March 11, 2015 – Officers Meeting

George Mason University

Minutes of the Retired Faculty Association – Officers Meeting

March 11, 2015, 12:15-1:35 PM, Cooking & Company Persian Restaurant, Fairfax, VA

 Present:  Don Boileau, Bob Ehrlich, Esther Elstun, Katherine Haldeman, Julianne Mahler, Jane Razeghi, Janice Sutera

The luncheon meeting began about 12:15 PM

I.      Welcome: (Bob Ehrlich)

Official welcome of Esther Elstun as “membership coordinator/chair”

II.   Bylaws: (Bob Ehrlich)

Three changes to the RFA Bylaws.  Active members voted through email and each of the changes passed:

  1. Members eligible to vote – “website registered” members be identified as members eligible to vote.  The total membership consists of all retired Mason faculty in HR’s database.
  2. Executive Committee members – Events Chair, Membership Chair, Publicity Chair are officially added to the Executive Committee. HR Liaison is an ex officio member of the Executive Committee.
  3. Succession of VP to President – succession of VP to Presidency is deleted from bylaws.

     ACTION:  Bob with Jane Razeghi will make wording changes and post to website.

III.    Elections: (Bob Ehrlich)

Committee of the whole proposed the slate of Bob Ehrlich for President and Don Boileau for Vice President in the upcoming elections.  Slate will be sent to active members inviting other       nominations.  Voting will take place in May.

IV.   HR Upcoming Events: (Kathy Haldeman)

    A.    ACE site visit, Merten Hall room 4100 – Wed, April 1, time TBD. Clair Van Ummersen, Senior Advisor and Project Director, Office of Institutional Initiatives for the American Council on Education (ACE).  ACE and Sloan Foundation provided grant funding to enhance Mason’s pre-retirement transitions programs for faculty.  Their goal is to provide model program examples so that more retired faculty will continue their connections with their former institutions.   Bob, Don, Jane, Esther, and Janice are planning to attend.

    B.    Next Steps: Pre-Retirement Seminar, Friday, May 8, noon, Mason Global Center (formerly the Mason Inn). Kathy invited members of RFA to Luncheon to sit at tables to engage in discussion regarding their transitions to retirement and what they are enjoying about retirement now.  Depending on number of seminar registrants we will need 8 to 10 RFA members–Joe Kanyan, Brien Bensen, Esther Elstun, Julie Mahler, Jane Razeghi, and Janice Sutera are planning to attend.   

 V.    Monthly Meetings 2015 update: (Janice Sutera)

Changes in the usual 1st Thursday of each month meetings of Executive Committee as follows:

  • April 1 (Wednesday) time and place TBD to combine with ACE rep site visit
  • May 17 (Sunday) as part of brunch meeting and event
  • June 4

VI.   2014-15 Event Planning Update: (Julie Mahler)

    A.    Brunch event to host the Provost and another faculty speaker in Sunday, May 17, 2015 at George’s in the Johnson Center

  • Julie will coordinate with catering (“Patriot Breakfast”) to give final number 72 hours before event. She will also collect checks of $20. Per person reservation to be deposited into Foundation Account.  Checks made out to Foundation and received from attendees by Friday, May 8.
  • Schedule: Provost will speak for 10-15 minutes with Q&A for 15 minutes at 11 AM, Food at 11:30 AM, second speaker at 12:15 PM followed by RFA business meeting.
  • Don will ask Gary Kreps (Health Communication) as additional speaker and has second speaker identified, Bob Lichter (Political Communication), if Gary is not available.
  • Julie will send invite by email to all of the RFA members.
  • Jane will review and update evaluation form to use at the event.
  • Bob will update website

     B.    Other Spring 2015 events:

  • Richard Rubinstein, Wednesday, March 4, 2015, 7:30 PM, Johnson Center, Room B “Conflict Resolution and the War on Terror: Are There Alternatives to Violence?”
    • Session was well attended despite the confusion about location.
    • Note: update room changes on website as well as with e-mail
  • Carla Marcantonio, Assistant Professor, Film and Media – “Film making or appreciation”  —  Thurs, April 9, 2015 Noon, 1204 Merten Hall (old University Hall)
  • Invited for late spring – Thomas C. Wood, Conservation Studies will lead a group for a day of environmental studies on the Piedmont if a date can be arranged.

    C.    Marketing and Planning:

  • Event Marketing Emails:  Action: Julie will check on broadcast email function to insure that it is working appropriately for future emailed event announcements.
  • Next year’s programming rooms; event day and time of day:  Action: Kathy will have HR staff request a consistent room in Merton Hall on the second Thursday of the month from 3:30 PM until 5:30 PM.  Wine and cheese to begin at 4 PM and program to begin at 4:30.  Parking will be in garage adjacent.

    D.   Programs of Interest for next year – will discuss at next meeting

 VII.    Mailing List Updates (Kathy and Bob)

Action: Kathy will request updated list of retirees and those who are deceased.  Bob will make updates to the RFA mailing list.

 VIII.      Next Meeting Date:

April 1, time TBA, Room TBA.

IX.      Adjournment: 1:35 PM