President Michele Thompson’s 2020 Annual Report
President Michele Thompson’s 2020 Annual Report Heading link
In April 2019, the members of the UIC SUAA chapter elected me President of the chapter for a two-year term. From April 2019 through February 2020, the Board met nine times at UIC. In March 2020, in response to Governor J. B. Pritzker’s decision to close schools and universities as well as most businesses in Illinois in an effort to mitigate the spread of COVID 19, the University of Illinois closed all campuses for the rest of the semester, and faculty members began instruction online for students. Most staff members began working remotely. As a result of the campus closing, the UIC SUAA Board of Directors postponed the annual chapter meeting that was scheduled for April 29, 2020. In March, the Board met virtually, and this meeting mode has continued to date. All UIC SUAA meetings will be conducted virtually for the foreseeable future.
Chapter Events and Work of the Chapter 2019-2020
Summer 2019 SUAA Annual Meeting, Springfield – On June 27-28, UIC SUAA sent five delegates to the SUAA annual meeting in Springfield, Illinois. At this meeting, the delegates from around the State elected new officers and Board members and approved revised Bylaws for SUAA. The UIC chapter received a certificate of participation in the “SUAA Spirit” award competition for recruitment of a significant number of new members.
Fall 2019 Events – Members of the UIC Board focused on recruiting new members by attending employee events on the UIC campus. Several new members were recruited at these events.
Fall Forum, October 23 – With the title, “Don’t Leave a Mess for Your Family: Basic Instructions,” the 2019 Fall Forum was devoted to presentations and discussion of how one might responsibly carry out estate planning. The presenters were: Arlene Norsym, Secretary of UIC SUAA, and Charles Slamar, a Chicago attorney and specialist in estate planning as well as philanthropic adviser. A video of the presentations may be viewed on the UIC SUAA YouTube channel.
Lawrence Kloc, Treasurer of UIC SUAA, Appointed SUAA Board Member for District 1, November 2019 – Lawrence Kloc was appointed a Board Member of SUAA by the SUAA Board to represent the public universities in District 1, which includes Chicago and close surrounding areas.
Holiday Luncheon, December 11, 2019 – Members of the chapter and guests, including some members who now live distant from Illinois, met at the Greek Islands restaurant for the annual Holiday Luncheon.
Winter 2020, Decisions and Adjustments – For the first few months of 2020, the chapter’s Board of Directors discussed chapter membership dues following an increase in the statewide SUAA dues. The Board also realized that a review of the governing documents of the chapter was in order.
Membership Dues Discussion – At the November 2019 SUAA meeting, the delegates voted to increase the SUAA portion of the membership dues from $33.00 to $39.00, effective January 1, 2020. At that time, the dues for the UIC SUAA chapter were an additional $11.00 per year. The UIC SUAA Board began to consider a way to reduce the chapter’s portion of the dues in order to keep the total dues amount as modest as possible. The Board decided that the chapter should reduce its portion from $11.00 to $8.00 per year, effective as soon as possible. The total then would be $47.00 per year. The Board also wanted to keep the combined dues for a member and a spouse or partner at $86.00 per year. (This dues provision for a member plus spouse/partner is unique to the UIC chapter.) The current Bylaws of the UIC chapter require that the members of the chapter approve changes to chapter dues. Therefore, the Board made a recommendation for this reduction in the chapter’s dues at the annual meeting in October, which, when combined with the SUAA portion of the dues, totals $47.00 for annual dues. This was placed on an online ballot for approval by the chapter membership.
Spring 2020, Review of the Chapter’s Bylaws and Constitution – Following a review and recommended changes to the Bylaws of the parent organization in 2018-19, which were approved at the SUAA annual meeting in summer 2019, the UIC SUAA Board initiated a review of the UIC SUAA Bylaws and Constitution. A Board committee was established to review these two documents. The committee was chaired by Arlene Norsym, who had served on the committee to revise the SUAA Bylaws in 2018-19, along with members, Merrill Gassman, Past President of the chapter and current Webmaster, and William Peterman, Chair of the Political Involvement Committee who also serves in an advisory role to the SUAA Board. This committee reviewed the two documents and recommended a number of revisions. One of the main changes recommended was to consolidate the two documents into one, calling it the Bylaws. Another change was to specifically provide for meetings of the chapter to be conducted remotely, a demonstrated and clear need. A summary of the changes recommended is on the chapter’s website, and a recommendation for approval of the revisions was placed on the online ballot for approval by the chapter membership.
SUMMER 2020: Plans for a New Type of Annual Meeting with the UIC SUAA Membership – After the initial closing of most activities in the State and limitations on public meetings, the Board realized that it would be impossible to have a traditional in-person chapter meeting. Thus, like many organizations, the Board determined that it would need to hold a “virtual” annual meeting in Fall 2020. Since this would be close to the time at which the chapter normally holds a Fall Forum, the two were combined. October 20, 2020 was designated as the date for the combined meeting, from 11:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. We are grateful to SUAA for assistance in providing technical support for this virtual meeting.
Plans for the Coming Year – In its efforts to protect the pensions and health insurance benefits currently provided to SURS participants, the chapter, with help from the SUAA Executive Director, Linda Brookhart, and the SUAA Board, will continue to monitor all legislation introduced or pending that might have an impact on benefits for retirees and survivors. William Peterman’s annual report gives details about how this will be carried out. In addition, I urge the members to take note of the “Mini Briefings” provided by Linda Brookhart every few weeks via email to members. If you are not receiving these, they will be sent to you if you submit your email address to: suaa@suaa.org and to suaa@uic.edu.
– In this new environment caused by COVID 19, we plan to engage our members and reach out to potential members by virtual means to share useful video presentations on topics of general interest to retirees and those planning for retirement. I thank Larry Kloc for working on this and seeking cooperation from other SUAA chapters to offer virtual presentations to SUAA members.
– Further, as ever, UIC SUAA, together with the SUAA Board, will be attentive to plans for the State health insurance for State employees and will apprise you of any changes made and of briefings that may be scheduled to explain any changes. Dr. Elliott Dudnik, Director of Insurance for the UIC SUAA chapter, will respond to any questions about the State health insurance following his research of the issue.
Conclusion
In closing, please know that the UIC SUAA Board is working to carry out the mission of the organization: to protect the benefits promised to SURS retirees and survivors. This may be challenging in the near future since our State faces an immense number of needs due to the COVID pandemic and the concurrent economic crisis. Please share your concerns with us at suaa@uic.edu.
Thank you
On behalf of your Board of Directors, I thank you very much for your willingness to participate in the chapter’s Fall Forum and annual meeting in a virtual format. Since this mode of meeting is a somewhat difficult adjustment for many of us, I appreciate your forbearance and patience.
Please take care of yourselves and those close to you, as well as others. We look forward to the day when many of us can meet together again at UIC.