April 1, 2021 – Held via Zoom

Meeting started at 6:36pm

Margaret Matz opened the meeting.

Margaret Matz reported that she had a weekly call with Laura Sparks and Malcolm King. They and Eric Hirschhorn will present at the next Council meeting, which will be on April 26. Issues discussed included the MOA and the relationship between CUAA and students.

Anna Brook reported that she is meeting with Laura Sparks about the MOA at the end of April.

Margaret mentioned the information provided by Cooper Union regarding the Annual Fund. Anna and Margaret also discussed alumni contact information.

Margaret Matz noted that Shankar provided an update on the elections, and they were proceeding on schedule. The group discussed increasing senior student participation and new alumni registrations.

Anna Brook said that after a panel event with the engineering school for Women’s History Month, students asked about mentoring opportunities. Mary Lynch noted that there was a mentoring program run through the Cooper career services office that may or may not be active. Anna Brook will check in with Jolie Woodson in the career services office about the status of the program.

Donato Giacalone (VP Faculty/Student Liaison) reported that school is expected to be in-person in Fall 2021. There may be additional considerations such as foreign students, vaccines, a hybrid learning model. The buildings are expected to be maxed out to capacity. Surveys will be sent to students regarding attendance. Spring break has been replaced by March Wellness days. In-person or online graduation are being discussed.

The Architecture School and the Dean are proceeding with sending physical materials for the Venice Biennale exhibition.

Margaret Matz mentioned that the Membership committee has had some communication with the elections committee. Margaret noted that Shankar Venkataraman (Chair of Elections Committee) is terming off Council and working with Sim Blaustein to transition election committee activities.

Margaret Matz noted that the Alumni Newsletter will be coming out in the next few weeks. There will be communications push for April 8 Meet the Candidates Night.

Mary Lynch reminded that Committee Chairs should be nudged to prepare end of year reports.

Margaret Matz reported that the Constitution Committee has been working on some language and she will check if they are ready to present at council.

Anna Brook moved to adjourn the meeting. Mary Lynch seconded the motion. The meeting was adjourned at 7:56 pm.