Message from the President

A New Year, A New Board and A New Day

By Vicki Cowart, CSMAA President

The CSM Alumni Association Board of Directors for the year 2000 met for an exciting planning session in February.

We came together to talk about our plans for the year and how we can be a more effective organization for the alumni and all the people and groups CSMAA serves.

The CSMAA staff, several former CSMAA presidents and Ted Bickart were full participants in the session.

Finding the right path to be more effective is a big challenge for an organization with a few hard-working staff members, a modest budget and dedicated volunteers who live all over the world. But we are inspired by a common goal—to make the CSMAA the best it can be for the benefit of our members, all alumni and the future of CSM.

We spent most of a day discussing three key questions: Who are we, why do we exist and whom do we serve?

We identified our values, which include Relationships, Traditions, Stewardship, Leadership, and Excellence, we drafted a vision statement and re-evaluated our Mission Statement. Much work by individuals and committees is still underway to bring these planning efforts to fruition.

We are already taking steps to better implement one of the important aspects of our vision statement: to make CSMAA a vital, essential and integral part of Mines, working in a highly cooperative and collaborative way.

We are beginning to move from abstract ideas to concrete programs and day-to-day activities.

Last year, the Board agreed that we wanted to improve Mines Magazine by increasing the number of pages, publishing quarterly and adding more color.

In the spirit of collaboration and cooperation, we have agreed to join forces with the school to produce one great quarterly magazine.

Beginning in August, all alumni will receive the new, improved magazine. Mines, as it will be called, will be published jointly by CSMAA and CSM.

Over the next few issues you will see continued improvement in size, color, design and content as we feature our traditional stories about CSM alumni, and increase stories about campus activities, department news and issues of interest to those in the CSM community.

In his last President’s letter, Dick Beach challenged us to think about which came first, the school or the alumni. At the Board planning day we grappled with the reality of interdependence; we each need the other and we each prosper and thrive as the other prospers and thrives.

It is going to be an exciting and challenging year.

We are off to a good start as a result of the work done by last year’s Board under Dick’s able leadership.

I am pleased to have working with me a talented group of Miners from all over the country. Serving you on the Executive Committee are Ed Crabtree EM ’60 (President-Elect), Bill Zisch BSc Min ’79 (Treasurer) and Jodi (Davidson) Menebroker BSc CPR ’91, who was appointed to fill the vacancy left when our elected secretary, Kathy Altman BSc Met ’80, took a transfer to Canada.

We all look forward to hearing from you about the CSMAA vision, mission, goals and activities.

And Speaking of Tradition…

The hard-working planning facilitator we hired to guide our planning day activities was amazed that our group worked from early in the morning until right up to our designated stopping time.

Then those who didn’t have a plane to catch regrouped to help write up notes, start a committee activity, etc. All this from a group who had worked through lunch and breaks.

She commented on what she perceived as an "amazing" work ethic and dedication.

Those of us within earshot just shrugged and said, "Hey, we’re Miners."