The Buzz - March 7, 2016

 
 
Ralph Young, Chancellor of the U of A (left) presents Rotary Club of Camrose president Tony Hladun with a copy of the Rotary Club of Edmonton's 100th anniversary book.
 
The Buzz – March 6, 2016   By Ray Hook
  1. President Tony called the meeting to order at 11:45 a.m. at the Best Western Plus Camrose Resort Casino ballroom.
     
  2. Guests included Ralph Young (Chancellor U of A), Tim Hanson (Assistant Dean External U of A Augustana Campus), Bree Urkow (Augustana Campus Development Office), John Stoddart (Daybreak Club) and Harry Gaede (Daybreak Club)
     
  3.  Health of the Club – no report.
     
  4. Announcements
a. Rotary Gala meeting tomorrow
  1. Tony reminded all members to please review his e-mail of a few weeks ago
            concerning the list of businesses to be approached for Silent Auction items, and
the need to pick up those “clients” for whom the Rotarian who used to do that is no
longer with us. Please – everyone check it out – we need to make certain that we
canvass as many as possible and that we don’t miss any companies.
                        c.         Dawn briefed the meeting on the Stop Hunger raffle ticket sales – the draw is
Friday, so please sell!
                          d.       Dawn reminded members of the coming evening meeting next Monday (Mar 14th)
and that it would be a themed evening on Tanzania, with authentic local food, and
presentations on our proposed Rotary project in Tanzania from Roy and Leroy, as
well as a slide show from Don R. Please advise Dawn ASAP of any guests you
wish to bring. The meeting starts at 6:00 P.M.
  
  1. Business – The motion that was proposed last week, was brought forward for a vote this week.
Moved by Tony, Seconded by Jenn that:
“That the Rotary Club of Camrose waive the annual dues for up to two new members in any Rotary International year (July 1 to June 30), who may be experiencing financial pressures preventing them from joining the club. Only the first year’s dues would be waived, and the new Rotarian would continue to be responsible for the weekly meeting fee. To protect the privacy of such members, the approval would be at the discretion of the president, treasurer and membership chairperson – and all discussions would remain confidential.”
Voting was by paper ballot, and the motion was CARRIED unanimously.
  1. Judges - Happy Bucks came from Ted, Bonnie, John Stoddart, Don R, Leroy, Carman, Harry Gaede, Roy W, Randall, Dawn, Ray, Ralph Young, and Tony.
     
  2. Guest Speaker – Leroy introduced Ralph Young, Chancellor of the U of A and invited Ralph to say a few words about his job and connections with Camrose and the Augustana Campus.
 
Ralph earned both his BSc (Civil Engineering) and MBA at the U of A, then went on to work for MELCOR Development (Real Estate) for forty-two years, for the last seventeen years as the CEO. Ralph volunteers a lot – having spent time with - to name just a few – the Winspear Theatre, the Eskimos, and Edmonton Regional Airport Authority.Ralph is active in the Professional Association of Engineers, and is a member of the Downtown Rotary Club of Edmonton.
  
Ralph began by thanking the Club for the invite, and he was pleased to be here to share the time with us. Ralph planned to talk a bit about the U of A and Rotary. He was pleased to point out that his club was our sponsor back in 1924, and that they were very much looking forward to celebrating their 100th birthday next month.
 
Ralph also mentioned a number of Camrosians who were or are still connected with the U of A Senate or Board of Governors – including Harry Gaede, Leroy Johnson, Larry Johnson, Gerry Iwanus and Luther Have- who have contributed to the close ties between the U of A and Camrose. Ralph spoke of the growing importance of the value a liberal arts education, and how important that the Augustana Campus is to the U of A.
 
Ralph joined Rotary in 1981 and he spoke of the importance and value in his life that Rotary brings. As well, may senior positions at the U of A have come from the Rotary ranks, as well as several city mayors. Rotary does make a difference.
 
The U of A is currently undergoing some major transitions, including a new President - Dr Turpin, who is deeply involved in developing a new five-year plan for the university. There is a new chair of the Board of Governors, a new Provost and elections will be held soon to install a new Chancellor -0 in fact nominations close today, as Ralph pointed out. The U of A has also seen twelve to thirteen new Deans in the past year - a bit more than average, especially when the usual tour for a Dean is a ten year (two 5 year terms).
 
Current major initiatives for the U of A are focused around their three top priorities – Teaching, Research and Community Engagement. Dr Turpin has mandated a focus on the third priority this year – Community Engagement. Three parts of this initiative are the Peter Lougheed Leadership Institute, the U of A Trust and University Tuitions. The Leadership Institute is a shared initiative with the Banff Institute and it will be chaired by the former Prime Minister Kim Campbell. The U of Trust will focus on real estate development, to help ensure good future alternative revenue streams for the university. Lastly, tuition will always be a focal point of any university, and although U of A had planned a 2% increase again this year (as we’ll as following market modifiers for specialty Faculties tuition increases), the Provincial Government has frozen all tuitions for two years. To help universities with the effects of this freeze, they will provide offsetting grants to post-secondary institutions to cover this expected shortfall in revenue.
 
Some interesting statistics:
 
  1. U of A budget is $2 Million (only 60-65% is Provincially funded.)
  2. Five campuses – Augustana, Main, South, Campus St Jean and St. Joseph’s College
  3. Student population – 39,000 students, of which 32,000 are undergrads, 7,000 PG students
  4. Foreign students represent approx. 15% of student body, majority are from China
  5. There are 8,500 grads every year
Bonnie thanked Ralph on behalf of the Club and presented him with a certificate representing 50 doses of oral polio vaccine in recognition of his presentation today.
 
 
 
7.         Other Business – the 50/50 draw was won by Bree Urkow, who failed to draw the lucky card. Bonnie then assisted Bree by leading the Club with the 4 Way test.
 
NEXT MEETING will be the monthly evening meeting, starting at 6:00 p.m. Guests are welcome. Please advise Dawn ASAP if you plan to attend this special Tanzanian Night at the Best Western Plus Camrose Resort Casino ballroom.

Greeters: Dan Macpherson and Jenn Stone