The Ohio State University Retirees Association 9OSURA)

The Ohio State University Retirees Association 9OSURA)

Executive Board Minutes

Tuesday August 9, 2016, 9:00 am – 11:16 am

Community Room, Northwood-High Building

2231 North High Street, Columbus, Ohio 43210

Chair: Shirley F. McCoy, President

I. Call to Order – 9:00 am the meeting was called to order by President Shirley McCoy, followed by each member introducing themselves

Personals – Hallan reported that at the 413 Commencement Meeting Rai Goerler and John Litchfield were recipients of Outstanding Service Awards.

Hallan noted that he will share a message from Dick Hill later in the meeting.

The upcoming annual Business meeting on August 17th, will include voting on changes to the by- laws.

Carl Leier, Vice President is on vacation, but will be back in time for the annual meeting.

II. The minutes of the June 14th meeting were approved after a corrected phrase under item #9 New Business

Corrected to read: “Jerry reported that a Committee of previous Outstanding Service Award recipients led by Howard, had recommended that Tom Sweeney receive the award this yearthe suggestion wasmet with enthusiastic acclaim.”

III. President’s Comments (Shirley McCoy)

Shirley reported on aJuly 28th meeting at Longaberger House along with Diana Lantz, Craig Little, Jerry Newsom, Carl Leier with Tax Lawyer Chris Hammond from the law firm of Dinsmore & Shohl, LLP, regarding OSURA tax status options. The recommendations was that 501C4 statuswould be a better fit for the organization, requiring the 990 E-Z form for taxes. One suggested option was for the organization to get a fresh start by applying under the charter name to differentiate between OSURA’s tax status, prior to being under the OSU Alumni Association. The discussion focused on OSURA income including whether or not the organization is exempt from sales taxes. President McCoy will look into whether the organization’s current status under the Alumni Association would qualify to receive a sales tax ID.

A motion was made by Jerry and seconded by Steven for OSURA to go forward with applying for 501 C4 status. The motion passed without dissent.

Discussion highlights - Pros and Cons of OSURA being under the alumni system included loss of $40,000 allocated from the University, however the organization will still receive those services, including a staff assistance percentage increase,(Diana Lantz’s percentage for OSURA is a 50% allocation). OSURA will be listed with other Alumni clubs with Scarlett group status. Scarlett Status Groups receive $2,000, along with up to $50 for board meeting expenses (i.e. refreshments). Submission of Board Business meeting minutes is expected. The alternative for the organization would have been to be independent and self-funding.

Shirley and Marie attended the Big Ten Conference Benefits Meeting in Lincoln, Nebraska this summer. A detailed report will be given at the October meeting with a synopsis forthcoming in the OSURA Newsletter.

Shirley and Carl will attend an upcoming August 27th meeting at the Alumni house

See President McCoy’s summary report for further details

IV. Treasurer’s Report: (Daniel L. Jensen) Dan reported working on the report through June. Dan noted that the Fifth 3rd account has roughly $72,500, a sufficient amount to meet cash flow needs. OSURA CD’s are with Fidelity and Fifth Third, as they become due they will be moved into OSU Endowment. The endowment funds equate to $5,000 – $10,000 each year, to access as operating funds. OSURA will continue to maintain a separate account for quick access to funds.

See Dan’s complete report for further details.

V. Office Report: (Michelle Bondurant and Diana L. Lantz) OSURA data base information has been turned over to TAS. There was a meeting with data base people 8/8/16 – they were able to match most of the records.

Historical data cannot transfer but will be able to be accessed in some form (Library records). The October 1st transition date still looks good. Diana recommends staying with TAS for a year or so to get a handle on the workings of the system and how it meets the organizations needs and expectations, before changing. Diana will give all OSURA reports that she is currently doing, to TAS to be tweaked by the OUSRA board as needed. Diana reported that so far 40 people have signed up for the August 17th meeting.

See Diana’s Office Stats summary report for further details

VI. Committee Reports

Benefits (Hallan Noltimier) Hal reported that Dick Hill will continue with the benefits committee, but not be present at the board meetings. Carl and Jerry will split Dick’s committee responsibilities including OSURA representation with HPA and STRS meetings. Dick will have periodic informational updates titled “The Short Answer” for the membership. Hal passed out Dick’s “The Short Answer”handout titled “What is Medicare Plan F”, to be published in a future issue of the OSURA Newsletter.

See Hallan’s complete report for further details

Bylaws (Marie Taris) Shirley McCoy gave a brief report for Marie. The Bylaws committee will be presenting the OSURA Constitution and Bylaws to the membership for vote at the upcoming Business meeting August 17th.

Communication ( Nancy Wardwell) Nancy reported that the transition to the Alumni Association, was without any noticeable difference to the Newsletter and that the printing cost is less. There was a discussion on mail out as opposed to online subscriptions. The current consensus from membership to continue with the option mail copy. Currently there are about 1800 Newsletters mailed, with 300 online subscriber issues.

Membership (Diane Shelby) Diane and Gisela Vitt reported that some members have volunteered to be featured in the Spotlight on Members articles for the Newsletter. The New Member Event held earlier this year was a big hit and the committee has submitted a request for funding a New Member event for next year.

Dan Larson will be a speaker Sept. 12th at a community fair, highlighting OSURA benefits and events.

Discussion - Associate Memberships – Perhaps to keep this category going.

Companion membership will no longer be offered, the new systemis not able to differentiate between companion and new member status.

New areas to look at to increase membership could possibly include incentive(s) for joining.

See Diane’s report for further details

Special Interest Groups (SIG) Coordinating Committee – Phyllis Carroll will take on a Liaison role.

Most of the SIGS are on summer break.

Upcoming Events:

8/18/16 – Exploring Springfield Trip – registration still open.

8/25/16 – Lunch Bunch – registration still open

8/26/16 – Cincinnati trip – registration closed

9/13/16 – Fall conference – registration still open

9/27/16 – Gallery Hop – registration still open

10/20/16- Rock & Roll Hall of Fame trip

VII. Representatives Reports –

Buck’s for Charity – David Crawford volunteered to be the representative

Campus Campaign (Thomas Sweeney) – See Tom’s report for details

FCBC - (Raimund Goerler) – See Rai report for details

Legislative, Health Care, Pension, and Financial Update –

Pension funds are average less than 7% of returns

Copies of Dick Hill’s “The Short Answer” handouts shared with board members and to be included in an upcoming OSURA Newsletter

OCHER/HPA – (Nancy Wardwell) – See Nancy’s report for details

OPERS - (Michelle Hobbs) – See Michelle’s report for details

STRS- (Carl Leier, Gerald Newsom, Howard Gauthier) - Dick and Jerry will attend the September meeting.

VIII. Old Business

OSURA Annual Meeting to be held August 17, 2016 8:30am at the OSU Longaberger Alumni House

The agenda includes presentation of the OSURA Constitution and Bylaws for adoption. Registration

Includes downloadable parking pass, which Diana will send out.

IX. New Business

Historian- (Fern Hunt) Review of archived information regarding what needs to be preserved from a historical prospective.; Meeting minutes from committees alongwith “labeled” photographs of activities/events.

Finance Committee– OSURA Dues

Going forward OSURA dues will be called “donations”. Jerry noted that the board agreed to raise dues/donation to $25.00 as the Alumni association is not set up to accept a lesser dues/donation amount.

Discussion including suggestions regarding OSURA Life time membership status including rationale for increasing dues/donation from $230 to $500.The new system is not set up for Life Memberships, but the Alumni Association is willing to support this OSURA feature.

The Finance Committee recommended an option of a 2 step process with 2 incremental amounts to satisfy the total amount.

Diane Selby reported that the Membership Committee is in favor of keeping the Life Time membership status, along with the proposed increase.

Motion made by Steven D’Ambrosio and seconded by Elenore Zeller that beginning October 1, 2016, OSURA Life Time dues/donation be changed to $500.

Discussion – OSURA to follow fiscal year or calendar year. Alumni Association would be in favor of OSURA to be on a calendar year for membership. This would be in effect beginning 2017. It was noted by President McCoy that the rest of the organization’s business, would remain on a fiscal calendar year.

Motion was made by Diane Selby and seconded by Jerry Dare to change the OSURA membership from fiscal year to calendar year format, beginning July 1, 2017. The motion carried without dissent.

X. Next Regular Board Meeting

Tuesday, September 6, 2016 at Northwood High Building 2231 N. High Street

XI. Adjournment

The meeting was adjourned at 11:16am

Respectfully submitted

Shirley Flowers, OSURA Secretary

August 29, 2016