The times they are a-changing! It was a year ago that we held our first Zoom Board meeting. This week we held our first hybrid Board meeting, with five people attending in person and the other ten present via Zoom. This worked well thanks to our new Meeting Owl Pro (see picture). The device looks around the table to find the person speaking and projects their picture to the Zoom attendees. Pretty slick!

This E-News is longer than usual but there were a number of things to cover. Our new President, Larry Edmonds, has set out an ambitious program for the next year and there are several items requesting your input, if you so choose.

Celebrating a Third Decade of Success

A book about ASURA’s third decade (2012-2021) has been completed. It is a companion for the first- and second-decade histories. The digital version is available on our website in the Publications menu.

The Board approved printing 250 copies, made possible by a generous contribution from Bill Stasi. At the Board meeting it was agreed that the books would be distributed as follows:

• You can pick up a copy from the ASURA Office. The Office is currently operating under reduced hours, see current hours on our website. So, if you plan to come in, call the Office at 480-965-7668 to be sure somebody is there.
• Or you can ask to have a copy mailed to you by sending the Office a check for $4.00 made out to the ASU Foundation (ASURA). The office mailing address is:
  
  • ASU Retirees Association
  • PO Box 873308
  • Tempe, AZ 85287
• Or you can wait to attend an in-person event and pick up a copy at the event.

2021 Pre-retirement seminar topics

The ASURA pre-retirement committee is seeking topics suggestions for future workshops / seminars. Current workshop topics include:

• Understanding Social Security,
• About Medicare,
• Financial information from MidFirst Bank,
• Financial Planning and Retirement from a Financial Planner,
• Health Insurance after Retirement.

The committee is interested in any suggestions you have for future workshops, particularly along the lines of what you would have liked to have known before you retired. Email all your suggestions to Sue Henderson at suegreenhenderson@gmail.com.

The President’s 2021-2022 program

Larry Edmonds introduced a number of interesting activities / projects for consideration:

• A Review of the Bylaws - It has been almost 10 years since the last look at the Bylaws and he suggested a review might be in order. Carl Cross, Sue Henderson, and Pat Schneider said they would undertake this task.
• A Golf Tournament – It has been eight years since the last Veteran’s Day golf tournament. As part of her involvement on the Special Events & Luncheons Committee, Carol Taylor-Tassone said she could sell igloos to Eskimos and offered to look into a possible tournament either for fun or as a fund raiser. Carol is going to need help and so if you would like to help Carol and the Special Events Committee, please contact Carol at ctaylortassone@yahoo.com.
• Community Volunteers – We have our three current community projects, Adopt-a-Family, the Scholarship, and the Video History Project but none of these involve many of our members being visible out in the community where we could “enhance our brand”. If you know of opportunities to volunteer in the community, please contact Larry at doctoredmonds@gmail.com.

In-person events survey

The Board really wants to begin offering in-person events again, but we need to know if anyone would actually show up if offered. The following short two question survey will hopefully help us get some sense of the interest. You can respond to the survey by replying to this email.

Question 1: The soonest I might attend an in-person event is:

1. Fall 2021
2. Spring 2022
3. Fall 2022
4. Possibly never
5. Probably never

Question 2: The conditions necessary before I would be willing to attend an in-person event are (more than one answer acceptable):

1. The event was indoors and everyone was vaccinated.
2. The event was indoors and everyone wore a mask.
3. The event was outdoors.
4. Other

May Board meeting

• All five of our new Board members attended and participated. This might have been a first.
• Jeri Meeks reported that the legislature is deep into getting a budget passed and not much else is happening. She mentioned several bills that have passed but the one that created the most discussion dealt with the bill that allows Community Colleges to begin offering four-year degrees.
  
  
  
  The Community College legislation requires Community Colleges to prove that proposed baccalaureate programs respond to local labor market needs and don’t replicate programs already offered by state universities. Rojann Alpers expressed concern about whether professional programs, like nursing, would have the same standards that are in place in the university. The Board of Regents opposed this legislation.
• Joy Shearman reported she had wrapped up this year’s Scholarship recipient’s paperwork and is now ready to start the process of turning the scholarship activities over to the “younger” folks. Joy would like to have a Co-chair for a year and then she would be Co-chair the second year. Joy has helped develop rather extensive documentation of the process. If you are interested in this wonderful program and/or would like more information, contact Joy at joyrn@cox.net