Rutgers Envirostewards Alumni Association

October 20, 2011 RESAA Minutes - Page1

Rutgers EnviroStewards Alumni Association (RESAA) Executive Board Meeting Minutes Thursday, October 20, 2011

ATTENDANCE: Bill Curzie, Marlene Robinson, Dionne Polk, Pat Hudson, Will Sigle, Irene Sabin, Bruce Barbour

Bill Curzie called the meeting to order at 10:30 a.m.

APPROVAL OF MINUTES: The September 13, 2011 minutes were approved as written.

CORRESPONDENCE

 Steve Foster (Duke’06) had sent an email saying that he remains interested in RESAA activities and is hoping to participate in the upcoming months. A card was sent to Steve from the members of the RESAA Executive Board saying that he would be welcome at the meetings when he was able to attend.

 BoroGreen requested that a notice be sent to all RES classes announcing the Central Jersey Best Practices Conference. Irene sent out a message on September 26 announcing the Nov 5 conference at Duke Farms to all RES classes.

RES PROGRAM COORDINATOR’S REPORT

 Bruce stated that the Graduation/ Certification ceremonies for the 2011 classes will be held on November 16, 2011 at Duke Farms. Organic Diversion, LLC will sponsor the event again this year. There will be project presentations, a display table and assimilation of the new graduates into the alumni group. Bruce, also, brought a video of a 3 hour RES class lecture by Peter Montague on “Precautionary Principle” which had been recorded and edited by Ed English (Duke’11), who is a videographer. This was his certification project. It may be streamed during the November 16 ceremonies and used as a webinar in the future.

 Bruce brought the double-sided nametags and red lanyards completed for the currently certified 100+ alumni and gave out nametags to members of the Executive Board who were present at the meeting. Provisions will be made to distribute the current nametags to everyone after which they will be awarded at each certification ceremony.

 2012 classes will be held in Warren County, Atlantic County, and Duke Farms. Bill Curzie, Jim May and Marlene Robinson will organize and run a RES class at the EcoComplex in 2012.

COMMITTEE REPORTS

Educational Forum/General Meeting – no report at this time

Continuing Education – Irene reported that Duke Farms is ready to discuss a continuing education program with the members of this committee. RES alumni will help generate courses/ speakers and may have advance registration for some courses but the events will also be open to the public. Specific goals have yet to be defined. October 20, 2011 RESAA Minutes - Page2

Continuing Education - The following courses/ events are currently scheduled at Duke Farms:

 October 26, 2011 (Wednesday) 10am – 3pm: “How to grow a Community Garden”

 November 5, 2011 (Saturday) 1:00 - 4:00pm: Central Jersey Green Teams Best Practices Conference at Duke Farms, Hillsborough (also on alumni website)  November 17 and 18, 2011 (Thursday, Friday) 9am - 4:30pm: Lake Management. Rutgers OCPE : held at Duke Farms. (also on alumni website)

RESAA Website – Dionne asked if Rutgers monitors the RESAA website. Irene answered that RESAA does not have an independent website. The alumni site is a Rutgers website and posted material must comply with Rutgers policies.

OLD BUSINESS

Central Jersey Green Teams Best Practices Conference – Nov 5, 1 – 4pm at Duke Farms Sponsored by Sustainable Hillsborough, BoroGreen and Sustainable Jersey. There are three main themes: Energy, Transportation and Recycling.

The conference objective is to encourage attendees to apply the best practices discussed during the conference in their own communities. The conference is free but registration is required: http://events.r20.constantcontact.com/register/event?llr=e4svqyeab&oeidk=a07e4irtp5e3ae93b86 (also on alumni website)

RES/RESAA Program Promotion - RESAA received an invitation to set up a RES/RESAA display table at the November 5 Central Jersey Conference at Duke Farms. Irene asked for more brochures for the November 5 and November 16 events. Some of the display materials, also, need to be updated.

NEW BUSINESS

Marlene would like to disseminate information on using porous surfaces for paving in the communities. She would like to discuss putting together a project that EnviroStewards could take into their towns. Bruce suggested contacting Amy Rowe, a Rutgers Agent who has done presentations on the topic.

ANNOUNCEMENTS

 Marlene passed around a photo of the Fantastic Plastic Scarecrow that she made for a contest in Smithville.

 Will recommended the movie: “Addicted to Plastic”

 Irene and Will went to a program on restoring drained agricultural land to wetlands at Duke Farms on Tuesday, October 18. There were 5 Environmental Stewards in attendance.

ACTION LIST Irene  pursue continuing education with Duke Farms  look for volunteer project opportunities for alumni around the state. (it would be nice if others helped)  check the nametags for correct spelling and make new tags for any missing ones. Bruce - More brochures by November 5 October 20, 2011 RESAA Minutes - Page3

The Next RESAA Meeting will be on Thursday, December 8, 2011 at the EcoComplex

9:30 – 10:00 idea exchange; 10:00 to Noon – business meeting.

Marlene made a motion to adjourn and Will seconded. The meeting was adjourned at 12:15pm.

Respectfully submitted, Irene O. Sabin [email protected] 908-806-8895