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 He noted how many accounts opened over the years he has recently closed that were no longer active.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

March 9, 2022, Global Connections Executive Committee Meeting Minutes

Members in Attendance:
Bob Persiko, Melanie Miller Foster, Kieran T. Holland, Daniel Foster, Shannon Holliday, Maryam Barzegar, Sabrina Lima

Call to order at 7:30 PM by President Persiko. February minutes were approved with no correction.

Reports of officers:

President – Bob noted Sabrina is highlighting individual GC members’ activities, since we still have few in-person activities to report on. He asked members to share with him such activities and he will pass it to Sabrina for publishing in the newsletter. This month’s newsletter will feature Linda Burton and her ELL Fund, along with international children’s day organized by Penn State Global. He also emphasized that each of us can encourage and recruit people to join GC. He shared that he has encouraged people whom he tutors to join the GC English class or group meeting and to become a member. A recent example is a Japanese woman he has been helping with her paper who decided to become a member.

Vice President – Kieran- Shared that he is going to reschedule the event at the Makery for nicer weather. He also shared that there 2 events on the calendar at Ten Thousand Villages where GC could set up an information table. These events can be discussed at the next membership committee meeting (Rita to take note and follow up).

Parliamentarian – Daniel reviewed the amendments to the Bylaws that need approval in the general membership meeting, which had been discussed and approved in previous EC meetings.  He also proposed adding a no-notice amendment to the Bylaws for consideration to have built-in tools to make it easier for the organization to amend Bylaws in the future. Under this rule, amendments to the bylaws presented with no notice to the membership can be adopted if 90% of the EC members present approve. The members unanimously approved this proposal and the recommendation by Treasurer Bruce Truitt to (1) eliminate the audit committee from the proposed amendments and (2) substitute periodic attestation reviews (see note below). The package will be voted on at the April 21^st general membership committee meeting. 

Treasurer – Bruce was absent- no report.

Past president – Melanie- no report.

Secretary – Maryam- shared that the poster of the poetry night has been published in the GC newsletter and by Webster’s café, and the event will be held there on April 9^th at 7:00 PM. The event email will be publicized to all members via Wild Apricots. 

Public relations, website, and social media – Sabrina will post the poetry night event on GC’s Facebook page. EC members are encouraged to share this posting.

Global Programs – Wenjie Fu is absent. No report.

Reports from the standing committees:

Cultural luncheons Committee – Shannon shared that she is trying to find a way to collaborate with the Red Cross with fundraising for Ukraine. She is exploring when a good time would be for a Cultural Luncheon event in the spring or summer.

Membership Committee (Rita absent) – no report

Program of activities committee (Kieran)- See note on The Makery project above.

Unfinished business:

Action items from the February meeting:

• Bob to arrange with PSU IT for access to emails sent to [email protected] – Action Completed
• Bruce to complete application to the Centre Foundation for Centre Gives – Action Completed
• Bob to check for any requirement for an annual report in the bylaws. Action Completed: we do not need to file an annual report.
• Bob to work with Daniel to set a date for a general membership meeting to approve the amendments to the bylaws. Action Completed

New Business

Centre County Gives –Actions to be taken:

• Approve Bruce’s description of GC to provide to the Centre Foundation (see below)-Approved without objection
• Make a list of project ideas to promote donations for the annual Centre Gives event in May. Melanie crafted the words for “the ask” – what we want to use the donations for, along the lines of making our cultural luncheons accessible to a wider, more diverse audience by providing subsidized attendance fees. Shannon and Kieran will put together an event to stimulate donor giving during Centre Gives. Sabrina will attend workshops to develop PR tools.
• Decide how to publicize this. Sabrina will work on advertising on the GC Facebook page and informing current members.

Meeting adjournment: 8:50

Message from Bruce on the subject of an audit committee

My preferred outcome is that we drop the audit committee, authorize the Treasurer to determine the nature and scope of a periodic review that could be conducted by an outside firm of the EC’s choosing based on at least three candidates proposed by the Treasurer, that the Treasurer serves as liaison to the outside firm, and that the outside firm reports directly to the EC.

The main issue is that we have some $80,000 under the direct control of the Centre Foundation.  We cannot control or affect the uses of or access to this money without going through the Foundation and/or its Board, as applicable. Thus, there are compensating and superior controls over more than 90 percent of our assets, and these controls include routine financial opinion audits of the Foundation.

 Also, our operating budget is around $5,000.  This means we would have an audit committee overseeing an immaterial amount that represents a percentage of directly controlled assets (6.25%) that does not even meet the IRS 10% materiality threshold for audit or change to even a Large Corporate Compliance Program (LCCP), is below the $10,000 deposit limit for IRS audit trigger, and barely rises above the GAO threshold of 3% for planning materiality.

Given these facts, I suggest a review engagement rather than a financial, opinion, or even financial-related audit.  A review engagement is the least expensive option under both Generally Accepted Government Auditing Standards (GAGAS), Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP), and the AICPA Statements of Standards for Attestation Engagements (SSAE).  An attestation review would still provide an appropriate level of assurance, especially given the insignificance of the probability of control and compliance issues, the role of the EC in operating fund sources and uses control and the immateriality of the amount.

All we need is an external attestation, not an audit or any sort, every 3 to 5 years.

Description of GC for Centre Foundation

Global Connections is a community-based, member-driven organization that builds community across cultures. Together, we unite residents of our community, be they temporary or permanent, to support learning about other cultures, values, and ways of life. Our prime directive is to foster meaningful relationships through service, education, and partnership. Our outreach activities include cultural luncheons, free classes to learn English as a Second Language (ESL), book groups, discussion groups, poetry readings, and a wide variety of cultural, educational, and exchange activities and interactions. Global Connections has space for the creativity and innovation of its members to do worthwhile things to make our community a welcoming one we all are proud to live in.

February 9, 2022, Global Connections Executive Committee Meeting

Minutes

Members in Attendance:
Bob Persiko, Melanie Miller Foster, Rita Graef, Shannon Holliday, Maryam Barzegar, Sabrina Lima

Call to order at 7:30 PM by President Persiko. January minutes were approved with no correction.

Reports of officers:

President – Bob shared a brief report on outreach and inquiry activities. He also announced that Ray Bilger, the new member of the GC organization, has offered his home for an event. Mr. Bilger would like to organize an event at his house in springtime for 20-25 people. He is going to arrange for a cater. More information about his event will be provided.

Vice President – Kieran was unable to attend, therefore there is no vice president report.

Parliamentarian – Daniel was unable to attend. No report

Treasurer – Bruce was unable to attend.

Past president – Melanie shared that she is still checking the old Penn State email (gc/[email protected]), however, she asked Bob to add that email to his outlook to not miss any messages or inquiries.

Secretary – Maryam shared activities for organizing the Poetry Night event. Bob and she had a meeting with Webster’s bookstore Café manager and set the event there. The International Poetry Night will be held on April 9^th at 7:00 pm.

Public relations, website, and social media – Sabrina asked for some help or idea about how to encourage GC’s members to share their stories for the GC newsletter. Bob mentioned that the objective of this project is to highlight what individual members are doing. He also suggested that this month she can share Deb Leo’s story of her past activities with global connections and Susan Steinberg is going to have a report on book groups for the coming newsletter. Sabrina would like to have any contribution for sharing in the newsletter at the end of the second week of the month.

She also would like to have any ideas or contributions from members for the March newsletter for international women’s day.

Global Programs – Wenjie Fu was unable to attend. No report

Reports from the standing committees:

Cultural luncheons Committee (Shannon)- She shared that she has been spreading the word about Global Connections. Bob shared that he contacted Anthony Sepia about the Brazilian lunch that he is going to organize to keep the Brazilian festival alive as soon as we have the opportunity to do it outside in warmer weather.

Rita shared that the membership committee met on Thursday, January 20^th, and set regular meetings going forward. She has been sharing with all committee members that WildApricots can help us to find members who are interested in a community and make sure that we are promoting the community meeting to them, we also can use WildApricots to post an event. She also reported that there are ever changing member numbers; we currently have 98 members in total in January of which 46 are “active” and that includes 9 new members from last month.

Program of activities committee (Kieran)-No report

Unfinished business:

Changes in the Bylaws – Action required:

• Add the Executive Committee recommendation to each of 3 amendments

– All three amendments were unanimously recommended for approval.

2) Share with the membership 30 days prior to a meeting that they would be voted upon

Bob as the president will propose a time for that (probably in the

next 2 months) and probably do it through Zoom.

3) Schedule a membership-wide meeting with a quorum (i.e., w/ 10 people) with a 2/3 vote.

New business:

• Membership directory availability to members

The registered members cannot see a directory of all members; however the individual member can update their own profile and they have control of the settings that general members have access to. Bob suggested that we can inform people in the newsletter that they have control over the data we have on them.

Rita also suggested having a website manager for our website.

• Phone numbers in WA

Phone number is a required field in the form. Although anybody has access to see members’ names, only members can see other members’ email and phone number

• Responsibility for transmission of donation acknowledgment letters

Bob will work with Bruce to acknowledge and thank people who donated to our organization.

• Whether to apply for funding under the annual Centre Gives campaign

Bob mentioned that we had made the decision back in June that we will move forward to do that. Bruce is making an application so we can qualify for donations to Centre Gives. He will take responsibility for the action on that.

• Should we prepare an annual report?

Since we have a monthly newsletter for keeping in touch with our members, Bob will check on Bylaws whether it requires us to have an annual report or not. (Bob subsequently confirmed that the bylaws do not mention an annual report.)

Adjournment at 8:30 PM.

January 12, 2022, Global Connections Executive Committee Meeting

Minutes

Members in Attendance:
Bob Persiko, Melanie Miller Foster, Bruce Truitt, Rita Graef, Maryam Barzegar, Wenjie Fu

Call to order at 7:00 pm by President Persiko. November minutes were approved with no correction.

Reports of officers:

President – Bob shared that he has been conducting outreach and developing project ideas and speculated that members may not have signed up for the activity at Makery due to Covid concerns. The continuing pandemic makes it difficult to plan indoor in-person events. He suggested to have outdoor activities in spring or summer.

Vice President – Kieran was unable to attend, therefore there is no vice president report.

Parliamentarian – Daniel was unable to attend. No report

Treasurer –  Bruce indicated that the current First Commonwealth checking account balance was $5,673.25, an amount that reflected most of the material operating expenses for the 2022 Fiscal Year – Wild Apricot, AffiniPay, and QuickBooks – with the exception of property and liability insurance.  He added that the First Commonwealth Money Market account holds $30,701.94.  He further stated that Global Connections funds held by the Centre Foundation total roughly $67,000.  Thus, our financial position is solid and remains generally stable at the levels of the previous fiscal cycle.

Past president – Melanie- No report

Secretary – Maryam shared that she has been conducting outreach to the manager of Sower’s Harvest Café for organizing the Poetry Night event. The possibility of working with the Iranian Students Association on their Nowruz planning was also discussed.

Public relations, website and social media – Sabrina was unable to attend. No report

Global Programs – Wenjie Fu shared information about the upcoming Tax Workshops by Community Engagement Programs and Volunteer Income Tax Assistance program (VITA).

Reports from the standing committees:

Cultural luncheons committee (Shannon)-Not present

Rita talked about membership and mentioned that GC has already 98 members of which 49 members are active and 42 have paid their dues for 2022s the membership committee will meet on January 20. In the ensuing discussion, concern was raised about duplication names in Wild Apricot and how payments are synchronized with Affinipay. It was agreed that it would be good to hold a separate EC meeting for the members to tackle this. Bob will set one up.

Program of activities committee (Kieran)-No report

Unfinished business:

Bylaws changes – Daniel will provide an update message to the EC members.

New business:

• Whether when and how to hold the next general membership meeting. The consensus was to wait until we have something to tell the members such as planned programs. Also, it would be good to wait for warmer weather and then hold the meeting outdoors.
• Project planning – Bob referred to his email of Dec. 21, 2021, describing several initiatives that are in the planning stage. Covid may have an impact on their implementation. An alternative model of the cultural luncheon could be a take-out meal where people can hear live music when they pick up the food (e.g., Brazilian theme and Bruce playing/singing.) Or wait until the event can be held outside.
• Bob to propose a special EC meeting to review how Wild Apricots manages membership and payment issues.
• The topic of whether or not to have GC represented at the June meeting of the Community Diversity Group was tabled until next time.

Action item:  Bob to set up an EC meeting to discuss synching membership and payment issues in Wild Apricots.

Adjournment at 7:55.

November 2021 General/Annual Meeting Minutes 

Meeting time:                7:00 pm, Tuesday, November 30^th, 2021 

Location:                         Zoom

Officers present:

President:  Bob Persiko

Vice President: Kieran Holland

Public Relations Officer: Sabrina Lima

Secretary: Sarah Knorr

Treasurer: Bruce Truitt

Past President: Melanie Miller Foster 

Call to order at 7:03pm with 18 members present

Welcome                       

Reading & Approval of Minutes

• No minutes to approve as this is the first general membership meeting

Reports of Officers & Standing Committees

• President – Bob Persiko
  • Overview of ongoing and Covid-era Global Connections activities including digital educational series, small groups, social media updates, collaborations of other organizations
  • Expressed the hope that GC could return to in-person meetings in 2022 and that individual members would become more active in participating in programs and initiating new ones
• Kieran – Vice President
  • Overview of upcoming Global Connections events, including an arts & crafts project in conjunction with The Makery
• Sarah – Secretary
  • No report
• Bruce – Treasurer
  • Overview of financial statements including current monetary accounts, investments, and funds
• Sabrina – Public Relations
  • Ongoing work to social media platforms to promote member and non-member engagement, outreach
• Past President – Melanie
  • No report
• Nominating – Melanie Miller Foster
  • Overview of officer elections, see below under Special Orders
• Finance/Audit – Bruce Truitt
  • Bruce provided report under Treasurer report
• Program of Activities – Kieran Holland
  • Provided report under Vice President

• Membership – Daniel Foster (represented by Rita Graef, the newly appointed chair of the membership committeee)
  • Rita not present for report; President Bob Persiko provided report
  • Currently Global Connections has 90 registered members; renewals in process
  • Overview of Membership Committee meetings and outreach
• Cultural Luncheons – Shannon Holliday
  • Overview of membership picnic, plan for future Cultural Luncheon activities

Reports of Special Committees

• No report

Special Orders

• Election of 2022 Officer Team chosen by unanimous vote
  1. President, Past President, Secretary, Public Relations and Past President positions open for new officers. New Officers elected:
     1. Bob Persiko, President
     2. Kieran Holland, Vice President

• Maryam Barzegar, Secretary

1. Sabrina, Public Relations
2. Melanie Miller Foster, Past President

Unfinished Business

• Not Applicable

New Business

• No Report

Announcements:

• Notice of Bylaws Amendments
• Per Shannon: Community Diversity Group’s Holiday Celebration event (Virtual only)
• Wenjie from Penn State Global looking for Conversation partners volunteers

Adjourn at 7:41pm

Next Meeting:        TBD

Stay connected!

https://www.gc-cc.org/                             @GlobalConnectionsCentreCounty                           @GCdashCC

October Executive Committee Meeting; October 12, 2021

1. Call to Order and Welcome

The committee meeting of Global Connections Executive Committee was called to order at 7:04pm by President Bob Persiko. Secretary Sarah Knorr recorded minutes.

• Members present:
  Melanie Miller Foster–Past President, President Bob Persiko–President, Daniel Foster–Membership Committee Chair, Sarah Knorr–Secretary, Sabrina Lima–Public Relations, Wenjie Fu–Global Connections Representative, Shannon Holliday–Cultural Luncheon Chair

• Members Absent:
  Bruce Truitt–Treasurer, Kieran Holland–Vice President

1. Reading and Approval of Minutes

The minutes were accepted as presented with no corrections.

1. Reports of Officers
1. President:

1. No report

1. Vice President:

1. Not present

1. Secretary:

1. Adding Executive Committee (EC) meeting minutes to website
   1. Will be posted on Wild Apricot for members to view

1. Treasurer:

1. Not present

1. Public Relations:

1. Ongoing development and creation of Global Connections social media presence

1. Past President:

1. Nominating Committee update on November elections

1. PSU Global Programs: Bob communicated updates from Wenjie

1. Global Programs has been renamed as Penn State Global
2. Annual Tax workshop to be held in March/April 2022

1. Parliamentarian

1. November General Membership meeting to approve revisions to bylaws

1. Reports of Standing Committees:
1. Cultural Luncheons Committee (Chair: Shannon):

1. Discussed Global Connections role with relation to SCASD AAPI organization

1. Finance/Audit Committee (Chair: Bruce)

1. Not present

1. Membership Committee (Chair: Daniel)

1. Currently have 90 dues paying members

1. Nominating Committee (Chair: Melanie)

1. Nominating Committee to receive potential candidates for open Global Connections Executive Committee positions
2. Officer positions available: President, Vice President, Secretary, Public Relations

1. Program of Activities Committee (Chair: Kieran)

1. Not present

1. Unfinished Business

1. N/A

1. New Business:
1. Open call for Conversation for Revenue Generation and Member Engagement
2. Open call for Conversations on Communications Planning/Marketing
3. Elections ballot to be mailed out 2 weeks before November 30th General Membership Meeting

1. Adjournment

• The meeting was adjourned at 8:05pm

 September Executive Committee Meeting; September 14, 2021

1. Call to Order and Welcome

The committee meeting of Global Connections Executive Committee was called to order at 7:06pm by President Bob Persiko. A quorum was noted as present with 5 members in attendance. Secretary Sarah Knorr recorded minutes.

• Members present:
  Melanie Miller Foster–Past President, Kieran Holland–Vice President , President Bob Persiko–President, Daniel Foster–Membership Committee Chair, Sarah Knorr–Secretary, Sabrina Lima–Public Relations, Wenjie Fu–Global Connections Representative

• Members Absent:
  Bruce Truitt–Treasurer, Shannon Holliday–Cultural Luncheon Chair

1. Reading and Approval of Minutes

The minutes were accepted as presented with no corrections.

1. Reports of Officers
1. President:

1. Meeting with Executive Committee members on monthly basis
2. 50 Global Connections t-shirts sold at Webster’s to date

1. Vice President:

1. Nothing to report: meeting with Bob once a month

1. Secretary:

1. Adding Executive Committee (EC) meeting minutes to website
   1. Will be posted on Wild Apricot for members to view

1. Treasurer:

1. Not present

1. Public Relations:

1. No report

1. Past President:

1. Provided update on the Past President’s legacy project: Airport Sign

1. PSU Global Programs: Bob communicated updates from Wenjie

1. Conversation Partners looking for American volunteers
2. Bob to forward information to me

1. Parliamentarian

1. Officer elections will be in November
2. Membership will be notified of changes/additions related to: amendments, nominating committee, bylaws

1. Reports of Standing Committees:
1. Cultural Luncheons Committee (Chair: Shannon):

1. Not present

1. Finance/Audit Committee (Chair: Bruce)

1. Not present

1. Membership Committee (Chair: Daniel)

1. Membership Committee is meeting on monthly basis
2. LionBASH event review
   1. 32 people were invited to join Global Connections

• Currently have 70 due paying members

1. Nominating Committee (Chair: Melanie)

1. President appointed 2 additional members to be on Nominating Committee
2. Members interested in running for Officer positions will be able to sign up in September newsletter; October newsletter to include Ballot

• Officer positions available: President, Vice President, Secretary, Public Relations

1. Program of Activities Committee (Chair: Kieran)

1. Possible future Global Connections events:
   1. Art event at the Makery
   2. International Poetry Evening
   3. Digital Education series
   4. Hospitality Idea-match local community to host and international residents
   5. Eating at local restaurants
      1. To be included as a Call to Action in newsletter
   6. Digital Education Subcommittee – Melanie
      1. Currently on hold
      2. Will be added to Program of Activities general committee

1. Unfinished Business

1. Picnic activities and planning

1. New Business: **Following are postponed for October meeting**
1. Conversation for Revenue Generation and Member Engagement

1. Postponed to next regularly scheduled meeting.

1. Conversations on Communications Planning

1. Request for “Push List” and Marketing Communications Plan
2. Postponed to next regularly scheduled meeting

1. Adjournment

• The meeting was adjourned at 7:57m

Requested Action Items-continued from August newsletter:

1. Review website for updates (ex. Officers list) [Bob]
2. Create a memorial for newsletter on U.B. Baker [Bob]
3. Register Global Connections for an Engagement Station with Lion Bash [Shannon]
4. Reach out to Membership Committee for Lion Bash Plan [Daniel]
   1. Three goals: Engaging Activity, take-away (Post Cards), Membership Sign Up
5. Create a Treasurers Report for the next Newsletter [Bruce]
6. Share Press release developed for new sign at University Park Airport [Bruce]
7. Create an “RSVP” process via Wild Apricot for Membership Picnic and include in Newsletter [Lauren]
8. Seek out Cultural Luncheon Members (N=20) to assist with serving picnic as well as different volunteers to help with set up and finally clean up. [Shannon]
9. Seek out Program of Activities volunteers to ensure that there are games/activities at Membership [Kieran]
10. Seek out Membership Committee Volunteers to have name tags and membership sign up [Daniel]
11. Create language of invitation to Membership Picnic for Newsletter to Lauren [Bob]

 August Executive Committee Meeting; August 10, 2021

1. Call to Order and Welcome

The committee meeting of Global Connections Executive Committee was called to order at 7:04pm by President Bob Persiko. A quorum was noted as present with 5 members in attendance. The President appointed Daniel Foster to keep minutes in the absence of Secretary Sarah Knorr.

• Members present:
  Past President- Melanie Miller Foster, Treasurer – Bruce Truitt, Cultural Luncheon Chair – Shannon Holliday, President Bob Persiko, Membership Chair – Daniel

• Members Absent:
  Lauren Newton (Public Relations), Kieran Holland, (Vice President) Sarah Knorr (Secretary), Wenjie Fu (Global Connections Rep)

2. Reading and Approval of Minutes

The minutes were accepted as presented with no corrections.

3. Reports of Officers
   1. President:
      1. Acknowledgement of UB Baker
      2. Requested that the Membership Committee to have presence at Lion Bash on September 9 from 5pm- 8:00pm.
   2. Vice President: No report
   3. Secretary: No Report
   4. Treasurer:
      1. Requested permission to share financial statements and revised budget to membership via newsletter. Will submit summary report and budget to Lauren for Newsletter.
      2. United Way Update of distribution of $596.98.
   5. Public Relations:
      1. Written Report from Lauren. All August Newsletter inputs due by Friday, August 13^th
   6. Past President:
      1. Special Project of Past Presidents includes the Signage at University Park Airport. 3 dots will share press release to their media contacts.
   7. PSU Global Programs: No Report

4. Reports of Standing Committees:
   1. Cultural Luncheons Committee (Chair: Shannon):
      1. Cultural Luncheons Committee have worked on membership picnic menu and arrangements. Menu includes: Garden fresh tomatoes, farm roasted corn and homemade ranch dressing; Local delicious cucumbers, red onion, herb vinaigrette; Real deal big Mama’s potato salad; ‘Pucker me up’ lemon cabbage slaw; Homemade bread and butter pickles; Soft picnic rolls, sweet cream butter; Country fried buttermilk chicken; “Welcome” Sign Sheet Cake (Airport Welcome Sign Replica); Take home ‘Welcome to the Community’ Apple Pie compliments of Gemelli Bakers!
      2. Budget Estimate: Afternoon Dinner: $6.75/per person   Cake: $45
         1. Does Not Include Paper Products (Napkins) & Plasticware (Utensils/Plates): $.65 per person Utensils; Disposable gloves & Masks; Sodas: $.50 per person (Ice Included) Tablecloths: $20 Decorations: $10

• Estimated Total Expense for Picnic – $750

1. Finance/Audit Committee (Chair: Bruce)
   1. No additional information to report

1. Membership Committee (Chair: Daniel)
   1. Current 69 members
   2. Will focus on Lion Bash prep and assisting with upcoming Membership Picnic

1. Nominating Committee (Chair: Melanie)
   1. No updates currently. Request appointment of 2 additional members. President, Vice President, Public Relations Officer, Secretary.

1. Program of Activities Committee (Chair: Kieran)
   1. Digital Education Subcommittee – Melanie
      1. No July Meeting
      2. For August, Easterly Parkway PTO partnership to organize “back to school” Keystone culture for Monday, August 16^th at 7pm. Panel will include a 2^nd grade teacher and a parent who is a special education aid from Middle School. Will review best practices of getting your student in school.
      3. Still seeking a September Speaker for Global Conversations

5. Unfinished Business

• NA

6. New Business
   1. Conversation for Revenue Generation and Member Engagement
      1. Postponed to next regularly scheduled meeting.

1. Conversations on Communications Planning
   1. Request for “Push List” and Marketing Communications Plan.
   2. Postponed to next regularly scheduled meeting.

7. Adjournment

• The meeting was adjourned at 8:20 p.m.

Requested Action Items:

1. Review website for updates (ex. Officers list) [Bob]
2. Create a memorial for newsletter on U.B. Baker [Bob]
3. Register Global Connections for an Engagement Station with Lion Bash [Shannon]
4. Reach out to Membership Committee for Lion Bash Plan [Daniel]
   1. Three goals: Engaging Activity, take-away (Post Cards), Membership Sign Up
5. Create a Treasurers Report for the next Newsletter [Bruce]
6. Share Press release developed for new sign at University Park Airport [Bruce]
7. Create an “RSVP” process via Wild Apricot for Membership Picnic and include in Newsletter [Lauren]
8. Seek out Cultural Luncheon Members (N=20) to assist with serving picnic as well as different volunteers to help with set up and finally clean up. [Shannon]
9. Seek out Program of Activities volunteers to ensure that there are games/activities at Membership [Kieran]
10. Seek out Membership Committee Volunteers to have name tags and membership sign up [Daniel]
11. Create language of invitation to Membership Picnic for Newsletter to Lauren [Bob]
    

Upcoming Events:

• Friday, August 13^th – Deadline for submissions to August Global Connections Newsletters.
• Monday, August 16^th, 7pm – Keystone Culture Digital Education Series – Back to School!
  • https://globalconnections.wildapricot.org/event-4431332
• Thursday, September 9^th, 5pm-8pm – LION BASH
• Sunday, September 19^th, 5pm-7pm – Global Connections Welcome Back Picnic
  • RSVP Deadline – Friday, September 10^th, 5pm

 Committee Meeting; June 8, 2021 7:06pm – 8:02pm

In attendance:

• President: Bob Persiko
• Vice president: Kieran Holland
• Past President: Melanie Miller Foster
• Membership Committee Chair: Daniel Foster
• Public Relations: Lauren Newton
• Shannon Holliday
• Wenjie Fu

Location:

• This meeting was held via virtual method (Zoom) due to the ongoing Coronavirus pandemic Topics of Discussion

Agenda

1) Minutes of May meeting – action items

1. a) May meeting minutes were approved
2. b) Action items from May meeting were reviewed – (1) nothing new to report on collaboration with Asian student organizations; (2) Bruce and Daniel still need to resolve conflicting membership information.

2) President’s report

1. a) Discussed picnic on June 12 – Designed for participants in the various GC groups, but others are welcome.
2. b) Discussed summer schedule. EC will not meet in July. The English class and the discussion group also will not meet in July.

3) Global Programs – Wenjie

1. a) Annual Tax Workshop wrapped up. It was virtual this year. 173 students from 31 countries.
2. b) Conversation Partners – Looking for international participants to match with Americans.

4) Membership Committee – Daniel

1. a) Global Connections currently has 67 individual members
2. b) Membership Committee has not met in two months due to a lack of quorum. Hoping to have a June meeting to prep for August.

5) Treasurer/Finance Committee – Bruce (not present)

2022. A motion was made to continue utilizing the 2020 budget until September 15, 2021 by Daniel Foster. Unanimous approval. The finance committee can focus on proposing a budget for 2022.
2023. Treasurer to consider forming an ad hoc audit committee before the next general membership meeting.

6) Vice President – Kieran nothing to report

7) Public relations, website and social media – Lauren

Requesting newsletter information be sent to her by Friday

Unfinished business:

1)Update on the airport sign – Melanie

The airport sign has been designed. Susan is working on logistics on when it will go up.

2) Kieran made a motion that the finance committee explore applying to receive funds in 2022 from the  Centre Gives campaign. The motion was approved by a majority of the members present. Bruce to follow up.

New business:

None to report

Miscellaneous

• Daniel noted the need to secure nominations for officer positions before November.
• Daniel and Melanie expressed concern about the need to more actively engage the membership in committee work and program activities.
• Daniel will propose a schedule to present the changes in the bylaws to the membership.

Adjournment: 8:02pm

May Executive Committee Meeting; May 11, 2021 7:02-9:00pm

In attendance:
● President: Bob Persiko
● Vice President: Kiernan Holland
● Treasurer: Bruce Truitt
● Secretary: Sarah Knorr
● Past President: Melanie Miller Foster
● Membership Committee Chair: Daniel Foster
● Public Relations: Lauren Newton
● Cultural Luncheon: Shannon Holliday

Location:
● This meeting was held via virtual method (Zoom) due to the ongoing Coronavirus pandemic

Topics of Discussion
Agenda
1) Minutes approved without objections, no corrections
a) Minutes to be filed on Global Connections Google Drive
2) Action Items from April
a) Bruce to explore investment options for checking account
i) Motion to transfer $25,000 from CD to alternate account to earn more interest
ii) Motion seconded
b) Bob and Kieran to communicate with collaboration with Asian student groups coordinator on how
Global Connections can be involved in conversation
i) Plan to follow up and continue to brainstorm ways to interact with Asian American student
groups
c) Melanie to contact George re forwarding global connections PSU email to gmail email
i) Melanie and Bob will have access to Global Connections PSU email account
ii) Email cannot be forwarded to gmail account due to security reasons
iii) Global Connections website is not compatible with iphone browsers
iv) Plan to use gmail email on a consistent basis on accounts, website, social media accounts, etc
3) President’s report – Bob
a) Town & Gown interview will be published in June
b) Centre Gives – Should we apply to be a recipient next year?
i) Added to unfinished business
c) Should we have a target date for a return to (a) in-person membership meetings and (b) executive
committee meetings?
i) Plan to continue to explore options and adjust
d) How to develop one-on-one relationships
i) Brainstorm ways to promote regular engagement like a conversation partners program
4) Global Programs – Wenjie Fu not present
5) Membership Committee – Daniel Foster
a) Next membership committee meeting will be at end of May
b) Global Connections current membership is 61 members
6) Treasurer/Finance Committee – Bruce Truitt
a) Centre Foundation ROI Options
i) See above under action items
b) Attribution of dues payments
i) Daniel and Bruce to meet over conflicting information of membership information
7) Vice President – Kieran
a) Will be attending a virtual event in DC with Afghan embassy
8) Public relations, website and social media – Lauren
a) Send any newsletter information to Lauren by end of week

Unfinished business:
1) Budget for 2021
2) Update on the airport sign – Melanie
a) There will be a one sided sign, budget request $300 to finish sign
b) Motion to authorize $300 for one sided sign, seconded, unanimous vote
3) Digital Education programming update – Melanie
a) Event on May 17, will be taking break over summer
b) Next event features Pennsylvania Dutch culture
4) Centre Gives for next year

New business
1) Committee restructuring and bylaws changes – Daniel
a) Continuation of discussion of committee changes
i) Eliminate finance and audit committee
ii) Create 2 new committees: fundraising and development committee and audit committee
iii) Create public relations committee
iv) Create digital education standing committee: cultural conversation
v) Create small group/book club standing committee: discussion group, english classes
vi) Eliminate program of activities committee and create engagement and innovation committee
b) Plan to continue drafting changes and present to general membership (with 30 days notice) in future
i) Tentative date: August 2021

Miscellaneous

Action Items:
1) Bob and Kieran to communicate with collaboration with Asian student groups coordinator on how
Global Connections can be involved in conversation
Next meeting Tuesday, June 8th