Members: Louis Bassano, Gail Dyer-Martin, Michael Eckardt, Susan Gallant, Richard Judd (Secretary), Jennifer Perry, Thomas Sandford (Chair), Claire Strickland, Althea Tibbetts. Ex Officio Member: Sarah McPartland-Good

Minutes of the Previous Meeting: Mike moved, and Althea seconded a motion to approve the minutes. The vote was unanimous.

Membership: All positions are currently filled.

Oral History Interviews (AMW): The Council decided to play portions of the interviews at the Homecoming during the latter part of the lunch and before the door prizes. Tom played a segment of the interviews for the Board. (Sue Randall, Alex Grab, Michael Howard). Altogether, the selections will run 11 minutes. The Council discussed a designated PCRE email account, with Tom as administrator. The account would stay with the PCRE between chairs. Susan will contact IT.

Homecoming: The program will be available at check-in. Claire will add the video interviews to the program, along with further information on the Hikel and Brown recipients. Mike will offer the Hikel recipients transportation from home to the Homecoming. The evaluation form will include a question about the newsletter sent in electronic form (Claire will add this.) Records show that 43 percent of recipients opened the newsletter email. Retirees will receive a follow-up email regarding the Homecoming registration with a May 18 deadline. Sarah will make sure the deadline is changed on the second email. The Council discussed expanding the program information sheet for the Homecoming next year. Claire will experiment with formats. Claire will add the tours to this year鈥檚 Homecoming, and tickets will be distributed at check-in. Louis and Claire will staff the registration table. At its regular June 5 meeting the Council will debrief about the Homecoming.

Parking: Tom contacted Theresa McMannus and completed an event form that will allow attendees to receive electronic parking passes. Sarah will send out a final reminder a few days before Homecoming with the electronic parking sticker. Tom will also have regular parking stickers on hand at registration. Gold Card holders will probably have permits. Vendors will need parking passes. The Council discussed the construction at the campus entrance. Tom detected no problem at present, but after graduation the situation may be a different. The Wells Lot is reserved with 100 spaces, and Dunn and Corbett lots will be available.

Tours: Tom will conduct the Versant tour if he is not busy following the meeting. Shawn Laatsch (Planetarium director) may be available if necessary. IT will handle the self-directed tours. Becky van Beneden will conduct the bog walk tour, and Susan will conduct the Page Farm Museum tour. Jason Grunkemeyer will be in charge of the Athletic Facilities tour. Sarah will find someone to usher the attendees to Jason.

Outing – Coastal 海角社区 Botanical Gardens: The outing is Thursday, May 21. Signup has been slow. Tom will arrange with contacts.

Website: Cindy Eves-Thomas was not present, but Tom reported there will be minor changes in the website.

Other: Claire pointed to the need for closer contact with the President鈥檚 Office. Staff should meet with the Council on a regular basis each year, since the Council has valuable institutional memory to share with the President鈥檚 Office. Retirees should have an option to receive university-wide emails from the President鈥檚 Office. Tom will ask the President to attend at least one meeting next year and have a representative meet with the Council more consistently to consider matters of outreach to retirees.

Adjourn: Mike moved that the meeting be adjourned; Claire seconded the motion, and the vote was unanimous.

The post May 2026 Minutes appeared first on President's Council of Retired Employees.

Members: Louis Bassano, Richard Borgman (Vice Chair), Cindy Eves-Thomas (Website editor), Richard Judd (Secretary), Richard Kent, Jennifer Perry, Thomas Sandford (Chair), Claire Strickland, Althea Tibbetts, Susan Gallant. Ex Officio Members: Sarah McPartland-Good.

Minutes: Althea moved to accept the minutes of the previous meeting. Claire seconded the motion, which passed unanimously.

Membership: Susan has had no letter of confirmation. Tom will contact Taylor.

Oral History Interviews (AMW): Catherine Poulin conducted the interview with Sue Randall and interviewed Mike Howard and Alex Grab later in the afternoon. A social gathering with refreshments followed. Louis commented on the high caliber of the interview, especially Sue鈥檚 connections to the university, and noted that the interview was very professional. The interviews were done by camera rather than recorded on phones. Tom has a compiled version at about 30 minutes, and discussed editing to a five-minute section. Catherine has given a copy to the library, and Cindy will post an announcement on the web page.

Hikel Award: Mike has the engraved clock, and the President鈥檚 letter has been sent.

Newsletter: The newsletter was posted on March 11. 海角社区 6 percent of the thousand or so on the mailing list bounced back, and these retirees will be sent paper copies. The print copy is at the printer. The Council discussed a flyer to ask unlisted retirees for email address and to provide homecoming information. Tom suggested a May 18 deadline for registration. Cindy pointed out that the Foundation website has a June 3 deadline. Tom will look into this.

Website: Cindy added the newsletter PDF to the website with a homecoming registration link. She will add the deadline and a few other links.

Homecoming: Tom sent out a checklist of items in preparation for the Homecoming. Of the 1,300-1,400 retires, we can expect around 10 percent to register. If there are more registrants we could reserve the Field House. The registration is on the website. An announcement will be sent by email. Tom will contact the Parking Office. The Council discussed the construction near the parking lot and the importance of signs. Tom will contact Theresa McMannus about the Field House entrance to campus. We will need IT support for the Homecoming. Sarah will take photos at the Homecoming. The Foundation; will prepare a spread sheet for us including who is on which tour. Handouts and tour tickets will be given out at the registration table along with a detailed schedule, maps, an evaluation sheet, and information on where to gather in Wells for the tours. We will offer four tours and a self-guided tour by phone.

Vendors may have handouts which they can give out at the tables. We will supply only the bags. Althea has contacted the vendors with the date, and she will stay in touch. Althea will pick up the parking passes and look into whether we can send out electronic parking passes.

Tom will welcome attendees to the Homecoming and make necessary announcements. Rick suggested including information about newsletter in the introductory announcements. He will introduce the President and announce the Brown Scholarship. The Council discussed providing more detail about Hikel Award recipients Ron and Shirley Davis in the program. Tom will provide something for the President鈥檚 announcement from the nomination materials.

Mike will introduce the feature speaker; Jeff Mills will announce the door prizes; and Sarah will add to the evaluation a follow-up question on the suitability of an email newsletter. Print copies of the newsletter will be available on the registration table. In the future, name tags will include the attendee鈥檚 department.

Claire will prepare the program, which will be handed out at the check in (or on the tables?). Information on the Hikel award and Brown award winners, the tours, and the speaker is available in the Newsletter. The locations for launching the tours are on the website.

Susan volunteered to lead the Bog Boardwalk tour, and Rick will lead the athletic tour. Others will be assigned in May.

Claire suggested an additional question on the evaluation form: What would retirees like from the Council? Perhaps those not taking a tour could stay and discuss this with the Council, or the Council could staff its own table.

Other: The Outing is planned for May 21 as indicated in the newsletter.鈥� The Council discussed sending an email about the Outing. There is a link on the website.

Adjourn: Rick moved we adjourn; Althea seconded the motion; the vote was unanimous.

The post April 2026 Minutes appeared first on President's Council of Retired Employees.

Members Attending: Louis Bassano, Michael Eckardt, Cindy Eves-Thomas (Website editor), Richard Judd (Secretary), Richard Kent, Jennifer Perry, Thomas Sandford (Chair), Claire Strickland, Althea Tibbetts. Ex Officio Members: Sarah McPartland-Good. Susan Gallant attended as a prospective member representing ELH

Minutes: Mike moved and Althea seconded a motion to accept the February minutes with three corrections. The vote was unanimous.

Newsletter: Sarah indicated that the newsletter will go out next week. The council extended its congratulations to Rick on an excellent job.

Website: The Council discussed the information Cindy provided on website users (see ). The Council found the overall results impressive. Users are spread across 23 states. The chart reflected interest in 1) the Homecoming, 2) the Recreation Center, and 3) the Gold Card. Some of these hits were probably the result of web surfing for a particular item. The Council thanked Cindy for the information. The Council discussed a survey on uses of the website to determine interest in other topics, possibly sent via email. The survey would ask: 鈥淲hat did you find useful on the website, or would you find useful? Sarah wondered if it was possible to determine how long readers stayed on the site. Susan and Althea mentioned that there is a system-wide, closed-group retiree Facebook account called 鈥淯MS Retirees and Friends.鈥�

All 海角社区 Women Interviews: This year the interviewees are Sue Randall, Assistant Athletic Director for Business; Alex Grab, Professor of History; and Michael Howard, Professor of Philosophy. Katherine Poulin will conduct the interviews. This fall the Council will consider candidates for next year, the criterion being two men and two women representing diverse parts of the campus. Susan suggested setting up a recognizable email address for contacting candidates.

Other: The Homecoming information tables should include Cornerstone Caring Elder Care. Mike will ask the Hikel Award nominees if they wish to bring guests.

Adjourn: Louis moved, and Claire seconded a motion to adjourn. The vote was unanimous.

The post March 2026 Minutes appeared first on President's Council of Retired Employees.

Members: Michael Eckardt, Cindy Eves-Thomas (Website editor), Richard Judd (Secretary), Richard Kent, Jennifer Perry, Thomas Sandford (Chair), Claire Strickland, Althea Tibbetts
Ex Officio Members: Sarah McPartland-Good, Kelly Straub

Minutes: One correction; Cindy motioned approval, Mike seconded with motion passed with unanimous approval.

Membership: Tom contacted Susan Gallant recommended by Dean Rowland and Associate Dean Kathleen Bell of ELH College for open ELH position. Susan agreed to join the Council representing ELH. Judd moved nomination and Althea seconded and motion passed unanimously. Tom will invite her to the next meeting and will prepare recommendation letter for the President.

Newsletter: Rick is waiting for the President鈥檚 piece; everything else is done. The special topics articles are on Dana Humphreys retirement and Rich Kent鈥檚 new book. Rest is well done also. Tom asked Kelly Straub about the president鈥檚 article. The final draft is complete and will return to Council later today.

Hikel Award: the President鈥檚 letter has gone out. Mike will write a thank you to the nominator. The clock is ready to go but needs to be engraved. the President must decide if one clock or two clocks are to be given.

All 海角社区 Women (AMW) Interviews: Two weeks ago two former AMW interviewees, Kristin Langelier and Mazie Hough, authored a major op ed in the 海角社区 Sunday Telegram. Last year Kristin Langellier, Marian Dressler and Al Bushway were interviewed. Our 海角社区 retirees are staying engaged.

This year鈥檚 interviews are following our meeting on March 6 in Buchanan. Everybody from PCRE is invited to have refreshments and meet All 海角社区 Women (AMW) interviewers including Katherine Poulin, the AMW Historian and organizer of the interviews and also interviewees.

This year Sue Randall, retired Asst Athletic Director for Business, has accepted. The other three are yet to be selected. This is one of AMW鈥檚 services to U海角社区. There will be about an hour between our meeting and theirs.

We would like to play a compilation of the interviews at the Homecoming. The last two years we have not had a compilation. This was because the interview two years ago was recorded on Zoom and last year were recorded on IPhones. It is apparently difficult to edit these forms of recordings for a compilation. the total interviews unedited went on Digital Commons. Special effort will be made this year to convince AMW to produce a compiled version. The suggestion was made that we should consult with the AMW advisor, Mikayla Reynolds, to ensure continuity.

Retiree Homecoming: Information of the Homecoming will be covered in the Newsletter including June 4 date, Wells Conference Center venue, a brief schedule including Information Tables, Hikel Award, Brown Scholarship Awardee, featured speaker David Hart and four tours.
There is a featured article on David Hart and on last year鈥檚 Hikel Award, Mary Bird.

Website: Cindy would like to reach out to Mike Kirby to give numbers on hits for PCRE website and ask for help to update home pages.

Cindy needs more information for the website on the Homecoming website speaker, schedule and information about the annual outing.

For the outing there will be something in the newsletter to contact Tom for carpool. Tom will get parking permits and meet at 8:00 at UM for carpooling or meet at 11:15 at Gardens. Each person pays own way and make their own reservations. Tom will send the newsletter info to Cindy for the website. Cindy has photos of her own for the outing.

We should mention the website at the Homecoming; especially the section on retiree benefits including Gold Card. We need to promote the website.

Other: After a number of questions and issues were raised related to services provided to retirees from IT, Claire volunteered last month to contact IT and ask. Kim Tran of IT had the following response:

First, I will say, It is wonderful to stay connected with our former colleagues, and we are happy to continue supporting retirees where and when we can. While our IT team鈥檚 scope changes once retirees transition from active service, we want to ensure they have the resources needed to stay productive. Below is a quick overview of the specific areas where we can offer a helping hand.
Hardware & Security.

Personal Hardware: UMS IT cannot provide hardware support, troubleshooting, or setup for personally owned devices. Staff are specialized to work specifically on University-owned equipment. For hardware failures, we recommend contacting the device manufacturer or a local repair service.
Virus Removal: We cannot perform “cleanup” services or malware removal on personal devices due to liability risks regarding data loss. We recommend keeping your personal antivirus up to date or seeking professional recovery services.

VPN Access: VPN access is reserved for current employees and students to access restricted internal systems. Since the University鈥檚 Gmail system is web-based, a VPN is not typically required or supported for retirees.

Software & Email

Email Migration: While IT cannot manually move your email from Outlook to Gmail for you to ensure your data privacy, we are happy to provide documentation and self-help guides for Google鈥檚 built-in migration tools.

Software Licensing: Support is limited to the University鈥檚 Gmail platform. Licenses for suites like Microsoft 365 and Adobe are contractually restricted to current faculty, staff, and students. We recommend using free alternatives like Google Docs or web-based productivity software.

If you are contracted and approved to provide services for the university, and require VPN access, guidance will be provided but we cannot perform installation or device troubleshooting as referenced previously above.

Summary of Support Boundaries (see table below)

Please let me know if you have any additional questions. 

Kim

Next meeting March 6 then the AMW interview 11:00.

Adjourn: Mike motioned and Althea seconded. Unanimous approval.

The post February 2026 Minutes appeared first on President's Council of Retired Employees.

Members: Louis Bassano, Richard Borgman (Vice Chair), Gail Dyer-Martin, Michael Eckardt, Cindy Eves-Thomas (Website editor), Richard Judd (Secretary), Richard Kent, Jennifer Perry, Thomas Sandford (Chair), Claire Strickland, Althea Tibbetts. Ex Officio Member: Sarah McPartland-Good.

Minutes: Mike moved and Claire seconded approval; passed.

Membership: Tom has not heard back on an inquiry about a prospective member proposed by the Dean from Earth, Life, and Health Sciences. Tom will contact Kathleen Bell, Associate Dean of ELH. The Council discussed other possible members. Claire had several suggestions.

IT Policy for Retirees: Claire discussed the response from Kim Tram regarding IT support for retirees, and will follow up with questions about hardware support for retirees working on University projects and access to support for de-bugging a virus. (Cindy does get help from IT for the Council鈥檚 website.)

Retiree Homecoming — Tours: Tom has confirmation regarding the Astronomy Center tour. Other Homecoming tours will be the Athletic Facilities (Alfond, Track, Soccer); the Page Museum; and the Bog Boardwalk. Homecoming will be June 4 with David Hart from the Mitchell center as speaker. This will be announced on the Council website; Tom will send Cindy the Homecoming schedule. Mike has photo of David Hart and the title of his talk. The Council will send out postcard reminders for the Homecoming in April, then activate the sign-up feature on the website. Registrations can be called in as well. The Office of Student Financial Services will find a new scholarship recipient.

Newsletter: Rick is moving toward the deadline for the Newsletter and will be asking Council members for input. Louis鈥檚 Rec Center article will be included. The Newsletter will be sent as a PDF by email and will be posted on the website. The Council will decide on details of delivery once the newsletter is done. Sarah reported that there are 441 retirees who are not on our email list. They probably will receive the Newsletter by regular mail.

Hikel Award: Last year鈥檚 recipient will be featured in the Newsletter. Mike (for the Hikel Committee) will send a draft of this year鈥檚 nomination recommendation to Tom, who will pass it to the President.

Outing: the Coastal 海角社区 Botanical Gardens opens May 1. The tour is set for May 21 (a Thursday). The Council discussed renting a bus, but the $1,100 cost seems beyond our budget. Rather, attendees will meet at the University to car-pool the approximately two-hour drive or will join the car-poolers at 10:00 at the garden. Tickets are $21 (seniors on line) or $25 (at the gate). Interested parties can email Tom. We should note in the newsletter that this is a walking tour. Tom asked the Council for suggestions of other informal get-together events, such as cribbage games, square-dancing, or a walking group. These could be announced in the Newsletter.

All 海角社区 Women Interviews: The Council is responsible for naming candidates; last year鈥檚 interviewees were Marian Driscoll, Al Bushway and Kristen Langellier. Tom will contact those we suggest for this year.

Website: Cindy indicated that the November minutes are on the site and noted that the University is launching a major re-design. Any outdated content will be taken down, possibly including old minutes and newsletters. The Council could archived them on Digital Commons.

No other business.

Althea moved to adjourn, and Mike seconded. Vote was unanimous.

The post January 2026 Minutes appeared first on President's Council of Retired Employees.

Members Present: Louis Bassano, Richard Borgman (Vice Chair), Gail Dyer-Martin, Michael Eckardt, Richard Judd (Secretary), Jennifer Perry, Thomas Sandford (Chair), Althea Tibbetts; Ex Officio Member: Sarah McPartland-Good,

Minutes: Althea moved, and Gail seconded a motion to accept the minutes. Approved.

Membership: Tom inquired to the Associate Dean about a prospective member from the College of Earth, Life, and Health Sciences, but has not heard back yet.

Hikel Award: Sarah sent the nominations to the Hikel Award committee.

IT Retiree Benefits: Claire contacted IT regarding access to services for retirees. She has invited Associate CIO Kim Tran to the January 9 meeting.

Retiree Homecoming Tours: The Athletic Department will provide a walking tour of the Alfond Arena, track facility and soccer complex for 30 to 40 people. Brad Libby did not respond regarding Littlefield Gardens, but the Astronomy Center could provide a tour. Rick led the Astronomy tour a few years ago and found Director Shawn Laatsch very easy to work with. Rick was able to pick the show (海角社区 women astronauts). Tom will contact Laatsch. The Center can accommodate about 50 people. The Bog Boardwalk Tour can accommodate 20 people, and the Page Farm and Home Museum, 30-35.

Mitchell Center Director David Hart has agreed to be the Homecoming speaker and will be featured in a newsletter article if we have a title for his talk by press time.

The Brown Scholarship student has been selected, but Tom was unable to contact him. The Office of Financial Services is asking for a release for contact.

Althea reported that the vendors have been contacted. This year the Council will extend the time for visiting the vendors by starting the regular program at 10:15, with the speaker to begin at 11:00. The specific schedule for the day will be available as a link sent out with the emails announcing the Homecoming. The schedule will also be available at the sign-in table.

The newsletter, now 6 pages long, will announce the Homecoming. Postcard and email reminders will be sent out in April. Sarah will send the compilation of questionnaire responses to Rick. Althea suggested an article on Gold Card benefits for the newsletter, although not every retiree has a gold card.

Newsletter: The newsletter committee (Jen, Claire, and Rick) met after the November meeting and decided to have copy ready by the end of January. They planned a section of announcements and another on short feature items such as Louis鈥檚 information on the Rec Center.

Website: In absentia, Cindy reported that the October minutes are on the website, as is a link to the site on capital construction projects.

Other: Louis will prepare a feature for the newsletter on the U海角社区 Rec Center. The next meeting will be held on January 9.

Adjourn: Jen moved we adjourn; Louis seconded. Meeting was adjourned.

The post December 2025 Minutes appeared first on President's Council of Retired Employees.

Members: Louis Bassano, Richard Borgman (Vice Chair), Gail Dyer-Martin, Cindy Eves-Thomas (Website editor), Richard Judd (Secretary), Richard Kent, Jennifer Perry, Thomas Sandford (Chair), Claire Strickland, Althea Tibbetts
Ex Officio Members: Sarah McPartland-Good.

Minutes: Althea moved, and Louis seconded acceptance. Accepted with one correction and one abstention.

Membership: PCRE is missing a representative from the College of Earth, Life, and Health Sciences. Tom will call ELH Dean鈥檚 office and ask for suggestions.

Hikel Award: Sarah said the call for nominations went out to University staff and employees on November 4. The Hikel Award committee is Louis, Mike, and Tom. The deadline for nominations is November 24.

Gold Card: PCRE discussed the Gold Card last month, and to date have not received word from the President鈥檚 Office on benefits. The parking office is closed on Friday. (Free parking is available with the Gold Card.) The list of benefits has been e-mailed, but some on the Council have not received it. However, the information on the website is up to date. Cindy pointed out that it was difficult to order tickets online using the card.

Retiree Homecoming: The tours for Homecoming will include the bog boardwalk (which will take up to 20 attendees), and the Page Farm and Home Museum (taking 30-35). Tom is considering asking Brad Libby to guide tours of the Littlefield Garden. Tom asked Griffin Dill at Extension about another tour of the Tick Lab. A tour of the athletic facilities is a possibility. The Green Energy building is not completed yet (a possible tour for next year.) Council discussed means of informing retirees about new buildings on the campus. There is a website listing new buildings, and Cindy will add a link on the PCRE web page. Information could also be included in the newsletter.

Newsletter: The Newsletter Subcommittee (Claire, Rich, Jen, Tom, and Rick) will meet directly after the meeting with Monique from the UM Foundation concerning schedule and other items.

Website: Cindy made minor changes to the website. She needs a photo from Jen.

Other Matters: Althea contacted vendors for the Homecoming. Louis informed the Council that starting in 2026 the Recreation Center will offer free membership for all retirees, even those without insurance coverage for the Rec Center. Other family members will receive a discount. The Council should post this on its website. This offer is not system-wide, although UMM and UMF do accept silver sneakers passes. This policy may change next year. Louis discussed the possibility of a system-wide retiree鈥檚 council. PCRE will take this up at the next meeting. Louis also mentioned that colleagues have found it difficult to access tech support. PCRE would like clarification on what classes of retirees have access to tech support and software. Claire tried to get some clarity, but apparently the tech center is not certain about the policy. PCRE discussed asking someone from IT to attend a meeting (Tom Drake?). Claire will look into it.

Adjourn: Louis moved, and Rick seconded proposal to adjourn. Motion passed unanimously.

The post November 2025 Minutes appeared first on President's Council of Retired Employees.

Approval of Minutes of 9/5/25: Louis moved approval. Althea seconded. Approved.

Members: Gail Werrbach, who represented the College of Earth, Life and Health (ELH), has resigned from PCRE. She will be missed for her contributions to PCRE and for her collegiality. We send our sympathies to Gail and her family as they confront the illnesses in her family.

PCRE welcomed Claire Strickland back to PCRE.

Hikel Award: PCRE agreed to move forward again this year with a request for nominations. We are adding Retirees to the current employee distribution list plus moving the schedule earlier, so we should have better response than last year. We are targeting Nov 1 for the distribution of emails and Nov 24 as the deadline for nominations. The request will be the same as last year except that the age requirement has been removed. The criteria that a nominee must be doing service at something different from their employment was discussed but remained. Sarah offered to handle both email distributions.

Retiree Homecoming: David Hart, the director of the Center for Sustainability, has agreed to be the featured speaker. Mike has offered to introduce the speaker. Only one tour – the Page Farm and Home Museum has been confirmed. There has been no response for the Tick Lab, the Littlefield Gardens and the Orono Bog Walk. Althea and Gail Dyer-Martin agreed to be in charge of the vendors. Last year the vendors under Gail and Althea was a great success.

The President appears to have other commitments for the day of our Homecoming. We have to anticipate what we will do if the President is not available. Perhaps the President can produce a video, if she will be absent.

Retiree Interviews: Katherine Poulin, the Historian of the All 海角社区 Women (AMW) contacted Tom concerning the interviews. Although it was possible that AMW could hold the interviews in the Fall, they have decided to conduct them in the Spring semester as usual. Since PCRE knows that AMW will be conducting the interviews, we can go ahead to find four candidates to be interviewed when it is convenient for us, probably in December.

Newsletter: Jen, Rich, and Claire agreed to help on the newsletter. Tom will participate on the newsletter also. We are looking for a finish of the newsletter in January or February. Monique from the Foundation will meet with the newsletter group right after the November meeting is finished to talk about schedule and other items. Past newsletters are posted on the PCRE website.

It was suggested that the effect on the University of the various changes by the Federal government, such as suspension of research funds, could be documented as a special feature.

Retiree Outing: The Moosehead trip was cancelled due to low interest. We can rethink what we want for an outing. There will be enough lead time with an announcement in the newsletter.

Website: June 2025 minutes posted.

Other: The new policy for gym use discussed at the September meeting only applies to Orono campus. If U海角社区 retirees living in other cities, like Portland, wish to use local gyms at other 海角社区 System campuses, then they are not covered. However, this can be reexamined if there turns out to be a demand. Louis proposed that a note be placed in the newsletter to let retirees at other locations in 海角社区 should let PCRE know so that PCRE can present these for reexamination. The issue of retirees from other campuses using Orono resources was raised – are they covered. Louis agreed to raise this issue with Andrea Gifford, Dean of Students at Orono.

Claire raised the issue that the eligible events for which those with a Gold Card could attend have not been forwarded yet to holders of Gold Cards. Althea had contacted Taylor on the 13th of September for this same issue, and Taylor indicated that the list just went to the Print Office to be sent out. However, by today 3 October, no one has received them. Tom indicated he would follow up with Taylor. Claire suggested that in the past that these eligible events were sent out in July or August. Tom indicated that he would contact Joseph DeSalvo, Chief of Staff in the President鈥檚 office, to express our concern.

In addition some Gold Card holders do not have a card. The parking office on campus does provide new Gold Cards. The use of the Gold Card at events was discussed on our website after an investigation a few years ago. We may have to update that website.

The post October 2025 Minutes appeared first on President's Council of Retired Employees.

Members: Louis Bassano, Michael Eckardt, Cindy Eves-Thomas (Website editor), Richard Judd (Secretary), Jennifer Perry, Thomas Sandford (Chair), Althea Tibbetts. Ex Officio Members: Taylor Defa, Sarah McPartland-Good,

Approval of 6 June 2025 Minutes: Louis moved approval; Althea seconded. Approved.

Hikel Award: The Council discussed moving the date for sending out the request for Hikel nominations from the present date, December 1, to November 1 in order to encourage more nominees (assuming that the email lists are ready by then). The deadline for submitting a nomination would then be no later than Monday, Nov 24 (the Monday of Thanksgiving week). Taylor and Sarah considered this possible using the same text for the announcement as in the past. The email is sent to all current employees. The Council discussed expanding the criteria for nomination, but the definition of the award seems as inclusive as is possible. The volunteer must have been in service at the university for 10 years, be over the age of 55, be retired for three or more years (generally), and be a volunteer at the university. The Council discussed ways of locating retirees currently serving on university committees. Volunteers working on the bog walk or with the Athletic department were discussed. The Council requested that the call for nominations be sent to retirees (those with email addresses) as well as to current employees. The Hikel Committee will be Mike and Louis with another to be added for review of nominations.

Silver Tracks Newsletter: The Council discussed sending out the Newsletter in January or February. If this is done, we would have to follow up with information on the Homecoming in a postcard at a later date. Could the Newsletter be emailed instead of mailed? The Homecoming survey cards indicate that a majority of respondents were in favor of an email newsletter, but around 400 retirees do not have email addresses. The Council decided to send electronic copies to those with email addresses and hard copy by regular mail to the rest. Monique Hashey from the Foundation would like to meet with the committee in the fall. Vendors have inquired about the Newsletter. The Council discussed retiree opportunities for volunteer service. Cindy will send links to websites on volunteer service for information we could include in the Newsletter.

Retiree Homecoming: The Homecoming will be Thursday, June 4. The Council discussed potential speakers. Suggestions included someone to discuss the federal funding situation at the university; someone representing the Durgan Center on Aging; or David Hart from the Center for Sustainability Solutions or someone else from the Center. Mike will ask David if he would be willing to speak. The Page Farm would like to be included among the tours. The Council discussed the bog board walk as a tour option. The Tick Lab was popular and might be offered again. Perhaps also we could include the 3D printed house, and ask Kate Garland or someone else from Extension to guide a tour of the Littlefield Gardens.

Climate Experiences: Three accounts of experiencing climate change are on the website. PCRE members are welcome to add their experience.

Retiree Interviews: Since the interviews were recorded on cell phones, it is difficult to edit them.

Retiree Outing: Council discussed an excursion on Moosehead Lake on Oct 12, possibly with lunch at Kelly Landing. Tom will work on this.

Other Initiatives: Louis talked with Andrea Gifford, the Dean of Students at Orono, and learned that beginning in January 2026 all retirees will have free membership at the Gym, including those without the Silver Sneakers plan. Family members will be eligible for significant discounts on membership. If there is sufficient interest among retirees living outside the Orono area, Andrea will look into obtaining memberships at recreation centers on other campuses. This will be announced in the Newsletter. Cindy needs a head shot from Jen, and will ask for stats on the use of our website.

Adjourn: Louis moved adjourn; vote was unanimous.

The post September 2025 Minutes appeared first on President's Council of Retired Employees.

Approval of 2 May 2025 Minutes: Minutes were approved with a correction: table tents were not done by the Foundation but by Events & Hospitality. Tom will change the minutes. Louis moved to accept; Althea seconded; motion was approved.

Recap of Retiree Homecoming Fair: One hundred thirty seven registered for Homecoming, and about 10 attended who were not on the list, but there were 47 no-shows at the checkoff table. Plus there were 28 guests and vendors staying for lunch. It is not clear how many attended but did not pick up their name tags. Jeff Mills received donations for the Foundation at the event.

The Council discussed the following items:

Retiree Outing: Tom reported that renting a Cyr bus for a Boothbay Botanical Gardens tour would cost $1,200. If we recruited less than 30 people, this would cost $40 or more per person. Tickets are $18 for seniors. A bus from the motor pool would require sponsorship from an active employee and an approved driver. Council discussed car-pooling to Boothbay. Louis suggested an email to retirees to determine interest. A Katahdin tour of Moosehead Lake costs $40 for a shorter cruise to Moose Island and Beaver cove, and $50 for a longer cruise. Council will discuss this further in the fall. Council also discussed means of promoting the outing by email and website posting. We might post a choice of tours (with costs), and ask for suggestions. Council decided not to offer an outing this summer and to start advertising earlier in the fall. We will discuss other possibilities in the fall.

Other: Council discussed ways of encouraging nominations for the Hikel Award, possibly by broadening the criteria for eligibility and asking the President to send out a call for nominations earlier. Council will discuss this further in the fall. Council will remind the President鈥檚 Office to reappoint Council members. Sarah has received three climate change stories that should be sent to Jacqueline and posted on the website (perhaps with editorial adjustments). Tom will forward them to Cindy to post on the website.

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