UNIVERSITY OF MONTANA RETIREES’ ASSOCIATION

Mission Statement:

Founded in the Spring of 2011 with the support of UM President Royce C. Engstrom, The University of Montana-Missoula Retirees’ Association aims to provide all faculty and staff retirees the opportunity to remain actively engaged with the University community. The Association creates a structure designed to bring retirees together and to facilitate their activities.

Anticipated benefits include:

• increased interaction between retirees,
• the establishment of a retiree database,
• planned social occasions such as luncheons, lecture series and excursions,
• a venue to inform retirees of events and developments at the University,
• a mechanism to assist volunteerism and service to the University and the community,
• the formation of retiree interest groups,
• a clarification and enhancement of retiree benefits.

The Association wishes to support the involvement of retirees as dynamic participants in campus life and learning.

Membership:

The UM Retirees’ Association is open to all faculty, staff, and administrator retirees of the University of Montana-Missoula and Missoula College, their spouses/partners, the spouses/partners of deceased retirees, and retired employees of other units closely affiliated with UM.

Dues:

The Association reserves the right to assess modest membership dues if and when the need arises.

Governing Structure:

The Association shall be administered by an Executive Board. The Executive Board shall consist of elected members-at-large AND a non-voting ex-officio representative of the  University appointed by the President’s Office.

The Executive Board shall conduct routine business, examine issues of general interest to the membership, select a steering committee and secretary-treasurer, and recommend and initiate actions relevant to these issues. The Executive Board must approve all expenditures related to the Association.

The Executive Board shall be elected by a majority of the Association’s members voting in an election. Terms will normally be for two years; Board members may serve more than a single term. Every attempt shall be made to achieve general parity on the Board between retirees who were faculty or academic administrators, and retirees who were staff members or non-academic administrators, and retirees from each Missoula campus. The Steering Committee shall have members from both the faculty and staff groups. Elections for open Board positions shall take place each Spring, and terms will ordinarily begin shortly thereafter.

The Executive Board shall solicit nominations for the open positions on the Board in mid-March of each year, and the election shall take place each year no later than mid-May. The slate of nominees shall be provided to the membership, together with an official ballot, at least three weeks prior to the closing of the election. The election shall be conducted electronically; however, paper ballots shall be mailed to those members who request them.

Association Committees:

 The Association shall have two Standing Committees, each chaired by a member of the Executive Board and selected by that Board: the Activities Committee and the Communications and Membership Committee.

 The Executive Board may also appoint additional committees on an ad hoc basis as needed. The creation of new “Standing Committees,” however, requires an amendment to the Bylaws.

Duties of Executive Board Members:

Steering Committee:

The Steering Committee  will set the agenda, in consultation with the Executive Board, and will call and preside over Executive Board and General Membership meetings. The Steering Committee will coordinate the activities of the Association and will represent the Association as appropriate to the University administration and to the current University community.

Secretary-Treasurer:

The Secretary-Treasurer will take the minutes of the meetings and will publish them on a regular basis.

The Secretary-Treasurer will collect membership dues (if any are approved), will maintain a current member list, and will oversee the Association’s budget. The Secretary-Treasurer may be assisted in these tasks by a UM staff member whose services to the Association are provided by the UM administration.

Chair of the Activities Committee:

The Chair of the Activities Committee, in collaboration with the Executive Board, will solicit suggestions for Association activities from the members and then oversee the organization of the activities that the Board approves.

Chair of the Communications and Membership Committee:

The Chair of the Communications and Membership Committee will guide the efforts to increase membership in the Association and will be responsible for seeing that the members are informed in a regular and timely fashion of the Association’s activities – through e-mails, regular mail, the Association’s Newsletter, and updates on the Association website in collaboration with the Secretary-Treasurer.

At-large Members:

At-Large Members will represent the interests of the General Membership and will convey the suggestions and ideas of the membership to the rest of the Board. They will participate in Board meetings and other Association activities, and they will assist the Chair of the Activities Committee with the organization of Association events as needed. The number of at-large members may be as few as 6 or as large as 8, depending upon needs of the Association.

Revisions of the Association By-Laws:

These Bylaws may be revised or amended by majority vote of the members voting in the annual election of Board members. If such revisions or amendments are recommended by the Board, the exact wording of the recommended revisions or amendments shall be provided the membership together with the slate of nominees for the annual Board election.