Minutes
Catamount Club
Board of Directors Meeting
January 13, 2007
The Board of Directors of the
Western Carolina University Catamount Club met Saturday, January 13, 2007 at
12:00 p.m. at the
The following board members were
present: Tobe Childers, President; Mickey Pettus, Nora Jones, Paul Jones,
Richard McClellan, Kirk Roach, Jonathan Jorstad, Dale Hollifield, Tom
Hunnicutt, Norman West, James Brown, Betty Allen, Jay Spiro, Jason Young, Sam
Freeman, Howard Buchanan, Woody Padgett, Jim Watson, Bill Richter, and Chip
Smith. Also present were:
Mr. Childers welcomed everyone. Mr. Richter referred the Board to the minutes for the board meeting on September 16, 2006. Mickey Pettus moved to accept the minutes; the motion was seconded by Nora Jones and Jim Watson and unanimously approved.
Chip Smith gave a brief athletic update; indicating that Men’s basketball is doing well (4-1); Women's basketball is in 4th place. Also, the athletic department has begun hosting a weekly luncheon every Tuesday from 12-1 pm, featuring presentations from our head coaches; over 40 people attended the first one.
Chip also mentioned that our track programs are off to a good start (no pun intended! ).
Chip then referenced the Football Q & A page contained within the meeting packets. Head Football Coach Kent Briggs will attend our next board meeting held on campus on April 14th and address additional questions regarding our football program
Chip also pointed to some areas that need improvement - primarily nutrition supplements for our athletes following weight lifting regimes and the sending of football assistant coaches to clinics to learn more about the “option” offense that we intend to run next year. Funding for these additional items would total about $20,000 and are currently not in the budget. Mickey Pettus suggested looking for sponsors for the supplements and suggested Ross Products, Meade Johnson, and the manufacturer of Ensure.
He also reminded everyone that one of the more positive things that has happened in the last couple of years is implementation of our summer school scholarship program. It has equaled to 20+ football scholarships in summer school and some basketball scholarships in the second summer session. Chip indicated that these funds are awarded based on academic and athletic needs.
Lastly, Chip mentioned that a task force will be convened to conduct a thorough review of our football program; he anticipates their work to be completed by spring.
Bill Richter then referred the board to the “Revenue Statement” in their packets and reminded them that one of the major changes that has been implemented was the change from calendar year to fiscal year accounting. Additionally, donors may now direct their gift to a specific sport or program – called a “restricted” gift.
“Unrestricted” gifts are those contributions made to the Catamount Club that are used fund the general scholarship program. The current “unrestricted” balance is $112,445.26 with 6 months to go in the fiscal year.
The Revenue Statement itemizes both “restricted” and “unrestricted” revenues.
Bill brought everyone’s attention to the men’s baseball line. To accurately reflect the total given for this year to baseball, he pulled out $200,000 that was given in a previous year.
Also listed are revenues form special events, including our golf tournaments.
Bill said he felt confident that we will reach the Chancellor’s goal of $600,000 in total revenues and indicated that we would provide a financial statement such as this at every board meeting.
Dale Hollifield asked how we balance our budget between fiscal and calendar year. Bill responded that it is challenging in that many people give large gifts at end of year because of the tax incentives.
Bill also mentioned that it will be several weeks before the new membership brochures come out and that it is next on the priority list.
Kirk Roach asked if bank account draft is possible for dues; Bill replied that we are trying to implement an online giving program; Mr. Metcalf said that one of the problems with this was security issues.
Betty Allen asked when we plan to contacting alumni to renew. Bill indicated that this process would likely begin in April and mentioned that in the last 10 years there has been a steep decline in the effectiveness of Phone-A-Thons. Our Phonathons have not yielded great results as February through May is really not the best time of the year to place these calls. Accordingly, he and Ken Teasley are going to divide up the list of donors to call making the calls more personal; this also saves $16,000 from our budget that had been used to hire students to make these calls.
Mickey Pettus commented that the packets we put together for recent graduates was very well done. Mickey also inquired about the results of a marketing study conducted at a football game last season - Chip replied that he would get that report to everyone at the next meeting.
Tobe talked about his meetings with SunTrust Bank, who has pledged $50,000 per year to the Catamount Club for 5 years. SunTrust was also interested in naming rights to our stadium, which is permissible under NCAA guidelines. Mr. Metcalf said that Western also have guidelines for naming policies. Tobe mentioned that he will also be working on obtaining gifts from – Bank of America, BB&T, Chase, and Citibank.
There was a special recognition of Dale Hollifield for his generous gift – he received a standing ovation from the board!
Tobe recognized the board members whose terms have expired with a certificate of appreciation. They were Brett Miller, Norman West, Howard Buchanan, Jim Watson, Woody Padgett, and Rich Price.
Tom Hunnicutt provided an update on the Asheville Country
Club golf outing. This was the events inaugural outing and it went very
well, raising a net of $16,000. The event will be May 7 this year.
Tom expects to have a larger turn out and a few more corporate sponsors.
Norman West provided an update on the Bob Waters Golf Tournament. It will be September 21 this year. It raised about $24,000 this past year. The cheerleaders also had a fund raiser that raised over $1,000. Nora sold over $2,000 in raffle tickets. Wally Williams and Norman had an idea of taking the tournament one step further by holding a two-day pro-am event. Whomever sponsors it will have their name incorporated into the ‘The Bob Waters Golf Tournament’ title.
Jason Young informed the board that he and Alex Crenshaw are
trying to schedule a golf tournament in
Tobe asked about how much the Marty Ramsey scholarship has raised since its start. Bill said we will find out the exact total and provide that information to the board. Tobe bought attention to the calendar of events in the meeting packet and noted this can be easily updated.
Bill Richter gave an auction update, and offered a tour of
the facility at the meeting conclusion. There were a couple of adverse factors
in returning to
Chip is working on a getting a major speaker for the
event. Paul Jones mentioned that he and Nora have helped with set up and
working the auction for 12 years and we need some help from people on this
board. Tobe encouraged board members to volunteer to help. Norman
West asked if we had to use a catering recommended by the
Tobe wanted to thank Ken Teasley and Melissa Wilson for creating the folders for this meeting. Ken went over the contents of the packet: a flyer for the SoCon Tournament, a sample of an Alumni letter that we have sent to former athletes, a list of current Catamount Club members, names and addresses of current board members and a form to fill out if any information has changed.
Mr. Richter talked about the board members whose terms are expiring. The Executive Committee will take nominations for the vacancies and next meeting we’ll vote. If you have a recommendation, please e-mail it to us, but remember it also helps if this person indicates that they will be willing to serve. Richard McClellan asked where this leaves the tasks of the retention committee. Bill Richter replied that the donor list will be divided up and we will need some help. We will get that info to you but first we want to go thru and separate out lapsed and current donors.
There are a total of 6 board members we are replacing, Rich Price, Brett Miller, Larry Stanberry, Howard Buchanan, Woody Padgett, and Jim Watson. The Executive Committee is now the Nominating Committee.
The board meeting was adjourned at 2 pm for a tour of the facility.