November 2023 Minutes
President’s Council of Retired Employees
Friday, November 3, 2023, 8:15 AM
Foster Board Room, 2nd Floor, Buchanan Alumni House and Zoom
Members Present: David Bagley, Louis Bassano, Richard Borgman (Vice Chair), Richard Judd (Secretary), Richard Kent, Thomas Sandford (Chair), Claire Strickland, Cindy Eves-Thomas, Gail Werrbach.
Ex Officio Members: Sarah McPartland-Good, Diane Dunn
Approval of October 6, 2023: Minutes. Minutes were approved.
PCRE Unfilled Positions: The Council welcomed new member Claire Strickland and discussed two remaining unfilled classified positions. Richard Borgman asked for clarification of “classified” (as opposed to “professional”), and Claire replied that classified is defined as hourly, such as Facilities or Residential Life. Sarah asked for a list of all classified people for next month’s meeting. Gail suggested looking at the professional and classified Advisory Council lists. Diane will try to get the list.
Oral History: PCRE must suggest four interviewees for the 2024 project. All Maine Women would like to do interviews on February 10 between 10:00 and 12:00 in the Buchanan Center, to be followed by a reception. Louis asked if interviews could be done remotely, having in mind someone who lives in Florida. AMW will need at least one nominee from classified, professional, administrative, and faculty, with perhaps a backup. Louis nominated Roger Leach from Cooperative Extension and Community Development in the administration category. Other suggestions included Phyllis Thibodeau in Education, Bill Dalton in Catering Services, Maxine Harrow in Women’s Studies, Doug Johnson in the Counseling Center, Walt Abbott in Athletics, Don Grant in Mechanical Engineering, Cathy Elliott (perhaps the first woman to graduate from the School of Forestry) in Extension, and Lucille Zeph at the Center of Community Inclusion and Disability Studies and the College of Education. Tom suggested prioritizing the older nominees. Those nominated were Phyllis Thibodeau (Classified), Roger Leach (Administration), Maxine Harrow (Professional), and Walt Abbott (Faculty). Louis will approach Roger Leach.
Louis wondered if the interview questions were available before the interview; if so, Tom will provide a list of the questions for the next meeting. Rick asked if we should include past presidents. Members suggested this would be a different project, since the AMW interviews stress long-term perspective. Sarah asked if the Council wanted to do an event to accompany the interviews. Richard Borgman asked whether the PCRE would provide support for AMW. Richard Kent suggested a potluck. The most recent AMW interviews are not yet available to the public and should be made so. Tom and Diane will work on this. Louis suggested sending the interviewees a link to the existing interviews. Claire asked if the interviewees sign a University waiver, and asked if interviewees are aware of the public accessibility to the interviews. Tom will check.
2024 Retiree Homecoming: PCRE discussed five possible speakers at the October meeting: Jude Killy, Director of Athletics; Paul Mayewski, Director of the Climate Change Institute; Ivan Fernandez, Soil Science and Climate Change Institute; Dan Sandweiss, Anthropology and Climate Change Institute, and Karl Kreutz, Climate Change Institute. Diane suggested PCRE consider gender diversity and asked for clarification on what members want from a Keynote speaker. Tom responded that the speaker should be entertaining and dynamic and able to talk
about something exciting and/or important happening at the university. Other names were raised: Elizabeth Allen, who has drawn national attention on Hazing; Bonnie Newsom, who is involved in several community-engaged anthropology projects; and George Criner (or his team) on blueberry cultivation. Diane offered to bring names in marine science or athletics to the PRCE, perhaps including someone from the Machias campus or from Women’s Athletics. Tom suggested someone involved in the conversion of Coburn and Holmes Halls to Hotel Ursa (along with a tour option and an invitation to attendees to stay at the hotel). This could be mentioned in the newsletter or in a save-the-date email. The University gardens are another possible tour. Tours, then, could be blueberries, gardens, and hotel.
Silver Tracks: Richard Borgman will take charge of the newsletter.
Hikel Award: the President’s Office will get the call for nominations out next week so that the Council can get nominations back before the end of the semester.
End-of-Term Tour ideas: The Council thought the schooner trip might be repeated every two years.
Website (umaine.edu/retirees): Cindy is making changes, mostly in formatting for accessibility by all devices. She will have a short list of things the Council might consider.
Other: Tom raised questions about insurance since renewals are pending. Claire sits on the advisory committee for retiree benefits and has information on what is coming up, what is available, and what problems are arising. There are retirement seminars. Richard Borgland suggested a panel of retirees to discuss their experiences, perhaps at the Homecoming alongside the tours.
Motion to adjourn: Moved by David with second from Louis. Passed unanimously.