Guests: Estep, Replogle

New members Todd Johnston, Jeff Klee and Jean Wilfong were welcomed.

Alumni Council Report

The Alumni Council has not met since our last MCOB Alumni meeting. Jenny Budreau was named to the Council, and will attend its June 12, 2004 meeting.

Dean's Report

• Richardson reported that approximately 250 are graduating with business degrees on May 8, and alumnus Wayne Leonard '73, CEO of Entergy Corporation in New Orleans, will be speaking and receiving an honorary degree.
• She noted the recent passing of Erdogan Kumcu, professor of marketing, and that each of the students who had died this semester were business students.
• Enrollment is up in the college and class sizes are large.
• $800,000 has been raised for the college this year, which is much greater than the total last year. The dean will be at alumnus Lyle Miller's home for a small May get-together in New York, and at Lake Wawasee with Bill Carter and guests in June.
• The Ball State Entrepreneurship program was just ranked 16^th in the nation by US News & World  Reports, and as the #1 program in the region.
• Richardson has been named to the board of AACSB for a three-year term. This board oversees accreditation of the nation's business schools.

New Business

Krista Schulz has resigned from this board to pursue opportunities that involve her local education system and children. Ittenbach said that nominations and voting will take place electronically, prior to our next meeting, so that a new member can come on board right away. The term for this position concludes 12/31/06.

Letter Writing Campaign

Replogle reported that 905 letters were written by 62 alumni and mailed to prospective students. For the first time, the parent of a student complained, noting several grammatical errors in one received at their home. It was recommended that alumni receive a note at the beginning of the next round, reminding them to proof their letters carefully, and to include a second person in the proofing process.

Dialogue Days

Wednesday October 6 and Thursday, October 7, 2004 were selected to bring alumni into MCOB classrooms again. A new consideration is adding a panel discussion in WB144, where 170 students may be seated. Ittenbach will email last year's participants, and work with Replogle in scheduling speakers. MCOB will provide lunch on each day for the participants in the Hall of Fame room.

Fall Awards Dinner

Richardson indicated that John Schnatter, '84, CEO and founder of Papa John's Pizza, will be presenting the keynote address, as well as receiving the Hall of Fame award.

• The dinner is set for October 1 at the Alumni Center, beginning with a reception. Board members will solicit corporate sponsorship to cover expenses for the evening. They will also design the invitations, and the cost of printing and postage will be split by MCOB and the BSUAA.
• If there would be any funding remaining from the event, Heeter suggested that it might be used to subsidize student programs, and another suggestion was that it be reserved for a similar awards event next year.
• A VIP reception for sponsors is also being considered.
• The BSUAA volunteered to take reservations and send confirmations for the dinner.
• Marketing committee is Ittenbach, Brown, Klee, Imler, Nystrom, and possibly Huffine, who will be contacted by Ittenbach.
• Food and logistics committee is Walbridge, Budreau, Wilfong, Estep and Taylor.
• Program Committee is Heeter and Richardson.

Next meeting:

July 14, 2004, Whitinger Building MCOB Hall of Fame room, 3:30 p.m.

The meeting was adjourned and an alumni reception followed at Ritz Charles. Juli Jupin, '87, provided Fancy Fortune Cookies with custom Ball State messages enclosed.