It is so nice to welcome you all back with this first official E-News of the new year. I know it’s been a hot summer but I feel fall is in the air with a number of interesting programs coming up. Kay Faris, our President, ran a very interesting Board meeting this week; there were several interesting presentations.

Interesting snippets from the Board Meeting

• Terrie Ekin, ASURA Treasurer, presented last year’s year-end fiscal report along with the proposed budget for this year. The year end report showed the Scholarship endowment had grown to $102,725 due to generous donations from members, transfers from Operations, and the investing skill of the Foundation. The proposed budget was approved with one modification; the Adopt-A-Family budget was increased to $3,000.
• Kendra Burton, ASURA’s University Liaison, reported on the upcoming Arizona Board of Regents (ABOR) budget requests.
  • During the past two years major funding has been received to support ABOR’s New Economy initiative; much of that money went to the Ira A. Fulton School of Engineering. This year the emphasis has shifted to health care with a new ABOR initiative – AZ Healthy Tomorrow. As part of this initiative ASU will create a new medical school in the Phoenix metro area. This will not be your grandmother’s medical school and will focus on medical engineering and technology. The plan is to have classes start in the fall of 2026. Kendra mentioned that the University of Arizona now supports an ASU medical school.
  • Kendra also mentioned that ASU is requesting $115 M for the Arizona Promise Program which is currently way underfunded. The program is a need-based scholarship program that helps fill in the remaining tuition and fee costs not covered by other gift aid.
• Pat Schneider, ASURA Seminar Chair, outlined an exciting set of seminars for this year. The first two are in October and address the upcoming health insurance open enrollment period (see Upcoming ASURA Events below for details). January will address the issue of “now that I am retired what do I do?” February brings back the very popular Area Agency on Aging seminar. March will deal with care giving and care givers and the year is topped off with another presentation by Duane Roen. Be sure to periodically check our website for the details on these and other events.
• The Finance Committee reported that the Association is financially healthy and that the current budget continues this environment.

Meet and Greet Pizza Party

The ever-popular Meet and Greet Pizza Party is almost upon us (next Monday). If you are new to ASURA this is a great way to meet the members and for the members to welcome you to the Association. If you are interested in volunteering (and there is always a need for more committee members), this is an easy way to find out what the various committees do and then volunteer for a committee that sounds interesting.

Mary Stevens, Chair of the Special Events and Luncheon Committee, may ban me from all future events for saying this but we always have more pizza than the group can eat, so even if you have not registered come on down and join the fun.

Travel

• There are still a few openings for our exciting fall trip to southern Arizona. Visting the Chiricahuas alone is worth the price of admission. If you are interested check out the details on our website.
• The Ultimate Africa trip next summer is still looking for attendees. Connie and I took this trip and it was amazing. Where else can you watch African Oxpeckers pick insects off the backs of hippos? Connie and I are still using recipes we got on the trip. Check out the details on our website.

Upcoming ASURA Events

Fall Events (some dates to be determined)

• Meet and Greet Pizza Party
  
  Monday, September 18
• Understanding Medicare A-B-C-D – Open Enrollment Seminar
  
  Thursday October 05
• 2023 Fall Arizona Road Trip
  
  October 17-19
• ADOA/ASRS Health Insurance – Open Enrollment Seminar
  
  Thursday, October, 19
• Holiday Potluck and Bake Sale
  
  December (date TBD)

Pre-retirement Seminars

• September 25 – Office of Human Resources
• October 23 – Financial
• November 13 – Social Security
• December 4 - Medicare

International Travel Events

• Costa Rica
  
  March 11 2024
• Ultimate Africa
  
  July 28, 2024a

Barry McNeill, editor