Minutes for Meeting of May 9, 2005

Whitaker Room, The Haven Resort & Institute

 

Attending: 

Board:  Dick Sass, Paul Robillard, David Raithby (by phone for morning session), Mark Gunderson, Laurie Kelley, Rick Jackson, Tom Lesosky

Friends of Haven Foundation:  Ron Adkins

Management: Ernie McNally, Cathy McNally, Bill Leuze (latter part of afternoon as noted)

 

Apologies:

Randy Wong, Connie Munro, Linda Nicholls, Gerry Owen, Bryan Croeni

 

Call to Order at 9:05am, by Chair, Dick Sass.

 

1)      Haven Vision and Mission.  Read to group by Dick Sass.

 

2)      Check-Ins.  There was discussion regarding the importance of balancing a role (in this instance “Director”) with being personal.

 

3)      Minutes of April 3, 2005 – approved as amended.

 

4)      Action Items Carried Forward.  Items from the last several Board meetings were reviewed; most have been completed and a few will be carried forward.

 

5)      Board Meeting Schedule.

a)      Clarification was requested regarding the final decision on meeting locations during the last Board meeting.  It was confirmed that as a general rule meetings will be held on Gabriola Island.

b)      The importance of having representation from the Standards and Practice Committee (i.e. David and/or Linda), at every Board meeting if possible, was discussed.

c)      The status of planning a joint Core Faculty/Board meeting was raised, and the Board re-emphasized its desire to have this happen.  It was noted that Connie Munro has been working on identifying a date.  It was also noted that it may be more important to schedule an early date, even if every person cannot attend, then to wait until everyone can.

 

6)      General Manager/Marketing Report.

a)      There were a number of clarifying questions regarding the report.

b)      There was lengthy discussion regarding the relationship between curriculum development and marketing, and the responsiveness of these to the current market trends.  The importance of accessing the experience and ideas of The Haven faculty was identified in this regard.  It was noted that the Board wishes to support increased course attendance, and increased revenues, through:

i)        effective marketing;

ii)       fund-raising; and

iii)     curriculum improvements to ensure a relevant product in today’s world.

It was agreed that a report exploring the shift to including faculty in curriculum development be prepared for consideration at the next Board meeting.  It was suggested that the importance of coordination curriculum development with marketing efforts (both by The Haven and by the leaders) be reflected in the report.

c)      Cathy McNally noted that there is an excellent piece on the “raison d’etre” of The Haven, written by Jock when the Foundation was being created, that may be of interest to the Board.

d)      The Information Package for New Directors, compiled by Connie Munro, was received and will be posted to the Foundation website.

 

7)      Committee Reports.

a)      Facilities Committee.

i)        Terms of Reference for the committee were reviewed and approved, subject to grammar and spelling corrections.

ii)       Tommy Lesosky was appointed Chair of the Facilities Committee.  Names of several possible committee members were provided to him for consideration.  It was suggested that Tom familiarize himself with the Linda Moore proposal for The Haven property, presented to The Board at the Feb 18/05 meeting.

 

b)      Standards & Practice Committee.

i)        The Terms of Reference were reviewed by the Board, and tabled pending incorporation of feedback previously submitted by the GM, and also input from David Raithby on the function of the Committee as “overseer”.

 

8)      Summit Initiative re: Core Faculty Inclusion.

a)      Paul Robillard, on behalf of Connie Munro who was absent, presented an update.

b)      It was agreed that Faculty and Board members (and their partners) be encouraged to attend the annual “Reflections” course at The Haven, with the intention of connecting with each other, and facilitating dialogue and meaningful exchange of ideas.  Management will explore discounted pricing options in this regard.

c)      The usefulness of Board Directors, when at The Haven, initiating informal dialogue with any on-site faculty members over coffee/meals, was explored.

d)      The possibility of having Core Faculty meetings coinciding, or back-to-back, with Board meetings was discussed.

 

9)      Committee Reports (continued)

 

c)  Audit and Finance Committee.

i)        DEBT RE-STRUCTURING.

(1)   There was extensive discussion with the Ad Hoc Committee (Mark Gunderson, Dick Sass and Paul Robillard) on options to address this issue.

(2)   It was agreed that Laurie Kelley would abstain from any voting pertaining to this issue in order to eliminate an actual or perceived conflict given her (and her husband Scott Poole’s) historical and potential future roles as Foundation donors.

 

[Laurie Kelley left meeting at 11:40am, and returned at 12:15pm.]

[The meeting was adjourned for lunch at 12:30pm, at which time David Raithby left the meeting; meeting re-convened at 1:10pm]

 

ii)       2004 YEAR-END AUDIT.

A motion to “dispense with the year end audit for December 31, 2004” was prepared for approval by the Foundation Members.

iii)     FIRST QUARTER FINANCIALS, 2005.

The financials were reviewed and discussed.  The need for appropriate procedures for monitoring and adjustments was discussed.

iv)     GIFT ACCEPTANCE GUIDELINES.

(1)   The draft Gift Acceptance Guidelines were discussed and tabled for revisions, to reflect input from Directors.

(2)   A note welcoming all donations, including US donations, will be included.

v)      BEST PRACTICES GUIDELINES.

(1)   Joyce Smith, with the assistance of Mark Gunderson, will draft a policy document.

(2)   Copies of “Foundation Management in Canada” were provided to those present.

 

a)      Development Committee.

i)        Ernie McNally provided an overview of the fund raising summary included in the agenda package.

ii)       Mark Gunderson noted his willingness to support fund raising efforts, especially until such time as a coach/consultant is retained.

iii)     The Donor List is well underway.

iv)     Fund Raising Software will be created by Bill Leuze by working with modifications to current Haven software (GradPro).

v)      Ron Adkins recommended that 3x5 donation cards be available for potential donors to use with their will planning.

vi)     Appreciation for the work being done by Cathy and Ernie McNally and Gill Robillard was noted.

 

[Bill Leuze joined the meeting at 3:50pm.]

 

10)  Foundation Website.

a)      Bill Leuze joined the meeting to discuss the Foundation website developments, including use of the Foundation e-mailing lists.  The management of the volume of emails being circulated was discussed, including the importance of senders being thoughtful as to appropriate recipients, which often means responding directly to them instead of the entire list (the default response).

 

[Ernie McNally left the meeting at 4:05pm.]

 

b)      Bill will meet individually with Directors who want more coaching and/or information on use of the Foundation website and e-mailing.

c)      Bill advised that he will make a one-document option available for printing of future Board agenda packages, probably for the August Board meeting given that he will be busy interning Phase II in June.

 

11)  Next Meeting – 9:00am, Friday June 24, 2005 at The Haven, Gabriola

 

Meeting adjourned at 4:15pm.

 

Action Items

1)      Carole Ames to poll David and Linda to see if one or both can attend the June 24/05 Board meeting; if not able to attend in person, participation by phone or written input in advance will be solicited.

2)      Rick Jackson to prepare a report on approaches to inclusion of faculty input in curriculum development for the June 24/05 Board meeting.

3)      Cathy McNally to circulate the piece about the Haven, written by Jock when the Foundation was being created, to the Board.

4)      GM to provide electronic version of the “Information Package for New Directors” to Carole Ames, for posting to the Foundation website.

5)      Mark Gunderson to make final spelling/grammar revisions to the Facilities Committee Terms of Reference.

6)      David Raithby to submit comments to Mark Gunderson on the role of the Standards & Practice Committee, for consideration in the draft Terms of Reference.

7)      Mark Gunderson to revise the draft Terms of Reference for the Standards & Practice Committee, for consideration at the June 24/05 Board meeting.

8)      Cathy and Ernie McNally, Connie and Paul to explore possible discounted pricing options for Board/Faculty and spouse attendance at “Reflections” each year.

9)      Mark Gunderson and Paul Robillard will brainstorm options for approaching faculty to encourage informal Board/faculty dialogue.

10)  Carole Ames to include “how are we doing with faculty contact” as a Board agenda item.

11)  All Board Directors to provide input to Paul Robillard on the draft Gift Acceptance Guidelines, for incorporation in a revised draft for the June 24/05 Board meeting.

12)  Gerry Owen to be consulted regarding wording the Foundation now has regarding Canadian/US/international donations.

13)  Bill Leuze to meet one-on-one with any Board Directors requesting Foundation website orientation or Foundation e-mail list assistance.

14)   Ad Hoc Debt Restructuring Committee will continue the dialog with all relevant parties regarding this issue in hopes of coming to a favorable result within a short time period.

 

Minutes recorded by Carole Ames.

Minutes Adopted – June 24, 2005