August 21, 2009 RESAA Minutes
Rutgers EnviroStewards Alumni Association
(RESAA) Executive Board Meeting Minutes
Friday, August 21, 2009
ATTENDANCE: Jim May, Joan Johnson, Dionne Polk, Irene Sabin, Bruce Barbour
Vice-President Jim May called the meeting to order at 10:00 a.m.
APPROVAL OF MINUTES
This month’s meeting was postponed from Wednesday, August 19 to Friday, August 21, 2009. The July 15, 2009 RESAA Executive Board minutes were approved as written.
CORRESPONDENCE
RES PROGRAM COORDINATOR’S REPORT
· The date for the distribution of the 2009 class and project completion certificates has been postponed from August 13, 2009 to October 22, 2009. The event will be held at
Duke Farms and all alumni are invited to attend.
· The alumni e-mail list needs to be updated. Jim offered to contact the EcoComplex ’09 class to verify addresses.
· Bruce mentioned that Verticillium albo-atrum disease is being considered as a control for the very invasive Chinese import, Ailanthus altissima or tree-of-heaven.
· Bruce handed out fact sheet information, RES banners, key chains and other promotional items for use by volunteers at public events.
COMMITTEE REPORTS
Computer Communications/ RESAA Website Committee
This meeting summary includes Dionne’s overview of Bruce’s draft of the RES Program, viewing the website by attendees during the meeting and subsequent discussion.
The initial RES website was established:
· To market the RES program to potential students and facilitate the application/registration process. The effectiveness of publicity was gauged by counting the number of hits on the site after articles in newspapers
· To showcase the achievements of interns and alumni and publish summaries of completed projects
· To publish quotes from student evaluations highlighting the quality of the lectures
· To provide a database of volunteer intern opportunities with non-profit and government agencies. This is currently under expansion in conjunction with Duke Farms which has also offered in-kind resources to manage intern placement, monitoring and evaluation
· To add an alumni association (RESAA) portion to the site
The current alumni site contains the RESAA “Mission, Vision, Values” statement, Bylaws, minutes of Executive Board meetings and some educational opportunities. The purpose of this committee is to help expand the RESAA site to include:
· Continuing educational opportunities and other motivational activities to retain alumni
· Database/ online resource of trained volunteers which government and non-profit environmental organizations can access when they need experienced volunteers
· Web pages for individual volunteers highlighting projects and environmental bios
· Recognition for excellence in environmental volunteer activities
Computer Communications/ RESAA Website Committee - continued
As established in previous meetings, the website will be the main communication tool for RESAA with the alumni and the general public.
Discussion included various ideas for formatting information. For example:
· Clicking on a name from a list of certified volunteers could link to class/date, project topic, individual web page, and other information
· Choosing a project from a list of topics could link to all volunteers that worked on similar projects, a resource guide for that topic, partner organizations that offered opportunities for the projects, etc.
· An internal search engine could be used to provide links to all RESAA website information by entering pertinent words in the same way as for an internet search
· Dionne mentioned www.meetup.com as a website where people with the same interests can form clubs and exchange information, e.g. a Burlington County environmental group.
Topics for promotion of public environmental awareness by RESAA could be featured monthly, or for longer periods, on the website with information for volunteers to bring to their communities and for the general public to access directly.
Bruce would like to add an interactive component, like a monitored blog, to this part of the site where the general public could type in information, such as their best ideas for recycling plastic bags. The info would be edited and interesting solutions would be retained on the website. The following topics have been suggested so far:
· Banning pesticides in parks/ public open space
· Sustainable Jersey certification ( www.sustainablejersey.com )
· Replacement of plastic grocery bags
· Anti-idling of stationary vehicles
Please continue to submit topics and Irene will maintain the list.
Action list:
1. Examination of the Dreamweaver program, currently used for the RES site
2. Consultation with a Rutgers webmaster
3. Meeting of the computer ad hoc committee
Educational Events – discussion postponed until next meeting
Marlene is collecting questions/ ideas to send to the NJDEP so that speakers can be scheduled for those topics at a RESAA annual event to be held this fall or next spring. In order to facilitate this process and minimize duplication, the following people have volunteered to compile questions for these areas of interest:
· Marlene – hazardous waste
· Will – wildlife
· Irene – solar and other alternative forms of energy
· Bill – anti-idling of stationary vehicles and pollution (there’s no current standard for gas, only diesel)
· Jim – water conservation
· Joan – recycling
Volunteers who are not on the above list are urged to submit questions in any area to Marlene.
OLD BUSINESS - none
NEW BUSINESS
Fund Raising – Joan brought up the idea that there are many opportunities for fund raising while we are featuring an environmental topic on the website. For example, reusable grocery bags and other items stamped with the RES program symbol would probably sell well. Jim said that he has been involved in fundraising in other organizations and he agreed with Joan that RESAA has the potential to hold successful fundraisers. It was decided to postpone further discussion on this topic because of time constraints.
ANNOUNCEMENTS
· Wednesday, August 26, 2009 – Energy Expo at Burlington County Institute of Technology, Westhampton Campus, 4-7pm, free.
· Tuesday, September 22, 2009 – free lecture and book signing by David Sibley (“fastest selling bird guide author in history”) 7pm at Drew University, Dorothy Young Center for the Arts Concert hall.. Must reserve tickets by emailing www.HartshornArboretum.org You can pick up your tickets between 6:00 and 6:30 p.m. on the evening of the lecture. Go right into the lobby of the concert hall to the table for reserved tickets.NOTE: we are accepting walk-ins so if the concert hall fills we will give away any reserved tickets that are not picked up by 6:30 p.m.
· The NJDEP Division of Fish and Wildlife will hold its popular Wildlife Heritage Festival from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Saturday, September 26 at the Pequest Trout Hatchery and Natural Resource Education Center. The festival is free and will be held rain or shine. For more information about the festival and to see the entire schedule of events visit the Fish and Wildlife web site at http://www.njfishandwildlife.com/festival09.htm Some of the activities require pre-registration, so be sure to check the schedule of events closely for sign up dates.
The Next RESAA Meeting is at the EcoComplex on Wednesday, September 30, 2009:
9:30 – 10:00 idea exchange; 10:00 to Noon – business meeting.
Dionne made the motion to adjourn, seconded by Joan. Motion carried. The meeting was adjourned at 11:50 a.m.
Respectfully Submitted,
Irene O. Sabin
908-806-8895