The board held a very successful meeting on Tuesday. I think I might be hearing the COVID-19 Fat Lady beginning to warm up – fa la-la-la.

ASURA Continues to Function

• Ginny Sylvester, chair of the Adopt-A-Family committee reported that even with the pandemic ASURA has still been able to support two families, one from Tempe Schools and one from ASU. She reported that at Christmas in addition to some gift cards she was able to get small stocking stuffers as well as a large Christmas stocking making those gifts a bit more festive. ASURA owes Ginny and her committee of Henry Stevens and Cecilia Hook a big Thank You for keeping the program going under rather trying circumstances.
• Connie McNeill, chair of the Finance committee, reported that a review of last year’s income and expenses showed that all was well and that the Association is fiscally sound.
• Bev Buddee, chair of the Seminar committee, reported there are over 150 members registered for this week’s seminar. Registration has closed but look shortly for news about the March seminar.
• John Brock, chair of the Travel committee, reported that the Travel committee is firing back up and looking to sponsor some events soon. Let us all think good travel thoughts and maybe we can get our traveling shoes back on.
• Jeri Meeks, Chair of the Legislative Liaison group and Larry Carlson, ASRS Health Insurance Liaison, reported on House Bill HB2138, “ABOR; optional retirement programs”. This bill, revising ARS 15-1628, has the potential to defund the Arizona State Retirement System (ASRS) by allowing ABOR to establish optional retirement programs, at a lower contribution rate, for university employees under their (ABOR’s) jurisdiction. The current ARS bill allows the university to retain its contribution for the first 5 years of employment, with all employer contributions reverting to the institution if the at-will employee doesn’t stay for over 5 years. ASRS sees the proposed changes as detrimental to the ASRS fund. Jeri reported that, at this moment, the bill is not moving forward.
• Connie McNeill, chair of the Web Site and Database group, reported she had updated the website so that it would reflect more of the current ASU branding standards. We did not lose any important text during the update but the formatting is often not what we want and it will have to be changed to make the page more readable.
• The Board approved a virtual Annual Meeting on Tuesday April 13 from 10:00 am to noon. It will be a complete meeting with speakers and presentations and the virtual handing over of leadership from Carl Cross to Larry Edmonds. You will want to get this event on your calendar.

Good News ASURA Office Is Re-opening

From Linda Van Scoy and Nancy Lesko

“We plan to reopen the ASURA Office on Tuesday, February 16. We will be open Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays from 11:00AM to 2:00PM. The 11-2:00 time frame may be flexible, so anyone needing to visit should call first to be sure the office is staffed: 965-7668.

Previous safety protocols will be observed.

Prime Times

If you have not yet received your Prime Times in the mail you can expect a pleasant surprise (no hints). As usual the new issue is available on our website.

Vote for Board Members

I hope you received your ballot for the new slate of Board members and have voted but in case you lost your ballot it is not too late. Go to our homepage and click on “Vote” in our new snappy information banner. You have until the end of February to get your ballot in.

COVID-19 Vaccine Availability

Vaccination sites are increasing.  Bill Stasi pointed out that Fry’s is now scheduling vaccinations and I noticed today that Safeway/Albertson’s is also getting into the business. I have added both of those scheduling sites to our COVID-19 webpage.

ASU Open Door

Bill Stasi alerted me to an annual ASU event he always likes to promote – ASU Open Door. Taken from their webpage:

Once a year, ASU Open Door invites the local community, adults and children of all ages, to experience ASU and discover why it was named the most innovative university in the nation six years in a row. This year, we’d like to bring everything ASU has to offer — science, the arts, humanities, sustainability and more — to you.

Explore our four campus locations and the spaces accessible only to ASU students — laboratories, living collections, museums and classrooms — from the comfort of your couch. Participate in hundreds of interactive, hands-on activities created just for you by our faculty and students. The 2021 Open Door virtual activities will be available on this website starting March 1.

This sounds like a lot of fun.