Association of Alumni Executive Committee
Conference Call
October 26, 2018
Noon–1 PM ET

Participants:  Luke Antal, Cheryl Bascomb, Bob Charles, Autumn Chuang, Brendan Connell, Budge Gere, Louisa Guthrie, Mabelle Hueston, Jamila Ma, Liz Nunez, Meg Ramsden, Angela Stafford

President of the AOA Louisa Guthrie opened the conference call. She welcomed new committee member Bob Charles.

Brendan Connell moved to approve the minutes of the conference call that had been held on June 13, 2018. Budge Gere 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 Louisa Guthrie, Budge Gere, Luke Antal, Brendan Connell and Angela Stafford.  They held a conference call on September 12.  All current Association of Alumni Officers and Executive Committee members who are eligible to serve another term will remain on the nominated slate. Luke Antal, Bob Charles, Steve Geanacopoulos, Budge Gere, Louisa Guthrie, Jamila Ma, and Angela Stafford will continue on the AOA in the coming year. Committee members Mabelle Hueston, Autumn Chuang, Brendan Connell and Danielle Dyer will complete their terms this year. The Nominating Committee will invite four 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 after a discussion about the process and importance of representation of diverse constituencies. The Nominating Committee will extend these invitations as soon as possible so that the nominated slate can be posted online by December 5, 2018.

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, Steve Geanacopoulos and Jamila Ma. They held a conference call on October 19. The Vox the Vote website has been updated with information pertaining to this year’s timeline and potential election. The timeline was posted on the Vox the Vote website and the Association of Alumni website and announced in a news item on October 15. The committee approved the same word count limitations for all candidates as in the 2010-2018 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 December 5, 2018. The deadline for petition candidates to file the necessary signatures to run is December 20, 2018. An email notification will be sent to alumni on December 21, 2018 informing them about the Association of Alumni nominated slate and any petition candidates if they have filed to run. 

The Alumni Council will vote to approve two alumni-nominated trustee candidates at their meeting on November 17. If approved, the two candidates will be announced to all alumni on November 19 via email and hard copy postcard. Requests for paper ballots and petition trustee candidate nominations will be accepted through January 21, 2019. 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 p.m. ET on Wednesday, March 21, 2019. Committee members are invited to participate in person or via conference call.

Brendan Connell asked to formally recognize the outstanding alumni service, leadership and friendship of AOA member Ellis Rowe, who passed away this summer. The committee supported this and the formal recognition will be added to the March annual meeting agenda. Bob Charles said he was honored to have been chosen to fulfill Ellis’ term.

There will be a tentative conference call scheduled for the Association of Alumni Executive Committee during the week of December 17.

Submitted by Meg Ramsden
Associate Director, Alumni Leadership