MATC General Membership Meeting Minutes 12/2/09

MATC General Membership Meeting Minutes 12/2/09

Board Members Present

Kate Mitroka (President)

Elizabeth Garcia (Vice President)

Nahi Ojeil (Treasurer)

Tracey Rosen (Secretary)

Blake Charlebois (Registration Officer)

Gloria Murillo (Webmaster)

Denzil Bernard (Director of Operations)

Members Present:

Andrew I., Arun M., Bo S., Chandan B., Ciro S., Dan R., Dinesh P., Faissal S., John B., John L., Julia O., Kim S., Krista N., Michael R., Patrick L., Bob K., Roman K., Solveig H., Tracy S., Vijay R.

28 Club Members were present. Quorum was met.

Meeting was called to order at 10:20pm.

Proposed Agenda:

1. Welcome
2. Introductions and Officer Reports
3. Thank Yous
4. Upcoming Events
5. Constitutional Amendment
6. Financial Report
7. Questions/General Comments
8. Member Concerns

1. Welcome

Kate welcomed the Membership and noted that any questions on a particular subject should be directed to her at the end of each presentation.

2. Introductions and Officer Reports

Elizabeth (VP)- Will work with new VP to finalize DJ schedule and teachers for the first 2010 series. New DJ and instructors were incorporated this year, and the Board will continue to improve the process. Thank you to all the volunteers, including DJs , instructors, and EOs.

Denzil (DO)- Organizes facilities for the Club’s events. Thank you to Solveig for taking over the Tea Milongas. We saved money by using free Mason Hall classrooms when possible.

Gloria (Webmaster)- Updated the website, which will hopefully continue to improve, and sent out emails.

Nahi (Treas.)- Handled disbursement, cash box, and change, as well as setting up the 2010 Budget and final financial report.

Tracey (Sec)- Took minutes at each meeting to be posted on the website. Started Club archives important Club documents.

Blake (RO)- Maintained registration and membership lists.

Kate (Pres)- Worked with EOs and as Club liaison. Officiated and created agendas for Board meetings. Thank you to volunteers, who have made the experience for everyone.

3. Thank Yous

Thank you to the EC, EOs, instructors, DJs, and volunteers for your crucial role in running the Club.

4. Upcoming Events

-Tea Milonga Dec 13

-New Year’s Eve Milonga, Asian Theme Dec 31

-New Series Starts Jan 6

-Fire and Ice 2010 Jan 29-Feb 1

5. Constitutional Amendment

V.3 SOAS Representatives

The list of signers of the contract between the Club and the Student

Organizations and Account Services Office shall be updated within one

month of the new Board taking office. Subject to the terms and conditions

of the SOAS Office itself, the only persons eligible to be SOAS contact signers

are the Faculty Advisor and Board Officers.

Previously, Board members have needed access to SOAS account information and have been unable to do so because the present Constitution does not allow non-students to be SOAS contract signers. While there is no SOAS document outlining the rules surrounding SOAS contract signers, they have communicated to the Club that although non-students cannot complete monetary transactions, they can access account information and complete non-monetary transactions.

Solveig asked if non-student signers can sign papers to book rooms.

Kate replied that they can sign the contract, but they can’t authorize the transfer of funds or anything that requires a monetary transaction. In other words, authorized signers can book free rooms, but not those requiring the transfer of funds.

Solveig affirmed that the Director of Operations could work more freely although not entirely freely.

Kate confirmed this and added that the DO could sign up for free events. As of now, the University allows this, but not MATC.

Motion to approve change to Section V.3 of the Constitution.

Proposed by: Bob K.

Seconded by: Michael R.

Vote: Unanimous

Motion passed.

6. Financial Report

Nahi presented the report, noting that room expenses were cut this year by using Mason Hall rooms when available. The Miscellaneous section was elevated due to the locker rental, graduation milonga, and instructor dinners at the end of each series.

Overall, the festivals made money. A couple festivals are still open pending minor expenses. T-shirts have lost money so far, but sales are still in progress.

Questions/Comments:

Bob suggested that information on festivals and events be transferred to the new Board to create a trendline over time.

Nahi replied that the Board has been planning on doing so. There are few records from previous years, but there will be more consistent recordkeeping from now on.

Kate said that the Board has been gathering financial reports this year and looking for last year’s.

Solveig asked where the expense of $270 was listed for the New Years 08/09 Milonga.

Nahi replied that it was not included in this report, as it went on last year’s budget. However, at the time last year's expenses were announced, the NYE all-nighter hadn't been closed out. Therefore, in the interest of transparency, he included it on this year's report without factoring it in to the final numbers.

Kate ascertained that there were no more questions and invited Nahi to present the approved 2010 budget.

Budget Presenation

The room budget was cut slightly, but the free Mason Hal classrooms are not dependably available. Milonga room budget was decreased slightly, but the Grange rental fee increase, which the budget reflects. A locker section was added since it is a consistent and large expense. The Office Supply budget decreased because the receipt book prices dropped over the course of the year. The Miscellaneous section was decreased because of the additional sections, including a food section. The overall budget is the same as last year’s.

Questions/Comments:

Bob suggested moving NSF charges to the Misc section because they are so low.

Kate noted the suggestion.

Vijay asked if the 2010 budget is required to be the same as the 2009 budget.

Kate replied that this was not the case, and that it just happened coincidentally.

Michael asked if there was a subcommittee to examine putting the Club’s growing reserves into a CV fund.

Kate replied that there was not. Changes through this year led the Club to meet its budget, and the extra money is there for emergencies. The Club cannot grow funds just to grow them.

Michael said that he wasn’t suggesting growing funds per se, but putting money where it can make interest.

Kate replied that the money needs to sit idly.

Bob said that a UM organization cannot take money from SOAS to a different bank, but the Club could look into other possibilities.

Dinesh said that the money doesn’t necessarily have to grow, but the Club should not limit itself unnecessarily when the extra money can be used to invite more expensive instructors, etc.

Kate replied that it is definitely worth talking to SOAS to see what the options are. There is a distinction between making more money and investing for more money, but it is a good thing to look into.

Elizabeth said that the Club’s money can only go through SOAS, and any opportunities would have to be part of it.

*Krista and Julia leave at 10:50pm.

Denzil said that all money collected has to be deposited into SOAS

John B said that the Club does not have a tax ID and therefore cannot invest. The Club is not a non-profit. SOAS has the tax ID, and if the Club wants to be a non-profit it would have to be listed under a department, which would have oversight. He suggested a budget for visas could be developed.

John L. agreed that investment is not a viable option. SOAS might question whether we were trying to make money or run a club and take funds away.

Patrick said that the goal was to make the Club at the lowest cost possible. Prices were lowered to diminish extra funds, and they have now been raised to make up a deficit.

Dinesh said this brings back the same point that if the Club wants to bring big instructors to come, it has to pay more. He asked if SOAS can, in fact, take money away.

Kate replied that she had not heard of this before, but it might be true.

Dinesh said that if the Club makes a lot of money and the Board sets instructors at the beginning of the year, the money could be used right away.

Elizabeth said that the Club is not in the position to do that right now. Right now the discussion is about growing money the Club has rather than dealing with too much money. A future Board could make that decision should the Club find itself in that position.

Dinesh said that good instructors bring more money.

Kate said that the Club will deal with the issue should it arise. At the moment the increase in money will make up for the deficit.

*Kim leaves at 11:05pm.

Dan asked how much money the Club needs and said there are lots of budget cuts in a public institution.

*John L leaves at 11:10pm.

Bob said that that is always a challenge. A future Board may want to consider it.

Kate thanked Nahi for his report and said that Chandan had informed her that the Election Committee has finished calculating the election results.

Chandan reported that 20% of the Club membership was needed for elections. All candidates qualified, and official counts will be online soon. He thanked Kim, Rawan, and Aleric. He also thanked the current Board for their help and congratulated the 2010 Board.

Motion to adjourn.

Proposed by: Bob

Seconded by: Faissal

Vote: Unanimous

Motion passed.

Meeting was adjourned at 11:15pm.