1 Eastern Michigan University Alumni Association Board of Directors Date
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Eastern Michigan University Alumni Association Board of Directors Date: March 6, 2020 Time: 5:30 p.m. Place: Aubree's Pizzeria & Grill – Back Room – 2122 Whittaker Rd, Ypsilanti, MI 48197 Agenda: 1. Show Up 2. Our EMU Stories This is a time reserved for one or two board directors who have been designated by the board president to share briefly how they came to EMU and how the university has positively affected their lives. 3. Eat Food Food and refreshments are provided by the Office for Alumni Relations as an expression of gratitude for our service to EMU through the EMUAA. 4. Alumni Association Visioning This time will be led by Jessica “Decky” Alexander, Director of the Office of Academic Service-Learning. 5. Mingle 6. Take Off 1 Eastern Michigan University Alumni Association Board of Directors Annual Meeting Student Center Saturday, November 16, 2019 Prepared by: Ruth Halsey, B.S., M.B.A, ’01,’12, Secretary Meeting Minutes Members present: Trudy Adler, Howard Booth, Tom Borg, Susan Bos, Tom Charboneau, Mary Jane Fallot (late), Michael Gomez, Ruth Halsey, Alex Landen, Lucas Langdon, Mary Larkin, Desmond Miller (left early), Marina Reyna, Niklaus Schillack, Evan Sweet, Ebony Walls, Allen Williams, Claudia Young Hunter Members absent: Michelle Machiele (excused), Jenita Moore (excused), Gabriela Salagean (excused), Anna Torres (excused) Ex-officio members present: Jill Hunsberger, Mia Milton, Jessica Nietzeba Ex-officio members absent: Austen Smith, Bill Shepard Emeritus member present: William Malcom, Bud Schimmelpfenneg, Fred Roberts Emeritus member absent: Vicki Reaume (excused) Others present: E-Club Chapter: Robin Vaughn Arm of Honor Chapter: Patrick Barry, Fred Howard, Angelo Pizo, Serg Black Alumni Chapter: Kimberly Jones, Shatina Jones, LaDonna Johnson, Derrick Moss Occupational Therapy Chapter: Adrianna B Accounting and Finance Chapter: Evan Scarborough Construction Management Chapter: Melanie Myers 1. Call to Order Mr. Schillack called the meeting to order at 9:04 am. He welcomed all of the Board members. He welcomed all attendees at the Board of Directors meeting include all Directors, Leigh Greden, and visitors, including the chapter representatives who would be recognized today. 2. Roll Call Mr. Landen took attendance and confirmed that quorum is met. The results of the roll call can be found at the top of the minutes. Page 1 of 7 Eastern Michigan University, Alumni Board of Directors November 16, 2019 Meeting Minutes 3. Approval of Agenda Mr. Charboneau made a motion to approve the agenda, it was seconded by Mr. Williams. The motion passed unanimously. 4. University Update Leigh Greden provided the update for the University. It is listed below. President’s Visit to the Middle East The Smiths just returned from a 2-week trip to the Middle East late the prior evening. He visited Saudia Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. His trip was for a variety of initiatives including visits to several universities to develop new partnerships and recruitment of new students. New Major Donor Announcement There was a significant donation from ‘Game Above’, a group of very active alumni, of $3.5 million dollars. This is not an endowment, and rather will be an expendable gift. $2 million will be for faculty initiatives as part of the faculty first program, for things like faculty development, research, and travel. $1.5 million for student initiatives, which they are calling ‘Students Matter Most’. The funds will be managed by the Provost’s Office, who is working with the donors to develop a process and develop criteria for distribution of the funding. This donation is a huge piece of the comprehensive fundraising campaign that the Advancement Team is leading, and is very exciting. These donors have been engaged before, and the University remains hopeful these donors will continue to be engaged and are grateful for their incredible generosity. Update on EMU Institutional Priorities The three major institutional priorities are: student success and engagement Student Success and Engagement Women’s Lacrosse Team. EMU is launching a new varsity women’s lacrosse team. This team will allow for 35 student athlete opportunities. A question often asked is ‘you just got rid of women’s softball, why are you adding lacrosse’? Softball did not provide as many opportunities for student athletes as lacrosse. In addition, there seems to be more growth potential for lacrosse in the coming years. Finally, lacrosse has a stronger financial model than softball, and this is something that must be considered as EMU makes these kind of decisions. This has been very well received across campus. Women’s Cross Country. EMU’s women’s cross country won their fifth consecutive MAC championship, their first women’s cross country team in history with five in a row! Page 2 of 7 Eastern Michigan University, Alumni Board of Directors November 16, 2019 Meeting Minutes #3 Military Friendly Large Public Institution. EMU has a great history of supporting student veterans. EMU is the # 3 military friendly large public institution in the country. EMU also just received a military spouse friendly designation for the 2019-2020 school year. Both of these designations came from GI Jobs Magazine. MACRO Equity in Education Award for ‘Gateways to Completion’ Program. The Michigan Association of Collegiate Registrars and Admissions Officers (MACRAO) gave EMU an Equity in Education award for our Gateways to Completion program. EMU pays close attention to our Withdraw, Drop, Fail, and Incomplete rates, or WDFI rates. EMU looks closely at which student populations do you have WDFI rates? If students are withdrawing, failing, dropping or having an incomplete there is something going on that needs to be addressed. A few years ago, EMU found that there were high WDFI rates in gateway course, courses you have to take in order to complete your specific major, including the hard sciences and math and particularly among underrepresented students. EMU decided to address this, because if we are committed to expand the number of students pursuing a STEM career, particularly in minority populations, you cannot do this without completing these courses. To address this, EMU developed a comprehensive review of these programs, special techniques, faculty programs, and intensive student mentoring and tutoring and called it our “Gateways to Completion” program. As a result of this program, the WDFI rates for these courses decreased dramatically. Due to these results and this program, the MACRAO was so impressed by this and gave EMU an ‘Equity in Education Award’ for this program. New Health Center. The new health center that is community oriented has opened. This is a dramatic improvement in both facilities and the number of services provided. It also takes most types of insurance. Next to the new health center is the campus wellness center. A dedication is anticipated in during the winter. It will house CAPS (counseling and psychological services) and the psychology clinic. Both of these will move into this building. All of these items reflect the core mission as an institution of priority. This is an important part of this. Academic Programs and Quality Research College of Engineering and Technology. Renamed the College of Technology to the ‘College of Engineering and Technology’. EMU is creating and expanding the engineering programs. Four of the programs received ABET accreditation. The four programs were Mechanical Engineering Technology, Electronic Engineering Technology, Product Design Engineering Technology, and Information Assurance and Cyber Defense. The State of Michigan provided a one million dollar grant for faculty development and course development for the program of Information Assurance and Cyber Defense as they recognize the importance of this program. New Program in Quantitative Economics. The regents just approved a new program a bachelor’s degree in Quantitative Economics. Its economics, less theory, and a lot more data application and analysis. It is a growing field particularly as data analytics is considered. Page 3 of 7 Eastern Michigan University, Alumni Board of Directors November 16, 2019 Meeting Minutes Engagement and Service EMU Alum Zach Wygal Receives CNN Top 10 Hero Award. Zach Wygal, 2007 EMU graduate received a CNN Top 10 Hero Award. Zach started Gamers Outreach recently presented on a program they have that helps kids who are in the hospital during long term medical treatment to play video games while they are recuperating to keep them engaged with their friends and feeling like they are doing something fun while they are in the hospital. They created carts that can be wheeled into a patient room to allow kids to play different video games. These are now in 150 hospitals around the country. EMU ‘Bright Futures’ Grant Renewed. EMU Bright Futures is one of our grant funded programs, funded by federal dollars, where EMU’s team, led by Decki Alexander, who go into local schools and provide out of classroom support. ‘Out of classroom’ means after school or during the summer. Decki’s program is award winning and is the largest program in the State of Michigan as they have 25 schools. They used to have 15 schools, but the Federal Department of Education and State of Michigan Department of Education found that the program was so successful that not only was the grant renewed they expanded the program to include 10 more schools. These schools are mostly in underserved community. 5. Division Update Ms. Milton, the new Executive Interim Director of the Alumni Relations and Engagement, provided an overview of the Division of Advancement report. It is listed below. Upcoming Activities to Note on Your Calendar Martin Luther King Day Celebrations Commemorative march starts on January 16th. Jan 16-21, 2020 Theme: Rise Up Against Injustice Keynote Speaker: Terrence J. Roberts Ph.D is one of the "Little Rock Nine" who desegregated Central High School in Little Rock, Arkansas in 1957, following the 1955 decision by the US Supremem Court in the Brown v.