(DRAFT)

Attended: Patricia Flaherty, Steve Fitzhugh, John Fitzpatrick, Anne Dodd, Paula Delaney,

Jon Wyman, Joe Daly (WPI University Relations)

John Fitzpatrick reported on the 25th Anniversary Gift Campaign. Since the last board meeting, the campaign has made quiet progress. As of 8/16/99, the pledges totaled $146,771 with 21% participation. That is only 41.9% of our goal of $350,000 and 75% participation. A letter was sent to class representatives in October to stimulate interest, but there was not a lot of activity.

A telethon is planned for Oct 15 (Reunion Workshop weekend). John is currently contacting additional committee members and agents to be volunteers. A letter is being sent to approximately 200 class members who have not yet been contacted to inform them of the upcoming telethon. The letter will be circulated to board members for review prior to being sent out.

The members present discussed redefining the plea, as the three year giving scenario no longer applies. It was suggested that callers focus on services of the alumni association such as e-mail address for life, the class of '75 website, ask for input for reunion plans, and talk about the new campus center.

John also noted that four members of the Class of 2000 received "Class of '75 Scholarships". A Scholarship dinner is set for September 30 to recognize many named scholarship winners and the donors. Pat Flaherty will attend the dinner as President of the Association, and Paula Delaney will attend as representative of the Class of '75.

Steve Fitzhugh told the group about the Class of '75 website he is maintaining. There is a link from the WPI Alumni Association websites to the Class pages. He has posted the minutes of the recent Reunion committee conference call on the website, and notes from the recent class newsletter. There followed much discussion about the website, and how to access it, and what may be the best use. Can it provide a means of communication with class members, adding an additional quality contact. The assembled group collected e-mail addresses to help with communication. Steve offered to list the addresses on the website if anyone wished to include their name.

The Reunion planning meeting will be October 16, 1999. Some ideas were discussed concerning how to reach class members to increase participation in reunion weekend (June 2-4, 2000). One possibility included sending holiday cards in December from the Class, announcing the date and explaining that contacts will be made around February. Additional ideas will be discussed at the planning meeting.

It was announced that Ginny Fitzpatrick will coordinate the Saturday evening event for Reunion Weekend.

The Association has requested names of possible Robert H. Goddard Alumni Awards for Outstanding Professional Achievement. A few names were mentioned (help me here folks, I turned in the names.). It was suggested that the next Class newsletter ask for nominations. The remainder of the discussion centered around planning for the telethon and how to get additional volunteers to help with the calling. It was agreed that calls would be completed before 8:30pm (with accommodation for different time zones).

Draft submitted: Paula Delaney