UAA Executive Committee Meeting Minutes
May 19, 2011
Participants:
Executive Committee: Paula Goddard (Chair), George Hill (Treasurer), Curt Farrar, Carol Peasley, Brad Langmaid, Gary Merritt, John Lovaas.
Administrative Assistant-Meredith Gaffney
Guest Alumnus-Ben Barber
1. Minutes. April minutes were discussed, a couple of changes suggested. John, acting note taker, agreed to make changes, circulate and pass to AA for posting to the website.
2. Introduction of New Administrative Assistant. Gary introduced Meredith Gaffney, new part-time AA. Meredith just completed her M.A. in economics and international studies at SAIS and is a graduate of Emory University.
3. Treasurers’s Report. George reported a current account balance of $14,202 plus three membership contribution checks just received. He noted that there is a $220 outstanding bill for the webmaster; also, Gary mentioned that there will be a significant, probably one-time, spike in website costs as a result of overhauling the site design. Monthly fixed costs for the website, however, may continue at the earlier low levels as we gain more direct input to content management.
4. Annual General Meeting Planning. Terry Brown was unable to attend the ExCom meeting, but he and Paula had talked about Administrator Shah’s interest in attending the AGM. The good news is that the Administrator is interested in participating in AGM, although not yet confirmed. He wants less emphasis on 50th birthday of USAID. He is interested in having a panel involving him during his segment of the program, apparently to obtain alumni perspectives. This is consistent with proposal by Janet Ballantyne to use AGM forum to roll out the 50-year retrospective book featuring personal stories.
Paula received a note from Linda Whitlock-Brown who handled logistics with Gary for the last two AGMs. Linda said that IF she does not have a schedule conflict with the new DLI class, she is willing to manage again the Clarendon Ballroom contract, cash box at the door, deposit to UAA account, and brief written report for Excom. However, she is not willing to manage logistics for A/AID Shah nor support for LPA (now OPA), including videotaping proceedings.
Follow-up: Carol agreed to be ExCom point person for AGM program coordination. The first step is to distribute a draft agenda; Carol will do that in the coming week. Gary again volunteered to handle logistics, but will require assistance from other ExCom members if Linda is not available. Further, planning the AGM will be a priority for the entire ExCom and all members should be available to assist in making the event a success. The next ExCom meeting will focus on the planning.
Ben Barber offered to assist with videotaping. He suggested we compile a “legacy video” of brief interviews with alumni conducted during the day of the AGM, and will work with Gary to link it to the website to be accessible to all members. The details of this remain to be worked out.
5. May Newsletter. Paula outlined items for the May Newsletter which she will draft, and solicited suggestions for other items. List included:
–AGM teaser on possible 50-year retrospective rollout;
-legacy video notion;
-announcing ExCom elections, openings, how to apply;
-SID international conference on July 29—including hopefully discounted, from $325, tickets for UAA members;
-MFAN documents on building a 21st century AID agency;
-paying membership contributions for 2011, reiterating tax deductibility;
-reaching out to alumni for ideas for a “tributes’ or “transition” section for UAA website;
-latest and upcoming DACOR Development Dialogues; and,
-New members and welcome to AA Meredith.
6. Website: David Cohen Report. Gary noted that David had sent his draft report with suggested changes to Webmaster Sean McKee to look over. Committee will discuss at next meeting. Gary mentioned some suggested changes now on the website and asked ExCom members to review and offer suggestions ASAP.
7. Committee Reports. Curt reported that Janet Ballantyne attended last Development Issues Committee meeting, announced plan to rollout her retrospective on 50 years of USAID at the AGM in October. She asked for committee comments on 278-page draft book which contains 100 stories, but still has a few gaps she hopes to fill, including, e.g., PEPFAR. ExCom voted to approve reimbursement to Committee members to copy the draft for their review. Also, the Committee is working on a strategy to get timely news of professional opportunities out to UAA members. They are also meeting with new USAID Chief of Evaluation, Cynthia Clapp-Wencek, to discuss what collaboration with UAA is desired.
8. Development Dialogue Summaries. Gary provided a list of DDD luncheon speakers and topics. This is now linked on the UAA website.
9. Next Meeting. Next meeting at Tetra Tech, June 14. Focus on AGM.
Drafted: JLLovaas