Board of Directors, Duke Alumni Association
November 7-9, 2013
Board of Director Committee Members in attendance:
Betsy Alden
John Patrick Bailey
Bill Bermont
Jack Boyd
Sarah Hardesty Bray
Andrea Brownlee
JP Cardona
Connie Chai
Michelle Connolly
Blaise Cote
Palmer Garson
Nikki Gibson
Jason Goode
Mychal Harrison
Alex Hartemink
Winston Henderson
Amy Hepburn
Ana Homayoun
Ed Howard
Jeff Howard
Jin-Soo Huh
Lara Jones
Kris Klein
Abby Kocher
Courtney Lorenz
Judith Maness
Diana McNeill
Shep Moyle
Joanne O'Connor
Sara Oliver
Rodney Pitts
Susan Prosnitz
Kim Reed
Lee Roberts
Nathan Robertson
Michael Schoenfeld
Will Senner
Jennifer Skeesick
Mark Stalnecker
Paul Teller
Robin Ten Kate
John Tolsma
Sue Wasiolek
Sterly Wilder
Staff Members in attendance:
Claudia Attarian
Cynthia Baker *
Bob Bliwise
Bridget Booher
Lisa Dilts
Sharon Elliott
Megan Forlines
Scott Greenwood
Delecia Hatcher
Andrea Hinton
Tricia Holder
Christina Holder
Betty Jones
Angela Karl
Cam Kelly *
Kate Kemery
Grace Kohut
Carole LeVine
Natalie Nobles
DeDe Olson
Michael Penn
Inga Peterson
Beth Ray-Schroeder
David Schmidt
Nicole Silvanic
Felicia Smith
Charlotte Timberlake
Jennifer Torres
Elizabeth Van Brocklin
Anna Walker *
Brett Walters
Mark Wienants
* denotes breakout committee member only
Thursday, November 7
Sterly hosted the new DAA Board Members and Executive Committee Members for a welcome dinner at her
home.
Friday, November 8
The fall DAA Board Meetings began at 8:00 a.m. with new member orientation. The new board members,
Executive Board and DAA Staff met at Forlines House for breakfast and new member photos. Jeff Howard,
DAA President welcomed the group followed by an Orientation presentation from Lee Roberts and Jack
Boyd.
DAA Board of Directors: Opening Session I
The fall meeting of the DAA board of directors began at 11:30 a.m. with an opening lunch at The Stedman
Nutrition and Metabolism Center, Duke Center for Living Campus. Jeff Howard, DAA President gave
opening remarks and introduced the new members. In addition Jeff reviewed with the board placemat and
snackmat goals for the year.
DAA Board of Directors: OTM (One to Many) roll out/training for DAA Board members
Lee Roberts and Jack Boyd started off the afternoon by training the board on the OTM program starting with
a short video from past board members. After the OTM presentation and training concluded, Lee and Jack had
the board break into teams, brainstorm and report back with answers to their assigned question.
1. How to keep board members fully engaged in their regions and acting as effective
ambassadors?
 Monthly to-do list sent to the board. Board member commits to one thing per month.
 Event tagging (to get a reminder)
 Identify alumni who are not engaged in a region and have board members connect to them.
 Ensure there is board coverage in all areas
 Hosting events and being conscious of events that appeal to a different base (other than game
watch or young alumni).
 Offer smaller “low key” activities instead of big events
 More accessible listing of people
 Visible feedback for events
 A strong Duke hook and exclusive
2. How best for DAA board members to facilitate dialogue with alumni?
 Just show up events – “expectations”
 Intro to events – talk about what is going on
 Engage in dialogue – what do you want?
 Feedback after event?
 Calendar / planning
 Social networking
 Board members to send highlight / recap emails to local club volunteers / leaders. Have one
board member outline some bullet points that can be personalized.
 Identify in community – nametags, emails
 DAA website – How do we get it out?
 Social media – Facebook and Linked-in?
 Emails from DAA to alumni (Schoenfeld emails)
 Emails to alumni announcing board members
 Reviews of the board meetings?
 Show up at all events?
3. How does board most effectively assist/ leverage staff in the regions?
 Find out who the regional staff are
 Publicize who they are and how to contact them
 Assist with events
 Be the eyes and ears on the ground – report back to Duke (if physically in the region)
 Highlight regional things back to Duke – help build support
DPPN
 Connect DAA board with regional board and activist (need to do better on this). Each is a
resource to the other
 Give advice on what “Mama” Duke will think of an event and how it fits into the bigger picture
of Duke / Duke events.
4. How do we create a full and high-quality pipeline of future board members?
 Identifying needed regional representatives
o Both for demographics, but also target areas for greatest members
 Identify good candidates
o Current volunteers, donors, etc.
 People who know current board members
o Many great individuals who might not have time to head local events
o Many might not know how to start participating
 Perhaps because not much in region
 May not know current DAA board or staff
 Ask for self-nominations each year or from a target region(s)
o Ask why they want to participate?
o What ideas do they have?
 Create a pipeline of leadership
o Personal outreach
o Mentoring / ask to help with leadership opportunities
o More effective messaging to those who have an affinity with Duke but aren’t
participating
o What does it mean to volunteer
 Time commitment
DAA Board of Directors: Session III - Working Group Breakout Sessions
Following a full day of meetings a tailgate supper was held in the Vista Restaurant at the Washington Duke Inn
for the board members, DAA staff and Alumni Endowed Undergraduate Scholars. Ed Howard and Rodney
Pitts educated the group with a pre-game chalk talk about Duke Athletics. Duke vs. Davidson men’s
basketball game in Cameron Indoor Stadium was the activity for the night and many Board Members went to
cheer on the Blue Devils.
Saturday, November 9
The DAA Board met for breakfast at 8:00 a.m. at the Old Trinity Café on East Campus to start off the day.
Winston Henderson gave the introduction for Robert Shepard, Vice President, Alumni Affairs and
Development Bob shared with the group the Duke Forward Campaign Update.
After an introduction by Nikki Gibson the group heard from Larry Moneta, Vice President, Student Affairs.
Larry brought to light the plans for transforming Duke’s student spaces which included classrooms, fields and
campus in general.
We stretched our legs with a short walk to the newly renovated Baldwin Auditorium. Joanne O’Conner
introduced Beverly Meek, Arts Outreach and Communications Assistant in the Office of the Vice Provost for
the Arts. Beverly gave an overview of the renovations that have transformed the space and how the location of
Baldwin immerses arts into the neighborhood. In addition we treated to a short performance by Fred Raimi,
cellist in the Ciompi Quartet and Professor of the Practice of Music. Scott Lindroth, Vice Provist for the Arts
at Duke was able to join at the end of the presentation and share additional information about the space and
details about Baldwin’s remarkable transformation.
Bruch was followed the walk back from Baldwin and group resumed with Committee Reports.
Working Group Reports, Wrap Up and Adjourn
Awards / Leadership
Education
Networks
One-to-many
Programs / Events
DukeAlumsEngage2.0
In lieu of the usual summary of the DAA's activities, Sterly Wilder, Associate Vice President, Alumni
Affairs provided an overview of the core values that underlie the DAA's programs as a reminder to focus on
why we do the things we do. She said our efforts are rooted in the fundamental beliefs that both alumni and
the university benefit when alumni are engaged, that Duke exists wherever Duke people are, and that alumni
are critical to Duke's reputation and success. She illustrated how our current strategic goals — to grow
engagement in the regions, to improve connections with students, to improve tracking and measurement of
engagement, and to enhance educational programming on campus and in the regions — grow from these
fundamental beliefs.
Jeff Howard, DAA Board President gave closing remarks recognizing the work that was started this past
summer at the Executive Board retreat, those involved in the planning logistics and a special recognition to
our new members for joining the board and their continued support to Duke.
To conclude the weekend the Board was invited to attend the Pregame Event at President’s House followed
by the Duke v. NC State football game.