HERAA Meeting 1

HERAA Board Meeting Minutes

Thursday, May 15 at 6:30pm
Present: Melanie Gardner, HER House Director Marjorie Kettell, HERAA President Zomana Majid, HERAA Vice President Rebecca Martin, HERAA Database Secretary (note-taker) New HERAA Board: Majorie Kettell, President, kettellmj@aol.com Zomana Majid, Vice President, zomana@relisource.com Stephanie Frana, Treasurer, stephanie.frana@gmail.com Rachel Fletcher, Corresponding Secretary, rachelalannafletcher@gmail.com Rebecca Martin, Database Secretary. rebeccaymartin@gmail.com HER House Representatives (2008-2009): Rae Lathrop, House President, rae.lathrop@gmail.com Antonia Roberts, House Vice President, amrobert@bu.edu House Director, TBD New Business: House Needs (1) Install Cable TV in French Room as all analog televisions and stations will no longer work starting February 2009; buying a digital converter is a second, lessdesirable option (2) Purchase more lamps for common areas (3) Refurbish rectangular dining room table and perform routine maintenance on oval dining table checking locks and legs, etc.; Marjorie will contact furniture restorer that has done work on these items in the past (4) Receive donation for a lightly used Dell PC for the HER House; Rebecca will organize donation from the BU Law Library for the end of the summer, Marjorie will draft a letter to donor for their records and provide donor with HERAAs tax ID number (5) Review overall maintenance of house including water stains, flooring, painted walls, tiles, etc. and possibly meet with Dick Steele to go over needs/wants Marjorie suggests keeping a book or database of repairs that are wanted/needed and those that have been taken care of; Melanie believes it may exist already will check on status New HER House Representatives o Rae Lathrop (2009), House President o Antonia Roberts (2009), House Vice President o House Director, TBD, interviews for new Director are currently taking place and will hopefully be decided before Melanie leaves for the summer in early June BU Housing Policy

HERAA Meeting 2 o As discussed at the Alumnae Tea in April, alumnae learned that entering freshman were not allowed to live in the HER House starting their first semester at BU; only after living on campus for one semester are women allowed to move into HER. o Board decided that because the university wide policy has been in place for several years at this point, it would be best to discuss with Kenn Douglas of the Office of Residence Life, possible alternatives for incoming women who decide whether to come to BU specifically on the inability to afford housing in addition to tuition and other educational costs o Stress should be placed on fact that we have a university-staff member (House Director) in our home and that we are physically on campus closer even then West or South campus dorms may be; o Marjorie will contact Kenn to make an appointment; perhaps several alumnae will accompany her o Notes and results from Marjorie and Kenns meeting will then be sent out to interested alumnae who signed up at the Alumnae Tea o Which HER House member has that list of interested alumnae? Roles/Jobs/To-Dos Website o Zomana will spearhead maintaining the website incorporating some new information about the House and update with pictures, news, announcements, etc.; Rebecca will contact Jill Passano, former HERAA Database Secretary, for password and login information for the website Red Book o Rebecca will take original copy of Red Book to a copy center and ask them to scan and make a PDF copy of the document for our records and to be able to email copies alumnae who request them o Two copies will be made one full version with all entries and a second version only including those alumnae who gave permission for their entry to be included and distributed via email. Database o Rebecca will continue to update the Alumnae Database using the BU AlumniLink application and also calling alumnae to verify their mailing address and email o Zomana and Rebecca will work together to increase email outreach to alumnae encouraging them to visit the newly updated website and keep in touch; more expanded email list should enable better contact and also attendance at HERAA events, such as Sunday Teas and the Alumnae Tea Treasury o Marjorie will meet with Stephanie separately to go over setting up a new budget, revising procedure and protocol for picking up checks, banking, etc. Archives o Hilary Johnson, former HERAA Board member, is now back in Boston; Marjorie will contact her to gauge her interest in continuing HERAA Archiving projects Mentoring

HERAA Meeting 3 o Board interested in setting up a more concrete network among established alumnae, recently graduated alumnae and current HER members using the database and email outreach for mentorships and/or professional and avocational networking Fundraising/Grants o Marjorie would like to research grants for the house specifically in regards to upkeep of the houses physical history primarily the foyer murals Next Board Meeting: Proposed meeting dates with all Board members include: June: Sunday June 22 at 10:30am, (Sunday June 8 at 10:30am second choice) July: Sunday July 20 at 10:30am (can be confirmed or changed in June)