EMERITUS ASSEMBLY
CONNECTICUT CONFERENCE
(Minutes of May 6, 2007 Meeting)
Members of the American Association of University Professors, Emeritus Assembly, Connecticut Conference, met at Angelo''s Restaurant in West Hartford. A hot buffet dinner was set up for 34 members on Sunday, May 6, 2007 at noon.
At 12:30 p.m. President Welchman chaired a brief business meeting amid buffet line movement. The minutes of the November 14, 2006 meeting were distributed and accepted. The treasurer's report was distributed and accepted. Dues for this year were paid by 37 members. An estimated checkbook balance, as reported, is $1565.84 . The savings account balance is $452.19.
The Nominating Committee, chaired by Morton Tenzer, proposed David De Nuccio for secretary and John Kolega* for treasurer for 2007- 2009. Accepted.
Following dinner 29 members adjourned to Theater Works in Hartford for a matinee production of "Murderers" by Thatcher.
The next meeting is scheduled for June 21st: a visit to the Rose Gardens at Elizabeth Park in West Hartford and lunch at the Pond House.
Respectfully submitted,
Cecilia Welna, Secretary
*Since the meeting, we have unfortunately lost Treasurer John Kolega. Our sincere sympathy goes out to the family.
Emeritus Assembly
Connecticut Conference
Members of the Emeritus Assembly met at 11;00 AM at the Pergola in the center of the Elizabeth Park Rose Garden. The members present were treated to a delightfully informative tour of the rose garden by Donna Fuss, the leader of the Friends of Elizabeth Park. Afterward, the membership met for lunch at the Pond House.
Minutes of the June 21, 2007 Meeting
Prior to lunch a short business meeting was convened at 12;15 PM by President Welchman.
The minutes of the May 6,2007 meeting were accepted as written. President Welchman took a few moments to extend the sympathies of the membership to Mrs. Kolega on the unexpected passing of our long time associate and treasurer John Kolega.
Mort Tenzer, Chair of the Nominating Committee proposed David De Nuccio for Secretary to replace Cecilia Welna and Compton Rees to replace John Kolega as Treasurer. There were no additional nominations and the proposed members were elected by unanimous vote.
President Welchman extended the gratitude of the membership to Cecilia Welna for her 12 long years of meritorious service as Secretary. In addition, as a small gift, Cecilia was given two tickets to a future production by The Theater Works. President Welchman acknowledged Richard Wurst’s good recuperative progress following his recent back surgery. Regrets were extended to Richard Wurst and his wife because of their inability to attend the May production of The Theater Works. A suitable compensation was effected by President Welchman.
A date for the next Executive Board meeting to plan the next year’s programs/meetings was tentatively set as July 19, 2007
President Welchman reminded those present of the program suggestions on the website and a brief listing of the suggestions to date was presented. President Welchman will contact the elected officers and executive board members regarding the location and time of the meeting and directions to it.
The meeting was adjourned at 12;32 PM.
Respectfully submitted,
David De Nuccio, Secretary
Emeritus Assembly
Connecticut Conference
Executive Board Program Planning Meeting Synopsis
July 19, 2007
Those in Attendance: Nick Welchman, Tim Killeen, Ceil Welna, May Giger, Walter Giger and David De Nuccio
The meeting began at 10:08 AM at the De Nuccio home in Farmington. A summary list of past meetings and suggestions received recently by President Welchman were reviewed by those present and discussed as potential programs for fall,2007 and spring, 2008. The following potential programs were approved by oral consensus for further investigation and serious consideration:
October 4, 2007.
Nick Welchman will try to bring this together)
Michael J. Bean, Esq.
Chair of the Wildlife Program,
Environmental Defense Fund
“Endangered Species Conservation: An Assessment And Prognosis”
Konover Auditorium, Thomas J. Dodd Research Center 4:00 PM
Late October or early November,2007.
(Tim Killeen chairing effort to bring this together)
Program on Retirement Issues. Participants on panel to represent AAUP, State Retirement System, coalition groups of state employees representatives.
March or April,2008.
(Ceil Welna to bring this together)
“The Life of Mrs. Auerbach”
Dr. Virginia Hale, Former Chair, English Department, University of Hartford
Second Spring Program.
(Tim Killeen will bring this together)
“Pequot Museum Excavation Studies “
Nicholas Bellantoni
Sate of Connecticut Archeologist
Chairman Wechman will be the recipient of all progress reports on the proposed new programs.
Ceil Welna will look into the possibility of obtaining another garden visit program . She will speak with Fred Cazel and report back for the October meeting.
The meeting adjourned at 12:08 PM.
David De Nuccio
Addendum:
At the same meeting, May Giger informed the committee that the EmeritusAssemblyCT.org site that Judy Lefelar developed and maintained for the group was not renewed and is no longer active. She will contact Ms. Lefelar re transferring the domain to the assembly and if some of the web pages on that site can be folded into the eact.info site. It was also suggested that perhaps Clifford Pelletier may be approached for helping with the eact.info site.
Emeritus Assembly
Connecticut Conference
Members of the Emeritus Assembly met at 1:00 PM on October 4, 2007 at Zenny’s Restaurant in Storrs, Connecticut for a full meal. At approximately 2:30 PM the members departed for the Dodd Research Center at the UCONN campus. A prescheduled business meeting was held upon arrival at the Center. The meeting was then followed by a very informative tour of the Center by University Archivist Betsy Pittman. As part of the tour, the members were escorted through the archives area. Ms. Pittman enumerated the archivist’s duties involved in acquiring, preparing and preserving archival collections.
At the conclusion of the tour, the members were presented an address by Michael J. Bean, Esq. entitled Endangered Species Conservation: An Assessment And Prognosis.
Minutes of the October 4, 2007 Meeting
The meeting of the Assembly was convened at 3:02 PM by President Nicholas Welchman.
The minutes of the June 21, 2007 business meeting distributed by Secretary De Nuccio were unanimously accepted as written.
The treasurer’s report was distributed by Treasurer Compton Rees. It was noted that the Assembly could not alter the basic expenses of newspaper production at the UCONN Chapter office, nor could the original copy of the newsletter be generated without the services of an editor, services that had previously been provided by an experienced volunteer. The need to pay for editorial services this time dictated that newspaper production be more expensive than usual. The treasurer's report was accepted as written.
It was noted by President Welchman during discussion that obtaining a volunteer editor was attempted by Mort Tenzer with no success. President Welchman has since obtained the editorial services of Judith Mordkoff. She has agreed to perform the duties for a very low fee because of her fondness of the group. After some discussion concerning the duties involved in producing the newsletter and the costs of production and distribution, it was agreed that in the future the Assembly really needed a volunteer or needed to set aside more financial resources to produce the newsletter.
It was concluded by President Welchman and Treasurer Rees that dues needed to be increased or the Assembly would experience severe financial difficulties. A motion to increase the dues to $10 per year by Dick Wurst was seconded and unanimously approved.
Prior to the meeting’s end, several suggestions were made: putting the entire newsletter on the website; securing a list of members with EMAIL addresses; and, posting on the website a yearly date for soliciting/collecting dues. President Welchman indicated that this discussion will continue during the next business meeting.
The meeting was adjourned at 3:20 PM.
Respectfully submitted,
David De Nuccio, Secretary Minutes approved at the April 15, 2008 meeting.
Emeritus Assembly CT AAUP
November 13, 2007 Meeting
Room 310 State Capitol, Hartford, CT
Minutes
Meeting called to order at 10:44 A.M. by Compton Rees, Treasurer, in the absence of
Pres. Welchman and V.P. Killeen
It was estimated that there were 30 members in attendance.
Treasurer’s Report was presented: Assets Expenditures
Savings Account $455.43 Buffet Luncheon 11/13/07
Petty Cash $52.50 $300.00
Checking Account $1183.95
Total Assets $1691.88
Less Expenses -$ 300.00
Current Balance $1391.88
46 members have paid their 2007-2008 dues.
Unless a volunteer Editor can be found for the Newsletter, we will have to hire
someone to do the job. Our current income situation (dues) will not be
adequate to do that on an ongoing basis.
1. Program Topic: Retirement Issues, an informational session
Mort Tenzer introduced the panelists: 1) Steve Greatorex, Business Manager, CSU Chapter of
AAUP; Treasurer of SEBAC; and member State Employees Retirement Commission;
2) Ed Marth, Executive Director of UConn Chapter of AAUP; and Tom Woodruff,
Director of Retirement and Benefits Services Division, Office of the State Comptroller. Each made a presentation, commented on the other presentations, and answered questions from the audience.
T. Woodruff: 1) The current contract between the State of CT and SEBAC runs to 2017.
2) State statutes require seeking bid proposals on health care contracts from all vendors
every 5 years. No vendor will guarantee prices for 5 years, therefore health care
contract bids are sought every 2 or 3 years to get the best prices.
3) There is no provision to increase state funding for contracts, so costs must be contained
by identifying vendors that will provide similar coverage for a lower price and/or
offering alternative product choices (e.g.HMO’s) that are more restrictive in network
providers.
4) SEBAC and Office of Policy & Management agreed to continue offering the Enhanced
Dental Plan (currently offers more services, but fewer providers). 11 vendors are being
considered in hopes of enlarging the network available to those who elect this expanded
coverage.
5) Prescription co-pay: out-of-area retirees currently have different requirements. Previous
vendor (Anthem) did not have the capability to standardize this. Current vendor has the
capability. State is having discussions on how this could be done. (Marth: this could be a
good thing, but SEBAC is reluctant to participate for fear that approval of the necessary
changes could lead to demands by the State to agree on other contract changes.)
6) State Legislature is funding State Employees Retirement System fund as required by
statute, unlike the problem that occurred with the Teachers Retirement fund.
7) Legal case (Longely vs. State) claims that some Assistant Attorneys General incorrectly
calculated how longevity pay and pay for unused vacation pay credits were factored
into the final retirement benefits calculations for some individuals. Also, what is the
time period allowable for challenges to those final calculations? Does it begin when the
employee ceases work or when the final calculation report is sent to the retiree?
Currently under appeal.
8) There was a backlog of approximately 5700 retiree benefit calculations when
Mr. Woodruff was hired 3 years ago. A very complicated calculation (unique to CT)
was required to make final determinations, and it was all done “by hand”. 150 people
working for a full year would have been required to catch up. That year the staff
number was cut almost by half. With new computers now in place and help in
programming, the back-log should soon disappear.
E. Marth: Discussed the changed landscape of the AAUP. It is no longer only a professional
organization. There has been a shift of membership into a large number of collective
bargaining chapters. The IRS rules for unions are different than those for “charitable
/educational” organizations. Also, the Board members are elected on a geographical
basis (regions), not on a “one person, one vote” representational basis. This is not
compatible with labor regulations. The national AAUP is discussing a proposed
restructuring.
Steve Greatorex: passed out a document he compiled showing the proposed restructuring
of the AAUP into 3 units: 1) AAUP Foundation, a charitable 501 (c) 3 entity to
raise & grow funds to advance public service activities; 2) AAUP-CBC, the
labor union 501 (c) entity; and 3) AAUP, the professional association 501 (c) 6
entity, to which all AAUP members, whether in or out of collective bargaining
would be members. Present AAUP staff would become the staff of #3. A
detailed comparison of the purposes, taxation, activities and governance of the
3 proposed entities was presented. Affect on dues is unknown. The AAUP
Council will vote on the restructuring plan Nov. 16 – 17, 2007. It would
require a vote of approval at the 2008 Annual Meeting.
Other handouts: 1) Supplemental Benefits Program for Employees and Retirees from the
Office of the State Comptroller. 2) Benefits of AAUP membership
2. May Giger: a) made available a written report on the website development; a more detailed
report will be available online. b) Compton Rees has been recruited to write blogs for the
website. Other “bloggers” are welcome. c) Irmgard Rees has been asked to work on the
design for an Emeritus Assembly logo. Suggestions can be sent to
IRMComp@SBCglobal.net
3. The Executive Committee and other interested individuals will meet in January to make plans
for the spring programs and deal with other issues. Pres. Welchman will contact the
members to establish a date, time and place for the meeting.
Respectfully submitted,
Richard P. Wurst, Secretary, pro tempore Minutes approved at the 4/15/08 meeting
