Summer is just around the corner but there is still work to get done, e.g., the membership enrollment drive, the next Prime Times. There is a cadre of volunteers busily getting these remaining tasks done. For you other lucky ducks: Have a good and safe summer!

Voting on revised ASURA Bylaws

Maria Hesse, President reported that the suggested Bylaws revisions were approved almost unanimously. The last Bylaws revisions were done in 2013 and there was a need to update them to better reflect the current operating environment. One change was the elimination of the Annual Meeting which has, historically, had low attendance.

May Board meeting items

• Jan Shore, Scholarship Committee chair, was not able to attend the Board meeting but she sent the following report. Our committee of 11 worked diligently this year. We had over 10 times more qualified applicants than in the previous few years due to the new ASU Scholarship University platform. We had so many qualified candidates and had difficulty making a choice. We are going to tighten up our requirements for next year, especially around professional references and GPA. We chose Alyssa Brown, an AZ resident, majoring in Health Science, leading to a career as a Physician Associate. Her essays were compelling and references impeccable. When I called her, she was extremely appreciative and very, very teary.
• Karen Moses, incoming President, presented a full slate of Officers for next year to the Board for approval. Next year’s Officers will be: President Karen Moses, Vice President Paul Skiera, Immediate Past President Maria Hesse, Secretary, Irma Arboleda, and Treasurer Jeff Bush. The Board approved the slate. Karen deserves a round of applause from all our members. It has been over four years since we had a full set of Officers at the start of a new year.

New ASURA Office Suite

The May Board meeting was held in our new offices, Suite 206 University Center B just off University Dr. Clearly much has happened since I left you in April. You can look forward to a complete story about the move in the next Prime Times. You can view a pictorial record of the changes on our Zenfolio site. Following is a Reader’s Digest version of the Prime Times story.

• Friday April 10 Finishing up - The Office volunteers finished packing and labeling.
• Monday April 14 Moving Day – The movers arrived at the new location early in the morning with all our stuff, including the conference room table. Special effort was made to get the conference table aligned properly with the large computer screen.
• April 14-21 Waiting – We could not do anything until the painters were done.
• Monday April 21 Organizing – Boxes were opened; the contents reviewed for relevance; much went into the scrap heap.
• April 21 – May 5 Cleaning Up – When promised help did not arrive, in desperation, three oldish amigos, Linda, Connie and Barry, put on their big boy pants and moved all the trash to the dumpster and at last we had our suite ready for the Board meeting.

Summer Activities

Summer is not a time to estivate rather it is a great time to catch up on activities that you just could not work into your September through April calendar. Maybe you would like to take a short course or maybe listen to that seminar you missed or attend an ASU campus event. While ASURA is not offering anything, other organizations do and you can use our website to find just the right activity.

Our website’s “Events” menu has three columns of interest besides ASURA events: ASU, AROHE Events, and Event Reports. What is available in each of these columns?

• ASU Column
  • ASU Events – If you are looking for an ASU event this is the perfect link. It’s an awesome site.
  • Osher Lifelong Learning – maybe you want to take a course this summer, this links to the Osher offerings.
• AROHE Events Column (new ) The Association of Retirement Organizations in Higher Education (AROHE)
  • Upcoming National Events – if you would like to see what upcoming webinars or travel opportunities are available try this link
  • Recorded National Webinars – If you missed or would like to listen again to a past webinar, this is your link.
• Event Reports Column
  • Event Photos – If you would like to relax and look at some photos from past ASURA events this is your links
  • Seminars – If you missed an ASURA seminar and want to listen then use this link
  • Travel – Maybe you want to relax reading about some past ASURA trips; if so, this link is the one to choose. We have over fifty stories.

Membership Renewal

It is membership renewal time and the email notices go out tonight. If you do not get the notice, check your spam folder and if you cannot find the notice, please call the ASURA Office (480-965-7668 between 10-1:00 Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday).

Please renew your membership even if you don’t attend any of our events or use any of the services. Your renewal supports the idea that there should be an entity, e.g., ASURA, that looks out for retirees. If you don’t need the things ASURA has to offer that is great, but that does not negate the importance of having an ASURA for those who do need what it has to offer. Your renewal helps ensure the continuance of ASURA.

Social Security Items from John Burns, Public Affairs Specialist for Arizona, Social Security Administration

Social Security has a new commissioner. Please see the press release: Financial Services Industry Leader Frank Bisignano to be the 18th Commissioner of Social Security. The release can be found in Spanish at: Frank Bisignano, líder de la industria de servicios financieros, será el 18. Comisionado del Seguro Social.

May Newsletter (English)

May Newsletter (Spanish)

Barry McNeill
E-News Editor