Excused/Away for the semester: Mariela Benitez, Jessi Burton, Kelsey Crim, Brooke Johnson, Mary-Phillips Omotosho, Lindsey Thompson, Meg Thornburg

MEET ERNIE!

BSUAA Director of Alumni Activities, Ernie Krug, attended the meeting to introduce himself to the group.   Ernie is responsible for a majority of the events available for St.A.R.T. members to volunteer for.  His areas include Indianapolis and Fort Wayne. 

FINALS SURVIVAL KIT WRAP-UP

For the Fall 2007 semester, we sold 171 kits and had 2 refunds, bringing our total sales to 169 kits.   This was our most successful semester to date. St.A.R.T.'s profit was $1,927.78 and the total cost per kit was $11.34 (this was up $2.61 per kit from last fall – possibly due to not shopping bulk).

We reviewed the order form as a group.   We discussed the possibility of adding an allergy section or special request section. The group decided against the idea, since it may be difficult for us to manage a large number of special requests.

We did have a problem with deliveries to Residence Halls this year. Some of our kits did not make it to the students, or they were switched with the residence hall kits. The individual halls will not take responsibility for this error, causing us to lose money and materials. We discussed ideas to help this situation in the future. Some possibilities area: include two cards – one for the kit and one to put in the mailbox, so each kit is labeled with the student's name at all times…make it clear in the card that the student needs to go to the front desk to claim their kit…we will also e-mail the students to let them know that they received a kit and it can be picked up at their hall front desk.

SPRING RECRUITMENT

The timeline for spring recruitment is:

• Applications due on Thursday, January 31 by 4:00 p.m. at the Alumni Association
• Interviews on Monday & Tuesday, February 4-5 in the Alumni Center, Conference Room 3. We will need at least one current St.A.R.T. member to sit in on all interviews. Kate will send an e-mail with the interview times closer to February 4 for volunteers!
• Select new members at the February 6 meeting
• We will have a new member outing on the off-week that we do not meet
• New members will attend the following meeting on February 20

Applications have been posted on our web site and an all-student e-mail was sent out. Kate will send another reminder e-mail closer to the due date of the applications. We will run a DN Days Ahead notice for the application deadline. We decided against running an ad in the DN due to cost. The best publicity is word-of-mouth, so spread the word! 

Status of current members (please notify Kate if you fall into one of these categories, but are not listed):

• Graduating in May or July 2008: Ryan, Brad, Erin, Emily C., Brian
• Away for this semester: Lindsey (Australia), Kelsey (internship in CA)
• Class that interferes with meetings this semester: Mariela, Mary-Phillips, Brooke, Meg (student teaching), Jessi (teaching)

SENIOR CONGRATS PARTY 2008!

The date of this year's party is Friday, May 2, 2008 from 4-7 p.m. at the Alumni Center. All of you will be required to help with the event and attend at some point that day (this includes set-up, clean-up, and the party itself). Paul explained to the new members what the party is all about and we briefly discussed the theme (keep the Lu-WOW theme, or do something different?) We will decide on the theme at the next meeting.

We need to think about a t-shirt design. Kate would like to order these as early as possible this year and come up with a fun, trendy design. Please come to the next meeting with color and design ideas, as well as suggestions for other aspects of the party.   This party seems like it is a while away, but it will be here before you know it!!  We actually only have 8 more meetings until the party!

PAST ACTIVITY REPORTS

Salvation Army Adopt-A-Family
A huge thank-you to Emily Cliver for spear-heading this event for us, and for everyone who generously donated food and gifts to this family!   Your contributions made a huge impact on someone's holidays!  St.A.R.T. used money raised from Survival Kits to purchase some items for the family ($184.85). The family we sponsored included a single mother and her four children. Each family member received a new winter coat, hat, gloves, clothing, and toys for the younger kids. Each family member received 10-15 gifts. We collected 6 ½ boxes of non-perishable food.  Thank you Emily C. and Mary-Phillips for delivering all these goodies to the family!  Emily has been trying to call the director of the Salvation Army to see that all items were delivered OK, but has not yet heard a response, so she will keep trying to reach her.

UPCOMING EVENTS/ACTIVITIES

• Education Redefined Event with President Gora in Marion, IN: January 10 (Erica, Ebony, and Brian)
• Indianapolis Ice Hockey Outing: January 12 (Joel, Mariela, Brian)
• NREM Internship Day & Career Fair: January 22
• Indy Casino Night at Jillian's: February 9 (Erica, Ebony) FULL
• Family Bowling Outing in Bluffton, IN: February 10 (Mary Ann, Candace)
• Northeastern Indiana Science Central Outing in Fort Wayne: February 24 (Arica, Mary Ann)
• Indy Theatre Outing: March 2 (Mariela, Yung) FULL
• Teachers College Outing at the Indy Children's Museum: March 29 (Arica, Allison, Ebony, Emily C.)

ANNOUNCEMENTS/OTHER BUSINESS

The Homecoming Steering Committee is accepting applications through February 1.

Bonus Points Update – Congratulations Emily Cliver!  St.A.R.T. Member of the Month for December! Her photo is now on our web site.

Don't forget about blogging during your office hours!

Next Meeting:  Wednesday, January 23, 2008 at 8:00 a.m. in the Alumni Center Board Room.