Association of Alumni Executive Committee
Conference Call
October 31, 2017
Noon – 1 PM ET

Participants:  Martha Beattie, Stina Brock, Autumn Chuang, Brendan Connell, Danielle Dyer, Louisa Guthrie, Liz Nunez, Meg Ramsden, Heiyab Tessema

President of the AOA Louisa Guthrie opened the conference call.

Stina Brock moved to approve the minutes of the conference call that had been held on June 2, 2017.  Brendan Connell seconded the motion.  The minutes were unanimously approved.

Brendan Connell gave a report from the Association of Alumni Nominating Committee.  The Nominating Committee consists of Stina Brock, Brendan Connell and Susan Dentzer.  They held a conference call on October 3.  All current Association of Alumni Officers and Executive Committee members who are eligible to serve another term have been invited to be on the nominated slate.  Those six alumni include Louisa Guthrie, Mabelle Hueston, Autumn Chuang, Brendan Connell, Danielle Dyer and Jamila Ma. Five committee members including First Vice President Stina Brock, Secretary-Treasurer Meg Ramsden, and Executive Committee members Susan Dentzer, Aly Jeddy and Heiyab Tessema are all completing their terms.  The Nominating Committee will invite five alumni to be on the nominated slate to replace them.  The Executive Committee shared feedback with the Nominating Committee regarding suggestions about individuals to consider for these vacancies, and those recommendations were endorsed.  The Nominating Committee will extend these invitations as soon as possible so that the nominated slate can be posted online by November 22, 2017.

Louisa Guthrie gave a report from the Association of Alumni Balloting Committee.  The Balloting Committee consists of Louisa Guthrie (chair, as required by the Association of Alumni constitution); Danielle Dyer, Mabelle Hueston and Jamila Ma.  They held a conference call on October 18.  The VoxtheVote website has been updated with information pertaining to this year’s timeline and potential election.  The timeline was posted on the VoxtheVote website and the Association of Alumni website in October.  The committee approved the same word count limitations for all candidates as in the 2010-2016 elections which are a 400 word statement and bio combination for each officer and a 250 word statement and bio combination for each executive committee member.  The nominated AOA slate will be posted online by November 22, 2017.  The deadline for petition candidates to file the necessary signatures to run is December 8, 2017.  An email notification will be sent to alumni on December 15, 2017 informing them about the Association of Alumni nominated slate and any petition candidates if they have filed to run. 

The Alumni Council unanimously approved two alumni-nominated trustee candidates at their meeting on October 28. This was announced to all alumni on October 30 via email and hard copy postcard. Requests for paper ballots and petition trustee candidate nominations will be accepted through January 4, 2018. If the election is contested, the Association of Alumni will administer an election with balloting conducted via email unless a paper ballot is requested. The AOA approved a 700 word statement and biography combination for alumni trustee candidates to be posted on the VoxtheVote website.

Meg Ramsden reviewed the Association of Alumni timeline that is posted online.  The annual meeting of the Association of Alumni will be held in Hanover at 12 noon ET on Wednesday, March 14, 2018.                

There will be a tentative conference call scheduled for the Association of Alumni Executive Committee in December.

Submitted by,
Meg Ramsden
Secretary/Treasurer, Association of Alumni