Cal Alumni Association Board of Directors Meeting UCLA James West Alumni Center November 16, 2012 The meeting was called to order at 9:10am and a quorum was established by President Karen Leong Clancy. Directors present: President Karen Leong Clancy, Vice President Aaron Mendelson, Vice President Finance Jason Sherr, Julia Gettle, Maritessa Ares, Joyce Hicks, Guillermo Rodriguez, Cynthia So Schroeder, Ed Weiss, Betty Yee, Erika Boyd, Carl Jacobs, Eric Mart, Velveth Schmitz, Ernie Bumatay, Phil Litts, Carrie Young. Absent Directors: Alison Mark, Jason Morimoto, Amy Shin, Glenn Baity, Marya Stark. Designated Directors: Alan Mendelson, Alumni Regent; Bahar Navab, President, Graduate Assembly. CAA Staff: Jefferson Coombs, Cindy Leung, Phil Cunliffe, Susie Crumpler, Ken McDonald, Anjeannette Schnetz, Wendy Miller. Guests: Allan Kingston, Nicole Jones, Briita Halonen. 1. President s Report - Karen Leong Clancy Ms. Clancy welcomed the Cal Alumni Association Directors to Los Angeles and thanked UCLA Executive Director Ralph Amos and his staff for inviting the CAA Board to use the James West Alumni Center on the UCLA campus for this meeting. She then thanked the CAA staff and Directors for a wonderful post election panel discussion last evening. Ms. Clancy and Graduate Assembly President Bahar Navab recently served on the Advisory Committee to help select UC Berkeley s next Chancellor. She believes Dr. Nicholas Dirks will be an excellent leader and was the best fit academically and culturally for UC Berkeley. Dr. Dirks will visit campus for various meetings over the next seven months and will commence his post in June 2013. Ms. Navab added that the student leadership endorsed the selection of Dr. Dirks because they trust his understanding of the importance of access and affordability and the public mission of the University of California. Action Items: M/S/A Approved minutes from 10/24/12 Board meeting. 2. Executive Director Report Jefferson Coombs Mr. Coombs welcomed everyone to Southern California and reported on the following: Planning: CAA Staff has been hard at work incorporating the FY13 operating plan feedback received at the last Board meeting and working within the parameters of the Page 1 of 6
new strategic plan, figuring out how to bring the plan to life and incorporate programming and fiscal decisions in light of CAA s focus and goals over the five years. Partnerships: Last evening s post election panel discussion, that was produced in conjunction with Berkeley Law and the Goldman School of Public Policy, took CAA partnerships to a new level and delivered a compelling and engaging intellectual event that allowed CAA to reach a broader alumni base. Other partnership opportunities include a speaking engagement for Mr. Coombs at the international HAAS Alumni Network event, an event in San Francisco connecting with entrepreneurs and the Berkeley Professional Network, a Cal Athletics special discounted ticket promotion for Cal Alumni Association members as well as an invitation to Golden Bear Life Members to the University Club at California Memorial Stadium, and a University of Washington tailgate party held at Alumni House for 400 people which resulted in revenue for CAA as well as a good turn for a fellow alumni colleague. Mr. Coombs will be promoting Alumni House rental to other Pac 12 colleagues. Programs: Mr. Coombs updated the Directors on the Cal Advocacy efforts including a phone bank campaign in support of Proposition 30. The recent Leadership Award luncheon hosted 350 guests and the fall tailgates reached many of Cal s alumni fan base. Progress: Mr. Coombs is pleased to report that CAA s new Chief Development Officer, Debra Gore-Mann, will begin her tenure with CAA in early December. Ms. Gore-Mann was the CDO at San Francisco s Stride Center. He thanked Ms. Clancy and Ms. Hicks for their participation and efforts in the interviewing the CDO finalists. The search for the Director of Business Development is currently underway, CAA has received over 70 applications. Lastly, Mr. Coombs reported that progress in the Alumni House expansion efforts continue. A new Alumni House would fulfill a bold programmatic vision for the Cal Alumni House to be the hub of alumni relations on campus. Recent meetings with Paula Milano and Erin Gore have occurred and CAA is now looking at a phased approach to this auspicious goal. Phase 1 would be a reorganization of the current facility to accommodate staffing and conference needs and design the space to be used in line with CAA s priority programs as determined by the new strategic plan. 3. Finance Report Phil Cunliffe, Jason Sherr CAA CFO Phil Cunliffe reported the Association s financials: revenue through September is $10.89M, expenses are $9.46M. CAA is $95k ahead of plan which is approximately $500k better on net income than the Association was at this point last year. Mr. Cunliffe reported that while some departments are underperforming, others are ahead of plan. Third quarter projections indicate that CAA could end the year $200k below plan, there are indications that the strong performance may result in ending the year on plan. Next, Mr. Sherr and Mr. Cunliffe gave the Directors an overview on CAA s Life Membership Fund. The Cal Alumni Association sells life memberships to Cal alumni, 50% of revenue from those sales are put into an investment fund in order to ensure that Page 2 of 6
each life member will receive service for the remainder of their life. The investment fund is managed by Capital Guardian. A portion of the fund (5% of the trailing three year fund average) is transferred to CAA s operating budget on an annual basis. In addition, life membership funds have been used for other investments such as the purchase of the Pinecrest Chalet. The current fund balance is $14.9M. The CAA Finance Committee would like to see the fund reach $20M. Cynthia So Schroder suggested that a life member actuarial analysis be done on an annual basis in order to determine the amount required to service CAA s life members. 4. Regent Report Alan Mendelson Mr. Mendelson reported on the most recent Regent s meeting. The Governor attended the first day and stayed for the dinner. The Regents approved a budget and are hopeful for no tuition increases in light of Proposition 30 passing however, additional funds will need to be found. A capital improvement budget was approved but funding is still tbd. The Regents discussed various matters including University debt, things UC can do to increase revenue including increasing tuition for certain UC schools that are in more demand than other UCs and are competing on a level with the elite private universities. Other topics included the possibility of credential / non-degree programs (e.g., instead of an MBA), creating a separate 501c3 in order to pay incentive compensation and ways the UC system can receive more from its intellectual property. The Regents discussed the new Chancellor and agreed that his public and private university experience will be valuable for UC Berkeley. Mr. Mendelson reported that the Campaign for Berkeley has received $2.5 billion in pledges, the goal is $3 billion by 2013. Ms. Navab noted that UC professional school fees are currently equal to private school fees. Mr. Mendelson agreed and noted that the Regents are sensitive to this controversial issue (the topic was removed from the Regents last meeting agenda) but also mindful that they need to make fiscally solvent decisions in order to fulfill their fiduciary responsibilities to the entire UC system. 5. New Strategic Initiatives Preview Jefferson Coombs, Cindy Leung, Susie Crumpler, Wendy Miller Mr. Coombs discussed two areas of focus in light of CAA s new strategic initiatives: the Berkeley Professional Network and the roll out of a digital version of California magazine. These new initiatives will produce meaningful content and opportunities for alumni engagement. Cindy Leung gave the Directors an overview of the new Berkeley Professional Network (BPN) which will launch in 2013 (pending budget approval) and replaces the defunct Career Services Program. The focus will be on building a broad professional network on and off line, it will not be a job search program. The concept is more along the lines of alumni supporting each other at various stages throughout their careers and supporting the alumni community. The first year will focus on building the foundation of the plan / network, targeting a few pilot industries (Ms. Leung is organizing a steering committee to advise CAA on the specific industries to target) and creating a baseline of career development programs. The BPN will allow alumni to receive value by connecting with each other and add value by helping new and fellow alumni as they launch their careers. Page 3 of 6
Next, Wendy Miller and Susie Crumpler described the digital / online concept for California magazine which will launch in the second half of 2013. The digital content will be designed to inform, inspire and engage alumni to support the University through new media channels. Content will start in the print version and be expanded with the digital / online version. The online version will add incremental income with advertising sales revenue. The site will be built internally and will require a FTE to write / research content. It was suggested that a focus group could be engaged for user experience feedback and that start-up costs / decisions should be carefully analyzed as long term costs could mushroom in an industry that is constantly changing. 12:00pm 1pm: The Directors broke for lunch. Ms. Clancy called the meeting back to order at 1pm and asked for public comment. There was no public comment. 6. FY 13 Operating Budget Jefferson Coombs, Phil Cunliffe Mr. Coombs presented the FY 13 draft operating budget which incorporates the feedback received on the last Board meeting call. The final draft of the FY 13 budget will be presented for a vote on the December 12 th call. Per CAA s new strategic plan, this budget incorporates the top programmatic priorities / global strategies and includes a focus on revenue generation. As such, the budget maintains funding for a Chief Development Officer and incremental funding for a Major Gifts Officer as well as a new FTE Director of Business Development and a Business Development coordinator. The plan includes a capital expenditure for an investment in information technology to ensure data integrity ( project unicorn ). Capital expenditures have been allocated to improve the Pinecrest Chalet to help drive sales and revenue. The plan fully funds the Berkeley Professional Network as well as a mid-year investment in the online version of California magazine as discussed earlier today. The draft budget reduces the Human Resources budget by $40k and cuts $10k travel funds from the Executive Director s budget that was ear marked for travel with the new Chancellor and CAA salary increase was reduced to an average of 2% (instead of 3%) in order to allow for a net $138k contribution to the Life Membership Fund. After discussion and an anonymous gift, the Directors requested that the $10k for the Executive Director to travel with the new Chancellor in 2013 be incorporated in the final draft that will be voted on in December. After further discussion, Ms. Clancy thanked everyone for their insightful feedback. The FY 13 operating budget will be voted on in the December 12 th conference call. She asked the Directors to let Mr. Coombs know if they have any other questions or feedback over the next week so that the information can be incorporated in the final version. 7. Committee Breakout Session / Committee Updates The Directors broke into various committees for a breakout session and then reported as follows: Page 4 of 6
a. Advocacy Erika Boyd Ms. Boyd thanked everyone for their efforts to promote the endorsement of Proposition 30, she especially thanked Carrie Young for translating the call to action into Chinese! b. Alumni Network Cynthia So Schroeder The new Alumni Network Committee will be used to help with the new Berkeley Professional Network that Ms. Leung discussed earlier today. The Committee will help build the foundation of the BPN. As a stretch goal, Ms. Schroeder asked each Director to amass 500 names that can be used by the BPN for social and career networking. c. Audit Betty Yee Ms. Yee reported that the 2012 audit launch is underway. CAA will use the same audit firm (Burr Pilger Mayer), Ms. Yee will be meeting with them in early December to discuss timing and fees. d. Business Development Susie Crumpler for Alison Mark Ms. Crumpler reported that the search is underway for a new Director of Business Development. CAA s partners from the Charlotte, North Carolina Bank of America corporate offices visited with Mr. Coombs and Ms. Crumpler last week and began preliminary discussions on the June 2014 contract negotiations. They also attended the Cal vs. Oregon football game together. e. Equity Development Joyce Hicks Ms. Hicks reported that a top priority of the Equity Development Committee is to meet with the new CDO, Debra Gore-Mann, together with Ken McDonald, to discuss expectations. Ms. Hicks discussed 100% Board giving and Ms. Clancy stated that her goal is to have each Director become a Charter Hill Society member by June 30, 2013. f. Executive Director Performance Review Aaron Mendelson Mr. Mendelson reported that Mr. Coombs will receive his performance review at the end of the year, he asked for feedback from the Directors and the Committee will present the review results in closed session at the February 2013 meeting. On the December 12 th call, the Executive Performance Committee will report on CAA s compliance regarding executive compensation per the Nonprofit Integrity Act s governance oversight requirements. g. Nominating Committee Aaron Mendelson Mr. Mendelson will circulate the matrix skill set spreadsheet so that the Committee can determine the skill sets required in the next Board class. Board applications will go online in December and applications are due January 31st. Page 5 of 6
Action Item h. Lair / Chalet Eric Mart Mr. Mart visited the Lair and Chalet in late summer and met with Mike Yaley and Mr. Coombs in the fall to determine how this Committee can be used as a sounding board to give helpful feedback. Guidance on the Forest Service, fiscal / promotional strategies, operating plan updates and helping with feedback regarding a Pinecrest Chalet master plan would be useful. A meeting is being set up with key Lair influencers to discuss the Lair camper improvement assessment fee and to help them understand why it s being incorporated as a line item in the 2013 Lair season. i. Membership Phil Litts and Maritessa Ares Mr. Litts reported that there are now over 600 Golden Bear Life Members and that 33% of graduating seniors became CAA members in 2012, the highest national join rate. A new alumni directory will be created in 2013 and will guarantee the Association $80k in revenue and up to date membership data. Upcoming membership promotions will target working professionals and December graduates. Ms. So Schroeder suggested that the Membership Department create a holiday gift package and target Cal parents of current students and recent graduates. M/S/A Approved the addition of John McClintock and John Badillo to the Business Development Committee and Tod Gregory to the Alumni Network Committee. The meeting adjourned at 4pm. The Directors then participated in a Southern California engagement panel discussion with three alumni who live in the greater Los Angeles area: Allan Kingston, Nicole Jones and Briita Halonen. After the panel discussion, the Directors and guests enjoyed a reception with the UCLA senior staff. Page 6 of 6