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Alumni Board of Antioch College March 1-2, 2013 Minutes
Yellow Springs, Ohio
Attending: Joe Foley (President), Greg Williams (Vice President), L. Glasco, T. Mink, J.
Horn, B. Guyer, M. Reynolds, S. Buckingham, A. Spalt, M.Baya, D.Warfield, B.Esbin,
S. Wood, J. Church, J. Hobart, M. Rosenfeld, K. Mulhauser, J.Baker, B. Grennell (19)
Excused Absences: P. Treichler, G. May, C. Johnston, W.A. Oswald.
Resignations: L. Fathauer (Secretary), D. Wallace.
Staff: Maureen Devine-Ahl
Summary of Board Actions:
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Approved change in By-Laws (Art. 1, Section 2) to allow the Board as a whole to
amend the list of nominees submitted by the nominating committee if the entire
list is first voted down. It also requires that the entire list of approved nominees
be submitted to the whole Board.
Approved a Resolution requiring Board members to make a gift or pledge to the
Annual Fund no later than the end of the October AB meeting, to be paid by the
end of the fiscal year.
Referred to the Nominations Committee the policy of when and how to ask
nominees for information about themselves and what they would do to help the
College, using the previously written policy titled “The Way Forward.”
Elected new officers to be installed at June meeting.
Deferred to June meeting the question of amending the by-laws to decrease the
number of meetings held in Yellow Springs.
Referred to the outgoing President and Maureen the task of collecting and
publishing policies and procedures that have been adopted over the past few years
before the June 2013 meeting.
Referred to the current and incoming presidents the task of improving orientation
for new members.
Deferred to October meeting the question of whether to shift the Awards job from
the Nominations Committee to the Reunion Committee, which would require a
By-law change.
Signed up to make thank you calls to donors at a phoneathon in April.
Asked the Nominations Committee to come up with candidates for appointment
to the Board that would address an imbalance in age and race, leaving it up to the
committee to decide how to do that.
Delegated Sarah to consult with Maureen on the issue of sharing email data bases
with Chapters.
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Details and Highlights of Meetings:
General Session, March 1:
We were introduced to Reid Crawford, a fundraising consultant from Washington DC,
who has been on contract since January and the departure of Steve Sturman from the
Development Office (he has gone to Valparaiso University).
There was some discussion of the dates for the October meeting; Maureen noted that new
students arrive Oct.1, so it might be a good idea to have our meeting on the following
weekend (Oct. 5 &6), followed by work project, to coincide with new students service
project. She also noted that completing the accreditation process is the number one
priority of the College administration this year.
The Board heard reports from Admissions Director Micah Canal, Co-op professor Rick
Kraince, and Maureen as head of the Annual Fund.
Micah: Our message to prospective students is 1) We are a small, private, rigorous
college founded in 1850, 2) We are the only college of our kind to require 4 co-ops in 4
years, 3) The Horace Mann fellowships (free tuition). So far this year we have 871
applications for 75 spots; to reach that we will admit 117-150. Fifty-four have been
accepted already—20 who applied early decision, 31 on early action, and 3 who deferred
from last year. The target to admit 100 students was scaled back because of the lack of
dorms. Even with free tuition, we are competing for poor and minority students with
other small schools that can also offer to pay for room and board ($9,000). It has been
hard to recruit men and especially men of color and they are working on strategies to
accomplish that.
What Micah would like from the alumni board is names of schools that might be good
feeders, and nominations of specific students.
Rick: talked about the challenges of co-op circa 2013. We are in competition with the
surfeit of unpaid interns, face regulations that restrict employers, and the economy. We
are not eligible for federal work-study funds until we are accredited. We are looking for
jobs that relate to the Global Seminars and not to specific disciplines. Of the 30 current
jobs held by students, 15 are underwritten by the college.
What he would like from the AB: jobs, or referrals to them, especially for year-round,
long term situations, paying $12 to $15 an hour at least. Low cost housing (est. $350 a
month) is scarce and needed. There have been at least 2 co-ops underwritten by alums
(one in the arts in NYC and one at a foundation) and that is encouraged.
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Maureen: Participation by alums in annual giving is up 4% over last year to 18%; on by
non alumni are 6% of the donor pool. In response to questions, Maureen noted that her
office gets 150 emails a day and cannot respond to everyone immediately. Who is
considered an alum legally? Anyone in our data base before 1978 when the University
was incorporated. People who “self-identify” as alums are welcomed but we can’t count
them officially. The phonathon in December that some alums helped with was successful,
producing about $15,000.
Maureen would like us to pledge early during the fiscal year and to participate in the
Thank You phone bank in April.
At 11:10 am the Board moved into General Session. This was primarily devoted to a
discussion of nomination issues, including a proposed by-law change from Jon that aimed
to address three problems that surfaced at the October 2012 meeting: the lack of
information about some potential nominees, having a lot of names on the slate because
we don’t know if someone will agree to run, and that the list was further reduced after the
board had approved it.
There was general agreement that the committee’s slate should include only candidates
who had agreed to run and for whom information had been supplied. There was
discussion on how best to achieve that.
Two board members spoke to the issue of keeping by-laws flexible, simple and basic.
There was general agreement that the board should not “cherry-pick” candidates from the
committee’s slate, but should vote it up or down, and if it’s voted down send it back to
the committee.
A proposal from Shannon that the committee should require each person being
considered for candidacy to provide information was voted down (7 in favor, 9 opposed,
2 abstaining.)
A proposal to direct the Nominations Committee to return with language for a resolution
that would reflect our agreed upon concerns was approved unanimously.
The afternoon was spent in committee meetings. Minutes from those meetings are
attached to this report.
Saturday, March 2:
At 8:45 the board went into executive session to discuss the report from the Nominating
Committee.
At 10:35 the board went back into open session and elected officers for the next two
years, following short speeches from each candidate. They are: Mark Reynolds,
president; Greg Williams, vice-president; Megan Rosenfeld, secretary.
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We then voted unanimously to accept the slate of 10 candidates running for the AB.
They are: (*denotes incumbent)
*Chad Johnston
*Allen Spalt
Gordon Fellman
*Glenda Cox May
Susan Gene Mayer
Lawrence Pearl
*Tanya Mink
*Mark Reynolds
*Karen Mulhauser
*Paula Treichler
This year elections will be by electronic ballot unless a paper ballot is specifically
requested.
It was noted that the Board will total 23 members. By-laws provide for a maximum of 30
members and a minimum of 21. Appointments can be made to address specific needs. A
motion was made, seconded and approved unanimously that the Nominations Committee
be tasked with finding some younger and more racially diverse candidates, using
whatever method they find appropriate.
The final language of the by-law change that was approved is:
The Board shall prepare a slatevote to approve the list of nominees for Directors to
be elected. If a majority rejects the list, the Board may then amend it. All names
on the list of Board-approved names shall be submitted for election by mail and/or
electronic ballot from the list of nominations submitted by the Nominating
Committee, or as otherwise nominated by action of the Board.
The Board then broke for a tour of the Science Building and lunch with Mark Roosevelt
and 5 students on the second floor of South.
At 2:30 the Board reconvened for Committee Reports, which have been attached.
In terms of action, the Chapters Committee will be updating their handbook before June.
The Communications Committee will be looking for events posted on the Independent to
write short stories about for the following issue, after consulting with Nicole Wroten.
Nominations Committee will be working on candidates for appointment, policies and
procedures resolutions.
Development Committee will be reminding us to make pledges and helping with Thanka-thon in April. Also pushing us to reach $65,000 Board gift goal (we are $10,000 short).
Recruiting Committee will be deferring to the College at this point, but urging people to
continue to help Micah as stated above.
Reunion Committee is on track for this June’s Antioch Authors events, and looking ahead
to 2014 and new Wellness theme.
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There was a general discussion of access to the data base and whether Chapters should
communicate with their members through the College or directly. It appeared that each
large Chapter has particular needs, and no consensus was reached. Maureen would prefer
that all communication come through her office; others want the College to share their
data base by geographical area to make it easier to recruit and keep Chapter members.
Everyone has the problem of out-of-date emails and people who don’t want to hear from
us. Sarah agreed to consult with Maureen on possible solutions to these issues.
Resolutions of Thanks to Joe, Laura, Don and Maureen were proposed and approved
unanimously.
The Board went into executive session to discuss the issue of absences from meetings.
Jon made a motion to adjourn shortly before 5 p.m.
--Megan Rosenfeld, Secretary
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Development Committee Minutes 2/3/13
1. Proposal to the Alumni Board:
Be it resolved: That members of the Antioch College Alumni Board will
fulfill their obligation to make a personally significant gift to the college
by making a gift or pledge to the Antioch College Annual Fund by the
end of the October Alumni Board meeting each year, and that pledges
so made will be paid by June 30 of the following year.
Rationale: In the last two years, other major constituencies of the college -- students,
faculty, staff and trustees -- have reported 100% participation in the Annual Fund by
October, allowing the college to use their leadership to motivate giving by alumni and
other potential donors throughout the remainder of the fiscal year. Given the mission of
the Alumni Board, it is appropriate that our participation match that of these other key
constituencies.
2. AB Annual Fund Progress: We are pleased to report that we now have 100%
participation by current members of the AB and that we have received gifts and pledges
of $55K toward a goal of $65K. We encourage all AB members to consider making an
additional gift or pledge to help us close this $10,000 gap.
3. Discussion of ways that AB members might help the college increase the donor pool:
Good exchange of ideas, but the committee needs to develop this topic further before
suggesting specific board action.
4. Next AB calling program: "Thank you" program in April to thank those who respond to
the Million Dollar March program to be kicked off shortly with a mailing featuring profiles
of two current students. Call for AB members to participate in this calling program.
Also, members of the Development Committee have volunteered to make thank-you
calls to all first time donors as those gifts are received.
(Results of end-of-year phonathon attached.)
5. Brainstorming with staff: Suggestions included:
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Contacting parents and grandparents of current students.
Encouraging alumni who are reaching 70.5 years to use an IRA rollover to
donate to the college.
Organizing alumni affinity groups, e.g., alumni in bio and medical sciences, to
fund raise, mentor students regarding graduate education, etc.
Ensuring that alumni who make suggestions re: prospective donors get
feedback regarding follow up to their suggestions.
6. Annual Fund progress to date: Participation is 18.3% for graduates (3.7% ahead of
where we were at this time last year) and 6% for non grads. Total receipts are
$1,352,082, which is within $40K of where we were at this time last year.
<AB Phonathon metrics for DevComm.doc>
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2012 End of Year Phone-a-thon Review
The End of Year Phone-a-thon was an attempt to maintain and, where possible, increase
giving levels of current donors. The call lists consisted of people who had given in the
second half of the calendar years of 2011 or 2010. Calls by students were made on
November 27th, 28th and 29th, and AB calls made between approximately December 3rd
and 14th. The calls coincided with the end-of-year mailing, and scripts included a nonspecific
mention of recent mailings. The calls were one of the contributing strategies to the effort to
end the calendar year in a strong position.
Here are some of the numbers:
 Total number of attempted calls: approximately 1050
o 913 attempts by students
 7 student callers
 50 student calling hours
 19 donors gave credit card info over the phone totaling $2,010
 130 said they would give - Potentially $16,000
 57 Said No
 35 Said Maybe
 36 said call another time
 18 Don’t call again
 42 No Answer/Busy Signal/Not sure if it’s a bad number
 94 Bad numbers - about 10%
o 134 attempts accounted for by Alumni Board members
 9 AB Callers returned call sheets
 Verbal pledge total $14,825
 54 Messages left
 2 donors gave credit card info over the phone
 53 said they would give
 3 Said No
 1 Don’t call again
 6 Bad numbers – about 5% this number is low. We may have missed
some.
 15 Other
A post-phonathon analysis showed that approximately 40% of donors contacted by either
student or Alumni Board callers contributed a total of $132,077. This result reflects the
effectiveness of the calls combined with other media these donors received just prior to and
just after the calls.
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Antioch College Alumni Board of Directors
Report of Chapters Committee
Mach 3, 2013
Committee members present: Karen Mulhauser, Chair, Judi Church, Larry Glasco, Barry Grenell,
Bernie Guyer, Joan Horn, Allen Spalt and Shannon Wood. Absent: Paula Treichler. Staff
present: Rebecca Fensler.
Karen mentioned that chapters are established to be a liaison with alums and to help the college
with its defined needs of recruitment, co-op and fundraising. She described the distinction
between the AB Chapters Committee and the Chapter Leaders. The former is made up of AB
members, not all of whom are chapter leaders but do have an increased awareness of how the
college perceives chapters can be of assistance. The committee is a resource to the staff and
could be charged with helping with chapter development. The latter are alums who have
emerged in their communities to assist the college by convening meetings of alums. It was
acknowledged that chapters are at various levels of capacity and development.
Karen mentioned that there has been a gap in convening the regular Chapter Leaders’ calls
because of the various staff transitions. There was a call in February and another is scheduled
for March.
Rebecca Fensler, Alumni Relations Officer for Chapter and Volunteer Management, introduced
herself and indicated she is the primary contact within the Advancement Office for chapters. She
has been on the job for less than two months and is familiarizing herself with the responsibilities
of the volunteer coordination for work project as well as understanding the chapter structure and
capacity. She described her responsibilities and expressed eagerness to work with the chapters
committee.
The committee reviewed how many chapters there are. Rebecca said she is contacting all to see
which are active. The committee noted that Rebecca had collected useful information using a
survey tool prior to the last chapter committee call. The information outlines chapters’ needs and
somewhat describes their capacity. She had also circulated a list indicating numbers of alums
within each community, which can be instructive as we consider where chapter development
might happen.
It was mentioned that the current chapters differ considerably in their ability to organize events
and communicate with alums within their regions.
The committee considered the status of the Chapter Handbook. Karen mentioned that the
handbook has not been revised since June 2012 and Rebecca indicated it is a high priority. It is
a goal of the committee to review and have a next draft prepared by June 2013 at reunion.
Rebecca and Karen will circulate a revised version and Committee members should send
suggestions.
Discussion about chapter communications recognized that chapters have differing capacities.
Some indicated they need the campus to provide up-to-date lists so chapters can enhance their
organizing efforts, while others would be grateful if the campus sent all communications.
Rebecca said she wants to create a newsletter for volunteers and chapter leaders. Just as
discussion began on this topic, representatives of the Communications Committee asked if they
could join the Chapters Committee to explore the most effective way to facilitate communication
with alums. There was not agreement: some believe that all communications for alums and
possible alumni engagement should be provided by the Independent and should get high priority,
while others thought a separate newsletter is better. Those who opposed a separate newsletter
thought we’d be missing a chance to inspire new volunteers and chapter activists if the newsletter
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did not reach all alums. Those who supported believed such communications are lost in the
Independent and even though “preaching to the choir”, the information would get more attention.
The group did not reach consensus, but all believed that it was valuable for both committees to
meet together for discussion of common concerns.
Before adjourning, there was recognition that the college should identify which chapters warrant
increased attention because the jurisdictions were more likely to produce co-op jobs, interested
students and fund development and have a critical mass of alums to assist. However, there was
not agreement on the implications since it is desirable to have increased alumni activity in as
many communities as possible. When asked, Rebecca indicated communities where it would be
good to have strong chapters are Miami Valley, New York, Philadelphia, Chicago, San Francisco,
greater DC [perhaps others] but that not all areas currently have the capacity.
Karen indicated that the Alumni Office should approach chapter needs and services on a case by
case basis allowing those that have the capacity the authority to organize. All agreed that the
alumni office needs to know what chapters are doing and that there needs to be improved and
ongoing chapter communication with the office. How this will be done will emerge and Rebecca
is the committee’s and the chapters’ primary contact.
Submitted by Karen Mulhauser, 3.3.13
Recruitment / Legal Committee Minutes 2.3.13
We met with Micah and Rebecca who explained that the college would take the lead in
recruiting and was working with a new branding agency to produce materials that would
provide a coherent message that could be tailored for different groups. There are things
that the alumni board and alumni can do.
1. Provide Micah with contact information for schools and programs that could be good
sources for Antioch students.
2. If you are having a chapters event in the Spring or Summer the college may ask you to
invite admitted students.
3. If you know a potential student for 2014 fill out a nomination form. Let your chapter
know about the forms as well and ask alumni in chapters to nominate a potential student.
--Judi Church
Minutes of the Communications Committee Antioch Alumni Board
Antioch College Yellow Springs, Ohio
Scribed by Deborah L. Warfield ,94 on March 1, 2013
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Present:
Jon Baker
Megan Rosenfeld
Mark Reynolds
Sarah Buckingham
Maria Rauch, staff
Mark Reynolds suggested we review the website www. keepingposted.org. Although is
provides basic business information for retired postal workers, it could serve as a possible
model for an Alumni Network website. Jon B. responded that of the 54 alums he
contacted who are consistent communicators, approximately 2 use the current website
available for Alumni, most get their news from the Independent. Sarah then brought up
the point that there were several unofficial pages like FB with a membership of 1300.
People create un-moderated groups. Mark reminded us that it makes sense to have a place
for Alumni to be able to go to share information and cross communicate and reach out to
additional alumni that should be generated from the Antioch Alumni Board. This
includes things like information like how to start a co-op or how to start a chapter.
Discussion included the following questions and responses:
When will a page/website be created?
The Communications Department has assigned staff to create a database within the next
year. The design process is slow because the staff is learning the program along the way.
What can we as Alumni do to speed up this process?
It’s too difficult and time consuming to attempt to train another person in what is being
discovered through this design process. The system is called Netcommunity. It was
mentioned that in the past former alumni board members have offered to assist with this
process to no avail. The defense was that the information in the database is directly
connected with confidential information.
Should we lobby to get Maria freed up to work on this project full-time?
There are remote alums which may have knowledge of how this program works.
In the interim, what could be another means to improve communications between
and among alumni?
Possible e-blasts? The Independent? Maria reported that plans were underway to publish
a separate newsletter highlighting Chapter volunteers and Work Project volunteers. The
Independent does not always prioritize additional submissions about volunteers. The
target audience being volunteers and alumni. Maria suggested that we contribute monthly
to this newsletter. It was debated about not being able to centralize alumni
communications effectively. No central place for alumni to access minutes to the board
meetings and relevant links etc. The goal of the chapters and volunteer newsletter would
be to get people engaged and recruit additional volunteers for projects. The title of this
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newsletter should be all inclusion so as to reach beyond currently active alumni.
Communications Department stated that the Alumni Book/Directory is just considered
the first step towards developing an online directory. When it comes to communicating
with alumni, all communications should come from Antioch.
How do we capture stories of activities of alumni outside of campus and
committees?
If we decided to contribute to this newsletter who edits/approves content? Nichole.
People are needed to funnel info to Alumni Association and to Nichole. Committee
members could set up a schedule that rotates the responsibility monthly to gather
information about Alumni and chapter and submit to Nichole for the newsletter to
possibly be launched in April.
We could repurpose news/stories but may run the risk of info repeat and duplication. The
Independent editor could be asked if there could be a section for designated chapter and
alumni stories included. It was concluded that we need to find ways to make better use of
current publications that would be the point of bolstering support, recruiting and
showcasing volunteer and chapter activities and needs.
We needed a larger discussion so we silo busted the Chapters committee meeting:
1. Volunteers feel like volunteer information is too condensed. More space needed to
promote more.
2. Chapter events need more space to report, recruit and share out information.
3. More links could be used to direct alumni and chapters information to more detailed
info.
Website changes and publication politics continue to get in the way of resolving these
issues.
Mark mentioned that the Independent seems focused on YS news, new things on campus
and everywhere else. Karen noted that the volunteers and chapters newsletter would be
volunteer focused and could be used as a tool to spread more information.
What about opening the distribution up to alumni in Atlanta for example?
Perhaps an alumni survey could be designed and distributed? Jon currently uses E-blasts,
Word of mouth, arm twisting but rarely uses or gets results from websites.
The Antiochian does a nice job on volunteers and reunion but not a word about January
and March work projects. There was talk about possibility of blogging.
Next Challenge:
How do we reach alumni who are currently disengaged?
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There was a suggestion to have the Independent create a special issue highlighting what
currently gets buried. There is not enough Chapter stuff to report yet. Possibly having a
“click here” button on the Independent that links to more focus on Chapters and
Volunteers showcasing and recruitment expanding the audience beyond current alumni
borders.
Reunion Committee Meeting
DRAFT Notes
March 1, 2013
Present: AB members: Matt Baya, Sarah Buckingham, Barbara Esbin, Larry Glasco,
Barrie Grenell, co-chair, Joan Horn, Megan Rosenfeld, Greg Williams, Shannon Wood;
Staff: Maria Rauch.
Committee members absent: Chad Johnston, Ozz Oswald, Paula Treichler, co-chair.
T-shirt. We weighed in on the T-shirt for this year’s Reunion.
Images of book covers. Shannon brought 88 images of book covers, one set (5x7)
laminated for hanging from trees and another set for mounting on the walls/windows at
McGregor during the weekend. She also passed around a list of the authors included so
far. She has a few more to complete. The room where we met, and the room next to that
if it’s needed, will be the venue for the Authors Reception and Showcase after the Panel
Discussion in the large room in McGregor. Authors who want to sell their books will
have to manage the sales themselves.
Author database. Barrie will come up with a list of fields for a prospective database
of Antioch authors. This is an attempt to remedy the fact that we don’t have one and
compiling one is a large project with no end. We would like to start such a database
and house it within Antiochiana perhaps, or as its own thing, and have it be
something that alumni themselves could add to and update, wiki style. Barrie will
circulate a list of fields that makes sense (name, Antioch year, title, genre, date,
publisher, ISBN, form (e.g., article, book)) and circulate that list among the alumni
and others (e.g., Bob Fogarty, Scott Sanders). Then Barrie will consult with Matt
Baya and the college IT/web site folks regarding how to get from the list of fields to
something that is useful. Staff in charge of Work Project will be contacted to see
how to make this project one that volunteer alumni can help move toward greater
comprehensiveness. It does have the advantage of being a project that can be taken
on without coming to Yellow Springs; on the other hand, it would not contribute to
the comaradie and fun of Work Project tasks.
Theme for 2014 Reunion. We had decided that the theme for Reunion in 2014 would be
the Environmental Field Program, but since the Gym/Wellness Center will be opening at
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the time of Reunion in 2014, the staff suggested the theme be changed to Wellness in
order to highlight the renovated facility. The committee was fine with this. And to the
extent possible, there was interest all around in having awards relate to the theme as
much as possible. Since awardees need to be identified early in order to contact them and
make sure they can be there, and since some candidates for awards are getting on in
years, there are always other factors to consider. The date for Reunion 2014 will be
decided by staff, but it was pretty clear that June 27-29 is the only weekend that will
work (Work Week starting June 23rd).
50th Anniversary Class Dinner. At Reunion this June, both the 50th and 55th reunion
classes will be honored since there was no Reunion five years ago. Also, since we do
have alumni who are attending Reunion who are past their 50th, a Legacy Society
(name?) is being formed to include any alumni who are of any class above 50th. At the
dinner, to be held at the President’s home, the honored classes will eat for free; the others
will pay the cost of the dinner, about $25. There was some discussion about not charging
any of them for dinner, but since the Reunion already loses money, this isn’t likely to
happen.
The overall cost of the full Reunion package will continue to be $200 (or close to that)
and registration alone at $35.
Seating at meals. To promote more cross-fertilization across years and across
geographies, it was suggested that we seat people so that they mix with others outside
their age group or within their geographical group (to support chapter formation and
viability), but no motion was made, and as it is many attendees come mainly to see old
friends.
Changing role of Reunion Committee. This was not taken up as such, but there was a
little talk about whether the Reunion Committee should exist since most of the work is
done by staff and even things like theme selection make sense as coming from the
college, to ensure that Reunion fits into the college’s themes. Similarly, there was talk
about the Reunion Committee taking on the Awards since Nominations already has a
fairly full plate, what with Alumni Board and Alumni Board officer nominations and
elections.
Notes submitted by Barrie Grenell