EMS Alumni Board - Secretary’s Report
10 October 2015
1) Meeting Minutes:
a) The minutes of the 18 April 2015 EMS Alumni Chapter Board meeting have been drafted
and submitted to the Board for review. The Student Liaison was not in attendance at this
meeting and did not follow-up pursuant to the voice recording of the meeting. The
outgoing Secretary subsequently drafted the meeting minutes.
b) The minutes of the 18 June 2015 EMS Alumni Chapter Board meeting have been drafted
and submitted to the Board for review. At the time the Student Liaison position was
unfilled. In the absence of the Secretary, Kim Schmelz took notes that were adapted by
the Secretary as draft meeting minutes. The 18 June 2015 meeting minutes thus drafted
have been submitted to the Board for review.
2) Student Liaison:
a) Appointment: In collaboration with Kim Schmelz, Amy True and the board Secretary,
this past summer, Amy True agreed to accept the position of Student Liaison beginning
with the October Board meeting. Amy agreed to accept the post based on the most recent
draft “job description) outlining duties and responsibilities. Until the Board
amends/updates the EMS Alumni Chapter Bylaws that is intended to include or reference
the Student Liaison’s duties and responsibilities, the current draft will be used to provide
guidance on expectations of the role.
b) Based on discussion at the April 2015 Board meeting, the Student Liaison position is
include three primary duties: 1) timely drafting and distribution of meeting minutes, 2)
keeping the EMS Alumni Chapter web site up to date, and 3) providing input to the
Board regarding student issues and concerns that are or could be impacted by the EMS
Alumni Chapter and its Board. Compensation is to be provided in partial payments with
funds withdrawn from the Chapter’s operating funds/budget. Assuming expectations are
met, compensation will total $300 per year with a $100 discretionary award available for
exceeding expectations. See 18 April 2015 meeting minutes for additional detail.
3) Web Pages:
a) The Eligible Faculty Emeriti list posted on the web site indicates that it was last updated
in 2006. The list should be updated.
b) No meeting minutes (or linked reports) have been posted since the October 2014 Board
meeting.
c) Hayley Norpel is listed as Student Liaison. This needs to be changed to Amy True.
d) Expected changes in Board membership including position titles, pictures and contact
information need to be made in a timely fashion following the 10 October meeting.
e) Web Site Review/Modification:
i) The web site is an increasingly important communication tool for current and
especially for future alumni. Changes/improvements have been made in the recent
past. That said, it is suggested that an annual review should be undertaken by a small
group appointed to the task of doing a formal review and effecting modifications to
the web site with special emphasis on content. Things such as links to the Geode
should be prominently provided on the web site near the top tier of web pages. It is
imperative that “user friendly” (intuitive) access be made to the EMS Alumni Chapter
(and other chapters’) web page(s).
ii) As always, Board members are requested to review the EMS web site from time to
time and advise of changes that need to be made. The only thing more frustrating
than no information is wrong information.
Communication Plan:
While the secretary’s duties to the EMS Alumni Chapter and its Board are not officially undertaken as
a “committee,” the secretary’s duties are fulfilled through a collaborative effort, which is the essence of
a committee’s primary method of operation.
The most basic purpose of the secretary’s position is to keep accurate meeting minutes and to
communicate same to the Board and to alumni. To this end, an effort has been made to publish minuets
of the most recent Board meeting in draft on the EMS Alumni web site in advance of the next meeting.
In addition to keeping the minutes, the secretary’s duties include updating the web site in general.
Various committee chairs/members can and should continue to update the web site pursuant to each
committee’s work. The secretary can assist with specific updates when requested and more broadly
reviews and updates the web site on a periodic basis. An example of this is the collaborative effort with
Web Development to revise the Board Members’ contact information web page to include a photo of
each Board member to assist alumni and others who may access the site to quickly identify and to
facilitate contact with Board members so that Board members can better represent alumni interests.
The secretary may also, from time to time, write articles for the GEODE.
The secretary’s function is shared with a student liaison. The student liaison receives a stipend for
typing minutes and coordinating web changes to the EMS Alumni web site. The student liaison’s
assistance is instrumental to the success of the communication plan for alumni members, and in
recording/tracking the work of the EMS Alumni Chapter and its Board of Directors.
George Hellert