Council Meeting Minutes
African American Alumni Council Meeting
VCU Alumni Activities Conference Room
Saturday, October 21, 2006
I. CALL TO ORDER
The meeting was called to order at 10:15 a.m.
II. WELCOME
Mr. Wallace welcomed everyone and lead the introductions.
III. APPROVAL OF MINUTES
The minutes from the September 23, 2006 meeting were reviewed and a motion was made approval. Motioned. Seconded. Moved.
IV. PRESIDENT'S REPORT
Mr. Wallace stated that he is attending a retreat on November 18th and will not be available to participate in the November 18th meeting. After some discussion, Mr. Wallace recommended either rescheduling the meeting for November 11th or asking one of the other officers to facilitate the meeting in his absence. He and Mr. Powell will review the options and inform the membership of their decision as soon as possible as well as post the information on the web site.
Mr. Wallace re-emphasized that the majority of the Council's work must be carried out through the committee structure. He stated that a more can be accomplished by the committees and than during the general membership meetings
V. COMMITTEE REPORTS
Budget
Mr. Tyner presented his revised budget report and explained the changed to the membership. The budget is broken into three categories: inflow of money, outflow of money and the overall balance of all AAAC funds. As of October 20, 2006, the total inflow was $3,865.03, outflow $2,967.51 and the overall balance was $83,107.32.
Mr. Tyner stated that the report is merely a snapshot of the AAAC's financial status and invited members to contact him directly if they wanted more budgetary details. Overall the members liked the new format but suggested adding a footnote stating that the lifetime membership funds are being held for the AAAC by the VCU Alumni Association.
Professional Development
Mr. Powell stated that a mentoring orientation was conducted by the Office of Multicultural Student Affairs on September 23. He had not received any feedback regarding that session but will pass along information to the membership after getting in contact with Beverly Walker at OMSA.
Program and Events
The Program and Events Committee had their first conference call recently to discuss preliminary reunion weekend plans. Eta Theta chapter of Zeta Phi Beta will serve as the co-host during 2007 reunion and celebrate their 30th anniversary on campus. Mr. Powell asked it would be helpful to contact Phi Beta Sigma to see if they would be willing to work with the Zeta and provide any assistance needed. Mr. Tyner said that he would bring the issue up at the fraternity's next meeting. The Program and Event Committee's next conference call is scheduled for October 30th.
Public Relations
Mr. Powell stated that the Council's new web site had been launched and the feedback thus far has been positive.
Scholarship
Mr. Powell said that he would explore getting the AAAC's scholarship information posted to the university's scholarship web page to hopefully generate more applications.
VCU Alumni Association Board Representative
The VCUAA held its first board meeting of the school year on September 28. Their next meeting is scheduled for January 2007. At the meeting Peter Wyeth discussed VCU latest fund raising campaign and reported that the university did very well and exceeded its goal. The advancement office is already working on the next campaign.
Norwood Teague, VCU's new athletic director, attended the board meeting and discussed his objectives and reported on numerous highlights involving VCU Athletics.
Mr. Powell reminded the members of the VCUAA's lapsed members calling program on October 25th and encouraged AAAC to participate to help boost membership numbers. He also informed the members of the VCUAA's reception at Colonial Downs on October 26 and encouraged everyone to attend.
VI. OTHER BUSINESS
Council's Goals
Mr. Wallace reminded everyone of the Council's current goals:
1) Increase presence on campus
2) Grow scholarship funds and make annual awards to students
3) Develop new web site
4) Raise at least $3,000 in fund raising revenue annually
Fundraising Committee
Mr. Robinson volunteered to lead a newly formed fund raising committee. He will start looking into different fund raising options. Ms. Harper said that she will check with the jazz society for information regarding their arrangements to raise money selling apparel and will pass along the information to Mr. Robinson. Mr. Wallace suggested he and Mr. Robinson talk to Mr. Jay Sharpe regarding the potential to design AAAC related jewelry.
Non-profit Status
The question was asked if the AAAC considered a 501c 3? The VCUAA has non-profit organization status and we need to determined how the status also applies to the AAAC. Ms. Diane Stout Brown will be asked to clarify this issue.
Mr. Rossi
Ms. Phinizey will order a fruit basket or flowers along with sending a get well on behalf of the AAAC to Chip Rossi (Executive Director of Alumni Activities) who recently suffered a heart attack.
VII. ADJOURNMENT
The meeting adjourned at approximately noon.
Submitted by Regina Phinizey and Larry Powell