March 15, 2017
Town Square, Building SE2, Salon D
BCIT Burnaby Campus

COUNCIL MEMBERS PRESENT:

GORDON FARRELL, PRES., LYNDA BENNETT-RETEI, KARL BOERNER, SEC., LARRY DEA, DONNA FOSTER, DEREK KNOX, KAREN CRESSWELL , RANDY ROBINSON, MURRAY SHARP. REGRETS: BOB WAGNER.

NUMBER OF PARTICIPANTS: 30

A. CALL TO ORDER

• The meeting was called to order at 10:35.
  Gordon Farrell mentioned in his opening remarks the objectives of the Association and the importance of the Foundation. Also cited, amongst others. were the Newsletter, the work with COSCO, the modernization of the membership management and records, the luncheons and dinners, and the BCITRA Brochure.

B. APPROVAL OF AGENDA

• The motion to approve the Agenda, as amended by Gordon, was seconded and carried.

C. APPROVAL OF THE MINUTES OF THE AGM HELD ON MARCH 22, 2016:

• The motion to approve the minutes was seconded and carried.

D. BUSINESS ARISING FROM THE MINUTES:

• No topics were raised.

E. CORRESPONDENCE

• No correspondence to be recorded.

F. BOARD REPORTS

1. Treasurer (verbal and posted)

• Randy Robinson presented the Association’s Financial Statements for the year ended December 2016. References are made to the Financial Position, Receipts and Disbursements, Cash Flows, etc. In Notes to the Financial Statements it is pointed out that contributions to the BCIT Foundation, which he strongly supports, have grown from $53,000 in Feb. 16 to $57,500 as of March 2017 before interest. $2500 of the increase is from donations by members responding to our appeal over the last year.

2. Director - Fellowship

• Lynda Bennett-Retei mentioned in her report the planning for luncheons and dinners. She reminded the members that the next Luncheon is planned for April 2 at the Burnaby Palace Chinese Restaurant. The Christmas Breakfast organized by her was one of the best-attended events in recent memory.
• Donna Foster, who with Larry Dea represents the Association’s liaison with COSCO, introduced Larry and mentioned that he was elected Executive Member at Large of that association. She reminded members to register early for the always well-attended COSCO workshops.

3. Director - Membership/p>

• Karen Cresswell pointed out in her report that she has completely updated and modernized the records concerning members. The number of listed members is 199 at the moment, of which 88 have paid their dues. She is also involved with the distribution of the Newsletter, classes and seminar announcements, and co-operates with other members of the Board to achieve common goals.

5. President (remarks)

• Gordon Farrell thanked BCIT for the support received during the past year and named specifically “ Paul McCullough, Jackie Jacob, Kate Barchard, Eddie in IT, Amanda in Marketing and Communications.” He expressed his appreciation for the work done by Ted Marchant to keep the website up-to-date and set up a new office computer. He praised the Directors for the tasks accomplished during the session. As an expression of thanks of the Board he handed the two retiring Directors Murray Sharp and Karl Boerner a BCITRA Certificate of Appreciation. Some topics on his mind for the coming meetings are the Endowment Fund, the Newsletter, COSCO and other seminars, and a review of the Constitution.

The motion to accept the reports was seconded and carried.

 

 

G. NOMINATING COMMITTEE REPORT

The list of candidates for election of officers to the 2017/2018 board, established by Derek Knox read as follows:

Antonson, Brian	Dea, Larry	Knox, Derek
Bennett-Retei, Lynda	Farrell, Gordon	Robinson, Randy
Champion, Jacquie	Foster, Donna	Wagner, Bob
Cresswell, Karen	Fostvelt, Colleen	Yam, Gabriel

After the candidates had been introduced and there were no further accepted nominations from the floor, all candidates were elected.

H. OTHER BUSINESS (Omitted due to time constraints)

I. SPEAKERS

• Jack Davidson, Chair of the BCIT Board of Governors, President and Chief Operating Officer of the BC Road Builders and Heavy Construction Association, and a former student of the Institute, expressed his thanks to the retirees for their commitment to it. He mentioned that a growing demand is leading the Institute to spend about $47 M to do electrical upgrading and construct a new Health Sciences Complex.
• Lara Johnson, Associate Vice President of Marketing and Communications, talked about beating the competition not only by an exceptional product but also by superior marketing using eye-catching yellow and BCIT blue. She promised that those attending the AGM would receive a promotional T-shirt.
• Paul McCullough, Vice President of Advancement and Alumni Relations, expressed his thanks for the Alumni and private sector support. Modern technological developments demand changes in delivering education, which in turn lead to new teaching technologies and well-equipped buildings. To this end, according to Paul, BCIT is involved in raising a fund of $100 M to start the process. $ 30 M has been raised to date.
• Mark Costales of Medoc Travel Insurance (Johnson), reminded the members that he and Lisa Hansen will be available to answer questions.

ADJOURNMENT

• Chris Barnard won the door prize.
• Gordon Farrell thanked BCIT and Chartwells for the lunch provided, Richard Haire for doing the photography, and the members for attending.
• The meeting was adjourned at 12:20.