February 2025 Minutes
President’s Council of Retired Employees
Friday 7 Feb 2025 at 8:15 am
Foster Board Room, 3rd Floor, Buchanan Alumni House, and Zoom
Member Present: Louis Bassano, Gail Dyer-Martin, Michael Eckardt, Cindy Eves-Thomas (Website editor), Richard Judd (Secretary), Richard Kent, Thomas Sandford (Chair), Claire Strickland, Althea Tibbetts. Ex Officio Member: Sarah McPartland-Good.
Approval of 3 Jan 2025 Minutes: Claire moved, Althea seconded; minutes were approved.
Announcements:
a) President Ferrini-Mundy will attend the March meeting. The agenda may include Strategic Re-envisioning and PCRE’s responsibility to “provide advice to the President.” Members should review the re-envisioning website.
b) Claire exchanged emails with Chief Information Officer Robert Placido at IT regarding the issues brought up by the Council at the last meeting. Anecdotal evidence suggests some frustration with system help and access to IT for retirees contributing to the University of Mane. Placido said IT guidelines allow access to IT for emeritus faculty but not to the broader retired population. Claire noted that this is a system-wide issue. The Council will discuss this with the President, and if the situation is resolved, will include an article in the newsletter. Claire will ask for written guidelines regarding emeritus access and for an explanation of other “special designations” used in the access policy.
PCRE Membership: Gail Dyer-Martin and Mike Eckardt have been confirmed as members by the President. The Gold Card Eligible position has been broadened to an At Large position which will still allow Gold Card eligible employees to be on the PCRE. The Council still seeks a professional category member for an open position. Cindy has not heard back from two of those she contacted, and the third declined. Tom will contact others.
All Maine Women Oral History Project: The Council must recommend four retired interviewees to Nicole Cobb, the AMW historian. Marian Dressler was a founder of the project, and Matthew Revitt archives the interviews on Digital Commons. Last year only two retirees were interviewed. The Council will approach two retirees who at the last minute were not able to attend the interview session for last year. Other retirees were suggested.
Hikel Award: The Hikel Award committee’s nomination, which has been approved by the full PCRE, has been sent to the President. At a later date, the Council will take up the matter of an earlier call for nominations (before the crunch of finals), meaning no later than the end of September. This will require coordination with the President’s office. The announcement will go out in January.
Silver Tracks Newsletter: Althea contacted Jacquelyn Gill about writing a paragraph for the newsletter, and she offered to contact others involved in dispersing stories about climate change. Rich has contributed an article on campus construction, and Louis, an article on the Hikel award winner. The newsletter may include an article on the New Balance Rec Center with information on access for retirees. President Ferrini-Mundy will provide a message. The Scholarship winner for this year will also be announced. (Sarah will provide information on the winner.) The newsletter may also include a statement on IT access, and Tom will provide a message from the chair. The homecoming schedule will be posted. Tom’s message will discuss raising funds for the Harold Brown scholarship. The newsletter may provide a statement about Strategic Re-envisioning. Alternatively, the newsletter will refer readers to the website or to a statement in the President’s message. The newsletter should be no longer than six pages. Claire will ask the President to help fund the newsletter if it runs longer than last year. Sarah will put Louis in touch with someone to gauge the length. Louis would like to have the newsletter out by end of March.
Retiree access to gym facilities (Louis): Jeff Hunt explained that changes are being discussed with upper administration regarding access. Louis asked the Council to weigh in on the topic and advise the president. Retirees choose among a CCA event, a sports event, or the Rec Center; perhaps all three should be available. Retirees in the silver sneakers program (from their insurance provider) now have access to the Rec Center, but this is under consideration. This should be added to the March discussion with the President.
Homecoming: Tom announced that all four tours are in place: the URSA hotels; the Hudson Museum; the athletic facilities; and the Diagnostic and Research (tick) Laboratory (the lab will either give a presentation on the Lab in Wells and hold discussions after the homecoming, or, if the group is under 25 attendees, provide a tour the lab). The Wells room is reserved. There is no new information on the President’s presentation. A scholarship write-up is still needed. At the March meeting, Tom will ask the President if we could/should introduce the Hikel award. Tom asked for a subcommittee to look into miscellaneous matters such as vendors, menu, and programs. Gail D., Mike, and Claire volunteered. The save-the-date email to vendors is not out yet. Claire will send out an email to the subcommittee regarding the items to be addressed.
Website Update (https://umaine.edu/retirees/): Cindy reported that PCRE minutes are posted, and she is working with Gutenberg interfacing. She needs a headshot from Gail D. Cindy asked about information for the homecoming, e.g., tours and speaker. (We currently have no title from the speaker.)
Retiree Scholarship: The scholarship fund is $20,000, and this year’s recipient received $400. Tom suggested the retirees should try to raise more funds. Part of the earnings on the endowment is given out in the award. Claire suggested Jeff Mills announce the fund at the Homecoming, and Tom will mention it in his article. PCRE discussed a 50/50 raffle at Homecoming.
Other: Tom will contact President Ferrini-Mundy’s on her plans for the March discussion. PCRE will add to the agenda IT access, the Rec Center, and a message for the newsletter.
Adjourned.