UNAPPROVED FEBRUARY 2011 MINUTES

LINDSEY WILSON COLLEGE

NATIONAL ALUMNI ASSOCIATION

ALUMNI COUNCIL MEETING

BOARD ROOM

ROBERTA D. CRANMER DINING & CONFERENCE CENTER

FEBRUARY 16, 2011

12:00 p.m. CT

 

Those Present:

Gary Lane '61

Carrie Farris '68

Monica Johnson '04

Bonnie Greenawalt '53

Ken Jessee '81

Amanda Cecil '12, Student Alumni Relations Council president

Denise Fudge '82

Jan Woody '77

Amy Thompson-Wells '99

Dr. J.M. Stephenson '47

Ben Burr '64

Prudy Westholm '69

Gary Franklin '94

Jean McLean '49

Rebekah Bragg '78

Danielle Oldham '04

Randy Burns '93

Duane Bonifer, Public Relations

 

Guest -- Sarah Thompson '14 (Gary's granddaughter)

• Following lunch, Welcome and Opening Prayer by President Lane.

• Special thanks to Duane Bonifer, PR Director of LWC, who took a group picture and individual pictures of council members to be added to the alumni page of the LWC website.

• Minutes from last meeting (Oct. 28, 2010) were reviewed and approved. (Minutes of past meetings may be viewed at www.lindsey.edu/alumni/alumni-association.)

• Motion by Dr. Stephenson to accept minutes as read; second by Gary Franklin. Passed unanimously.

 

Informational Items

• Randy shared information about the upcoming Blue Raider Travel Program opportunity to Ireland. At the time of the meeting, there was a chance the trip might be canceled because of lack of interest. In the future, the Alumni Relations Office plans to advertise travel program opportunities much earlier in advance, even if it means not being able to quote a price including air fare. Randy went on to discuss a probable domestic alumni travel opportunity through Toby Tours -- which would be a five-night bus tour -- including to Washington, D.C., Monticello, Va., and historic Williamsburg, Va. Randy thought the cost of this trip would be about $685 per person.

• Gary Lane shared with the council that the Alumni and Friends Alumni Walkway Endowed Scholarship has become fully endowed and currently contains $10,775.75. For the 2011-12 school year, a $500 scholarship will be given from the restricted account tied to the Walkway. Once the $10,000 has sat in the account for at least one, year a scholarship worth 5% of the amount of the endowment will be given in 2012-13 as long as the endowed fund earns at least 5%. Gary Lane and Denise Fudge encouraged the council to continue to support this scholarship fund with future gifts. The college has not, however, sold very many bricks in the past two years; seven in 2010 and three in 2009. Discussion followed about ways to increase brick sales. Ideas shared included: a table or multiple tables in various locations during Homecoming Saturday with brochures and a display of sample bricks; distributing brochures at the UMC Kentucky Annual Conference; placing brochures in area funeral homes and UMC churches; advertise on Facebook; create a tab on the alumni webpage for the Walkway; and print new brochures. Becky Bragg volunteered to help distribute brochures to funeral homes and UMC churches. Randy said he would ask council members to volunteer to work at the table(s) at Homecoming. 

• Randy shared with council members that beginning with this fall's LWC students, the college will offer access to their LWC e-mail account for the rest of their lives thanks to an agreement with Gmail.

• Randy stated that the December 2010 Golden Alumni Society event was a huge success. The Class of '61 is planning its 50-year reunion for May 14, 2011.

• Randy updated the council about upcoming area alumni events. Those events include: a Louisville-area event in conjunction with a musical production at the Kentucky Center for the Arts; LWC Day at Keeneland on April 15 (details were not available at the time of the meeting); and a Bowling Green Hot Rods game (minor league baseball).

• Randy updated the council about the number of alumni who have agreed to serve as class agents for the college; 21 alumni have agreed to serve in this role.

• Randy, Becky Bragg, Monica Johnson and Amy Thompson-Wells updated the council about the "Lindsey Wilson Cares-Alumni Community Service Day" events that will take place in late summer and early fall. During the first year of the program, alumni will hold community service events in Columbia, Louisville, Bowling Green and Lexington.  Duane Bonifer offered the services of the Public Relations department to help advertise and cover these events.  Randy hopes that Alumni will be able to provide t-shirts for volunteers and permanent signage that will be used every year. Duane Bonifer encouraged project leaders to seek out local sponsorship (i.e., McDonald's or Ace Hardware) to help pay for the shirts and signs.

• Student Alumni Relations Council President Amanda Cecil addressed the council to update members aboutstudent life at LWC. 

• Randy shared with the Alumni Council that in fund-raising the college has received more than 100 fewer gifts from alumni than it had at this point in 2010. He encouraged the members to think of ways that the council as a whole and council members individually can help the college in this area. 

• Randy encouraged council members to purchase a LWC license plate when they renew their vehicles' tags this year to help LWC in the "Battle of the Bumpers," a competition among Kentucky's 20 private colleges and universities. 

• LWC Founders' Day will be Thursday, April 28. The guest speaker will be June Scolby Rogers, whose husband died in the Space Shuttle Challenger disaster. 

• The next alumni council meeting will also be at 4 p.m. CT on Thursday, April 28, the Thomas D. Clark Reading Room of the Katie Murrell Library.

• Homecoming 2011 will be Oct. 21-22.

 

Old Business

• Dr. Lane stated that the council had appointed a nominating committee at the last council meeting which will be responsible for nominating individuals for alumni awards as well as council leadership positions. Members-at-large, however, were not named to the nominating committee, as called for in the by-laws. Dr. Lane asked Ben Burr to serve as the member-at-large on the committee; Ben agreed to do so.

 

New Business

• Recommendation was made to the council to amend the guidelines for the eligibility to receive the Walkway Scholarship from "any incoming or returning LWC student" to "returning students only."  Rationale: it will be simpler to advertise the scholarship; lack of scholarships available for returning students; and it increases the likelihood that the recipient will become and LWC graduate. Motion made by Ken Jessee; second by Prudy Westholm. Passed unanimously.

• Recommendation to change requirement of non-degreed alumni status (as stated in Constitution Article IV) from 48 to to 24 credit hours for those who attended LWC prior to 1988, when LWC graduated its first baccalaureate class. All students who attended LWC in 1988 or after shall remain under the 48-hour requirement. This propose change would have to be approved by the Lindsey Wilson Board of Trustees. Per Article VI of the Constitution, this item may not be voted on until the annual meeting of the Alumni Association Council, which is held in conjunction with Homecoming (Article VIII, Section 2 of the By-Laws). Discussion commenced with council members speaking on behalf of and against the recommendation. Motion to accept the recommendation as read made by Amy Thompson-Wells; second by Prudy Westholm. Motion passed: 15 in favor, 1 opposed

• Recommendation made to change "Club" to "Chapter" in regards to Article VI of the association by-laws. Motion to accept the recommendation as written by Dr. Stephenson; second by Dr. Lane. Passed unanimously. Proposed amendment will be circulated among the association membership at least 15 days prior to the meeting, as according to association by-laws. 

• Recommendation made to create Section 3 of Article VI of the by-laws which shall read: "All Lindsey Wilson College Alumni Chapters shall be organized and operated according to the 'Guidelines for Establishment and Operation of Lindsey Wilson College Alumni Chapters' which shall be considered an addendum to the association By-Laws." 
  • In discussion, it was decided to amend the recommendation to read "All Lindsey Wilson College Alumni Chapters shall be organized and operated according to the "Guidelines for Establishment and Operation of Lindsey Wilson College Alumni Chapters." This document, while serving as the guidelines for chapters, shall not be considered an addendum to by-laws and therefore does not have to be voted on at the next meeting. 
  • Motion made by Carrie Farris to accept the amended recommendation; second by Ken Jessee. Passed unanimously. Proposed amendment will be circulated among the association membership at least 15 days prior to the meeting, as according to the association by-laws. 

• Recommendation made to accept the "Guidelines for Establishment and Operation of Lindsey Wilson College Alumni Chapters" as the officially approved document used to establish and operate alumni chapters.
  • Motion made by Carrie Farris to accept recommendation; second by Ken Jessee. Passed unanimously.
  • Said document will be circulated to LWC School of Professional Counseling Community Campus site coordinators so they might help facilitate the organization of alumni chapters in their communities.  Any alumni in individual communities who would like to help organize local chapters should contact the LWC Office of Alumni Relations. 

• Recommendation to present to the council at the next meeting to strike Article XIV from the by-laws because  the Alumni Association does not operate any separate financial accounts. Proposed amendment will be circulated among the association membership at least 15 days prior to the meeting, as according to the association by-laws. 
  • Motion made by Carrie Farris to accept recommendation; second by Ken Jessee. Passed unanimously.

• Request was made by Randy for discussion of alumni council on definition of quorum for alumni council purposes being "those present," as currently stated. Recommendation was that the council establish a number or percentage of council membership present to constitute a quorum for council purposes. Because the council does not consist of a finite number of members according to association by-laws, it would be impossible to set a number such as "one more than 50% of council membership." Therefore, the council decided to take no action and to leave the quorum as stated in the by-laws for association business as "those members present."
  • The council decided, however, to edit the "Guidelines for Establishment and Operation of Lindsey Wilson College Alumni Chapters," to state that a quorum for alumni chapter business should be "at least five chapter members present, with a minimum of two officers being present."

• According to Article IV, Section 4 of the association by-laws, the executive committee shall consist of the president, president elect, immediate past president, secretary and two council members-at-large. At present, no council members-at-large were appointed to the executive committee. Dr. Lane asked Denise Fudge and Gary Franklin to serve in that role. Both agreed to do so.

• Motion made to adjourn. All in favor. Meeting adjourned at 2:20 p.m. CT.

-- Submitted by Randy Burns