Attendance: 27 Council Members: 7 other alumni; 1 CU Staff member; 0 guests
The first CUAA Council meeting of the new school year was held on Sept. 12, 2018 in room 201 of 41 Cooper Square. The meeting began at 6:27 PM. 31 Alumni attended either in person or via teleconferencing.
CUAA President, Paul Nikulin CE’06 made some introductory remarks which included the observation that the past year was one where our collective efforts went largely to events and to the work of the FEC. During this year, we will be spending considerable time increasing alumni engagement and on fundraising. He announced that the CUAA has been awarded 501(c)(3) status by the State of NY. This means that donations made to the CUAA are tax deductible going forward. There are no plans to do independent fundraising at this time. Our fundraising is being coordinated by the Annual Fund Committee and the school’s Development office in a joint effort.
Dan Burke ChE’81 made a motion to approve the minutes of the May council meeting. Steve Verderese EE’84 seconded the motion. A vote was taken and the motion was approved.
Paul Nikulin then announced the chairs for the CUAA Committees, that are filled by appointment and have been selected so far. They are:
Annual Fund: Carol Wolf A’84
Communications: Ron Vogel ChE’01
Election: Shankar Venkataraman BSE’03
CU Faculty Committees: VP Student and Faculty Liaison, Margaret Matz AR’84
Events: VP Alumni Activities, Kelly Occhiuzzo Zack A’90
Tellers: Pending
Membership: Pending
Awards: Laura Spinner A’89
Gano Dunn Award: Pending
Augustus Saint Gaudens: Carol Wolf A’84 and Bill Wolf A’84
John Q Hejduk Award: Pending
Peter Cooper Public Service Award: Mary Lynch ChE’82
Peter Cooper Block Party: Victoria Sobel A’15, Anton Wu CE’15 and Yessio Tated AR’18
Standish Lee AR’11 presented a proposal for an alumni survey. The proposal was well received and a committee was appointed to finish the development work on the survey. The committee includes Standish Lee, Mark O’Grady A’76 , Mary Lynch ChE’82 and Mark Vasquez ME’88.
Victoria Sobel A’15, Anton Wu CE’15 and Yessio Tated AR’18 gave an overview of the plans for the Block Party which will be held on September 22, 2018 on the same day as the Astor Alive event on the Astor Place Performance space. It will be held from 12 to 5 PM. The Block party event will be on 4th Avenue along side the Foundation Building. It will also use the sidewalk space alonge side the Foundation Building and the Colonnade. The theme for this year’s block party is, “Are we There Yet?” More than 10 student and Alumni groups will have exhibits. There will also be a free Bar-B-Q and volunteers are being sought to help with the grilling. Paul Nikulin then announced the list of events that are planned for this fall. They are:
Alumni Trustee Mixer – September 25, 2018 at 7 World Trade Center
Mock Interview Night – October 4, 2018
Conforming to the Grid, an East Village walking tour with Jack Eichenbaum ChE’63 – October 7, 2018
Chicago Regional Group Meetup – October 9, 2018
Javitz Center Green Roof Tour – October 13, 2018
Pittsburgh Alumni Meetup – October 28, 2018
Carol Wolf A’84 gave a report for the Annual Fund Committee. She said that the Fund collected $3,063,644 for the fiscal year ending July 30th 2018. This is up from the prior year. The increase is likely due to the Irma Weiss Matching gift program. She said that the alumni participation rate did not increase. It went from 21% to 20.9%. Darrell Low gave a report on the CU on Wall Street Affinity Group. They raised $370,000 for FY18.
Laura Spinner spoke about the 2019 CUAA Awards Ceremony. She said that the date is not known yet. It may be moved from Reunion weekend to an earlier date in the spring. We are encouraging alumni to submit nominations from now until October 15th. The individual award committees are encouraged to make their selections by early December. The winners will be announced in early February before Founder’s Day.
Darrell Low EE’89 made an announcement that the CU on Wall Street Affinity group will be meeting in 2 weeks. The group raised $370,000. for the annual fund in FY2018. 33% of the members donated. The group will have a social event in November. They are also working on getting alumni testimonials for the www.support.cooper.edu website.
Nils Folke Anderson A’94 gave a short summary of the work being done by the MOA committee and encouraged other alumni to join the committee.
The draft calendar for council meetings for this year was distributed. If you see something in the calender that needs altering, please notify Paul. Paul announced that the new contact for alumni interactions with the school is Dan Zori. He came onboard over the summer. His contact information is:
Daniel R. Zori
Assistant Director, Alumni Affairs
212-353-4139 | dzori@cooper.edu
The meeting was adjourned at 7:50 PM
Minutes prepared by: Mary Lynch, CUAA Secretary