April 2023 Minutes
UM President’s Council of Retired Employees
umaine.edu/retirees
April 7, 2023
8:15 AM
Buchanan Alumni House
Present: David Bagley, Louis Bassano, Richard Borgman (Vice Chair), Brenda Collamore, Richard Judd (Secretary), Richard Kent, Thomas Sandford (Chair), Gail Werrbach
Ex Officio Members: Sarah McPartland-Good, Diane Dunn
1. Approval of March 3, 2023 Minutes: Minutes were approved with several amendments.
2. Announcements: Lisa Morin (Bodwell Center Service & Volunteerism) could not meet today but will be at the May meeting. The Adult Wellness Fair will be held Tuesday, April 11, 1:00-4:00 pm in the Buchanan Building.
3. Silver Tracks Newsletter: Members passed on congratulations to Rick Borgman and Sarah McPartland-Good. Mari Smith from the Foundation helped produce the Newsletter. Rick will keep tabs on the mailing. The Foundation will have an updated mailing list with emails where possible. Rick suggested email announcements to accompany the flier to go out regarding Homecoming. Sarah pointed out that since the Newsletter was mailed out later than usual this year, with the Homecoming announcement, there will be no card mailed out.
4. Barbara Hikel Award: Tom Sandford and Diane Dunn announced that four people were nominated and all were good candidates. The candidates were reviewed by Rich Kent, Gail Werrbach, David Bagley, and Tom Sandford, and a recommendation was made to the President. Diane will mail a letter from the President, and the winner will be announced later. Tom will contact the other nominees (and recommenders?). The award winner and the person who nominated the winner will be invited to the Homecoming.
5. Retiree Homecoming: Rick Borgman brought the Council up to date on developments. The newsletter has an announcement on the front page and a registration form on the back page. An email will go out. Diane noted that the event is on the President’s calendar, but Diane could not confirm absolutely that she will be able to attend. The President will introduce the Hikel award attendees. Rick reported twenty-three confirmed tables. Sarah will check with the Alumni Association. The Council discussed a possible post-meeting walk to the new women’s softball venue. Rick asked for volunteers to help with registration and to oversee the Council’s table. Tom will greet attendees. Rick will send out a list of places that will need volunteers. The Council discussed a cell phone app that would identify trees on campus. There are possibly six such tours, including a women’s history tour. Tom will try these out so that attendees will have choices other than our designated tours. Perhaps we will make a list of things to do on campus.
6. Four Vacancies: Council needs to fill four vacancies. Louis Bassano nominated Cindy Eves-Thomas, a graduate of UM who worked at UMaine for forty years. Ms Eves-Thomas is a designer. She worked with the Hudson Museum and then for Cooperative Extension as a webmaster for twenty-six years. David seconded the nomination and the vote was unanimous. She will be contacted by the President. Council will provide a template letter to be used in contacting her. Rich Kent nominated Jonathan Reisman, professor of economics and public policy at Machias. Professor Reisman began his career there in 1984 and lives in Cooper. Professor Reisman noted in his response to Rich that he was “outspoken” in weekly papers and publishes a critical column titled “Freedom Studies.” He would not be able to attend in person. After discussion, the Council decided unanimously that given the concerns the candidate raised regarding his outspoken views and his criticism of the President, it would not approve the nomination. Members noted that the Council’s mission specifically calls for supporting the President’s work. The Council will need to find one Member at Large; one Classified member; one Professional member; and (pending a decision) a member from the Honors Program.
7. Survey of Retirees: Louis Bassano explained that he is working with Hannah Carter at Extension to produce a survey of Extension’s retirees. If the project is successful the Council could use this as a pilot program for all University retirees. Hannah is compiling a list of retirees (which is not yet complete) and will modify the Southern University of New York website form by adding additional questions. The Maine form will ask respondents if they would be interested in returning to the University for short-term work on a volunteer or contractual basis. Council would have to develop a plan for coordinating returning retirees’ activities before the survey was sent out. Lisa Morin, who will be at the May meeting, may have ideas. Louis will continue working with Extension. Sarah may have additional contact information for the mailing list.
8. Health Insurance Concerns: MEA, which speaks for retirees, is considering a proposal to add an ombudsman to handle insurance questions and issues for retired people. Louis Bassano put forward a motion to recommend that the University System establish an insurance contact person for retirees. David seconded the motion, and it passed by unanimous vote. The Council will need to draft a letter to Vice-Chancellor Dorsey. At a March 27 Trustees meeting three people raised concerns about health insurance for retirees, and about retirees on pensions and the problem of equity. Tom will contact Jim McClymer to find out if there are still people on pensions.
9. Website: Tom reported trouble posting the Homecoming registration form on the website
(umaine.edu/retirees). Sarah will check on this. Tom discussed posting the 500-600 wordsketches of retirees’ activities. He suggested Council members send in sketches to providemodels.
10. Retiree Schooner Trip signups: Tom reported six people had signed up and advised that the twenty-two slots will go quickly since it was announced in the Newsletter.
Gold Cards: The Council discussed whether UMM faculty and staff should be eligible for Gold Cards. Members decided in the affirmative in the interest of good will and equity. The Council advised that the criteria should be posted on the website, inviting UMM as well as UM applications. (The Council does not generate the criteria.)
Motion to adjourn: Rick moved and Louis second the motion to adjourn. Unanimous.