April 3, 2001

Minutes

Present: Jim Steele, Nolan Clark, Dennis Larson, Michael Ngadi, Ken Lomax, Ted Tyson, Conly Hansen, Gary Anderson, Jeremiah Davis, John Reid, Marilyn Maddox, Mark Crossley

The meeting was called to order at 2:05 p.m.

Overview of Agenda

1. Call to Order & Introduction of Members on Call

2. Overview of Dues Committee Progress & Discussion of Retiree Dues
     - Composition of Committee
     - Progress to Date
     - Review Current Dues Structure & Impact of Retiree Dues Adjustment
     - Recommendations from MDC

3. Life Membership and Promotional Drive at Annual Meeting
     - Definition
     - Development Promotional Plans

4. Proposal from the ASAE Foundation re: Grass Roots Funding for Section Use
     - Overview of Proposal
     - Feedback from Section Steering Committee
     - Comments from MDC

5. Announcements
     - Request for Initiative Fund Proposals
     - Request for 2002 Budget Items
     - Next MDC Meetings - Sacramento Convention Center
       Sunday July 29th 1:30 -3:30 p.m., Room 311 and Thursday August 2nd 8:00 - 10:00 a.m., Room 105
     - Written reports due from District Reps. & Committee Chairs to headquarters by 6/30/01
     - Items to be added to the agenda must be to headquarters by 6/30/01

As a recap of the agenda, the minutes are as follows:

Mark Crossley conducted a review of all present.

Overview of Dues Committee Progress & Discussion of Retirees Dues
The meeting began with an overview of the Dues Committee appointed by Harmon Towne and their progress to date. The Dues Committee, comprised of Fred Payne (chair), Carly Washmon, Carroll Goering, Dan Wambeke, Gene Giacomelli, Stan Weeks and Ted Tyson, was appointed to review the current ASAE dues in light of recent budget deficits. Attachment A is a copy of the charge to the Dues Committee. The Committee is to report back to the Board of Trustees at their April Meeting in St. Joseph and make a draft recommendation on a dues increase for 2002 (Attachment B). They have been looking at a 25-year history of dues revenue and dues increases. Since 1975, there have been three dues increases - in 1980, 1987 and 1992. The Committee is looking at recommending a $20-30 dues increase focused on ASAE's largest member population, aged 35-64 with a lower increase spread out over the other age ranges, students/preprofessionals, student transfers, and sustaining members. As it currently stands, members over 65 years of age who have not yet reached sustaining member status and the three international membership promotional rates ($15, $35 & $55) would not increase. Life Member payments and calculations would not change except for the new dues rates that may be in effect at the time of payment. The Committee would like to bring dues in line to reflect accumulated inflation rates since 1992 on an individual membership, not based on total dues revenues.

The conversation then turned to retiree dues (Attachment C). An overview of all current dues levels, which may encompass ASAE members over age 65, was given. The proposal includes sustaining ($55), life membership, and a 10% reduction ($76) for members who are over 65 and have not yet reached sustaining member qualification status. A number of opinions were expressed in reaction to the possibility of raising retiree dues, but the general opinion was that these dues not be increased. Headquarters reported that retirees were by far the most vocal on the issue of believing their dues are currently too high. It was suggested that the reason retirees are complaining about current retiree dues rates is because ASAE does not provide enough services to make their membership valuable. We need to review retiree membership categories and better inform members of what their options are and why their membership is still valuable to them at this point in their lives. With these and other points at in mind, the following motion was offered:

Motion: The entire dues structure and options for ASAE membership for retirees needs to be further studied before a dues increase is proposed or recommended. Second.

Discussion: During the discussions, several points were made and suggested to be included in a general sense as content and in clarifying the intent of this motion. It was pointed out that the MDC has good representation on the Dues Committee. A question was raised about the basis for a dues increase and how this would be justified for certain membership categories and not all. The primary impact of a dues increase on MDC operations might be recruitment and retention of members and no one knows how to project or quantify this impact. A turn around in recent declining membership trends is not clear just yet and some felt this reflects negatively on increasing dues at this time. The MDC should be the prominent Council in input and debate on any changes in membership dues. The intent of the motion was also to include an offer from MDC to assist or conduct a complete review of the ASAE membership structure prior to adoption of any dues increase.

The motion carried.

It was decided that the MDC should file a follow-up report to the Dues Committee expressing some of the points and concerns raised here. It was decided that Mark Crossley would express the recommendations in a draft letter to the Dues Committee from the MDC.

Some concern was expressed that the MDC would not have an opportunity to review the actual dues increase proposal before adoption by the Board of Trustees. The Council Chair will seek assurance at the Board of Trustees meeting in St. Joseph on April 20-21, 2001.

Life Membership & Promotional Drive at the 2001 Annual Meeting
Life membership in ASAE is defined as follows: Any corporate member may attain life member status by paying the Society at one time the present worth of an annuity equal to that member's dues for a life expectancy based on current actuarial tables. In light of a probable dues increase for 2002, the MDC felt that the Annual Meeting would be a logical time for a life membership promotion. Members who took advantage of this option before December 31, 2001 would be able to so do under current dues levels, thus saving money compared to delaying life member payments or annual payments until after the first of the year. The MDC overwhelmingly endorsed plans for life membership promotion at the Annual Meeting as well as promotion to the general membership shortly thereafter.

The plan is to target those members aged 55 and over who would most likely be interested in life membership. There was also a suggestion that on the next ASAE invoice, a line item with the member's life membership total be added as a payment option. This will be investigated further before formal adoption by the MDC. Some promotional incentive needs to be granted for payment on site at Sacramento. This needs to be defined and advertised, however one idea that was discussed included one year of free membership which could be added into the computations of Life Membership cost for an on-site payment. Plans to promote life membership at Sacramento will continue with periodic updates sent to the MDC for review. MDC members who are willing to volunteer some time for this promotion at the membership booth in Sacramento should contact Mark Crossley. Ted Tyson, Conly Hansen and others have agreed to volunteer some time as their schedules in Sacramento allow.

Proposal from the ASAE Foundation re: Grass Roots Funding for Section Use
A proposal from the ASAE Foundation to assist and strengthen Section programming and activities through a grant program was reviewed (Attachment D). The structure of the proposal is so that it allows for ample room for creativity on the part of Sections requesting funds for various activities. The justification for funds will determine whether or not Sections receive funding.

There is currently a ballot out to the Section Steering Committee (SSC) (Attachment E) asking for their recommendation and endorsement of the proposal. The deadline for the ballot is April 6, 2001. The voting thus far is in favor of the proposal with a few minor changes. Assuming recommendation by the SSC, the proposal will be amended to reflect the proposed changes by the SSC and will be formally recommended to the MDC. The MDC will then ballot the amended proposal with recommended amendments at that point. The outcome of the MDC ballot and any amendments and recommendations of the MDC will be reported to the ASAE Foundation at their meeting later this month in St. Joseph.

Announcements
The following items will have a June 30, 2001 deadline. All items should be sent to Mark Crossley at h, ASAE Headquarters.

     - Initiative Fund Proposals from MDC Committees. E-mail message requesting proposals and outlining guidelines to be sent in early May.
     - Request for 2002 Budget Items. An e-mail message will also be sent in May to Committee Chairs requesting budget items to be added to the MDC portion of the budget.
     - Written Reports from District Reps. & Committee Chairs. Reports will be sent ahead of time to MDC members for review before the meetings in July/August in Sacramento.
     - Agenda Items for Sacramento. Call for agenda items will be sent by e-mail to Committee Chairs in early June. A draft agenda will be posted on the MDC Web page no later than June 10, 2001.

Next MDC Meetings - Sacramento Convention Center
     - Sunday July 29, 2001, 1:30 -3:30 p.m., Room 311
     - Thursday August 2, 2001, 8:00 - 10:00 a.m., Room 105