Notes from USNA Parents Club Conference

September 10, 2009

Welcome by Veronica Gibson, Parent Club Coordinator and Noreen Frenaye, Alumni Services Manager. They said that the official listserv for parents is www.usnaparents.com and that only this one should be used. Apparently the other ones contain unsubstantiated information and rumors. Remarks from Byron Marchant, ’78, who is the President of the Naval Academy Alumni Association under which Parents Clubs fall, reiterated the importance of the role of Parents Clubs in welcoming parents and recruiting candidates.

Remarks by the new Academic Dean, Dr. Andrew Phillips revolved around the recent change in the Academy’s mission statement, the first change in 40 years. The change is from “promoting graduates” to “graduate leaders.” Dr. Phillips explained that this is the major purpose of the Academy. The old model was to weed out midshipman (30% by graduation) while the new model recognizes that it is so hard to get in, that it behooves the Academy to work towards molding leaders. Currently, 85% of mids now graduate with 3% dropping out for academic reasons and 12% leaving for other reasons. By comparison, nationally, the college/university graduation rate is 35% in four years.

Dr. Phillips also talked about how difficult academics are at the Academy. Mids take 140 credits compared to 120-125 nationally. But this is really 148 credits because P.E. courses do not count at other institutions. 100 of the credits at USNA are required courses. The maximum class size is 20 and the mid/faculty ratio is 8:1 which allows for effective and interactive education. The faculty is half military and half civilian which is unique among the service academies. When a parent asked how the civilian faculty is chosen, Dr. Phillips said that they must have a Ph.D. and need to buy into the program mission of moral, mental and physical development. They are also expected to put this mission and that of training leaders above any research.

The overall educational goals in leadership development are described with seven attributes: Selfless, Inspirational, Proficient, Innovative, Articulate, Adaptable, and Professional.

The Commandant, Matthew L. Klunder, ’82, was introduced and has been promoted to Rear Admiral. (The Superintendent said that he is going to try to keep him at USNA as long as possible.) The Commandant gave a very inspiring speech about the Naval Academy “Family.” He personally receives 350 emails a day and tries to answer all of them within a couple of days. He has started a new Family Outreach Office among his staff. This Office will be also work with parent clubs.

Admiral Klunder’s presentation was followed by a panel of four mids and two company officers. They were open to questions from the audience and reiterated how important care packages are and mail during Plebe Summer because they have no email, especially in the third week.

Following this panel, the Superintendent, Jeffrey Fowler, ’78 spoke. He reported that only 15 Plebes left this past summer which was a record. He complimented the detailers in their training. His expectations for Parents Clubs are fourfold: Information, Positive Attitude, Recruiting and BGOs. He also presented a Vision Statement for 2010. With regard to the physical plant, he joked that he was known for starving the mids so he has worked diligently to improve the situation. He went up the chain of command in Washington and was able to increase the daily amount spent per person from $7.00 to nearly $11.00 for all of the academies. This means better quality, fresher, and healthier food. He has also made plans to renovate the kitchen which has not been done in decades (late forties?). For the next two years, the kitchen will be housed in a temporary tent but services will not be disrupted. The Supe also mentioned physical plant changes to the Nimitz Library and Hubbard Hall. He also reported that the number of Navy sailboats, like the 44’s, will be increased from nine to 16. The Supe was open to questions and one parent asked about Sea Trials. He explained that it is an educational experience that starts at 2:00 am and covers a lot of muddy ground. It is not meant as a spectator’s event and he will not change that on his watch.

Molly Connors spoke next about the Alumni Store which can be accessed through www.usna.com/shop or by contacting her at 402-295-4024 or at [email protected]. For a $50 one time registration fee, a club can develop and register their logo. Her staff will work with the club to customize the logo. Apparel such as t-shirts, towels and blankets can be ordered with the logo and can be personalized with a name and/or event name. The club will get 10% back on the sale of the item. They also have other items for sale although the clubs do not get 10% on these. All proceeds, however, do support the Alumni organization.

Don Nelson, the Assistant Director of Admissions spoke about the need to recruit parents as Blue and Gold Officers. They are looking to lower the average age of BGOs in order to recruit more midshipmen from outside the military and in order to improve diversity. He can be contacted at [email protected].

CDR David Church (Ret) ’87, spoke next about the services that the Academy provides for Alumni who decide to leave the military whether it is after five years or twenty. For example, they are offering career conferences this year in San Diego, Washington, D.C. area (where one- third of the military reside), San Antonio and Savannah. In the Career Services office, a graduate can post their resume which includes 36,500 service academy members. They can sort by academy alumni and by geographic area. Job postings are also possible at a fee. He also said that mids interested in graduate schools should contact alumni who have graduated in a particular academic area or in a geographic area.

At a lovely lunch at the Officer’s Club, several corporate sponsors showed their wares. Several hotels are offering between 10 and 20% discounts on room rates, so parents should always ask for discounts at the Double Tree and the O’Callaghan Hotels. USAA and Annapolis Accommodations were also represented. Captain Barbara Craig, USN (Ret.) was the luncheon speaker. She is one of the listserv moderators and a pediatrician. She explained the history of the listserv and gave details about the moderators.

The Conference continued with Captain Stephen Latta (Ret.), ’78, who is the Dean of Admissions. He explained how the Naval Academy admission criteria are part of the Navy Strategic Imperative which is three-fold: 1) Increase diversity of officer corps to be more in line with 50% minority representation in the enlisted ranks.

2) Increase technical degrees to 65%.

3) Increase mids chosen from certain Congressional Districts

In order to meet this imperative, the Academy is targeting five states to increase interest. These are the Dakotas, Idaho, Montana, and Wyoming. They are also targeting several cities across the nation to try to recruit more candidates who may not be aware of what the Academy has to offer. They have also started a STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math) program for rising 7th and 8th graders. They come to the Academy for a camp-like experience with and fun academic classes. This inaugural year, they had 199 total participants from 46 states. They will also expand this program to something called Project Engagement for 9th to 12th graders which would run from a Thursday to Saturday. The Summer Seminar series will also continue as it garners a lot of interest in the Academy. Captain Latta thought that Parents Club could be instrumental in recruiting candidates, in making them feel more comfortable with the idea of a service academy experience and with welcoming incoming Plebes. He also asked that clubs reach out and embrace diversity.

A representative from the Alumni Association promoted membership and told about the benefits of receiving Shipmate Magazine, group emails, and the ability to rent the Alumni House for special events. Veronica Gibson also advised everyone to have a USER NAME and PASSWORD for the alumni organization. It does not require membership but allows access to information and the FACEBOOK page. There is an Alumni Fan Page on FACEBOOK which was touted as another means of communication to club members. Also, they can host a webpage for the CT Club. A list of parents can be pulled but this page can only be viewed by club presidents. In order to pull a list, one needs to Login to USNA.com and click on “Parents Club”. After clicking on “I agree” to the terms, an email message can be written and sent out to those members from CT, for example. One problem identified by members of the audience is that the information might be outdated as the list comes from yellow cards filled in by mids when they enter Plebe Summer. The Alumni office noted this and will work on it. There are issues of confidentiality.

A representative from the MD, NJ, PA Club described how they feed the mids at home football games and then bring leftover food to the mids who are back in Bancroft who were unable to go. The parents do not eat at these tailgates, but this parent invited all to come and see what they do and to feel free to contribute any food items when they come down.

Veronica Gibson asked that all requests for Parent Club speakers go through her office so that they can keep track of them.

Folders with additional information such as a list of Parents Club and their presidents were provided and are available. Notes submitted by Patti Nietsch, Membership Chair, who attended the Conference.