February 23, 2010

Location

Large Conference Room Room, 21 Penn Tower

Present

Drs. Asbury, Dalinka, Downes, Goldfine, Hess, Kefalides, LaRossa, MacGregor, Meadows, Meyers, Nachmias, Saunders, Schleyer, Steinberg, Rachael Berget from the Office of Faculty Affairs and Professional Development  

Absent

Drs. Heppenstall, McCarthy, and Stinnett

Minutes

Dr Goldfine called the meeting to order at 12:05.  The agenda for the meeting and other documents were distributed.  A motion was made and seconded to approve the minutes of the last meeting.  Several corrections were noted after which the minutes were approved. 

The President reported that the Nomination Committee has proposed Dr. Anna Meadows for the position of President Elect.  Dr. Meadows has agreed to stand for election.  The committee is seeking a nominee for the position of Secretary/Treasure, and suggestions should be forwarded to Dr. Goldfine.  There appear to be no At-Large-Council positions that need to be filled this year.

The President reported that names have been suggested for a Research Track Committee to explore the titling of Emeritus to that track.  It is up to them to form that Committee.  The ASEF is ready to provide whatever assistance might be deemed useful.

The current balance in the 2009-1010 budget is sufficient to support the upcoming Spring Lecture, the Retirement Planning Seminar, and the remaining ASEF Council meetings.  In addition, the Association will purchase a wireless router for the Headquarters space as well as a small pocket digital recorder to aid in taking minutes of ASEF meetings.  There may be sufficient remaining funds for a late spring reception in the Headquarters space. 

A comparison of costs for the Retirement Dinner at the Inn at Penn and at BRB II/III was presented and discussed.  In summary:

  • BRB Lobby and 14th Floor Lounge:
    • Reception (stationary hors d’oeuvres) and buffet dinner: $42.50 per person$Non-Alcoholic beverage is $4.75 per person
    • Reception and dinner for 60 guests: $2,550.00
    • Non Alcoholic beverage: $332.50
    • Table cloths, equipment, centerpieces: $1,090.51
    • Bartenders for 4 hours: $1,541.10
    • Beer and Wine (ASEF purchases): $150.00
    • Total:  $5664.11
  • Inn at Penn:
    • Reception (stationary hors d'oeuvres) is $49 per person for 1.5 hours
    • Buffet Dinner (the least expensive option) is $48 per person
    • Reception (1.5) hours for 60 guests: $2,94
    • Buffet dinner for 60 guests: $2,880
    • Open Bar ($17/person), 2 hours (We cannot bring our own wine/beer): $2,040
    • Total:  $7,860
This is for a single room. Additional charges for audio visual (microphone, computer podium, projector, etc.) equipment, linens, centerpieces, etc., would be added to this total Further, there is a $20 charge per car for valet parking.

A discussion of the merits of both locations progressed and referenced against the fact that the annual budget of the ASEF is $11,000. The ambience at the Inn of Penn was clearly an advantage, and it was also noted that events at the Inn of Penn may be negotiated with regard to price.  The issue remains unresolved.

Committee Reports
Luncheon Seminar – Dr.  Kefalides

It was noted that the March 26th speaker was changed to Dr. Franz Hefti.  The title and venue are the same.

Service Committee – Dr. McCarthy and Dr. MacGregor

An update on the Patient Advocacy Program was made.  Dr. MacGregor has met with administrators in the Health System and the School of Medicine, and their response to the proposed plan was overall positive.  A suggestion was made that a preamble to the plan be offered, and that it be worded in a non-committal manner.  The proposal was prepared and submitted, but there has been no response to it yet.

Program Committee – Dr. Meadows and Dr. Pasquariello (in absentia)

The plans for the Spring Event were discussed.  Dr. Nick DiNubile from the Department of Orthopaedic Surgery and Penn's Sports Medicine Program has agreed to be the speaker.  The date for the event is May 18th, between 4:00 to 5:00 PM, and the title is:  "Physical Exercise in Mature Adults". A location for the event is being organized.  The Retirement Planning Seminar is also being organized and its date will probably be early May.  Dr. Meadows announced that she could organize a tour for the ASEF of the Roberts Proton Center. The Council encouraged her to go ahead with this, using a "test run" first with Council members (It took place on March 1st with six members participating).  If successful, it was suggested that the tour be repeated, perhaps expanding it to the ASEF membership on a first come first served basis.

Education Committee – Dr. Schleyer

Many changes are being introduced to the website.  Pictures of the Executive Council will be taken at the April meeting and will be used to update the website.  Dr. Schleyer indicated that it is important for committee Chairs and the President to keep him informed of upcoming meetings so that the website can be maintained up to date.  The luncheon schedule is currently up to date.  At the next EC meeting will also take pictures of the Headquarters site so that they can be included on the website.  Dr. Saunders agreed to provide some text to accompany those pictures. The issue of an ASEF newsletter on the website was discussed further.  The matter of obituary information on deceased ASEF members remains a problem, and the discussion considered where such information could be obtained from the public record.

Membership Committee– Dr Steinberg

A draft of the new ASEF survey was presented and discussed.  The survey is directed toward the Emeritus members, and it asks what emeritus members want from the Association.  The survey is designed to assist in developing future programmatic activity.  The face page of the proposed survey reflected comments from the last EC meeting and indicated that participation was voluntary and would be brief.  Dr. Steinberg noted that he wanted a sixteen question format, but that the current Survey Monkey has a twelve question limit.  He will check with the Office of Faculty Affairs and Professional Development to see if this can be extended to sixteen.  

Dr. Steinberg has been involved in initiating a mentoring sessions for Penn undergraduate pre-medical students.  The first session was on February 16th and it was held with two ASEF faculty leaders and eight students.  The next session is scheduled for the 25th of February.

In the ongoing effort to maintain accurate and updated listings and demographic data on School of Medicine Emeritus faculty, Dr. Steinberg again noted that there is no SOM entity charged with that responsibility.  He is setting up a meeting with the Vice Provost for Faculty to see if the University as a whole would assume this responsibility.  Dr. Goldfine noted that this will be an agenda item when the ASEF leadership meets with the  Dean later in the spring.

Headquarters Committee – Dr. Saunders

During the 21 working days between January 26th and February 2, 2010 the ‘sign-in sheet’ for the ASEF space on 21 Penn Tower indicated 18 utilization events.  The time spent in these events is not known though that will be sought in the next period sign-up sheet.  There were 16 individual visits for activities such as lunch, grant reviews, grant writing, e-mailing, taking photos, making dictation, reading, and writing.  In addition, there were two committee meetings held in the facility during that time.  A total of 10 people utilized the space during that time. 

Dr. Saunders has already had requests for use of the space for additional meetings, and for videotaping oral histories from faculty in the Department of Anesthesia during March and April.  Dr. Saunders requested that at an upcoming EC meeting time be devoted to discussing how to encourage further use of the Headquarters space.

The person in charge of facilities for 21 Penn Tower is seeking an additional desk for the study area and will place signs on the doors during early March.  Finally, Dr. Saunders will assemble a notebook of all ASEF Executive Council minutes (to the extent that they can be identified over the past five years) and maintain the notebook in the Headquarters space.

All members are welcome to utilize the area and the entry code is 2733#.  There is a lounge, study area, and private office. 

New Business

There was no new business. 

Next Meeting

The next Executive Council meeting is March 23, 12:00 PM in the Large Conference room (to be confirmed). Future Executive Council meetings for the spring of 2010 are scheduled for April 20, and May 18.

The meeting adjourned at 1:30. Respectfully submitted, Jim Saunders