Minutes
The minutes from the January 27, 2004 meeting were unanimously approved as written following Terry's move to approve and John B.'s second.

New Members
Tim welcomed new members Jason Hignite and Jason Massey to their first NREM alumni board meeting.

Alumni Council Report
Terry said that Alumni Council has not met since the last NREM alumni board meeting but will meet at Alumni College on Saturday, June 12, 2004. Alumni College will offer classes on cooking/party planning, identity theft, a history of BSU Men's Basketball, estate planning and Robert F. Kennedy's visit to Ball State.  Alumni College will be followed by Symphony on the Green – a picnic and symphony in the Quad. For more information on Alumni College, Symphony on the Green or other upcoming events, please visit http://www.bsu.edu/alumni/events/

Terry is a member of the Council's Legacy Scholarship committee.  He reported that the committee met recently to go over the 115 applicants for the scholarship.  The committee awarded 50 scholarships for $1600 each.

Departmental Report
Hugh reported that Earth Week was very successful. Earth Week speakers included organic farmer/ecological biologist David Blume, author Kevin Doyle and two-time Pulitzer Prize nominee (books) Ted Steinberg. Hugh noted that the most popular aspect seemed to be the "Great Cats" exhibit featuring young tigers and a mountain lion.

The departmental awards were held prior to the alumni awards.  Tim J. conducted the NREM pin ceremony for graduating seniors and graduate students.  Terry was awarded for Outstanding Service, Nat Baker was named Outstanding Senior, Amity Barnard and Kelly Goward were each awarded Outstanding Thesis. Goward was also named Outstanding Graduate Student. The Hibbs Scholarship was presented to V. Cordova and Joel Grant. Thomas Warrner was the recipient of the Nicoloff Scholarship and Courtney Hall received the Cooper Award.  Nat Baker was also given the Presidential Liaison Award by the Council on the Environment (COTE).

Career Day – Wednesday, November 10, 2004
Career Day will be held in West Quad on November 10. Hugh, Amanda and Jason Hignite volunteered to assist with the event. Sue said that NREM award winner, Ken Brunswick, would be willing to speak at Career Day or to classes if the opportunity arises.  Tim J. reported that he knew of someone who might be interested in serving on a panel as well.

Membership
Board members were asked to consider if they would like to serve as the 2005-06 vice president for the alumni board.  This individual will serve as president for the 2007-08 term. The board will nominate and vote on candidates at the September 2^nd meeting.

Awards Dinner – April 22, 2005
Tim J. reported that the awards program was very successful and that Paul Grayson was a big hit during his keynote. Hugh noted that he would like to use Grayson for a potential Earth Week speaker. 

The board was pleased with annually growing attendance and discussed ways to foster that growth.  Heavier promotion of the keynote speaker, award winners and their accomplishments (book signings, etc) among affiliated groups was discussed as a means to bolster attendance. The board also discussed potentially using the same keynote speaker for Earth Week and the awards dinner.  The dinner's presentation would be less formal than the Earth Week presentation and would last anywhere from 15-30 minutes.

Alumni Outing
Float trip – White River. Denise spoke with Schwartz's Bait and Tackle in Noblesville regarding their 4 ½ - 5 hour float down the White River.  The prices quoted would include a canoe or kayak, belted jacket, seat cushion and transportation to the "put in" at the Hamilton County White River Campground (near Strawtown). There are stops available along the river to park canoes, picnic and use the restroom.  In addition, Amanda and Danesa would be willing to provide an interpretative tour on the float. After some discussion, it was decided that Denise would check on the cancellation policy and arrange for the float on August 7^th and for the 14^th to be used as a rain date. The board agreed that the participants should meet at 9:00 a.m. to be transported because it would be 9:30 – 10:00 before they reached the water.  Keeping in mind that the trip is 4-5 hours, the group would be able to stop for lunch halfway or at 12:30 or 1:00 p.m.

Bike Ride. Emily looked into the potential of having a bike ride along Cardinal Greenway as an outing for the group but was unable to attend the meeting. Sue passed on her findings to the board along with Emily's recommendation that this be considered for a fall event or next spring – early May.  Danesa liked the idea of two annual outings and suggested that the board consider a spring bike trip and an annual fall float. The board agreed.

Emily, Danesa and Denise were appointed to a committee that would further research and make recommendations for both outings and their future potential.

Upcoming Events

• Indianapolis Indians Baseball and Picnic Outing on Saturday, June 5, 2004. For more information, please visit http://www.bsu.edu/alumni/events/indians/
• Alumni College is on June 12, 2004. For more information, please visit http://www.bsu.edu/alumni/article/0,1384,34239-4319-20561,00.html
• Symphony on the Green and Picnic is in the University Quad on June 12, 2004. For more information, please visit http://www.bsu.edu/alumni/event/0,1366,37674-4765-2367,00.html
• NREM White River "float" outing on August 7, 2004. More details to come
• Symphony on the Prairie in Indianapolis will be held on August 28, 2004. For more information, please visit http://www.bsu.edu/alumni/events/symphony/
• NREM Career Day will be Wednesday, November 10, 2004
• NREM Awards Dinner will be on April 22, 2005

Next Meeting

The meeting adjourned at 7:15 p.m. The next board meeting will be in the Alumni Center at 3:00 p.m. on Thursday, September 2^nd. Following the meeting, the board will adjourn for a pre-game rally prior to the night football game versus Boston College.