University of Southern California
Retired Faculty Association
Board of Directors Meeting Minutes
February 13, 2009

Agenda Item 1:  Opening the Meeting

The University of Southern California Retired Faculty Association Board of Directors meeting was called to order by Natalie Cohen, Vice President-President Elect, in the absence of the president, Dagmar Halamka, at 10:00 a.m. on February 13, 2009, in Room 224 of the Andrus Gerontology Center, University Park Campus.  Members present were Natalie Cohen, Carole Gustin, Jack Wills, Millie Milgrom, Bill Petak, Bob Stallings, Ruberta Weaver, John Orr, Jack Sanders, Nancy Warner, Bob Biller, and Janette Brown.  The agenda for the meeting was approved as presented.  The minutes of the January 9, 2009, Board meeting were approved as presented.

The treasurer's report was given by the treasurer, Bill Petak.  It is attached to these minutes as Appendix 1C.  Natalie Cohen asked about the discrepancies in the Endowment Fund account amounts on pages one and two.  Petak explained that the discrepancies result from conflicts in the reports that he receives.  He said the mix up occurred because persons other than RFA members have contributed to the Endowment Fund.  Janette Brown confirmed Petak's comments and said that the monies are there in the fund, the discrepancies are more apparent than real.  Petak continued that the Endowment Fund reflects the dollar amount of the contributions and does not reflect anything of the current stock market decline.  The treasurer's report was approved as presented.

At this point, the Oceanaires, a male quartet, entered the room with a balloon valentine and a card and sang some songs to the Board.  The valentine card is attached to these minutes as Appendix 1.  The singing valentine was a present to the Board from Bob Biller, who sent it "To my good friends and Colleagues for Life with warmest regards." The quartet concluded by singing "Let Me Call You Sweetheart." Board member Jerry Walker is a member of the Oceanaires.

Bill Petak reported on a letter from Kristen Soares, USC Interim Vice President, Community Affairs, acknowledging the contribution from the RFA to the Good Neighbors Campaign.  Soares will see that a RFA Board member will be invited to attend President Sample's reception for large donors to the Campaign.

Agenda Item 2:  Report on Donations in Honor of Helen Coffey

Bill Petak reported that RFA Board members individually donated $540 to the RFA Endowment Fund.

Agenda Item 3:  Nominating Committee

Natalie Cohen gave the report of the Nominating Committee.  She said that Nancy Warner, Howard Hansen, and Barbara Solomon have elected to rotate off of the Board.  Cohen offered thanks from the Board to Nancy Warner for her many years of service to the RFA.  John Orr has agreed to the nomination of Vice President-President Elect of the RFA Board of Directors.  The following have agreed to the nomination of at-large Board members.  They are Bob Baker, Education, recommended by Kaaren Hoffman; Jim Halls, Medicine, recommended by Art Donovan; Jim Kincaid, Marshall School, recommended by Bob Biller and Janet Brown; Ken Williams, Medicine, recommended by Howard Hansen and Art Donovan; and Larry Greiner, Marshall School, recommended by Bob Coffey.  It was moved to accept the recommendations of the Nominating Committee, seconded and passed.

Bill Petak asked if it would be necessary to amend the by-laws to allow for additional members to be added to the Board.  It was recommended to refer this question to Dagmar Halamka for an opinion.  Natalie Cohen went on to say that the election will be by electronic ballot and members present at the April meeting who wish to vote.  The ballot will be sent out on March 2, 2009, to those RFA members on the list serve.  Last year's ballot will serve as the template for the layout of the ballot.  Cohen stated that the by-laws can be amended by a vote of the Board of Directors.

Agenda Item 4:  Procedures for Emerita/Emeritus Status

(A) Final Letter to Deans/Home Department Coordinators — It is attached to these minutes as Appendix 4A.  The letter was shown to Marty Levine by Janette Brown and was edited by Levine.  Most, but not all, of the suggested edits were incorporated into the present draft.  John Orr explained that the letter encourages the Deans but does not dictate to them.  Janette Brown showed the draft at a meeting of the Deans' Council with no response from them.  She also said that the emeritus status of each school's retirees is in the Emeriti Center's database.  A motion was made to send the letter, seconded and passed.

(B) Revision to Faculty Handbook — It is attached to these minutes as Appendix 4B.  Bob Biller said that the Faculty Handbook Committee had met yesterday, February 12, and that he had talked with Professor Sandeep Gupta, Committee chairman.  Gupta questioned the necessity of the RFA's suggestion regarding the Emerita/Emeritus appointment.  Biller suggested that the RFA get its intention in this matter to the committee, that it is a positive finding and not an attempt to separate those who have and do not have emeritus appointments.  Biller talked about ranks of professors and that professor emeriti/emeritus is the culmination of the ranks.  He raised the question of calling a retiree with such an appointment as associate or assistant professor emeriti/emeritus.  He felt that a retiree, no matter the earned rank, should have the appointments as professor emerita/emeritus.  This suggestion should not be brought to the committee now but at the next round in its deliberations and after ascertaining what other schools do.  John Orr will revise the recommendation that the process is not meant to degrade anyone or to separate retirees into categories.

Agenda Item 5:  Clarifying Policies and Procedures for Retirement

Jack Wills sent a clarification document for the USC website regarding information for faculty and staff approaching retirement.  It is attached to these minutes as Appendix 5.  Wills said that it is a confusing situation for anyone contemplating retirement.  Wills's document suggests that the Web site direct prospective retirees to the excellent materials from the Emeriti Center.  Corrections to the document were suggested.

Agenda Item 6:  Memorandum of Understanding between the RFA and the Emeriti Center

Bill Petak said that there is really no memorandum of understanding (MOU) between the RFA and the Emeriti Center.  Howard Saperston of the Staff Retirement Association will work on a joint SRA-RFA MOU.  Petak said that a joint drafting committee of the RFA, SRA, and the Emeriti Cnter be formed to do this.  Bob Stallings suggested that each constituent write its own MOU and the joint committee will finalize a single document or separate documents if a unified document is not possible.  Carole Gustin, Bob Biller, Bill Petak, and Howard Saperston are to form a special committee to do this.

Millie Milgrom said that the special committee should think through what each unit's financial contribution should be.  Bob Stallings said that financial contributions should be made according to the tasks in question.  Thus, the need for a duty time-line for each constituent is needed.

Agenda Item 7:  Updates on Committees and Activities

Information/Communication
Intergenerational Forum

Information/Communication — Bob Stallings reminded Board members of the new Web site for USC retirees, <www.colleaguesforlife.org> and the new blog, <colleaguesforlife.blogspot.com>.  Elaine Steward has agreed to post items of interest pertaining to senior health and financial matters on the blog.  Stallings called attention to somewhat forgotten forms of communication on the Web such as Instant Messaging (IM) and IRC chat as potentially useful stools for administration and for holding online meetings.  The colleaguesforlife.org Web site has a chat client that anyone can use for carrying on multi way text based conversations without the necessity for participants to be present in a single location.

Intergenerational Forum — Jack Wills reported that the meeting of the Intergenerational Forum on February 12 met with five retirees and three students.  The forum meets the second and fourth weeks of each month alternating between Thursdays and Fridays so as to meet different student schedules.  The meetings are interesting and different each time.  The Provost provides the refreshments for the meetings.

Ride Share Program — Bob Stallings reported that Dick Martin of the SRA wrote a column in the Retiree Community Newsletter asking readers about any felt need for such a program.

Caldwell Scholars — No Report

Widows/Widowers Outreach — Ruberta Weaver reported there has not been much response until Bob Coffey became interested in the outreach program.  The USC Center for Work, Family Life, and Experience is interested in the program and is attempting to determine what to do for widows/ers.  There are some important factors involved in adjusting to this status.  Experience indicates that it is best if those in need make the first contact with the program.  Condolence letters sent to new widows/ers will have a card inserted in the letter explaining the resources available to them.  Janette Brown said that the Emeriti Center database on spouses or partners has been significantly improved.  The birthday card list should include widows and widowers.

Agenda Item 8:  Announcements/Updates

Emeriti Center Developments — Janette Brown passed out a draft information brochure, USC Emeriti Center, Colleagues for Life.  She requested to be notified of any errors or omissions.  It is attached to these minutes as Appendix 8.  Brown also said that her administrative assistant has resigned.  She is requesting an exception to the USC hiring freeze to obtain a replacement.

Janette Brown reported that 170 people are already registered for the February 19, 2009, Half Century Trojans "Back to College Days" event.  It is the first joint event of the Emeriti Center and the Alumni Association.  The Emeriti Center is hosting one of the lunches, and the Emeriti Center College is providing three speakers for the event.  As part of the Emeriti Center 30th Anniversary celebration, the center is sponsoring a triple event on April 3, 2009, which consists of a Japanese American Forum, a birthday/anniversary lunch, and a guided autobiography panel on life stories.  Notices will be mailed for the event.  The lunch will honor nonagenarians in the retirement community.  There are 118 retired USC faculty and staff over the age of 90.  The Forum, sponsored by the Innamoto Endowment, will serve in place of the annual Innamoto Lecture.  The guided autobiography panel is sponsored by the Borchard Foundation and will serve in place of the annual Borchard Lecture.

Janette Brown announced three new student workers at the Emeriti Center.  They are Jessica, Lorenzo, and Rudo.  Brown presented a condensed version of the results of the AROHE survey.  It is attached to these minutes as Appendix 8A.  Sixty-five percent of all AAUP colleges responded to the survey.

Staff Retirement Association Developments — Carole Gustin asked to have the RFA pick up half of the cost of the three unsold tickets to the USC basketball game of February 19.  A motion was made to do so, seconded and passed.  Gustin reported that there are 123 joint memberships in the SRA, making it much easier to keep track of widows and widowers.

Art Donovan has agreed to serve as the chair of the Emeriti Center Benefits and Resources Committee.  Natalie Cohen said that she sent a letter to Dagmar Halamka in January expressing support for her from the RFA.  Cohen also reported that the California Institute of Technology is laying off many senior administrative employees and has closed its bookstore.  Carole Gustin remarked that unlike many other schools, USC does not rely on endowment income for operations.

The RFA Spring Annual Meeting will occur at the regular monthly meeting of the Board in April.

Agenda Item 9:  RFA Actions to Report to Emeriti Center Staff

Bob Stallings will report the actions taken by the Board that require Emeriti Center staff support.  The first is the preparation of the ballot for the election of officers and at-large members for the RFA Board of Directors for the 2009–2010 year, e-mail distribution of the ballot, then receipt of the ballots cast and the tallying of the ballots.

Second, Emeriti Center staff are to prepare the letter to deans and department chairs approved in Item 4A of this agenda.  The letter is to be signed by Natalie Cohen, Vice President-President Elect of the RFA Board.  Appended to the letter will be a list of the retired faculty in each unit taken from the Emeriti Center data base.

Third, a notice will be sent to the Emeriti Center staff that a joint RFA/SRA subcommittee consisting of Bill Petak, Bob Biller, Carole Gustin, and Howard Saperston will meet to prepare a draft memorandum of understanding (MOU) to be linked to the existing draft document from the Emeriti Center.  Ultimately, a six-person committee, consisting of the aforementioned four persons plus two representatives from the Emeriti Center, will meet to finalize an overall draft memorandum.

Agenda Item 10:  New Business

There was none.

Agenda Item 11:  Adjournment

There being no further business, the Board meeting was adjourned at 12:15 p.m.  The next meeting of the Board of Directors will be on March 13, 2009, from 10:00 a.m. until 12:00 Noon in Gero 224.

These minutes were taken and transcribed by Jack Sanders, Board Secretary.