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President's report

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THE 5% DILEMMA

Members of our Board have expressed concern that the Foundation does not make an annual transfer of funds to the Institute that is at least 5% of the value of their holdings. It has been suggested that a minimum 5% draw is actually required legally.

 

Foundation Chair, Arlo Compaan, will ask the Foundation attorney to draft a letter giving the legal justification for the Foundation's not falling under the 5% rule.

 

If Board members prefer, we can consult our own attorney.

 

We can entertain a motion at this meeting if anyone would like to so move.

 

Situation at beginning of this board's term

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  • Both administrator and Program Coordinator resigned

  • Ben Law moved from staff to consultant & working offsitePriorities: 
    identify

  • We had 60 days to prepare for the first in person classes since December 2019, including a graduation supper

 

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Immediate Priorities

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  • Organize tasks done by staff

  • Hire staff person, possibly operations manager- see if possible to manage with fewer staff hours

  • Make sure physical space and technology is ready

  • Plan graduation ceremony, including coordinating everyone, diploma signing and covers, programs, etc.

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RESULTS

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  • Our heads of programs completely stepped up to make sure that their programs were organized and students informed, taking on many tasks that would have been done by staff.

  • CAM had located a possible operations manager, but we prefered a dynamic person who would work on site and who was very comfortable with technology and outreach.

    • 3-weeks-long intensive search for new staff person - unable to find anyone at the salary we could offer

    • We decided to sign a 6-month contract with CAM and by mid-August Barbara Wahler began working with us.

  • Ben Law prepared technology, and I worked with him to make it user-friendly and learn it because he would not be on site

  • Mary Dougherty and I cleaned up excess supplies and misc. left in the offices and arranged for a deep cleaning of the suite, etc.-and many other details...

  • Stephanie Buck worked with the graduation site and organized the menu and seating, etc.

    • I choreographed the ceremonies, made covers for the diplomas, and designed and printed the program.

  • OUR FIRST ATP WEEKEND & THE GRADUATION WERE A GREAT SUCCESS!

  • In October, the first JPP/JSP group met in person, and thanks to the hard work of the Directors, it went very well.

What is Next?

Discussion is deferred until we hear reports from our Board Members.

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What is our vision of the Institute of the future?

 

The whole community needs to be involved.



How many activities can we support?

  • financially

  • reluctance of analysts to take administrative tasks that are really part-time jobs -both for reasons of personal and professional priorities & personal finances

 
Should we renew our lease at the Monadnock?

  • What if we have to turn away applicants because it is too small?

  • Should we rent space for the 12 weekends/year that training programs use the Institute space?

 

Should we hire a part-time person who can be available for weekend events, design work, ??? Is it too soon to know?
 

Avoiding operational pitfalls

The Board consists of a majority of CSJA members, as required in the bylaws. Our CSJA Board members need to represent the CSJA. If they have projects they want to initiate, they need to find support among the membership for an initiative to be successful.
 
I plan to take major ideas to the CSJA so I can bring their recommendations to the Board.

I would like to revisit the role of the executive committee of the Board and the role of the Board.

We need to clarify what constitutes a reasonable and legal draw from the foundation. I hope we can work collaboratively with the foundation to raise funds for operating expenses as well as bequests for the foundation.

I would like us to attend to the membership, in a reliable way. This will be addressed by the Development committee until Membership is up and running.

Thank you!

 

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