Minutes

Minutes of Saint John's Arboretum Advisory Council Meeting
May 22, 2006
Natural History Museum, Saint John's University

Council Members:
     Present: Mike Brown, Terri Barreiro, Scott Daninger, Kari Dombrovski, Emily Franklin, Sarah Gainey, Tom Kroll, John Kulas, O.S.B., Janette Monear, Stephanie O’Keefe, Bob Russell, Larry Schwietz, Tom Wicks, Chuck Wocken Bruce Wollmering, O.S.B.  
     Absent: Bruce Dickau, Tom Haeg, David Hartwell, Steve Saupe, Kathryn Sinner (CSB Senate), Michael Swanberg (SJU Senate)

The meeting was called to order at approximately 1:45 p.m.

Welcome and Introductions

Fr. Bruce Wollmering, O.S.B. opened the meeting with a prayer. Subsequently, Sarah introduced Scott Daninger to the Arboretum council. Scott teaches science at Albany High School and has brought his students out to the Arboretum in the past. Tom then introduced Bob Russell, another new addition to the council. Bob has lead birding tours at the Arboretum and works for the US Fish and Wildlife Service in St. Paul.  Bruce Dickau, another new member, was out of the country visiting family.

Revisit and Reaffirm Goals and Accomplishments for FY 2006
Sarah provided an overview of the goals and accomplishments listed in the FY 2006 work plan.

Physical and Human Resources
The goal establishing a new building from which to launch our EE classes, as well as other campus uses is still being pursued. Tom Haeg is the AAC member who will be helping to work on this project, which is ongoing.

Finances
Salaries are all secured under academic affairs. Emily submitted five grant proposals during the past fiscal year. We also recently received $4,200 from the Xcel Energy Foundation to support student transportation and the development of our orienteering course.

Education
Prek-12
Initial goal of 4800 students during FY 2006 has been nearly met (4776 students thus far). Other prek-12 goals for FY 2006 have been met including holding a ‘winter class preview week’ and re-evaluating curriculum for 4^th and 5^th grade.

CSB/SJU
The following goals set for completion during FY 2006 have not yet been completed and will roll over into the FY 2007 work plan:

• Add Arboretum to admissions tour and explore funding options with schools they are targeting (pilot 1 metro HS program)
• Pursue the education major’s science methods classes to assist with teaching EE classes
• Develop a ‘menu’ of classes and possibilities for the CSB/SJU faculty orientation packet

Community
Arboretum staff will continue to work on completing a list of possible adult classes we could teach/sponsor. The Arboretum will also be helping with the Tree Trust retreat occurring in late June.

Stewardship
The following goal set for completion during FY 2006 will be rolled over into the FY 2007 work plan:

• Develop a definition of ‘land use’ which essentially means defining campus vs. greater campus, multiple uses of the land (professors conducting research in high traffic areas where prek-12 students engage in activities) and other land use issues.

Visibility
The following goal set for completion during FY 2006 will be rolled over into the FY 2007 work plan:

• Explore option of selling ads in the newsletter
• Maintain website and adjust to growing usage and needs

Memberships
Arboretum staff will work to complete the following goals before the end of the fiscal year:

• Increase the number of paid memberships by 50 per year
• Further develop membership benefits and giving options

Discuss and Finalize FY 2007 Work Plan

Sarah provided an overview of the FY 2007 work plan put together using the strategic plan, goals not achieved during FY 2006, and the list of ideas generated for the FY 2007 work plan at the February 2006 council meeting.

Physical and Human Resources

• Ensuring adequate support from AAC was an issue that came up for discussion. It is the hope of the Arboretum staff that AAC members take initiative on an issue or project of interest during the course of the term. AAC committees will be updated in order to focus skills, talents, and knowledge and put these skills to better use.
• Mike Brown suggested that in order to make the strategic plan an even more useful tool and living document that the AAC should set aside a time in the next fiscal year to do a review of the strategic plan. This will identify new goals to implement through 2010 and ensure that opportunities are not missed.
• Capacity building is another area we need to further explore. Janette will provide more information at the end of the meeting during her report on the Administration/Volunteers committee meeting.

Finances
Jim Dwyer from Institutional Advancement (IA) provided an overview of planned giving. The Arboretum will provide Jim and IA with a case statement for including the Arboretum in estate planning which will be a part of literature distributed by IA. The Arboretum must provide IA with the case statement by August 1, 2006.

• One of the goals outlined for the OC Fellow is to increase the number of grants applied for over FY 2007. Stephanie O’Keefe suggested that not only do we need to increase the number of grants applied for, but that the dollar amount must also increase.
• Janette Monear suggested that a long term plan be developed for fundraising and development of projects.

Education
Prek-12
Sarah indicated that the education committee will hold a meeting in June. Many of the planning, logistical details, and ideas for programs will continue to be explored and discussed in June.

• Expanding programming efforts in the summer is a goal outlined for the next fiscal year. Kari Dombrovski suggested revitalizing the former environmental camp program, or implementing a new day camp, which parents and children would be attracted to.
• Tom Wicks also suggested working with Troy Fritz (a new employee of SJU, familiar with scouts) to implement some programs working with scouting groups. Janette Monear suggested a Scout Jamboree Day at the Arboretum.
• There was also much discussion about the goal to actively pursue an additional ISD for potential contract. Some felt this may take away from the existing partnership with ISD 742, while others felt it was reasonable from a sustainability perspective.

CSB/SJU
Arboretum staff will work over the next fiscal year to pursue a pilot program with one metro high school, ensure the success of the student club, and develop a menu of classes for CSB/SJU faculty orientation. Staff will also pursue the education major’s science methods classes to assist with teaching EE classes at the Arboretum, with the help of new council member, Bruce Dickau (retired CSB/SJU professor in the Education department).

Community

• Scott Daninger suggested partnering with the Sauk River Watershed District that hosts a ‘Water Day’ that includes twenty to thirty stations for students to explore. There may be opportunities to partner with organizations like this or run similar programs for community members
• More discussion of potential educational programs will take place at the education meeting later this summer

Stewardship

• Janette Monear discussed incorporating a link between the two signature programs announced at the CSB/SJU. The two signature programs are Environmental Studies and the International Education/Study Abroad opportunities. She suggested spending some time thinking about how the Arboretum might become more involved in these programs.

Visibility
The Arboretum has several goals outlined for FY 2007 to increase visibility including establishing at contact at Minnesota Public Radio, and ensuring Arboretum information is included at events/in various locations around campus. Sarah will also be working to put together an easy walker’s guide for event/campus distribution.

Memberships
Arboretum staff will continue to further develop ideas for new membership benefits and giving options. It was also decided by the council to increase membership by 100 during FY 2007, which is an increase of 50 members from the previous years work plan.

Committee Reports

Reports were made by the Lands Committee and the Administration and Volunteers committee at this meeting.

Lands
Discussions about assuring the stability of open space on neighboring properties are still taking place. The committee will continue to meet and explore the issue further.

New Bridge: Chapel Trail
Chris Schellinger, an alumna of Saint John’s Preparatory School and Saint John’s University is working with a team of people to build a new bridge along the Chapel Trail. The plan would entail a wide reaching community effort to complete the bridge. AAC council members discussed the positive and negative aspects of the proposed design. The council seemed about split in early reactions to the creation of a fairly substantial structure on the chapel trail. It was agreed that imagery software should be used to place the bridge design into the landscape in a digital format. At that point further discussions could be held in terms of if the design fits within the landscape, or is too obtrusive.

Administration/Volunteers
CapacityBuilding, Succession Planning, and Program Evaluation
Janette Monear provided a brief report on discussions held during the Administration/Volunteers Committee meeting earlier in the day. Janette expressed concerns about the sustainability and growth of the Arboretum and its programs. She has agreed to lead a committee to discuss the following issues:

• Increasing capacity at the Arboretum, exploring existing staff workloads and needs for the future
• Linking programs and assessing existing programs to determine needs
• Discussion of succession planning

Stephanie O’Keefe agreed to help Janette with this committee and these issues. A committee will likely meet sometime in July to begin exploring some of these topics.

The meeting was adjourned at approximately 5:30 p.m.

Submitted by,

Emily Franklin

The next Advisory Council meeting is Monday, October 2, 2006 in the New Science Center, Natural History Museum.