Cal Maritime Alumni Association Board Meeting/Retreat
January 19, 2009
Courtyard by Marriott
– Vallejo, California
I. 0830-0900 breakfast served.
0910 Ken Passe called the meeting to order.
II. General Business:
a) Opening
Remarks – Ken Passe
Ken expressed the mission for the day to redefine and set
new plans for the Association’s future. Ken introduced new members and provided
notice that Trish Christensen had decided to resign from the Board, due to
conflicts with school and workload. As a result of several moves, three open
positions remain on the Board.
Self- introductions made by attendees around the table.
b) CMA President’s Report – Bill Eisenhardt
There is still not a budget for the current fiscal year at
the State. CMA’s budget includes a reserve
of 5% (2.4 million) of the operating budget to weather times like we are in.
Anticipate having to give back $500,000 of CMA’s operating
budget. All construction projects halted
across the State. CMA has to absorb $1.1
million in construction costs already incurred.
CMA will also have to close construction projects and absorb those costs. Financial Aid already promised to students
will now have to be funded by CMA. Faculty
raises ($200,000) also absorbed by reserve.
No guarantee that CMA will be reimbursed by the state when budget is
settled.
No enrollment growth.
(950 full resident students + non-resident students). We have to turn students away. 12/1/08 Deck program closed to new
applicants. ME program expected to shut in shortly. 270 first year students is the baseline.
New Res hall construction on track for completion next
fall.
ABS $3 million grant
awarded to create Maritime Policy and Management program, where
synergies with faculty will help the students to better understand the maritime
business, as requested by many industry organizations. Under development – two graduate programs,
one to be on-line.
Funding for fuel for TSGB remains a challenge. Ship now 95% fueled and guarantees two
cruises this summer. $500,000 grant awarded
for new engines that are more powerful and burn cleaner for work boats. MARAD
grant $2 million to add 55 berths to TSGB.
Hoping for additional $2 million to build a navigation training lab.
Harry Bolton:
Reviewed ballast water project now available on TSGB with the University of Washington. GE, ASEA, Mitsubishi or other vendors can
build a 20 ft container and plug it in on the TSGB. CMA will do testing and recording of data to
process samples pulled from Carquinez
Strait, as the SF Bay is rich
with non-indigenous species.
Working to have the Corps function better, more pride in the
school. Compliments to Harry Bolton on
changes made.
Captain Bob McAlister has now increased his pledge to $1
million and upon his death his estate goes to CMA also.
City of Vallejo
now realizes it is a college town and CMA is on the cover of Chamber of
Commerce Business Directory.
Spirits good on campus for the 825 cadets. There are 79 companies expected on campus for
career fair 1/20/09.
c) CMA Foundation Report: Tom Dunworth
This is expected to be the best fund raising year for the
foundation based on large donors. (ABS commitment gives us the ability to
solicit other maritime industry companies.)
Final stages of identifying projects and potential donors. Plan to launch campaign in the Spring of
’09. Following the Gala in March, Jen
Whitty will shift her focus to support the major gift campaign. Silvia to take over Alumni Affairs. CMA Foundation – Fund Raiser and CMAAA –
Friend Raiser. Percentage of Alumni
giving: 5,000 graduates living. Good
addresses for about 2,200 of these. Want
to increase this contact list. 9% of
Alumni are giving back in some fashion.
Like to up this to 20%. Most
annual fund gifts are $150 per contribution and we are looking to increase the
number of donors.
Annual fund donations in 2008: $650,000 cash ($400,000 from Alumni); $600,000
in yachts. This year to date $900,000 in
cash has been raised.
d) Alumni Affairs: Jen Whitty/Silvia Regalado:
Jen: Ease of
use of online capability for donating will hopefully increase output. Work with class secretaries to do class
challenges in fund raising. Gala is
March 28th , chaired by Jerry Aspland, and celebrating CMA’s 80th
birthday. Additional sponsorship from
industry needed.
Action: Identify potential sponsors and Auction Items for the
Gala. - All
4th Thursday event now scheduled for Houston (new location).
Silvia: Reintroducing the Scholarship/Mentor Dinner at
$50/ticket following the career fair.
Using the Web as a communication tool in the future to save on mailing
costs and provide more current information to Alumni. We have 63 postings in the Log Book so far
and hoping to increase this as Alumni become more familiar with site. Class pages will be available in 2nd
Quarter. We anticipate this will be a great tool for
Homecoming (October 9-11). Expect more
email pushes in the future.
Action: Homecoming is October 9-11, 2009. Help is needed to get Alums to understand
that this is an event to celebrate not just limited to class reunions. - All
Action: Consider providing “how to” steps on using the Alumni web site
and tools available on it to help bridge the “generation gap” related to
technology and alums. - Silvia
Harry Bolton:
State of the Corps
MARAD funding is good and supportive of CMA and many of CMAs
programs have cascaded to other Academy’s as best practices. $2.2 Million being invested in the TSGB now;
$3.2 million earmarked for the Nav Lab.
Texas Maritime found a C-5 from Suisun Reserve Fleet and their students
expected to cruise with CMA through 2010.
75% of the Corps of Cadets is backing the Commandants
Department and new direction concerning leadership development. A big problem is that no Corps Officers live
on campus; many seniors do not know 75% of the cadets in their divisions. Next year all Corp Officers will be required
to live on campus. 688 cadets will live
on campus next year, 72 increasing to 107 will live on the ship. Challenge will be in finding things for
cadets to do on a closed campus. All
majors now coexist in each division. Mentoring
is needed at all levels of the Corps.
e) Area Reports:
PJ Jacquelin – Southern California:
Port
of LA Harbor Cup is the
west coast keel boat championship. Jim
Morgan started the program and planning is underway. 8 schools participated last year and plan to
return this year. J. Morgan is hiring
Rich Roberts to coordinate PR promoting event within SoCal sailing world. Event is March 15-17. Auction items and sponsors under
development. Race is off of Queen’s
Gate.
Plan to promote Paradise Barbeque at Avacado Farm in Santa Barbara.
Working on invitation to Scotty Dixon to track boat
donations similar to King’s Point and Naval Academy
programs. There is no cost to the
school.
Working on research vessel donation from CA Fish and Game
who can no longer support the vessel through an Agency donation.
Working on finding a new chapter president for So Cal. Working to officially combine the Port
Engineers and CMA golf Tournament pending Bilge Club approval.
Bob Piazza – Bay Area:
4th Thursdays pretty well attended. New chapter in San Jose off to a slow start and picking up
speed again. Sacramento chapter started. Have not had a SF Chapter meeting but target
is April/May ’09.
Action: Consider 2 Bay Area 4th Thursday Gordon Biersch in
San Francisco plus perhaps Scott’s in Oakland.
One West Bay/East Bay – Bob Piazza
Stephanie Wright – Pacific Northwest:
This is an active chapter with 4-5 core members to drive
events. 4th Thursdays ongoing
in downtown Seattle
with 5-20 attendees. An annual dinner is
hosted in November and had corporate sponsorship for the first time, to keep
the cost down, particularly important for younger alumni. Event had 90 people in attendance. Annual Dinner also includes a raffle with
proceeds that go to a Student Event at the school like 6th Man or
Changeover Dance.
Summer event may be a baseball game (last summer’s picnic was
rained out). Money for events is
requested up-front to hold your reservation.
Action: Silvia to share instructions to Chapter Presidents on how to
accept credit cards for Chapter events/dinners etc.
Action: Chapter Presidents to share ideas for meetings, speakers,
topics etc. (Note: Is this something Silvia can assist with or have
a section on the website? Suggested
agendas, agenda items or speakers could be provided through the Alumni office.
f) Financial Report: Mike Desing
Line Items and account codes not lining up. To work off line.
Action: Review account codes and income trends to track $15,500. Mike
and Ken
g) Election results
Reviewed by Ken. All
items that had been proposed, passed.
Board expanded from 5 – 10 At Large members. Three open positions remain. Spread of Board members reviewed; currently
the 50’s not represented and we are short on the 80’s. John Coyle of ’87 has
specifically expressed a desire to be a Board Member. Charles Miller, ’56, may
be another candidate. Other possibilities include Jim Blake, Bill Athow and
Steve Brady.
Action: Create a subcommittee for nominations to CMAAA Board; solicit
resumes, and interest from proposed candidates. Chair – Lynn Korwatch, with Fred Henning, Bob
Piazza
h) Student Membership Guidelines
Following a discussion, student members on the Board will be
nominated through Josie Alexander and we will ask her to make an application
process to be a CMAAA Board Member. As a
part of the criteria for selection., the students should recognize the schedule
commitments and when necessary, be excused from class to attend. Terms will run Change-Over to
Change-Over. Students could have a
portion of the website to share meeting input/output and get students involved
in site.
Action: Rewrite Guidelines for Selecting Student Representatives on
Alumni Board – Ken
i)
Future Board Meeting Dates
Suggested meeting dates proposed to the Board. After
discussion, Bob Piazza made the motion to accept the Meeting dates as
proposed. All agreed. New dates will be:
Friday 1 May 2009 1300-1500 CMA Conference Room
To
be followed by Graduating Student Reception
Friday 17
July 2009 1300-1500 CMA Conference Room
Friday 9
October 2009 1300-1500 CMA Conference Room
Saturday 10
October 2009 Time TBD Annual Meeting at Homecoming
Friday 22
January 2009 1300-1500 CMA Conference Room
Action: Update Personal Calendars with meeting dates. ALL
IV. Break Out
Sessions:
Ken introduced the session and his expectations. Presentations of Breakout sessions: Friend-Raising,
Growing the Association, Mentoring.
Using breakout sessions develop action plans to address each of these
topics using the guidelines provided.
Action Plans include: measurement,
definition of what we are to achieve, time lines for implementation.
VI: Presentations:
Growing the Association – Beth Kirkpatrick
Definition: Maximizing participation; Involvement; monetarily
or Networking
Friends are in three categories: Past: Socializing; Present: Networking;
Future: Mentoring and Networking.
When you enroll and graduate from Cal Maritime you “Buy the
Network.”
We are a Global Institution with graduates working all over
the world.
Everyone is an Ambassador of the Academy.
Increase Size: VISIBILITY: We are all connected; PEOPLE:
Resources to give and
Measuring Progress:
Gain 300-400 new members and good email contacts, Update #
of current contacts.
Track # of hits on the website; Measure % of increase
attendance at alumni events; % increase of $ money raised at events.
Goals:
- Post jobs on the Alumni Website
- Hold consistent formal events so people can
count on and plan for networking and socializing.
- Create a calendar of events for all
chapters that have chairpersons contact info for each event listed.
- At Chapter events such as 4th
Thursday – have a laptop available to show people how to navigate the web
and update contact information, identify lost alumni.
- Provide a gift or entry into a lottery for
a gift as a reward for bringing an alum to an event or finding a lost
alumni. Lottery events could
include a free day on the Bay or discount ticket to alumni event.
- Job List: Formal program to help connect
jobs with potential employees/alums initially targeting people 5 + years
out of school. Another option is to
list Alumni by company so you can make your own contacts.
- Develop a University Travel Program. Value added to TSGB port calls and/or
sponsor a commercial (Princess etc) cruise that has CMA alumni/parents
aboard. Beth and Tom to work for
July Meeting.
- Tool Box on Website for Alumni Chapter
Officers and Alum wanting to plan an event/reunion/donation. Tools could include sample agendas for
chapter meetings, key contacts at the Academy, How to make a donation, How
to plan a dinner party, how to take credit cards as payments, how to
solicit donors, how to arrange a guest speaker for a meeting etc. PJ,
Holly, Silvia to work by September 1st.
- Welcome email/letter to new students and
their parents enrolling at CMA.
Welcome event to senior class (a month before graduation) sponsored
by CMAAA to highlights the benefits of being an active alumni.
- Maritime news on the alumni website – cliff
hangers, not routine like sailing anarchy site. PJ and Doug Webster to work.
Friend Raising – Lynn Korwatch
Definition: Social Networking for “Friends.” Friends are:
- Grads/spouses
- Employers
- Parents
- Faculty
Slogan: At CMA, you’re not a Number, you’re a Friend.
Needs:
Greater participation, greater
visibility, reconnecting grads to school/students; make it fun; informal;
benefits, relationships; differentiation from Foundation, distinguish the
benefits of job knowledge, industry awareness, continuing education
Actions:
Communications that are event
specific
Word of Mouth
Email Trees
Website improvement and marketing
Marketing of the Association and
Faculty
Measures:
Increased involvement
Success of events
Broad base participants
Action: Develop “Friend Raising” in interim years not just on reunion
years. – Friend Raising Committee.
Action: Make Alumni Donations at Formation so cadets can connect with
money raised on their behalf. – Ken and Commandant’s Office
Mentoring – Jim Sundfors
Definition:
- What
is it? Coaching on personal life
and industry experience
- Who?
Prospective and current students
- How to
organize? Alumni Bio List, establish “how to” guidelines, marketing to
prospective mentors
Needs and Benefits:
As early as possible students’ needs-----vetting through
Commandant Referral-------Alumni Mentors
Need Bios on various volunteers to match by
degree/experience
How to network? Through the website and alumni newsletter
and word of mouth
Benefits to Cadets:
Direction, Networking, Reinforcement, reality check,
personal growth
Benefit to Alums:
Giving back, prospective employees
Program to be developed by Commandant’s Office
Goals:
Individual: Focus, Career path development,
Program: Student/Alumni
Operating Procedures:
1) Student asks for Mentor
2) Commandant Evaluates and assigns cadets/mentor through
calls and email then cadet is assigned.
3) Student – Mentor
connect
4) Follow up through periodic updates and feedback to
Commandants
5) Confidentiality is requested but not guaranteed,
individual mentor assessment, protect student’s interests
Timeline:
1) Start Now
2) 100% in place after Labor Day (start fall semester)
3) Quarterly report at alumni board meeting
4) Records – Commandant maintains
5) 1 year survey and mentor feedback on program.
VIII: Discussion:
a)Advisory
Committees:
Advisory Committee has been dormant for many years. What
should the committee do? Suggestion: Develop programs worked on today such as
mentoring and help market Chapters events.
Let the current members know we are looking to increase the
role of the Advisory Board and see if they have are interested or have
suggestions on how they can participate and add value to the current AA Board.
Action: Contact each Advisory Committee member, explain terms and the
expanding role of the Board and Committee and determine the members’ interest
in continued participation - Ken
b) Distinguished
Alumni Awards:
Currently there is not a process in place to keep the
nomination pipeline full. Need to review criteria (other than being alive) and
how to build a candidates resume. Jennifer
is looking at UC Davis/Sac State process.
Proposing to add honoring the person at Homecoming as well as have them
as the speaker at Graduation. The idea
of a Wall of Fame in one of the Halls got dropped due lack of a proponent.
Another option was major contributors can a buy a spot on the wall highlighting
their contributions to the Academy.
For the Distinguished Alumni Award the “Nominator” had to
build the resume and it was grueling and time consuming and had to be
confidential so very hard to put together.
Proposal from Bob Piazza is that committee makes nominations and then
nominees are asked to build their resumes for the final selection being upfront
with the candidates that only one selection would be made. Tom Dunworth suggests that other schools base
selection on resumes readily available on people from industry etc.
Other awards to consider:
Honorary Alumni Award or Young Alumni Award to be added at homecoming. Distinguished alumni award should not be
limited to monetary contributions but rather include industry accomplishments
and contributions to CMA. Continue
limiting award to a graduate. After
discussion it was decided nomination process needs to be modified but criteria
is OK. (Holly suggestion: Have resumes of award winners on file in the
library for all alumni, distinguished associates of the Academy who are named
on plaques etc round campus so students can read, learn, find role models.)
Action: Jennifer to review/revise/streamline the Distinguished Alumni
nomination form to highlight who, why, and how to contact nominator/nominee and
post it on the website.
Action: Jennifer to solicit other campuses to see what process they
have that we could model a “rising star” award for recent graduates for the
board to review, discuss, implement.
Action: Subcommittee to continue work on how to implement and determine
how to honor: Distinguish Alumni Committee per the by-laws, develop rising
star, and wall of fame squares, Riders of the Sea. Members are: Lynn Korwatch, Jim Sundfors, and
perhaps interested members of Advisory Committee. Committee should also solicit past recipients
for input. – Lynn
to schedule meeting.
c. Alumni Involvement at Admission Open House
The Admission department will hold their annual Open House
for newly accepted students and parents on Saturday, April 18 from 0800 to
1400. Admission Director Marc McGee has asked for any interested alums who
would volunteer to participate in the event.
Action: Contact Ken Passe if you are available to help with the
Admissions Open House on April 18th from 0800 – 1400 (specific need
between the hours of 1100 and 1400). All
Action: Contact Admission Director Marc McGee if you are available to
help with local college fairs or have suggestions on Alums that can supplement
the college fair program to represent CMA
IX. Open Discussion /
Wrap Up and Evaluation:
Photo and notice of today’s meeting on the website or
Currents.