Cabinet members in attendance: Ande Croll, Matthew Knisley, Ryan Armour, Anthony Nuval, Kevin Colby, Neal Groothuis, Joanna Messer, Tarun Nagpal, Scott Swanson

From IMSA: Carolyn Johnson

Late: Mindy Brown

Excused: Timothy Meyer

The meeting was called to order at 8:04 PM CDT.

No items for action on the agenda.

IAA Retreat

Ryan outlined the plan for the upcoming all-day retreat for cabinet members, to be held on Saturday, November 10, at IMSA, from 8:30 am to 5:00 pm with an optional dinner event. The agenda is still being worked out, but there will be a breakfast with Max and Suzyn in attendance. The first Preview Day (formerly VIP Day) is scheduled for the same day; Ande provided details regarding participation--cabinet members have been asked to be available around lunch (11:30 am - 1:00 pm) to answer questions and interact with potential students and parents.

Ande asked Carolyn for any additional specifics regarding the Preview Day. A second Preview Day is held in January and is usually the more attended of the two days.

Ryan asked that people RSVP by email as soon as their plans are confirmed. Carolyn stated that a conference call will be available for people to call in if they cannot be there in person.

Technology Update

Tony provided updates regarding the IAA technology infrastructure. Email aliases have been put into place and the website has been updated with the new addresses. The front page has also been changed to provide a blog-like display of the most recent updates to the site. Tony is currently in the process of cleaning up the site, removing old information and making sure all information is up-to-date. While ultimately individual people will be responsible for maintaining relevant areas of the site, such as regional club pages or Intersession pages, Tony asks that updates be requested through him while he gets a process in place to ensure consistency across the site.

The major effort that Tony is coordinating is a redesign of the IAA website, not only to add functionality but to also improve the aesthetic design. Tarun has volunteered his web design skills and has made a mockup of a redesigned front page that has so far garnered positive reactions. Next steps include integrating the new design into the current site and implementing the added functionality.

Matthew asked if this meant we are moving away from Plone. Neal and Tarun are working together to integrate the new design into the Plone backend.

Tony reminded everyone that he is looking for volunteers with graphic design or web design skills to help out with the effort. Should the brunt of the work fall to Tarun, it will take many months for Tarun to ramp up on Plone in his spare time. Discussion regarding the redesign can be found here.

IMSA Fund Board Meeting Recap

Ryan, liaison to the IMSA Fund board, reported the highlights of their most recent meeting. Five alumni are presently on the board; one of the topics of discussion was the IAA budget, to which IMSA Fund has committed to fully subsidizing. Donations are up 27% from the previous year, probably boosted by the IMSA 20-year anniversary last year. IAA cabinet members are highly encouraged to contribute--100% participation from the cabinet is sought, no minimum amount. Carolyn said she will send out a link where donations can be made online.

For the cabinet members still in school or with limited incomes, Ande stressed that it's not the amount that's important, but the fact that we are contributing. Ande also pointed out that asking alumni to contribute is made easier when we can show that the cabinet is fully committed to participate.

Carolyn clarified the IMSA fiscal year policy for those who might be wondering how contributions are tallied up: the fiscal year is tied to the school year and not the calendar year.

Regional Event Updates

Mindy provided an update on the status of planning for the Champaign-Urbana regional event. In order to make it easier for current university students to attend, the event has been moved to the Illini Union. Mark will use his affiliation with a registered student organization to secure a room free of charge. Catering details are still being worked out. The scheduled time for the event has been changed; the event now starts at 3:30 pm. Attendancewise, 18 have accepted the evite so far and 12 on Facebook, though some may be duplicate RSVPs.

Ande reminded Mindy to send the budget to Ryan and Matthew for approval once catering costs have been finalized. Carolyn asked how big the room is; Mark replied that he is looking to get a room that will fit 50-75 people comfortably.

Regarding other planned regional events, Ande is working on the Chicago event details. Carolyn said she can handle the logistics if no alumnus is available to coordinate it and Ande is not able to do it. Joanna said she can help with some of the legwork.

Matt said he has two people who have said they would like to serve as chairs for the Champaign-Urbana regional club and hopes that he can have them approved as the official club chairs at the Champaign-Urbana regional event.

IMSAlum Discussion

Ande passed along a message from Brenda regarding questions alumni have had with respect to the new publication. The Advancement Office characterizes the new publication as the evolution of several publications and is aimed at key constituents. Alumni can continue to send suggestions regarding content to Brenda. The publication will contain news and briefs about students, faculty, staff, programs, grants, giving, parents, alumni in action, alumni achievements, and profiles of alumni. General community notes can be submitted via the IMSA website. It is expected to be 20 pages in length. Research will forward the results of the magazine naming survey to the Advancement Office, which will include the votes and write-in results.

Neal asked what the status of the naming process is. Ande said that voting had just closed and she has not seen any results, but the feedback she has heard indicates that the three name proposals were not well-received by members of the community. There will not be a second round of voting; the choice of the name will be decided by members of administration. She does not know when an announcement will be made. Carolyn stated that she has no additional information, but suggested that those concerned bring it up for discussion with Suzyn at the cabinet retreat.

Scott thanked Carolyn for keeping the cabinet in the loop as best as possible; he mentioned several people have expressed feelings of being marginalized and the recent handling of the IMSAlum/new publication was reminiscent of an old pattern that some thought were over. Kevin also thanked Carolyn for her efforts. Carolyn asked everyone to keep in mind that Max and Suzyn are still getting to know alumni, who as a group are particularly unique.

Scott asked if it were possible that Brenda could have attended the meeting, as there seems to be a lot of confusion and she seems to have the most information. Carolyn said that Brenda is just the communicator; the message comes from administrators above her. Ande said that the effort was not Brenda's brainchild, but she might have a more direct line to the people that can provide the answers. Scott asked who the right person to talk to would be; Carolyn thought that the right person would be Suzyn, but she had another commitment and could not attend this meeting. She is open to participating if the cabinet would like her to attend.

Ryan encouraged people who feel passionately about the subject to contact Suzyn directly in order to maximize her time at the cabinet retreat, as she and Max can only attend for an hour. Carolyn gave out Suzyn's email address and phone number for people to get ahold of her directly and suggested setting up a conference call. Scott suggested that people get in touch with her individually to begin with and then have a conference call if there is enough interest.

Carolyn also announced that a job posting for the position of coordinator of alumni relations has been made. Currently, the duties are split between her and Brenda.

Other Announcements

Ande asked if there were other announcements. Tony asked if there was any update on the effort to update the IAA constitution. Scott replied that he is currently getting some thoughts together.

Tony also asked if there were any updates on regional club chairs. Matthew has emailed the people listed on the IAA website and has replies from the Boston and St. Louis clubs. Pooja is willing to continue as chair in St. Louis but would like some support. Matthew is looking to solicit volunteers along with the notifications for the regional events with Max and send out surveys to determine interest (type and frequency of events). Matthew said he will determine a timeline for the clubs that are not scheduled to have an event with Max in attendance.

Ande moved to close the meeting at 9:05 pm CDT. The motion was seconded by Tony and was passed unanimously.