Present: Dana Arnett, Joy Asbury, Edie Blakley, Paul D'Orazio, Sara Eklund, Scott Elmshaeuser, Tammy Jennings, Rose Lacey, Jan Mosley, and Donetta Sheffold

The President called the meeting to order and asked for board reports.

Board Reports

Marketing

Discrepancies have been noticed on the PFLA web pages. For example, there are several errors in the listing for Executive Board Members, the Sock Hop is still listed as a current event, and date and location information is missing for membership meetings.

Membership

PFLA currently has 88 members. The board discussed ways to increase membership. Some ideas discussed were:

  • Offer discounted memberships (decision was later made not to do this because membership dollars help us provide more services/training and increases the budget).
  • Ask last year's members who have not renewed this year why they haven't renewed (Membership has tried this and not really gotten any responses).
  • Changing focus from brown bags and workshops to discussions of hot topics.
  • In advertising for the next wellness workshop, inform members that it was partially funded by the Provost.s Award for Excellence and that the Provost supports it.
  • Schedule a manager.s forum for the March membership meeting.
  • Send email notifications of monthly meetings/organized speaker events to all professional faculty and point out that these are the types of things PFLA is doing and provide a link to the PFLA web page and membership form for those interested in taking part in such events.
  • Be conscious about wording in all types of correspondence to avoid emotionalism. The President-Elect volunteered to work with board members as situations arise.
  • Use more than one form of communication to advertise events.

Professional Development

The suggestion was made to obtain pictures of speakers and events for posting on the web page. This responsibility could be incorporated into one of the board member's duties.

Upcoming events:

  • February 5—Sabah Randhawa
  • March 5—"How To Stay Well In a Driven Environment" with Dr. MaryAnn Wallace
  • April 2—Not scheduled yet (Jock Mills?)
  • April 16—"Managing From the Middle" with Larry Roper
  • May 7—"Outlook" with Dana Arnett
  • June—FISH Philosophy or technology training

Other suggestions were to have Mark McCambridge discuss the budget and to invite a speaker with a different perspective on the PERS situation.

We will begin using the Allan Brothers mugs for the Our Hero awards.

Secretary

The December 11, 2002 minutes were accepted and approved as submitted.

Treasurer

The December 31, 2002 Treasurer's Report was accepted and approved as submitted.

Other News

Elections

The President solicited requests for an Elections chairperson. This is an appointed position and is responsible for putting together ballots. Several names were suggested as possibilities. Follow-ups will be made.

Web Site Discussion

Dana Arnett, Member-at-Large, initiated discussion about the PFLA web site. He asked who has looked at the PFLA web recently and what changes could be considered. Several ideas came out of the discussion: add color and pictures, reduce the blank spaces, create a true home page, and post board minutes. There was some discussion about posting individual photos of board members, but there were also concerns expressed about identity theft. Dana will pursue obtaining web page access and asked board members for a commitment to look at the current web pages and provide him with ideas and suggestions for changes/corrections. A suggestion was made to create a board position as Web Content Manager and include some of the web consulting duties in the Marketing position. The board agreed to have Dana serve, in his Member-at-Large capacity, as the Web Content Manager for another year.

Miscellaneous

PFLA received a thank-you letter from Fish of Albany, Inc. for the sock donation. We will try to scan it for posting on the web.

There was a suggestion that all board members be notified of award announcements so they can attend the award presentations.

Now is the time to work on any changes needed in the By Laws. Donetta Sheffold, Past-President, agreed to compile changes. Board members should email her with updates to current officer positions or any other suggested changes before the February board meeting.

Rose Lacey, President-Elect, volunteered to update the current year's timeline.

Dana Arnett, Member-at-Large, will correct board and monthly meeting information on the web and wait for further feedback.

The meeting was adjourned at 2:45 p.m.

Next Meeting

February 12, Wednesday from 1:00 to 3:00 p.m. in MU 212.