Cougar Crew Alumni Association (CCAA) Class Day Meeting March 17, 2007, 9:00 AM Lewis Alumni Centre, Pullman Washington Call to Order Tim Haole Richards, CCAA Chairman at 9:10 AM Attendees: Tim Haole Richards; Ken Struckmeyer; Josh Proctor; Peter Brevick; Lisa Curtis (Coble); Steve Huhta; Doug Engle; Dan Thayer; Arthur Ericsson; Jenny Besagno; Westin Spivia; Sean Maginnis; David Yorozli; Chris Seaman; Mitch Wainwright; Ray Wittmier; Tim Malkow; Karl Huhta; Sean Martin; Danny Brevick; Steve Ranten; Brad Sleeper; Thad O Dell; Jess O Dell; Marietta (Ed) Hall; Carl Cronk; John DeLong; Tom Anderson; Julia Anderson; Sandy Buckley; Mike Buckley; Howard Spivia; Ryan Herrington; Luke Jones; Kash VanCleef; Alex van Rijn; Patrick Williams; Kevin Harris; Jay Holmstrom; John Holtman; Mike Pabisz Approval of Fall Meeting Minutes Danny Brevick motioned, Karl Huhta seconds. CCAA Reports and Updates 1. Report from Head of the Lake regatta 2006 (Danny Brevick) Anti climatic since the races were cancelled due to windy weather conditions. 2. Silent Auction - Class Day 2007 (Lisa Curtis) This year s silent auction has been organized by Lisa Curtis. There will be no cost for attending the dinner and silent auction event, since the primary focus of the CCAA remains to reconnect alumni. However bids on silent auction items are strongly encouraged as a way to support the team financially. 3. Financial Update (Doug Engle) WSU Crew Endowment Fund balance recently reached over $100,000. The team receives 4% guaranteed money per year on this account, any additional interest is rolled back into the account. Significant gains were made in recent months due to the bullish stock market, which helped account for the recent milestone. It is believed the WSU Foundation was first in the nation among public universities last year for return on investment. Cougar Crew Excellence Fund has about $1000 balance, which will be used to help fund the weekend BBQ and Class Day event. Funds collected at silent auction will be funneled through Cougar Crew Excellence Fund, which has several tax and other advantages, and will allow funds to be disbursed from that point. Specific donations to accounts at the Page 1 of 5
evening event can be requested and made through the team web site (www.cougarcrew.com) which links through to the WSU Foundation web site. Account Overview: Cougar Crew Excellence Fund (7244-2800) Cristy Cook Memorial Fund (6800-2168) WSU Crew Endowment Fund (7222-9200) Meinhart Living Trust 4. Kenneth A. Struckmeyer Founders Award (Tim Haole Richards) (Before Ken Struckmeyer joined the meeting) Tim disclosed the plan to present Ken Struckmeyer with the inaugural awarding of the Kenneth A. Struckmeyer Founders Award. This will be an ongoing, sporadically given award for those who make an extraordinary difference in Cougar Crew. More will be discussed during the Fall meeting in November about process for nomination and election for the award. 5. Web Site Update (Kevin Harris) Usage has increased roughly 100% in the last year, and number of pages has increased over time from about 10 to 50. Kevin may need help in order to achieve ongoing prompt updates to the web site. A request was made to provide a method for uploading pictures to the web site, and a process will be discussed outside the meeting. Kevin has developed a web tool that is capable of sending mass communications, and provides a form through the web site for alumni to enter their contact info to be included in these communications. A way to view the alumni contact information was requested, but due to security concerns this would have to be done in a secure way. Kevin and Peter Brevick assigned to work this issue and report back in approximately one month. 6. Faculty Advisor Update (Ken Struckmeyer) Letterman style crew jackets are available through a company that Ken contacted. Women s rowing tank fund received a $500K from the WSU athletic department, which came from a cancellation of Ohio State s football team contract to play WSU. When Ken asked Jim Sterk (Athletic Director) if men s crew would have access to the rowing tank (if / when built) Jim said he would personally guarantee access if the men contribute to the fund. Some donations to men s crew are still being routed to the women s team. When this happens the donor receives a thank you note from the women s team and this is the best indicator for the mistake. If a problem is noticed the WSU Foundation has been very prompt in correcting this, or contact Doug Engle for help. Suggestion to put the right account number in the for area of your donation check. Some Cougar Crew alumni have received solicitations to donate to the women s tank fund. The PAC-10 conference and WSU Athletics are trying to help capture the excitement of the pending 2008 Olympic Games and increase focus on sports that have Olympic events. Page 2 of 5
However WSU athletic funds will be focused on keeping Cougar Basketball coach Tony Bennett in the near term. Crew endowment fund needs added focus to increase donations so that the crew does not need to sacrifice as much time and effort fundraising. One issue is the conundrum of current needs (i.e. new boats) vs. long term benefits of the endowment. Reminder that many employers match funds donated to the WSU Foundation, and employers who are sensitive to donations for athletic purposes may allow gifts to WSU Foundation accounts (Cougar Crew account #7222-9200). Also, an endowed scholarship may be a way to give to the crew team which allows employer matched donations. Including the crew in your will can also be a good way to help the endowment grow over time. Doug Engle volunteered to write a 1 page summary of how to give to the team. 7. Cougar Crew Reports (Arthur Ericsson) New Novice Coach this year is Dan Thayer, who rowed for WSU from 1996-2001. Besides coaching Dan also owns a local painting business. The team is currently comprised of 34 rowers and 4 coxswains. About ½ the team are lightweight rowers. Highlights for the year include a 38 mile row to Chiefton Park; some off campus recruiting to rowing clubs in the Seattle area focusing on non-top rowers who may not have a particular college in mind; last summer Arthur coached 1 st learn to row which was a success, and this year plans to include high school students and reach out to Lewiston, Clarkston, and other local cities. Areas of concern: Dues this year increased from $200 to $250 per rower. Rowers continue to pay for their own travel ($500 for tickets to San Diego this year), goal is for team to pay for travel to WIRAs. There are about 6 weekends this fall dedicated to fundraising (football game tables & chairs, tents), which equates to loss of practice and increase of overall time commitment to team, and loss of personnel. Also, 2 rent-a-rower events per spring and fall. This year the team added a fundraiser to help set up and tear down gymnastics equipment at an event in Palouse. Other events include ergathon, and holiday catalog. Van rentals (Chris Seaman) are now the means of team transportation, and cost the team about 40 cents per mile. Although it requires more coordination and time to arrange the vans then when the team owned their own, the cost is estimated to be less overall due to soon expected major costs for maintenance. Time limitations exist for not leaving campus before 6 AM, or driving after 12 AM. Women s team do not have to abide by the same rules since they are part of the athletic department, but since men s team receive URec money they have to play by their rules. Drivers of team vans must be over 21 years of age and possess over 5 years of driving experience, which may present problem for future years if there is a younger team. If the team was not part of URec and considered a Recognized Student Organization (RSO) then they would not have to abide by these rules, but would not receive the $20K+ yearly that URec provides. Page 3 of 5
Fieldhouse usage is still a problem, since the coaches do not possess keys to the outer doors and thus cannot operate practices at ideal times. 8. Current Team Financial Position (Sean Martin) The current team income is projected to cover all operating expenses through the end of the school year. The new Hudson 4 s purchased earlier this year are targeted to be paid off in June 2008, no report on exactly how much is left to pay after the 4 s campaign. The 2 new Hudson 4 s and the Drew Harrison 4 do not currently have names, since there has not been any large donors come forward recently. 9. Reconnecting with Alumni (Ray Wittmier) Class Day date: should we change the date to a weekend when there is more going on in Pullman? Pro s and con s to the current weekend (last weekend of Spring Break), but Danny Brevick to look into other options by April 15. 10. Elections: Financial Advisor and Faculty Advisor Positions Due Nomination for Doug Engle to continue current role of Financial Advisor, group passed. Nomination for Ken Struckmeyer to continue current role of Faculty Advisor, group passed. 11. Cougar Crew Mentor Program (Steve Huhta) Last summer 2 cougar crew team members interned at Russell Investment Group, and 1 was hired for a permanent position. Would like to expand the program to include alumni mentors, who can work with students in their area of expertise. 12. Holiday Catalog Need to help team make this happen, Andi Day still signed up to help with this later in the year for the 2007 catalog. 13. History of the Crew Ken Struckmeyer to help document the team s history by writing a short summary of history of the early days. 14. Silent Auction (Lisa Curtis) About $12K worth of items up for bid, this includes 50 items. 15. CCAA Email List The mailing list for CCAA Members will be tightly controlled and used only by CCAA board members, to prevent spamming. 16. Varsity Status (Tim Richards) The decision of whether or not the team should pursue Varsity status by the WSU athletic department should remain with the current team, and CCAA should support that Page 4 of 5
direction. The current officers relayed the teams sentiment that they do desire to pursue this, with the understanding that there are elements of the club program that they want to keep intact. The timing could be good for pursuing this with the added focus of the 2008 Olympic Games and the exposure of rowing there. An example of a program with a Varsity / Club hybrid management of men s crew is University of Michigan. An ad-hoc committee has been created to pursue the Club-Varsity Status of the team, and progress will be updated during meeting next November. John Holtman is to lead this committee, which will also include Ken Struckmeyer, Rob Obom, Dan Thayer, Steve Huhta, Westin Spivia, Mike Pabisz, and Peter Brevick. 17. Endowment (Danny Brevick) If Endowment balance reaches $450,000, the team would have the ability to fund the current head coach s salary of $18,000 per year with the guaranteed 4% yearly payout. Also, with a sizable balance like this the team could have additional clout to take to athletic department for support in obtaining varsity status - especially if no additional funding will be required. Danny would like to target reaching this $450K mark in 2 years. 18. Women s History in Cougar Crew (Marietta Ed Hall) There are many women who were part of the Cougar Crew team before Title IX that still feel associated more to the Cougar Crew club than the current women s team. Ed would like to target an increased inclusion of the Cougar Crew women in next year s Class Day event - while keeping in mind the overall goal is still to support the club Cougar Crew team. Ed will report progress of this plan at November meeting. 19. Distribution of Funds Raised at Silent Auction First $10K will be used at the discretion of the team, any amount over $10K will be split 60 / 40 (Endowment / Team, respectively). Post Meeting Note: Silent Auction Raised over $10,000, not including additional donations for non-auction items Page 5 of 5