CAN Organizational Meeting

Monday, October 1, 2007 - 7:30-9:05PM

Executive Committee members present: Kevin Folk, Chris Maurer, Anthony Jones, Bekah Meyerowitz, Steve Primrose

Schools represented: American, ASU, Baylor, BU, Carnegie Mellon, Clemson, Colorado, Cornell, ECU, Elon, Emory, GMU, Georgetown, Georgia Tech, Harvard, Illinois, Indiana, Lafayette, NC State, OSU, PSU, Providence, Stanford, Tulane, US Naval, U Alabama, UC – Berkeley, U Delaware, U Hartford, U Maryland, U Michigan, UNC, UPenn, Pitt, USC, Tennessee, William & Mary, Wisconsin, Villanova, WVU, Xavier

I. Introduction from President, Kevin Folk

The Board has been trying to make changes to the structure of the organization since January – with some positive ones such as the website already in place

However, Folk acknowledged that the Board should have come to the members sooner for their thoughts and feedback and apologized for not doing so several months ago.


II. Committee Updates (see website for additional information)

Community Service

    - Networking 101 – CCSP – 10/23
    - Help the Homeless Walkathon – National Mall – 11/17

Social

    - Capitals Bar Tour – Chinatown – 10/6
    - Capitals CAN Night – Verizon Center – 10/26

III. Membership (Kevin Folk)

“After extensive discussion and feedback from our alumni chapter leaders, the CAN Board of Directors has decided to NOT move forward with chapter membership for 2008. We will look at raising the needed revenue with our sports league fees.

The CAN Board, with feedback from the Advisory Committee, will re-visit the chapter membership subject next fall. Our goal over the next year is to implement several initiatives outside of sports (i.e. professional development, educational, charitable, etc.) that will assist in growing CAN’s presence in the Washington, DC area and provide many more additional benefits and then review again the necessity of a chapter membership fee.”

Folk apologized again to all for jumping the gun with the membership fees

CAN will continue as is for the next year, and will then review the status – financially and organizationally

IV. Financials (Chris Maurer)

Budgets for general 2007 as well as Football, Basketball, Soccer, Volleyball, and Softball were distributed

The organization is currently ‘living paycheck to paycheck’ and it is extremely difficult to function

We have obtained some sponsorships this year which greatly help with finances and more are being looked into for the future. The website and better methods of collecting data have helped this process

Questions & Answers:

o There is a large surplus in the football budget – could this go to lessen fees in 2009?

§ After taking out necessary savings, yes it could

o The increase in softball fees – where will that come in?

§ For tournament fees

o Will the accountant fee be less in the future with back-taxes out of the way?

§ Yes, but we do not know the exact amount that will be annually. Much of the high accountant fee was part of dealing with the past tax problems.

o How is CAN classified now?

§ A Virginia Not-For-Profit Non-Stock Corporation. Hopefully in about 2 years we can be eligible for 501C3 status

o For basketball, if the Alexandria school system has a snow day, do we receive a refund for court rental?

§ No, we pay per team per season. In volleyball we pay per time at the court. However, the rate we have for basketball is greatly reduced due to a deal we were able to secure with the proceeds benefiting a youth program

o Referees per sport:

§ Soccer is currently the only sport with paid referees and this was per the participants’ requests – and thus paid for by them. Refs for basketball is up for discussion for next year

o Is the reason why the legal fee is so high because there is no legal secretary in place?

§ It is included in the budget as a cushion if needed.

o Does the Board plan on sharing budgets from here on out?

§ If membership fees are put in place, we are required by law

o Why is there a room rental fee for GMU when they sponsor the space?

§ It is not free when special meetings have been needed. We will check with our GMU contact to ensure this is correct

o The budgets and transparency are greatly appreciated, but it would be helpful to have them broken down even more – with the overall budget including sports, etc. This would be useful information to have as well as necessary to pass on to alumni associations.

§ That can and will be done

o Where do the tournament deposits figure in?

§ They are included in tournament fees

o Does CAN file with the state yearly as a corporation?

§ Yes, with a yearly fee of approximately $150. We are currently applying in DC and MD as well as a Foreign Corporation

o Has a volunteer or pro-bono accountant been investigated?

§ Yes. The challenge we face is a pro-bono accountant cannot give a great deal of time. It was suggested that perhaps for maintaining (versus dealing with back-taxes) it might be easier to find someone who could do what we need

o Can members see the budgets from previous years – to see how finances were handled in the past, changes that were made, etc.?

§ Yes

o It was suggested that a standardized financial statement would be easier to read and our current accountant should be able to do

V. Taxes (Folk)

Background: CAN started as a social sports league with football and softball. Finances were handled as revenue in and payment of bills out, with no solid consideration of the future or savings. Folk personally has been involved since 2002. The bachelor/bachelorette auction that occurred in 2005 began to change the focus of CAN, as well as serving as a wake-up call in terms of finances. They realized that in order to give to a charity, their own books needed to be in order. This was then done for 2000-2006 and thus began the formalization of the organization. They learned that due to being remiss in the past with taxes, they then needed to pay tax liabilities and penalties. After this was done, the rest of the organization became official with a Board, including a Treasurer and checks and balances. This allowed them to pursue sponsorship avenues as in the past they were too undefined. Now the organization is all caught up and headed in the right direction.

VI. Remarks (Mark Tallarico and Krissy Van Wychen)

They are representing a group of concerned participants in CAN. This group has no official name nor do they want to personally attack those involved or leading the organization. They are concerned about the direction of CAN and welcome all schools and individuals who share these concerns, as well as the Board and Executive Committee, to join them for an open discussion. They would like to work with the leadership of CAN to see changes – not against them

The first main issue is the want for chapters and individuals to have more of a voice in CAN and the leadership and decisions made – such as voting rights and Board positions. This could be done perhaps through the PAC or something similar. They asked that the Board work with all chapters involved to hear what they have to say

Secondly, they would like to see the roles, rights and responsibilities of involved chapters and individuals clearly defined

Thirdly, they would like the Board to work with chapters to install checks and balances in policies and financial processes of the organization – including transparency and full disclosure of all past, current and future financial statements

It was made clear that this group fully appreciates CAN and all that it has done for their chapters. They are not speaking up to hurt the organization, but rather hopefully help move it in a positive direction with all parties in agreement

Folk thanked them for their statement and voiced that this is why the PAC was initially formed but has realized that we cannot rely simply on chapter Presidents to accurately relay their alumni’s needs so we must expand the group to include others.

VII. Voting (Folk)

“Our Board agreed to create an “Advisory Board” Committee (replacing the PAC) made up of anyone that wants to be involved (it now would not be limited to just Chapter Presidents) that will be managed by our former PAC Committee Chair, Anthony Jones. This advisory board under the authority of AJ will be granted ONE vote only to elect on an incoming Board of Directors or Committee Chair position (for example, they would have one vote along with the 6 other BoD votes for these positions).

For example: each chapter or leader of their organization (for those that do not have official chapters) would cast their chapter vote and whomever was elected when all the votes are in from every “chapter” – that winning candidate would get ONE vote cast among the other 6 BoD votes. Note: there can only be one vote per chapter no matte the number of people involved on the Committee.”

Comments:

o Chapters are disturbed that the BoD is coming to the participants with voting rules already set up – it should be a two-way street, an open discussion and agreement

o It was suggested a final voting conversation be delayed until a meeting can be help with the above group as well as any other interested parties to fully talk out the issues and suggestions

o According to the by-laws, CAN holds an Annual Meeting in November, thus it would be helpful to have this meeting prior

o The current by-laws only address Board members, not other members. Will this be addressed?

§ It is not just the by-laws but the Articles of Incorporation that reflect this and depending on the outcome of discussions regarding members and membership, they will both be adjusted accordingly

o How has the BoD been elected in the past?

§ Originally, those involved elected each other. Now, those in position vote on the open positions after receiving applications and doing interviews (Note: positions have a 2-year term)

o If no changes are made currently, will the same be true down the road?

§ Yes

o Is the BoD open to changing this process? All invested chapters and individuals would appreciate having a voice/vote in this process.

§ Yes, this is what we are now beginning

o Does the BoD agree all aspects are open to discussion (membership, financials and voting)? Could other EC members be enable voting rights similar to the sports position?

§ Folk would want to consult other BoD members first, but Yes

VIII. Next Steps

Meeting with group present and all interested parties:

    Wednesday, October 17, 7:30PM, GMU

IX. In Conclusion

Participants voiced that we should all see this as a good opportunity. There is a lot of passion and dedication on all sides, a good group of people who want to improve CAN together

The leaders of the organization were thanked for stepping up and working hard. It was said that it is a natural progression with any organization – the more people that become involved are interested and would like to help shape the direction

There will continue to be an increase of non-sports events in accordance with what the BoD hears from those involved they would like to see (i.e. networking, service, etc.)

Folk thanked everyone for coming and providing valuable feedback. The EC is looking forward to moving forward with all participants.

Motion to approve minutes by K. Folk – 10/3/07
Motion seconded by B.L. Rooker – 10/3/07


Respectfully submitted by B. Meyerowitz – 10/2/07