May 2026 Minutes
President’s Council of Retired Employees
Friday 1 May 2026 at 8:15 am
Foster Board Room, 3rd Floor, Buchanan Alumni House and Zoom
Members: Louis Bassano, Gail Dyer-Martin, Michael Eckardt, Susan Gallant, Richard Judd (Secretary), Jennifer Perry, Thomas Sandford (Chair), Claire Strickland, Althea Tibbetts. Ex Officio Member: Sarah McPartland-Good
Minutes of the Previous Meeting: Mike moved, and Althea seconded a motion to approve the minutes. The vote was unanimous.
Membership: All positions are currently filled.
Oral History Interviews (AMW): The Council decided to play portions of the interviews at the Homecoming during the latter part of the lunch and before the door prizes. Tom played a segment of the interviews for the Board. (Sue Randall, Alex Grab, Michael Howard). Altogether, the selections will run 11 minutes. The Council discussed a designated PCRE email account, with Tom as administrator. The account would stay with the PCRE between chairs. Susan will contact IT.
Homecoming: The program will be available at check-in. Claire will add the video interviews to the program, along with further information on the Hikel and Brown recipients. Mike will offer the Hikel recipients transportation from home to the Homecoming. The evaluation form will include a question about the newsletter sent in electronic form (Claire will add this.) Records show that 43 percent of recipients opened the newsletter email. Retirees will receive a follow-up email regarding the Homecoming registration with a May 18 deadline. Sarah will make sure the deadline is changed on the second email. The Council discussed expanding the program information sheet for the Homecoming next year. Claire will experiment with formats. Claire will add the tours to this year’s Homecoming, and tickets will be distributed at check-in. Louis and Claire will staff the registration table. At its regular June 5 meeting the Council will debrief about the Homecoming.
Parking: Tom contacted Theresa McMannus and completed an event form that will allow attendees to receive electronic parking passes. Sarah will send out a final reminder a few days before Homecoming with the electronic parking sticker. Tom will also have regular parking stickers on hand at registration. Gold Card holders will probably have permits. Vendors will need parking passes. The Council discussed the construction at the campus entrance. Tom detected no problem at present, but after graduation the situation may be a different. The Wells Lot is reserved with 100 spaces, and Dunn and Corbett lots will be available.
Tours: Tom will conduct the Versant tour if he is not busy following the meeting. Shawn Laatsch (Planetarium director) may be available if necessary. IT will handle the self-directed tours. Becky van Beneden will conduct the bog walk tour, and Susan will conduct the Page Farm Museum tour. Jason Grunkemeyer will be in charge of the Athletic Facilities tour. Sarah will find someone to usher the attendees to Jason.
Outing – Coastal Maine Botanical Gardens: The outing is Thursday, May 21. Signup has been slow. Tom will arrange with contacts.
Website: Cindy Eves-Thomas was not present, but Tom reported there will be minor changes in the website.
Other: Claire pointed to the need for closer contact with the President’s Office. Staff should meet with the Council on a regular basis each year, since the Council has valuable institutional memory to share with the President’s Office. Retirees should have an option to receive university-wide emails from the President’s Office. Tom will ask the President to attend at least one meeting next year and have a representative meet with the Council more consistently to consider matters of outreach to retirees.
Adjourn: Mike moved that the meeting be adjourned; Claire seconded the motion, and the vote was unanimous.