April 2, 2020
The DCCCD Retirees Association Leadership Meeting was called to order at 7:33 p.m. by President, Rodger Bennett. Those present were Rodger Bennett, Karen Laljiani, Delryn Fleming, Lisa Theriot, Dottie Clark, Georgia Francis, Donna Strain, Don Baynham, and Susan Turner.
Old Business
Rodger discussed a meeting he had recently with Justin Lonon, Executive Vice Chancellor. He noted 3 highlights in light of recent Shelter in Place policies due to the COVID-19 Epidemic.
- The Association has communications barriers, i.e. retiree email addresses;
- Business practice deficiencies, i.e. check writing and mailing;
- Engagement with District HR.
Other topics covered in this meeting included creating opportunities (and funds) for retirees to attend and present at conferences, creating a Retiree Association Advisory Group that includes District HR employees, and creating opportunities for retiree members to participate in mentoring, tutoring, and other District volunteer opportunities.
Delryn thanked Georgia and Dottie for their work in updating email addresses of members.
Events Canceled due to COVID-19 Crisis.
Don Baynham reported that the tour of the Heritage Farmstead Museum in Plano was cancelled. Thirty people had signed up for the event and Don believes that rescheduling at a later date will be simple. Donna Strain reported that the One Thirty Production of Driving Miss Daisy was a great success. She had considered scheduling a second play by the same group about Molly Ivans, but had not finalized the details before the emergency restrictions were enacted. We discussed the many great venues throughout the area for theater productions.
Delryn Fleming reported that the Spring Luncheon was cancelled, and the Derby Day at Lone Star Park was rescheduled for Labor Day. (Rosie doesn’t think that date will work, so she cancelled the event.) The tour of Globe Life Field was rescheduled for a date in May. Reimbursements were made to individuals not signed up for the Globe Life tour. When she knows if the Globe Life tour is cancelled, she will reimburse the remaining funds. Delryn commented that people have been great about cancelled events and happy to be able to get refunds.
Georgia Francis reported on Bob Chamber’s museum events. The African-American Museum tour was held, but the Perot Museum tour was cancelled.
There ensued a conversation of how members find out about these events. As of now, each person who schedules events keeps an email list of members who have indicated interest. Members find out about future events from the newsletters. It was suggested that we set up a retiree’s Facebook page to advertise future events. Karen Laljiani will investigate what rules the District has on Facebook pages.
Delryn Fleming suggested that we need to have a better way to inform new retirees about upcoming events to get them involved soon after their retirement. It was suggested that we highlight events in the letter sent out to new retirees or that we put something on the membership form where they can check what type of events they are interested in attending. Karen will send out a draft of the letter she will be mailing to new retirees for edits to include how to get information about attending retiree events.
Delryn Fleming reported that we have 10 new lifetime members, 20 renewing or beginning annual memberships, and 2 or 3 current annual members converting to lifetime memberships. She also reported that we have not received a refund on our deposit from Lone Star Park. She will follow up.
Delryn reported that we will contribute $300 from new memberships to the Retirees Association Dallas College Foundation scholarship account. From the members’ contributions and the refunds from canceled events that were contributed, we will add another $321 to the scholarship fund. Total contributions to the Dallas College Foundation for our scholarship is $621.
Dottie Clark mentioned that we don’t have a clear direction or deadline on the Hall of Honor nominations and award process. The Human Resources Director from Brookhaven Teresa Edrich, Dottie, and Lisa Theriot have volunteered to serve on the selection committee. Dottie will contact Alice Rios Shaw in Human Resources to see if they anticipate a District Hall of Honor event this year.
We discussed the upcoming Summer Newsletter and talked about how we should move forward. Rodger will contact Chancellor May’s office regarding the Chancellor’s message and will write his own President’s message. We will add highlights of our spring events that took place. Georgia will ask Donna to highlight the play and the concert and send information to Susan. Rodger will contact the new HR Director and ask her to write an introduction letter to retirees. Georgia will write information about the selection of the scholarship recipient. Dottie will ask Pam Quinn to write about her trip to Israel. We will mail the Summer newsletter to members only as usual.
There was no new business. The meeting was adjourned at 9:00 p.m.
Respectfully submitted,
Lisa Theriot, Secretary