, September 13, 2005 at Morraine Valley College. Several board members expressed interest in attending the meeting. Dick agreed to provide transportation for those who plan to attend. He announced the retirement of the chairperson, Addison Woodard (Governors State University), who has played a major role in organizing efforts of the Political Involvement Committee.

Dick felt that SUAA/UIC should take the lead in hosting such a meeting for Chicago and the collar counties. Emil Jones' name was put forth as a possible speaker for such an event.

The job at hand, he noted, is to focus on organizational development and to gear up for greater political involvement. It was agreed that SUAA/UIC Chicago could benefit from a Political Information Committee (PIC) on campus that would include members external to the Board. Outreach to others who are knowledgeable and have interest is a good way to promote participation. Kathy Crittenden and Jake Starks expressed interest in serving on a campus PIC.

With respect to pension legislation, Dick reported that the president of the U. of I. decided early on to allow unions to take the lead in fighting the pension battle in order to increase the university's chances of receiving additional state funding. Thus, employees were abandoned on this issue. In the future, SUAA will direct its energies toward building support at the faculty and staff levels. With both groups on the same page, much can be accomplished.

The first meeting of the UIC Faculty Senate is scheduled for Thursday, September 29th at 3:00 pm; officers of SUAA will attempt to meet with the Senate just prior to the 3:00 pm session.

6. Resolution of thanks to Jim Hacking: Dick agreed to draft a letter of thanks to Jim Hacking in appreciation for his many years of outstanding service as Executive Director of SURS.

7. Chapter name change (Dick Johnson): A slate of proposed new names for the organization was distributed for Board consideration. There was general agreement that the word "annuitant" should not appear as part of the name because our appeal is now broader. The name that was favored by most was "UIC- UNITED". Irv Miller will check with Don Naylor to determine if there are any restraints in the State SUAA constitution governing name changes.

8. Newsletter planning (Larry Poston): A meeting with the newly appointed Editor, Larry Poston, resulted in a number of proposed changes. The newsletter will be:

a. reformatted to increase appeal;
b. used as a vehicle to announce upcoming events and programs;
c. published via an appointed editorial board consisting of the Editor, Associate Editor, the SUAA Board President, and at least 1 other staff person;
d. distributed to the membership 3 times per academic year.

A recommendation was made to consider Trenace Ford to fill the position of Associate Editor. Larry remarked that she will provide a degree of editorial and technical expertise that is needed. Wiliam Jones and Nancy Hirsch were also appointed to the board. Larry mentioned that a university account will be required to provide an avenue for Publication Services billing. Irv Miller agreed to follow up on establishing an account.

9. Permanent Fall and Spring membership meeting scheduling: The Board considered changing the Spring Annual Meeting date. However, any such modification would require a change in the Chapter Bylaws. In the absence of input from Wally Wadycki, who is currently working on Bylaws revisions, the item was tabled.

10. Update on constitution and bylaws revision: It was agreed that an Assistant Treasurer should be appointed to help Wally with some of his duties as he recuperates.

11. Appointment of Auditing Committee: Irv Miller indicated that an Auditing Committee is needed to review the Chapter's fiancial records. Ralph Westfall and Wayne Wolf will be asked to become members.

12. Adjournment: The meeting was adjourned at 11:45am.

Respectfully submitted by Marsha Borders, Secretary

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