December 11, 2019
Attendees: Meg Aldrich, Catharine Banbury, Bob Bruner, Janet Bruner, Sten Caspersson, Gloria Grant, Shirley Leong, Nena Donovan Levine (Chair), Julie Lindquist, Trish Magee, Bette Marafino, Margaret Milch, Jenifer Noble (Co-Chair), Molly Townsley, Randi Ashton-Pritting (Director, Libraries), Judy Kacmarcik (Business Manager), Monica Mills (Assistant to Business Manager).
The minutes for the November 12th meeting were approved.
Nena announced that Trish Magee has joined as a Volunteer. Trish thanked those Volunteers who have come before for their work. Nena asked those Volunteers who have not sent in their Fall time-spent tabulation to please do so. She clarified that Volunteers should use their best judgment when estimating the time, but include travel even (especially) if it is extensive. The goal is to understand the time that Volunteers give to PC.
Remarks and Report from Randi Ashton-Pritting
Randi showed the UHart page for the Course and Event Calendar which now shows a complete description of each course and the Instructor’s bio in one location on one page. The calendar can be printed in its entirety to show all courses. The website is being updated and the complete Spring course listing should be available soon. Registration opens January 6th. An email blast announcing this will go out about January 2nd. The first postcard mailing should go out soon.
The K Visitors’ Lot (about 40 spaces) will be closed in January through August 2021 as it will be used for construction equipment for the new ENHP building. She has requested that Public Safety not assign Lot F for PC course attendees as it is farther away.
Comments and Discussion
Jenifer will send out links to the Volunteer website and the Course/Calendar listing.
Nena remarked that we have had no reports of serious A/V issues this semester, only a few small glitches. Margaret had praise for the A/V support staff. Julie and Sten asked who to seek out if A/V problems arise during the class. Randi said to see her or Judy as they know who is available that day. Recommendations: if video clips are to be played, request A/V assistance in advance, and be sure to arrive early in case problems come up. Nena stated that we will offer a refresher on the Smart Podium in the KF room in January if anyone is interested. Shirley warned people not to pick up a lost flash drive and insert it into your computer as it may carry a virus. Meg stated she has extra flash drives available, free to any takers.
Catharine reported that mock interviews with students, initiated by Kate Hohenthal, went well and in fact were enjoyable. Other Volunteers who participated (Sten, Jen, Bob, Shirley) concurred. Sten noted that Kate H was particularly impressive with the feedback she provided to the interviewees at the conclusion.
Feedback Recourses
Per Shirley Javon Jackson’s The Art of the Saxophone course went well. The Lary Bloom lecture (Writing Sol LeWitt) was mostly about Bloom’s book; some attendees were disappointed it was not more about Lewitt himself. There was a small group for Legacy Letter Writing by Amy Barzach, but the attendees were enthusiastic. One Volunteer who attended disagreed, commenting that it was perhaps more suited to a younger audience.
Meg reported that the S. Gryc (Composer and Performer) and T. Moore (Acting the Music Theater Song) courses were excellent, although enrollment was small. Perhaps the write-ups could have been better. Meg offered to help with write-ups in the future to gear them to our attendees. She would like to see a monthly newsletter and felt Volunteers could help with that. Catharine agreed that more communications are needed, that for our audience just the website is not enough.
Sten reported that Jane Horvath’s Economic Reality course was lively and interactive.
Margaret reported that R.Voight’s class (The Effort to Build an Affordable Middle-Class Home) was good, well prepared. The Architecture and Faith course was not as lively, as about two thirds of the class time was spent watching films.
Bette reported that Kathleen McGrory’s course, The Catholic Church, Past, Present & Future, needed more time due to the many questions from attendees. As a result the discussion on the future of the church ended up being too brief.
Bob commented that specific, useful course feedback from the coordinators is a positive development.
Other
Nena asked Trish to speak about her background. She moved to this area to be closer to family and has been taking courses for 3 years. She previously was the New York director of a non-profit organization, Reach Out and Read, founded 35 years ago, focused on children’s literacy. Doctors provide books to children at each well visit. In addition, she was an early childhood educator.
Julie asked about providing an Instructor’s email address if requested. If the Instructor is on the UHart faculty, the attendee should access the online Directory. If not on staff, the coordinator should ask the Instructor for permission. Julie also asked how to handle an attendee’s question, prompted by a Courant article, re the disparity in student financial aid provided by UHart vs other universities. The response should be to encourage the questioner to use the website to seek out those at UHart who can provide more information on that topic.
The meeting broke for lunch, and during lunch Sten Caspersson described his varied volunteer activities. He serves on the Wintonbury Land Trust, a non-profit that protects natural resources for the benefit of Bloomfield and surrounding communities. The Trust holds 22 properties and protects 285 acres. The protected spaces include walking trails, including an “over the mountain” trail from Bloomfield to Penwood State Park through the Stout Family Fields property. Properties also include Lisa Lane and Park Hill Farm.
Sten served on the engineering and finance committees for the new Human Services building built in Bloomfield. It came in on time and on budget, opening in October.
Sten is also a member of CASE, the Connecticut Academy for Science and Engineering. CASE has worked with the State to develop a PFAS action plan. PFAS are present in firefighting chemicals, used at Bradley Airport during a recent crash there, and previously found to be leaking from storage tanks there. The runoff went into the Farmington River and Rainbow reservoir. Significant health risks are associated with use of PFAS and the chemical does not break down, remaining for decades in water, soil and air. It is used in many products such as styrofoam containers, teflon pans, etc. CASE was able to find an intern to work with the State on the action plan.
The Volunteers business meeting adjourned.
Respectfully submitted,
Jenifer Noble, Secretary
December 17, 2019