December 2023 Minutes
President’s Council of Retired Employees
Friday 1 Dec 2023 at 8:15 am
Foster Board Room, 2nd Floor, Buchanan Alumni House and Zoom
Members in attendance: 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 3 Nov 2023 Minutes: to be approved at next meeting.
PCRE Membership — Classified Nominees: Rick Borgman received data on people in the classified category. Sheila Vaillancourt and Joyce Fournier (Hancock Extension) were recommended. Cindy Eves-Thomas will reach out to Sheila. Clair Strickland would like someone from facilities or housing. Gail Werrbach suggested contacting someone in facilities; Claire will contact head of facilities Stewart Harvey. PCRE discussed expanding the Council with someone from Honors or another at-large person (hoping to get someone from Honors). Diane Dunn requested that the proposal be re-sent to the President’s Office–after PCRE gets the classified position filled.
Oral History: PCRE discussed the interviews: they are very short, and the questions are upbeat. Council considered adding more probing questions. Rick Suggested asking about changes or transformations in the university during the interviewee’s tenure. “What was the most significant event?” Louis Bassano suggested asking about the challenges during the interviewee’s time at Maine. “What were the fundamental issues and the frustrations to be worked through?” Others suggested archiving the entire interview, giving students an opportunity to go into more depth, and forwarding the questions to the interviewee in advance. Council members should come to the next meeting with suggestions for further questions. Council discussed the intended audience for the archive. Tom will check to see that the full interviews are archived. Claire suggested the Council might do more in-depth interviews as a separate project–maybe group discussions or focus groups discussing changes at the university. PCRE will take this up later. Other potential interviewees were discussed, including Don Grant, Cathy Elliott, and Bill Dalton. Maxine Harrow has agreed to participate, and Phyllis Thibodeau has not yet replied. We may need a replacement for Walt Abbott (Education and Athletics). Tom will suggest new questions to All Maine Women, including an open-ended question, such as “do you have comments on the transformations and challenges you experienced during the time when you were here?”
Hikel Award: Nominations will be accepted until the end of the day (December 1). Council has one nomination currently. The nominating subcommittee consists Gail, David Bagley, and Rich Kent. Claire suggested retirees receive announcements of the award, but Diane noted that getting announcements out is challenging. PCRE will take this up later perhaps.
2024 Retiree Homecoming Speaker: Diane will come up with some suggestions that will help with gender diversity. Tom looked into the hotel project but has not been able to track down apossible speaker. Diane has contacts on the hotel projects, including the owner, the developer,and the operators. PCRE is considering tours of the hotel. Diane offered to facilitate the hoteltours. Rick suggested we approach someone from Climate Change or Marine Sciences as aspeaker. Diane will bring suggestions for women to the next meeting, e.g., Cynthia Esenhour(Anthropology, Climate Change, but she may be on sabbatical) or Jacquelyn Gill (School of Biology and Ecology). PCRE will finalize the list of potential speakers in January.
Website (umaine.edu/retirees): Tom sent photos from the homecoming and the cruise to Cindy. Cindy noted that the newsletters can now be opened on any device. She will work on reformatting the minutes. Louis, David, and Tom Sandford are listed as council members “at will.” Tom will remain as chair through the Homecoming. Claire passed on a compliment to Cindy. Cindy will contact someone about the missing interview. Cindy made minor changes in the Gold Card page. Diane noted that the President’s Office receives two to three calls each day about gold cards. PCRE suggested putting a Gold Card application online. Diane mentioned that the office is working on this (as opposed to certified mail).
Other: Tom: reminded members that the insurance sign-up will end December 7.
Adjourn: Motion by Rick; seconded by David; unanimous.