Minutes

Minutes of the Arboretum Advisory Council

February 3, 1999 2:00 p.m.

Members present: Mr. Gordon Bailey, Mr. Bob Ellenbecker, Mr. David Hartwell, Ms. Dorothy Johnson, Mr. Tom Kroll, Fr. John Kulas, Ms. Linda Marrin, Mr. Scott May,

Fr. Paul Schwietz, OSB

Members absent: Dr. Gordon Brown, Dr. Gary Deason, Ms Nancy Diedrich, Dr. Peter Olin, Ms. Janette Monear, and Mr. Ron Weinhold.

The meeting was called to order at 2:00 p.m.

The minutes of the November 2, 1998 meeting were approved.

1. Leadership of the Arboretum and Land management.

Due to Fr. Paul's health problems and the increasing burdens of the two jobs, Fr. Paul resigned the position of land manager effective June 30, 1999. He is planning on continuing with the arboretum director's position and continue to be directly responsible for the Habitat Restoration Project.

The council members were concerned about what is the best way to organize the jobs structurally for the institution, not just for land management or the arboretum. David Hartwell and Tom Kroll suggested that there be a new position --the director of lands-- with the arboretum and land management both under this position. The member's concerns focused on the need for one person's vision at this formative time and the fear that land management and the arboretum could possibly go on divergent paths. It was also strongly suggested that the needs of articulating an overall vision and plan is hindered by all the daily activities and demands of trying to accomplish these two positions.

There was strong agreement by the council members that there was too much work for one person to do in the two positions--and this structural revision would eventually establish three positions. At this time though, the council recommended having Fr. Paul hold the position of director of lands, which would oversee both land management and the arboretum, as well as remain director of the arboretum. This restructuring could allow for greater efficiency and less stress. The council believes that the position in land management should be a full time position but it could be part-time for now.  Perhaps a consultant could be hired for some duties. Activities need to be prioritized and some jobs should be farmed out from land management.

Thus, the proposed structure would look like this:

Director of Lands    

Duties include: Vision, strategic planning, fundraising, program oversight, public relations.

Arboretum director and Land manager are parallel positions

Arboretum director

Duties include: Day to day operations, Outreach programs, educational programs, supervision and promotion of research programs,

Land manager

Duties include: Day to day operations, timber harvesting, hunting, restoration practices, Campus grounds, cemetery, Agricultural practices--ie. apples, syrup, honey, gardens,

Which of these can we sub out? What can be dumped?

The proposed structure was well received by the council. It needs to be sold, especially to key players in the administration" Dietrich, Abbot and Benedict.  

Abbey and University Financial Support.

Gordon Bailey met with Brother Benedict and Warren Janzen to discuss financial concerns. The draft budget totals about $35,000.00 which includes Fr. Paul's salary and an office. It was stated that this is a preliminary attempt to clarify finances.

It was highlighted that long and short-term goals were necessary to secure future funds.

An endowment may be a way to handle future day to day operations of the arboretum in the future as a long- term goal. They also suggested that there be a wider degree of campus involvement. Educating the administration is also essential to receiving future funds. As a side note, EMPC applications need to be turned in now.

Goals of the Arboretum and securing funds.

A written plan will influence the new structure of leadership of the Arboretum. Both an annual plan and a long-term plan are needed. This needs to be done before June 30.

Fundraising and Public Relations Committee.

Job descriptions for members of the Arboretum Council and committees.

Four areas had job descriptions developed by Linda

- What is our job/role

- Standing committee description

- How does the committee operate

- Orientation for a new person.

Please see the four sheets, attached to the archival copy.

Several suggestions were made on each of the outlines, but they were well received.

Records transfer. Saint John's has both Lotus and Access on its system and the committee wants to change our records onto Access. Linda offered to do that.

Four goals of the Fundraising and PR committee:

The expenses and revenue sheet were summarized.

Calendar of Arboretum events.

Dorothy is working on developing an event a month. The big February event is the wolf howl down at the Wildlife Center on the 20th. The May 10 event will be the major spring/arbor month event.

Arboretum Membership  

We had 100 members by January 1, with 140 additional people on the mailing list.

The goal set by Fr. Paul for membership is 350 by January 1, 2000. The chairs' more prudent goal is 250. Discussion on the topic highlighted the difficulties to build membership. This will take a big effort.

Management and Restoration Committee

Dayton Hudson grant for the Habitat Restoration Project provides support for this project: the Prairie garden needs a lot of nurturing to get it through its first critical year.  The plants should grow rapidly after getting established last fall.  A group of pines will be removed and the one-acre area will be planted in prairie species in the early summer. A stretch of the wet prairie edge will also be worked on.

The savana planting in 1998 was a dormant seeding due to difficulties with controlling weeds. Eight acres were planted in September. We will plant another five acres in the savanna in April or May 1999. A word of caution: it probably will take 4 to 5 years for the prairie plants to develop because of the oak trees. We actually are doing more oak savanna work that most others, so we don't know exactly what to expect. This work is somewhat experimental.

The Biology department has been discussing the possibility of building a wet lab or a dirt lab south of the oak savanna and near Cichy pond.

Forest Certification: A way to bring in a third party to audit/certify the use of the forest. Teams bring in lots of technical advice--and possibly some money. It could be very important as part of the educational component and pr for the arboretum. (Har-vesting in an arboretum is very unusual.) A motion was made for Tom Kroll and Fr. Paul to check into this.

Education Committee:

The committee will be meeting on Saturday, March 13, 1999 from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. The members are planning to review materials and develop intermediate steps. Call Donna Blanchette for more information. ( home phone 363-4143)

The meeting adjourned at 5:00 p.m.

Respectfully submitted,

Adam Rushmeier and Fr. Paul Schwietz.