ADMINISTRATIVE STAFF RETIREES ASSOCIATION

Transcription

1 ADMINISTRATIVE STAFF RETIREES ASSOCIATION Minutes of the 17th Annual General Meeting of the Administrative Staff Retirees Association held on May 21, 2014 in Room A-509 of the Arts Hall, 70 Laurier Avenue East, University of Ottawa. 1. Opening The meeting opened at 11:15 when the quorum had been reached (33 members). The President, Hélène Boivin welcomed all members present. 2. Adoption of the Agenda Adoption of the agenda was proposed by Claire Cayen and seconded by Lise Lépine. The agenda was adopted unanimously, without additions or amendments. 3. Adoption of the Minutes of the 16th Annual General Meeting held on May 15, 2013 Adoption of the Minutes of the 16th ASRA Annual General Meeting was proposed by Lyse Piché, and seconded by Joan Carey. The Minutes were adopted unanimously as presented. 4. President s Report The President welcomed members to the 17th Annual General Meeting. She thanked all current Board members: Suzanne Laporte and Lorène Kayser (archivists), Louise Potvin (phone contacts), Lyse Piché (activities), Claire Cayen (new member support), Claude Dufresne (vice-president and Pension Committee representative), Jacques Plante (treasurer), Roger Chagnon (webmaster), and André Pierre Lepage (secretary). She also offered a special thanks to those that work behind the scenes: Diane Pelletier (Bursary Selection Committee), Danielle Ayari (auditor) and Elisabeth Clarke-Gilman (translation). The President made particular mention of the outstanding contribution of Louise Potvin who has worked tirelessly for the Association over the past seven years. Louise has provided her skills and energy to just about any task that needed doing. She has also accepted to help with the transition for the new Board member that will be phoning those members that do not have access to . The President then outlined the ASRA activities for the past year. a) Improvements to the recruitment process The ASRA is no longer providing membership cards. Instead, once membership applications have been received, members receive an confirmation mid-february of each year. The Association is working on a sponsorship program for new members. As soon as a new member joins the Association, Claire Cayen calls the new member to welcome him or her, to wish him/her a successful retirement, and to extend an invitation to upcoming activities. This approach will offer a personal connection for each new member. Thanks to improvements to the recruitment process, the ASRA now boasts 300 members, up from an average of approximately 130 in past years. The percentage of retirees that are members of the Association has risen from 22% in 2009 to 41% in Personal contacts Page 1

2 with retirees seem to be the key. The ASRA is targeting 50% participation in order to strengthen its representation with the University. b) Improvements to the Website Roger Chagnon has improved the look of the website with more colours and photos. He has included photo montages of ASRA activities, including a trip to Wakefield and the Christmas and Easter luncheons. Also, photos of Board members and photos of members that have passed away have been added. c) Improvements to social activities In an effort to encourage more member participation, Lyse Piché now prepares and circulates, prior to an activity, a list of all participants who have confirmed their attendance. As well, André Pierre Lepage provides name tags for participants at each activity, which are designed to stimulate interaction and act as a reminder for names of participants. d) Communications with and among retirees The ASRA has developed a colorful page outlining the purpose of the ASRA, for distribution by Human Resources to retiring employees. It is hoped that this tool will encourage retirees to join the Association. The ASRA is considering starting a Facebook page for members only, to encourage interaction among members. The President asked those present if they would be interested in such a project and asked if there were volunteers to provide content and to manage the page. 21 of 33 members expressed a positive interest in this initiative. A discussion followed regarding the possibility of opening up access to the Facebook page to all retirees and not just ASRA members. Claude Dufresne expressed concerns that this approach might encourage commercial solicitation. He also stressed the importance of having an individual responsible for verifying that those applying for access to the page are indeed members of the ASRA and also to help users that have difficulty with administrative and technical issues. He also cautioned that contents of the personal Facebook accounts of users should not appear on the ASRA website. Lise Lépine proposed that U of O personnel taking deferred retirement could also join the Facebook page. Olivier Bilodeau proposed assigning an access number to all current ASRA members and suggested verifying addresses of those requesting to join the page in order to simplify the process. Jean Marc Dubé, Olivier Bilodeau and Arlette Henry offered their assistance in populating the Facebook page and helping to manage the group. Olivier Bilodeau proposed using old photos of administrative personnel on the site and Lyse Piché offered to work with the individual that would take on this responsibility. Monique Hurtubise proposed that the ASRA send an to members to request help from others who might be interested in the project. The creation of an ASRA Facebook page was approved unanimously. Page 2

3 e) Participation at the Annual General Meeting The President asked for suggestions on how to increase participation at the AGM. It was suggested that members could be invited to propose subjects of interest to be included in the agenda. It was also suggested including short presentations on subjects of interest to ASRA members at social events, making sure to choose locations that would lend themselves to such presentations. f) List of retirees who have died during the year. A minute of silence was held in honour of retirees who died in Members were reminded that Roger Chagnon provides details of those who have died on the website as soon as he receives the information. Lyse Piché also sends details by to members as soon as possible. Members were requested to inform the ASRA when they learn that a retiree has died, so that this information can be passed on to members as soon as possible. g) Conclusion : Reminder of parking privileges on campus and other subjects The President reminded members that they can park for free on exterior campus lots on weekends, statutory holidays and during the Christmas break. The permit is free and valid for one year, renewable in May of each year. Permits can be obtained at 139 Louis-Pasteur, on presentation of the University retirees card. 5. Change of name for the ASRA As approved at last year s AGM, the Association s name has been changed on all communications and files. The new name is the Administrative Staff Retirees Association. This name replaces the former Support Staff Retirees Association (SSRA). The name ASRA now appears on all paper and electronic documents, and Association web pages. Due to technical difficulties, it has yet to appear on the ASRA website banner. 6. Presentation and adoption of the financial statements for the year ending April 30, 2014 (a) Revenues and expenditures Jacques Plante, treasurer, presented the financial statements to April 30, Arlette Henry proposed acceptance of the financial statements, seconded by Louise Potvin. The financial statements were received, unanimously, without modification. (b) Budget estimates Jacques Plante presented the budget estimates which were approved unanimously. Page 3

4 7. Board Elections Louise Potvin chaired the election process. The mandates of four members are ending (Louise Potvin, Roger Chagnon, Suzanne Laporte and Lyse Piché). Louise Potvin offered her resignation after seven years of volunteer service on behalf of the ASRA. She asked for nominations and Lucia Cabeceiras offered to stand for election. The three other members agree to renew their mandates; the renewal of theses mandates and the nomination of the new member were proposed by Joan Carey and approved unanimously. Diane Pelletier also submitted her resignation, but she agreed to continue to sit on the Bursary Selection Committee as the ASRA representative. Her resignation does not result in a vacancy on the Board, as there is one extra member already serving. 8. ASRA social activities for Lyse Piché presented an overview of the social activities organized by the ASRA during the past year. Each month, from September to April, the ASRA organized breakfast or luncheon meetings alternating between Quebec and Ontario. The Christmas lunch continues to be very popular and this year the Easter lunch surpassed last year s participation of 37 with a total of 51 members in attendance. Lyse asked members if they would be interested in a wine tasting excursion to Le Domaine des météores in Ripon on September 11 or 18, followed by a visit to an outdoor market and lunch in Ripon or Saint-André-Avelin. The maximum for this activity is 22 participants and someone will be needed to organize carpooling. Members expressed keen interest in this activity. Lyse also surveyed those present about providing names and s of participants in various activities in order to facilitate communication and the organization of carpooling. This suggestion was accepted with the provision that the information be provided only to those registered for the activity in question. 9. Report on the University Pension Fund Claude Dufresne presented his report on the Pension Fund. He stressed that the 2014 annuity was indexed to the cost of living, but that there is an indexation deficit of 2.3% that has been accumulated in previous years. This deficit could be reimbursed to retirees if the Fund s financial situation improves. At the moment, the fund has a significant deficit, but the performance of 2012 and 2013 investments is encouraging. In 2013, the unions that signed new collective agreements agreed to increase employee contributions to the pension fund. This means that employee contributions are now at 36%, with the employer contributing 64%. As well, unions agreed to discussions aimed at transforming the governance model of the fund to a employer-employee managed fund. In such a model, both parties would bear responsibility for the management and any deficits incurred by the fund. Claude also mentioned that the funds actuaries have re-evaluated the assumptions used to calculate future costs of the fund. Page 4

5 10. Administrative Staff Bursary recipients for 2014 This year (as last year) the ASRA awarded 3 bursaries to students that demonstrated outstanding volunteer and community contributions. The recipients are: Renée Leduc (Telfer School of Management), Alyssa Samantha Nikolla (Faculty of Health Sciences) and Jason Mercier (Faculty of Law, Common Law Section). Each student will receive a bursary valued at $2000. The ASRA representative on the Selection Committee is Diane Pelletier, former advisor at Financial Aid and Awards Service. Thanks to an increase in the cost of tickets to the Founders Day Breakfast from $2 to $5, the capital contribution to our Bursary fund will increase by approximately $5000 per year. 11. Guest speaker : Manon Dugal, Associate Vice-President Human Resources, on «Retiree Benefits» Madame Manon Duval, Associate Vice-President, Human Resources, was scheduled to speak on administrative staff retiree benefits and to present the University s vision for future pension and benefits, but she could not be present. Her presentation has therefore been rescheduled to Thursday, May 29, from 11 to noon, in room A509 of the Arts Pavilion. Several members expressed concern about the problem of lack of health coverage for retirees who are unable to pay for this benefit, as well as the poor quality of communication from Human Resources Service with regard to Health Credits (also known as Health Care Spending Account). 12. Distribution of parking permits. 13. The meeting was adjourned at 1 p.m. and members were invited to stay for refreshments. Hélène Boivin, ASRA President Suzanne Laporte, ASRA Archivist. Page 5