From Michael Spivey Tue Jul 9 16:55:52 1996 Date: Tue, 9 Jul 1996 14:56:29 -0500 From: Michael Spivey To: andre@ai.mit.edu Subject: May LSMSAAA business meeting minutes The Louisiana School Alumni Association business meeting of Sunday, May 26, 1996, began at 11:00 A.M. in the board room of the high school building in Natchitoches. Present were Dr. Robert Peters, Dr. Bill Ebarb, Mrs. Cindy Allen, and fifteen alumni. After a welcome by alumni association president Teresa Carroll, I read the minutes of both last year's business meeting and of the executive committee's meeting in March. The minutes were accepted as read on a motion by Micah Luftig and a second by Brad LeBlanc. Cindy Allen then read the treasurer's report. Because the alumni association would be taking in more money later in the day, she did not give a final balance. She did say, however, that the alumni association would be very much in the black this year, unlike last year. Dr. Peters then spoke on the state of the Louisiana School. He first mentioned his efforts to get articulation agreements with Louisiana colleges this year. He said that the LSU School of Business has already agreed to grant credit for final exams in certain classes at LSMSA and that he will present at the next Board of Directors meeting a formal draft from Louisiana Tech to that same extent. He also said that a long-term goal is, in conjunction with other schools in the NCSSSMST, to have universities outside Louisiana grant credit for final exams at Louisiana School as well. Dr. Peters also mentioned combined efforts with the Arkansas School and the Mississippi School to recruit more students from the underrepresented delta regions of the three states. And he talked some about his efforts to get corporations and professional organizations to make partnerships with the Louisiana School. These partnerships could include donations to the school and awards and scholarships to students who complete certain sets of courses deemed important by the corporations and organizations. Dr. Peters then fielded a few questions from alumni concerning students coming from rural schools to LSMSA and whether the school is heading towards too much specialization in the curriculum. Dr. Peters also talked about the Louisiana School budget. The current budget, not including Telelearning, is $4.2 million. Some of that (such as room and board) is self-generating rather than appropriated by the legislature. Dr. Ebarb picked up the budget discussion from there and said that the goal is to eventually be funded at the national average. Right now LSMSA is at $11,000 per student. He mentioned that Louisiana School has some supporters on the senate finance committee. Current and long-term budget plans include more funding for the arts, funding to keep up with progress in computer and other science technologies, razing the annex and constructing a new building in its place, and working on acquiring the mechanical building behind the annex. Dr. Peters and Dr. Ebarb then answered questions from alumni. Dr. Ebarb mentioned that there is currently a bill before the legislature that would make the LSMSA budget non-discretionary. There were complaints from alumni about the condition of the dorms, and solutions for this were discussed, including a possible alumni workday. There were also some complaints about this year's five-year reunion and concerns about the elimination of the focus system and the self-study committee's willingness to listen to alumni. In response to a question about the problems this past year at Louisiana School, Dr. Peters mentioned several things. He said there were communication difficulties, including a great deal of misinformation being spread around. He also raised the question of where power resides at LSMSA; he said that it does not ultimately reside with either the Executive Director or the Board of Directors. He said that his attitude has been that he would do what he felt to be right until the Board decides otherwise. He did say that he felt the Board must have more of a vision and be more willing to act upon that vision. New business consisted of several things. First, Teresa mentioned that she was disappointed with alumni involvement in Celebration III, especially financial involvement. Second, she talked about the creation of the Executive Director's advisory council, made up of the LSMSAAA president, the SGO president, the president of the Board of Directors, the parents' association president, and the president of the Foundation. She said that she has received very little response so far in setting up regional alumni association chapters. Teresa also mentioned the constitution revision meeting on July 13 and that she is still trying to see about getting the president of the alumni association appointed to the Board of Directors. Dr. Peters then mentioned that he wrote Governor Foster, asking him to appoint the presidents of the Foundation, the parents' assocation, and the alumni association to the Board of Directors. The meeting was adjourned around 1:00 on a motion by Christy Zerangue and a second by Alan Boxberger. Mike Spivey LSMSAAA Secretary