June 14, 2023:  Global Connections Executive Committee Meeting Minutes

Members in Attendance:
Voting members: Bob Persiko, Bruce Truitt, Melanie Miller Foster, Anna Borisova de Valdez, Deb Leo, Shannon Holliday.

Call to order at 7:09 PM. May minutes were accepted as submitted.

Reports of officers:

President – Bob

Bob reported:

1. Kieran attended a luncheon offered by the borough in which GC was honored. Moreover, GC got a $500 donation from the Borough for its excellent work. 
2. Bob has so far not succeeded in getting an Iranian team to cook at a possible Iranian luncheon. He’ll keep trying.
3. Rita stepped down from being the membership committee chair. Bob will be looking for a replacement. There are 96 members in WA, and 91 of them are active members, 188 contacts (250 is the limit).
4. Anna is going to step down from being the secretary in August/September 2023. Bob will be looking for a replacement.

 Vice President – Kieran – absent

Treasurer – Bruce

Bruce reported:

1. GC’s current balance in the checking account is $5,009 and $31,000 in the money market.
2. Major bills of GC have been paid.

Public relations, website, and social media – Marco – absent

Penn State Global  – Wenjie Fu – absent

Cultural Luncheons Committee – Shannon Holiday

Shannon has a negotiation with Unitarian Fellowship Church to utilize their facilities for GC luncheons with a feasible discounted rate.

2-3 luncheons are planned to be organized in 2023. The dates are still to be determined.

Possible luncheons:

1. Scotland: the executive director of Hope Center County (Scottish) is willing to host, cater and provide a presentation.
2. Japan: the pastor’s wife of the United Methodist Church has agreed to host it in their facility and cater a Sushi bar.
3. Africa: working on

Small Groups – Debbie Leo

1. The book groups (beginners and intermediate/advanced level) are on summer break till the end of August.
2. Number of members this year increased, and each group will try to attain ten members.

Unfinished business:

Centre Gives: Bob proposed that GC will use the money received during the Center Gives to sponsor scholarships for English classes for immigrant family adults through the Mid State Literacy Council. GC will make those recipients members of GC. If this pilot is successful it could become an annual project.

Motion: Bob

Seconded: Shannon

Discussions: none

The Motion passes. Bob will negotiate terms with the Literacy Council and report back to EC members.

New Business

1. Bruce said that the Google Drive of GC needs to be put in order. Decisions need to be made: Who should have oversight of the site? Should we delete old documents? Should we limit what gets posted? Should we share links with EC/publish on GC Website? Bob offered to go through the documents and delete old ones. Melanie said that a previous secretary had culled a lot. Bruce said that it’s important to make one person responsible for maintenance. It could be a responsibility of the Secretary. Melanie cautioned that we not overload too much on the Secretary. Anna agreed that this could be assigned to the Secretary, but she noted that a new Secretary would not know what is important. It was decided to assign this as a secretarial responsibility. Access to all documents needs to be given to all EC members. Make the Drive a repository of all key documents. The Bylaws and Standing Rules only provide vague guidance on such responsibilities. Bob will draft a list of duties and responsibilities of the secretarial position and circulate it to the EC members for consideration. Bruce will review the Standing Rules to see how they can be amended to reflect what the Secretary should do.
2. Discussion on Membership Picnic was tabled to a future meeting.
3. State College Spikes baseball home game on June 21. Need an event reminder to be sent to all members.

Meeting adjournment: 8:15

Prepared and submitted by Anna Borisova de Valdez 06/25/2023 with edits by Bob Persiko, 6/26/23.           

 

The following GC EC meetings will be in August.

 

May 10, 2023: Global Connections Executive Committee Meeting Minutes

Members in Attendance:
Voting members: Bob Persiko, Kieran Holland, Bruce Truitt, Marco Damasceno, Anna Borisova de Valdez, Deb Leo, Shannon Holliday.

Call to order at 7:10 PM. April minutes were accepted as submitted.

Reports of officers:

President – Bob

Bob reported:

1. Discussion group (members + families and friends) held a picnic and went hiking on Saturday, May 6, at Stone Valley Recreation Area/ Lake Perez; around 30 people attended the event. Marco will post pictures in GC’s social media after the Centre Gives campaign ends.
2. Bob is regularly receiving and responding to emails with requests for help with translating and other services.
3. There was a meeting of the ad hoc committee (Bob, Bruce, and Kieran) working on archiving inactive members in Wild Apricot. WA:188 contacts, 96 members with 91 active members. They have been emailing many of them, asking them to renew or let the GC know that their membership can lapse. Then, as the committee gets their answers, decides their status. Some remain active, some stay non-member contacts, another 100 or so are archived, and others have been deleted altogether. The committee is still defining criteria for these categories and is working on recruiting a person to help monitor members’ status as their circumstances change.
4. In the summer, GC EC meetings will be in June and August.

 

Vice President – Kieran

Treasurer – Bruce

Bruce reported:

1. GC’s current balance on the checking account is around $4,600.
2. Saudi Arabian Cultural Luncheon resulted in a $530 loss.
3. “Central Gives” $260 (6 donors) – as of that moment.

Public relations, website, and social media – Marco

1. Marco launched an advertising campaign for “Centre Gives” and will reinforce it before the end of it.
2. Sabrina posted a newsletter with the information “CG.”
3. Bob passed the Penn State Global newsletter to Marco.

 

Penn State Global  – Wenjie Fu – absent

Cultural Luncheons Committee – Shannon Holiday

1. Shannon met with new GC member (Ciara Halloran), who expressed an interest in being on the committee and assisting with organizing future cultural luncheons.
2. After the Saudi Arabian Cultural Luncheon, GC needs to reconsider the parameters of the next luncheons (additional discussion is pending!)
3. Cheaper venue (work on cost efficiency in general; think about Borough Building as a venue)
4. Time (evenings?)
5. Day (weekends?)
6. Advanced advertising/marketing budget. Kieran offered to print flyers for luncheons (2 weeks prior) to distribute at Ten Thousand Villages.
7. Separate payment of membership and payment of attending the luncheon at the luncheon itself (see new business).
8. Themes being considered for next luncheons:
9. Scotland
10. Japan (Shannon is exploring the basement of United Methodist Church)
11. Iran

Membership – Rita– absent

Small Groups – Debbie Leo

1. The book groups (advanced and intermediate level) will have a summer break.
2. Number of members this year increased.
3. Bob said the discussion group and English class will meet periodically in June and August and likely take a break during July.

Unfinished business:

Centre Gives (see discussion above)

New Business

Proposal:  Increase the price of membership for 2024 (January 1^st of 2024) from $10 to $20 per regular member.

Reasoning: economic situation, inflation, insufficient revenue from other sources, etc.

Motion: Bob

Seconded: Kieran

Discussions: none

The motion passed unanimously.

 

Discussion on incentives and discounts related to GC activities was tabled to a future meeting.

 

There’s a State College Spikes baseball home game on June 21. Bob will write the note for the May newsletter, website and social media posting.

Meeting adjournment: 8:02

Prepared and submitted by Anna Borisova de Valdez 05/12/2023 with edits by Bob Persiko, 5/14/23

September 14 Global Connections Executive Committee Meeting Minutes

Members in Attendance:
Voting members: Bob Persiko, Bruce Truitt, Shannon Holliday, Melanie Miller Foster

Non-voting members: Marco Damasceno, Anna Borisova de Valdez

Call to order at 7:09 PM. September minutes were accepted as submitted.

Reports of officers:

President – Bob

Bob suggested organizing more:

1. In-person activities with members, like the picnic + hiking on October, 8.
2. Revenue-generating activities for the organization (indoor events).

Annual meeting will consist (45 min):

1. General report – Bob
2. Finance report – Bruce
3. Election
4. No cultural presentation this time

Melanie suggested to use agenda from the previous year annual meeting because that meeting was organized well.

Melanie asked to put a specific call to show members what needs are and how can people contribute. Bob suggested to ask members to join committee and committee will divide rolls.

Bob commented that small groups work very actively. There are two new members who came from English group.

 

Vice President – Kieran Holland – absent, doing the telephone duty at WPSU for fundrising

Treasurer – Bruce Truitt

Bruce reported:

1. $6 000.00 in a checking account
2. Paid annual subscription of WA – $648.00+around $5-$10 per month of transaction fees
3. Bruce asked about the disposition of several gift certificates and gift cards. There are three certificates (2017) from the Rey Azteca Mexican Restaurant, which are still valid. Two of them were presented to one member and Marco for their great help during the work at the Multicultural Unity Fair. There is one more certificate is available and 3-4 gift cards. Shannon suggested using it as a present in some ruffle.
4. Bruce announced the need of making a decision about increasing the plan of contacts in WA due to Rita’s concerns. Were decided that Rita should be present to clarify the situation. Melanie thinks that WA makes easier for volunteers doing administration work and cheaper in comparison with the salary of an employee. To make a decision it should be a quorum. Melanie noted that GC should think about to opportunity to share tools for taking responsibility and rights to some members, who want to be more active. Bob suggested arranging a meeting with Bruce and Rita to discuss some unclarities about WA and after to organize a vote with executive members, probably via E-votes between meetings.
5. Bruce submitted request: one member requested assistance with CHIP application for the child. Bob will try to ask help of
6. Membership renewal notice will go automatically to the members on WA in December and be affected on January 1st, 2023.

Secretary – Maryam – absent. Anna Borisova de Valdez

Public relations, website, and social media –Marco

Will be a post about the picnic and the hike of the discussion group. Marco will photoshop a person, who asked to not publish him on social nets. Information about candidates for election is prepared. Need to be ready before October, 25^th

Anna suggested using statistical information of contacts from WA making a post with numbers: how many men, women, nationalities, and how many languages members speak to show how GC is global. 

Bruce noted that Wenjie could provide this information about the university and Rita could clarify do we have this statistics on WA.

Penn State Global  – Wenjie Fu – absent, submitted report

Here are the updates from Penn State Global, and please let me know if you have ay questions.

1. Penn State community is invited to a conversation with Qatari energy minister on Friday, Oct. 14, 12:00 – 1:00 pm at HUB 132 Flex Theater.

2. Community Engagement Programs – Book Group Discussion (virtual) on October 19, 4-5 pm. This month’s theme is Memoirs! Bring your favorite memoir to join our virtual roundtable book group discussion.
3. Conversation Partners Program – Pumpkin Decoration and Craft on Wednesday, October 26, 4:00 – 6:00 pm at State College Borough Building, Room 201.

Decorate pumpkins and make your garlands to celebrate the fall!  Come join us to have a fun time with your assigned conversation partners and other CEP participants. Friends and family members are welcome to join too! Bring your own pumpkins! We will provide all the necessary supplies and baby pumpkins (while supplies last.

4. Global Sustainable Action: It Starts with Us!

Penn State Global is currently looking for volunteers to join our planning committee and to help on the day of the conference. The conference will be held at University Park on November 5, 2022, as part of International Education Month. If you are interested in volunteering, please fill out the form : https://forms.office.com/r/avgqHKxTik

5. Join OLLI at Penn State and Penn State Global for culture and conversations from around the world on Thursday, November 3, 1:30 – 3:00 pm at Penn State Outreach Building, room 121 G&H.

Small Groups – Deb Leo,  absent, absent, submitted report.

The intermediate/advanced Women’s Book Group that Sharon and I lead is up and running with 5 new members and new interest every week. We have begun in-person meetings on Wednesdays at noon, and the participants are so happy to meet in-person. We are still welcoming new members so please refer any interested to Susan at [email protected]

Reports from the standing committees:

Cultural luncheons Committee – Shannon Holiday –

1. Luau party

Expenditures and incomes

Revenues	$  120.00
Permit	$  (60.00)
Food	$(691.00)
Cake	$  (74.99)
Decorations/Beverages/Other Food	$(253.19)
Total	$(959.18)

 

Was received good feedback from the attendees. Anna suggested to organize payment for the next for all participants: members with discount, other – full price.

Bob will share with Shannon information from previous years events

1. Shannon asked to send her any suggestions/ideas of the cultural lunch of the next year. Bob offered to think about the organization earlier this year: to recruit more people, etc. To think again maybe to cooperate with Nittany Methodist church, to have more volunteers (not members), but who can help during the event (who will serve, who will clean).
2. There is a opportunity to take part in the Boalsburg farmers market on Tuesdays (from State College community Land trust) with no cost (indoor in winter). They provide table and chairs. GC can stand there with it’s information. Bob offered to discuss with member committee.

Anna suggested thinking strategically about the goals of the organization and from that to decide in what promotion activities GC should take part.

1. Shannon noted about opportunity to be present GC at WPSU kids fair.

Membership – Rita absent, submitted report

1. Below is an overview of our membership/contacts in the Wild Apricot system:

– current total contacts: 250

-current members: 85

-new members in last 30 days: 4

2. I am very concerned that we have too small a plan in WildApricot for our most basic needs. Comparing our numbers to the limits of our WildApricot plan I would like to ask the team to consider and approve increasing our Wild Apricot plan to allow upto 500 contacts. Pricing can be found here: https://www.wildapricot.com/pricing-na

• We have maxed out the number of contacts at 250 total contacts…no new contacts may be added to the system at this time
• recruiting and converting interest in the organization into membership necessitates keeping a larger list of contacts than actual members, so we can capture interested prospects and send them info about upcoming opportunities that have them signup and become members.
• We have the interest that would warrant a “Community” plan option and our prospects look very promising:

  . 250 contacts

  . 192 event attendees

  . 132 email opens (of 220 sent)

• Though we do have some old/expired/no longer active contacts, I am not convinced that deleting a few will [delete “not”] provide enough “space” for managing our active and potential contacts.…in other words: we need to do this and there is no short term fix

 

Unfinished business:

List or action items from the August meeting and action taken or still pending:

• Bruce to continue organizing a team for the financial review. (Still pending).
• Wenjie to submit an item for the newsletter on tax workshops, Conversation Partners, and a call for volunteers (submitted for the September newsletter)
• Shannon to recruit volunteers for the September 18 picnic; Bob to include an item in the newsletter. (completed)
• Shannon to coordinate with Rita and the membership committee on GC representation at the September Multi-Cultural Unity fair. (completed)
• Deb to submit an item on book groups for the newsletter; also work with the PR team on advertising through social media. (completed)
• Melanie to check with Daniel on temporarily suspending the limit on the presidential term and report back to the EC. Daniel Foster said that he can write a proviso with an expiration date, which can be adopted by the membership in order to allow for an extension for the next year. 8/11/22
• Bruce to craft wording to change the bylaws provision on maintaining membership records. (pending)
• Maryam to change the standing committee choices in the member registration site in Wild Apricot. (Maryam/Anna to confirm)
• Bob to draft an appeal to members for the newsletter on more active participation and new project development. (completed)

There was a brief discussion about the proposed changes in the standing rules. A motion was made by Kieran and seconded by Shannon to accept the changes. The members present voted unanimously to approve. Bob noted that this is a work in progress and can be amended any time there is a need. Bob will put the document in final and distribute it.

New Business

The members agreed on Wednesday, November 9, for the annual membership meeting and election (via Zoom). Melanie noted that the slate of officer candidates needs to be sent to the members by October 9. Bob will write an item for the September newsletter (action item).

Meeting adjournment: 8:09

Prepared and Submitted by Anna Borisova de Valdez 9/14/2022 with edits by Bob Persiko  

August 10 Global Connections Executive Committee Meeting Minutes

Members in Attendance:
Voting members: Bob Persiko, Shannon Holliday, Bruce Truitt, Deb Leo, Sabrina Lima

Non-voting members: Melanie Miller Foster, Marco Damasceno, Wenjie Fu

Call to order at 7:08 PM. May minutes were approved with suggestion to add attribution of preparation and submission.

Reports of officers:

President – Bob

• Bob has begun working with Hidayatullah Noorzai, a refugee from Afghanistan, to help him improve his academic writing in preparation for applying to PSU for a master’s in journalism. He was a journalist in Afghanistan. This may lead to other ways that GC can provide support for refugees.
• A student from SCAHS wants to create a Global Connections-like organization in the high school. Bob will work with her and hopes that this leads to a closer affiliation between our two institutions. Outreach to schools is a goal for GC – to be discussed at the next EC meeting.
• Bob needs to appoint three people to the nominating committee to put together a slate of candidates for the 2023 Executive Committee. He asked for help identifying volunteers.

Vice President – absent

Treasurer – Bruce Truitt – Bruce reported on the status of the bank accounts: We have $7,786 in our checking account and $30,709 in our money market account. Bruce has identified a couple of candidate auditors to provide financial review services. (Action item for follow-up) Bruce has arranged for future distributions from the Centre Foundation to be transferred electronically instead of via check.

Secretary – Maryam and Maria Antonieta were absent. 

Public relations, website, and social media – Sabrina and Marco – Sabrina suggested doing a profile for the newsletter on a US male member. Bruce was “volunteered” and accepted.

Penn State Global  – Wenjie Fu –

• 167 students and scholars from 34 countries were served in the spring tax workshops.
• Conversation Partners – restarting; asked for names of anyone interested.
• Wenjie to submit an item for the August newsletter (action item)
• International speakers day in November
• International student orientation next week.

Reports from the standing committees:

Cultural luncheons Committee – Shannon Holiday –

• Regarding the September 18 general membership picnic (Luau): Members will attend free of charge; guests will pay $10 to become members. Shannon will estimate costs and then work with Bruce earmark necessary funds. Volunteers – Bob suggested contacting people who helped with the Brazilian meal to serve and clean up. Include a standing request for volunteers in the newsletter (action item).
• Multi-cultural Unity Fair, September 17, Municipal Building – will be mentioned in the newsletter. Rita and her committee are responsible for setting up the GC table.

Membership Committee – Rita was absent.

Small groups –

• Book groups haven’t met since May. Will be advertising for new members. Meetings will be in-person. Sabrina will work with Deb and/or Sharon about social media advertising.
• Bob said the discussion group and English class resume this week.
• Shannon mentioned the availability of the Launch Box for meetings.

Unfinished business:

• Nonmember contact list – It was clarified that this is for event attendees or are potential member candidates. Melanie reiterated that the Wild Apricot membership list is our main way of contacting members. Wenjie said that Mail Chimp and Survey Monkey are not viable alternatives. Bruce suggested having a sign-in sheet at all Nonmembers would get a follow-up email inviting them to become members (Membership committee responsibility). Wild Apricot will automatically purge people to a separate data file who are no longer active members – or list them as inactive. Bruce suggested prioritizing WA as the single source for member contact and keeping members and nonmembers separate.

 New Business

• Should we amend the bylaws to delete the one-year term limit on the president? Bob clarified that he would be willing to serve one more year and feels it would otherwise be difficult to find a replacement for 2023. Melanie thought that an alternative might be to temporarily suspend the bylaw. Action: Melanie to check with Daniel (parliamentarian) on this and report back to the Executive Committee. (action item)

• Proposed changes to the standing rules – The matter was briefly discussed and then tabled to the September EC meeting to give members more time to review the proposal. Bruce said that “maintaining membership records” is listed in the bylaws as the responsibility of the treasurer; this should be changed to the membership committee or secretary and may possibly require an amendment in the bylaws. The treasurer should be responsible for maintaining financial records. Bruce to submit rewording, which we will run by Daniel (action item). Melanie clarified that changes in the standing rules can be decided by the EC.

• Change registration format for standing committee choices in the registration site – Maryam to be tasked with this (action item)

• Fall projects – We need members to take responsibility for new projects. Bruce estimated 30-35% annual membership turnover, so a written appeal is a good idea. Bruce suggested having regular events each year. We should ask ourselves if they serve not only the members but also the community. Advertising them would help us establish our identity in the community. Bob to draft an item for the newsletter (action item).  Wenjie suggested arranging a guided tour of the Arboretum as an activity.

Meeting adjournment: 8:15

• Bruce to continue identifying candidates for for the financial review.
• Sabrina and Marco to work on the August newsletter with input from various people.
• Wenjie to submit an item for the newsletter on tax workshops, Conversation Partners, and a call for volunteers
• Shannon to recruit volunteers for the September 18 picnic; Bob to include an item in the newsletter.
• Shannon to coordinate with Rita and the membership committee on GC representation at the September Multi-Cultural Unity fair.
• Deb to submit an item on book groups for the newsletter; also work with the PR team on advertising through social media.
• Melanie to check with Daniel on temporarily suspending the limit on the presidential term and report back to the EC.
• Bruce to craft wording to change the bylaws provision on maintaining membership records – to consult with Daniel and resolve at the next EC meeting.
• Maryam to change the standing committee choices in the member registration site in Wild Apricot.
• Bob to draft an appeal to members for the newsletter on more active participation and new project development.

Summary of what should go into the August newsletter:

• Photo and brief description of the July 30 evening outing at the SC Spikes game
• Profile of either Kiyomi or Bruce
• Reminder of the September 18 member picnic and the need to register
• Mention of the September Multi-Cultural Unity fair
• Appeal for members to be active, participate in projects (Bob).
• An item that we are looking for members to serve in the Executive Committee.
• An item that Wenjie will write about Conversation Partners and the tax workshops that Penn State Global conducted in the spring.
• Item from Deb about reading group.
• Appeal for host families for local youth exchange organizations

 

Prepared and Submitted by Bob Persiko 8/19/2022  

April 13, 2022, Global Connections Executive Committee Meeting Minutes

Members in Attendance:
Bob Persiko, Kieran T. Holland, Shannon Holliday, Sabrina Lima, Rita Graef, Bruce Truitt

Call to order at 7:03 PM. March minutes were approved with no correction.

Reports of officers:

President – Bob praised the success of the poetry event, and the close collaboration GC has with Webster’s Bookstore Café. He expressed satisfaction with planning for upcoming in-person events that mark our return to “normal.” He mentioned that the newsletter for this month will reflect how active our members are in contributing to the organization’s mission.

Vice President – no report.

Parliamentarian – absent. 

Treasurer – Bruce reported that all major bills have been paid, including the annual liability insurance premium. There are $4,178 in our checking account and $30,000+ in the money market account.

Bruce said the EC needed to make a decision on whether to take the $1905 return on the Centre Foundation investment or have it reinvested. When asked, Bruce suggested that the organization could use the money since GC has relatively few revenue-generating activities. Kieran moved that GC take the distribution; Shannon seconded the motion. Approved unanimously.

Past president – absent

Secretary – absent 

Public relations, website, and social media – Sabrina noted the activation of an Instagram account. Bruce suggested that in the future the EC should approve any new account. He noted how many accounts opened over the years he has recently closed that were no longer active. Bob thanked Bruce for handling that time-consuming task.

Penn State Global – Wenjie Fu was absent.

Reports from the standing committees:

Cultural luncheons Committee – Shannon and Kieran shared details of planning for a cultural luncheon on a Brazilian theme on May 5 at St. Andrew’s Episcopal Church. They hope for a minimum of 30 attendees. Brazilian Munchies will be the caterer. In the ensuing discussion the following was approved:

• $100 donation to St. Andrew’s for the use of the facility to be taken from the admission fee. (Shannon made the motion, Bruce seconded; unanimous approval.) The church could become the new regular venue for cultural luncheons.
• $18 admission fee to cover $12 per meal cost (caterer), donation to the church, water bottles, and paper/plastic ware
• Registration for the event will be handled through Wild Apricots.
• The event is an occasion to recruit new members.
• Advertising through our normal channels. The timing is probably too late for ads in the press.
• Someone will be recruited to give a brief cultural presentation on Brazil.
• Bruce will provide live musical entertainment.

Bob expressed hope that in the future we can return to our previous model for cultural luncheons wherein an international member and the CL committee prepare and serve the meal for a larger audience. Shannon noted her success in recruiting members to volunteer for set up, serving, and clean up. An active committee can work out event details for future luncheons without the EC needing to debate and decide them.

Membership Committee – Rita had to leave prior to this point in the meeting.

Program of activities committee (Kieran)- no report

Unfinished business:

Planning for the April 21 general membership meeting:

• Kieran will do the administration of the Zoom meeting.
• Bob will give introductory remarks
• Daniel will lead the discussion on the bylaws amendments
• Bruce will give a brief financial report
• Japanese member Kiyomi Masamune will speak for 10 minutes on her experience with cultural adjustment to our area, followed by Q and A.

Action: Bob will prepare an agenda to distribute to the membership.

Centre Gives – Kieran offered to craft a marketing plan with Sabrina. (action item)

New Business

Spikes game – Bruce said that the Spikes baseball team management is marketing opportunities for groups like ours to attend a game as an event. The EC members agreed that this is worth pursuing and then seeing if a sufficient number of GC members are interested. Bob said he thought that a minimum of 20 is needed to get a $1 discount on the usual $13 admission charge. Bruce to follow up. (action item)

Non-member contact list – The members agreed that having such a list would enable us to track people who attend events who are not members in the interest of expanding community outreach and recruitment. Perhaps this is something the membership committee could work on.

Meeting adjournment: 8:05