UIC UNITED: A Chapter of SUAA Minutes of the Fall Meeting Thursday, October 21, 2008

President Irving Miller called the meeting to order at 10:05am.

1. Minutes of the Spring 2008 meeting were approved.

2. President's Report (Irving Miller): President Miller reviewed the upcoming ballot item for an Illinois Constitutional Convention (Con-Con). The outcome of the election could have a major impact on SUAA. Pros and cons have been presented and discussed at forums in 2008 sponsored by UIC UNITED, including the Spring Chapter Meeting in April and the September Forum. Because of the nature of this election year, today's speaker (Dick Simpson) was asked to discuss Con-Con and other relevant election issues and will return to discuss outcomes of the election at a brown-bag lunch meeting on November 13.

President Miller also reported on other chapter activities:

• UIC UNITED will co-host the Annual Retirement Conference in the Spring.
• UIC UNITED Board members will attend the statewide SUAA Board meeting in Urbana, IL on October 22, 2008.
• John McCrosky resigned this fall as 2nd Vice President for Legislative & External Affairs. Bill Troyer has replaced John, which has created a vacancy for a Director-at-Large. Nominations to fill this appointment were requested.

3. SUAACTION Report (Richard Johnson): Dick reported that probably the most important upcoming election issue for SUAA is Con-Con. SUAA is on record as opposing a convention, primarily due to concerns that it could possibly eliminate the constitutional protection of pensions.
He noted that this is not a concern for current SURS participants, as they would continue under current provisions.

There will be a report in the next UIC UNITED Newsletter, commending our chapter as one of the largest in the state. Further, UIC SUAACTION has raised more contributions then any other campus in the state. The statewide goal this year was $150,000, and $146,000 was raised. UIC UNITED contributed over $18,000 of that total, which exceeded our goal by over $400.

SUAACTION has supported candidates for state senators and representatives who are in key positions regarding leadership and pension committees.

Following the report, there were additional questions from members regarding Con-Con. Discussion focused primarily on publicity and the relevance of State budget issues.

4. Treasurer's Report (Charles Stanislao): Chuck gave the following financial report:

Total net assets as of October 20, 2008: $41,438.15

Savings Account	8,083.12
Checking Account	5,663.64
Certificate of Deposit	27,691.39

The issue of audits of local chapters has been resolved. Our chapter now receives copies of checks for new or renewed membership dues. According to the June 30, 2008 report, funds are now being accounted for properly.

5. Membership Report (Sue Sindelar): Sue reported that membership has increased by only five since September, and that we need an influx of new members. Membership currently stands at 1629. Discussion followed, concerning the effectiveness of advertising and other strategies for recruiting new members, which included collaboration with various status committees, trade unions, and academic professionals. Also, a new letter to UIC employees is planned. Feedback was solicited from the membership. Discussion points included:

• The need to reach out to younger people
• The impact of Con-Con
• The impact of the economy
• The need to support AFSCME, as it is the lead negotiator with the State for healthcare benefits
• The importance of active advocacy at the local SUAA chapter-level
• The pros and cons of advertising and/or letters-to-the-editor in major Chicago newspapers
• The need to make payment of dues more convenient
• The development of an instant response system for legislative issues
  

6. Program Report (Rose Kirk): Rose reported that the following events are planned for the rest of this calendar year:

• November 13 - Brown-Bag Presentation on 2008 Election Results
• December 10 - Holiday Luncheon

The schedule for 2009 will include a brown-bag presentation, a Spring membership meeting, and the retirement planning conference. Members were asked to submit topics for the brown bag.

7. Newsletter Report (Judy Curry) : The new issue of the newsletter is currently in the mail. It is longer than usual and features an article on 403(b)s and other retirement plans by John McCrosky, as well as an article by Dick Johnson. Plans for the next issue will begin soon, with publication hopefully in January 2009.

8. Old Business: More general discussion followed concerning the impact of the current economy on SURS, as well as the potential impact of Con-Con on the annual 3% COLA in pensions.

9. New Business: None

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

Respectfully submitted,

Carole Koch, Secretary

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