CGA Parent's Association President, Bob Pray, opened the meeting and welcomed everyone. He then introduced the following USCGA Senior Staff to the Council members:

ADM Olsen,Superintendent
CAPT Phil Heyl, Commandant of Cadets Dr. Haas- Dean of Academics
Ray Cieplik, Director of Athletics
CAPT Van Sice, Director of Admissions
Wayne Gronlund, President - USCGA Alumni Association

Meeting with USCGA Senior Staff

Superintendent

RADM Olsen welcomed everyone and thanked the Parents Association for their continued support. He explained the alcohol abuse policy in the Coast Guard and how the Academy is following this policy. He also said that we will give his residence telephone number to parents for use if they have a pressing problem.

Dean of Academics

Dean Haas reported that the Class of 2001 had 160 graduates. The ceremony had to be held indoors because of inclimate weather.

Dean Haas talked to the Council about the academic programs at the academy. The Academy has hired a foreign language, tenure track professor. The Class of 1966 will be supporting a new language lab in Satterlee Hall. Satterlee Hall will be up and running in September for classes. New furniture and electronic gear have been installed, and the Math and Humanities Departments will move in by fall.

Dean Haas reported that the Academy is continuing to focus on information technology (IT). The Operations Research and Computer Analysis curricula now had IT classes. The Management curriculum also has a MIS track.

In October ABET will be reviewing the engineering programs for a six year accreditation. All four engineering majors will be reviewed.

The AACSB will be sending a three person team to conduct an initial visit to review the management curriculum. The team will review self-study input, curriculum, etc. Changes will be considered based on the teams input.

An internal review of the remaining majors has been completed. This process will be conducted every five years. The core curriculum for general education will be evaluated to insure that it matches up to the Coast Guard plans for the Future Force 21.

The Dean presented an academic review of cadet performance. Every class had an increase in GPA from the last year's spring semester. Seven cadets had 4.0 GPAs. There were only five academic disenrollments, which was a big decrease.

Commandant of Cadets

CAPT Heyl passed out and reviewed the following items:

• 2001-2002 Parents Handbook
• Swab Summer 2001 Challenge (schedule)
• Eagle Summer Deployment Schedule
• Letter about drinking awareness and parent support in encouraging responsible use.
  

CAPT Heyl discussed Reporting In Day including the schedule of events and swearing in. The second class Cadre is ready for the Class of 2005 and has trained well for the summer.

The fourth class will be marching in the New London Sail Fest in August. Only two platoons will be participating in the Mystic Seaport presentation this summer.

CAPT Heyl reported that the Academy is working with Connecticut College and local businesses to control serving alcohol to under age students and to stop illegal drinking.

Eight sets of parents greeted the Eagle in Lisbon. The cadets have had a very good Eagle first phase. Parents are encouraged to see their cadets on the Eagle cruises as training permits.

CAPT Heyl presented the statistics on the Class of 2005 as follows:

• 5,606 applicants
• 1308 qualified candidates
• 569 conditional appointments .398 appointments
• 281 acceptances. 22% minorities, 30% woman. 66 came from AIM, 25 from MITE, and 5 international.
  

Director of Athletics

Dr. Ray Cieplik spoke next about the challenges in the athletic department. He described the new brochure on the athletic program. He will have coaches on site for Reporting In Day. Dr.Cieplik thanked the local Chapters for support of the sports teams including the Florida Chapter's support of the baseball team and the Delaware Valley Chapter's support of the crew team at the Dad Vail Regatta. He also thanked the parents' contribution of the record board.

The spring teams perfonned well as follows:

• the men's softball team advanced to the championship round
• the women's softball team won in the first round of the playoffs
• the track team qualified for the NCAAs.

Dr. Cieplik requested that parents relate to the mission of the CGA with respect to athletics. Cadets need to be committed to the team but also to academics and professional training.

There has been a reduction in physical fitness failures by general improvement in conditioning. In an effort to reduce attrition, candidates need to get 200 out of 500 points in the physical fitness test prior to acceptance as part of admission requirements. Candidates that get less than 200 points have a higher attrition rate.

Director of Admissions

CAPT Van Sice has reported as the new Director. He has been impressed with the CGA staff in his first two weeks.

A question and answer session began.

1. What Qercentage of the cadets participate in intercollegiate activities? (Dr. Cieplik answered) Approximately 75% participate at the intercollegiate level. Many cadets participate in more than one sport.
2. What telephone number should a parent call in case of an emergency? (CAPT Heyl , answered) Call the USCGA OOD.
3. What percentage of the Class of 2004 left in the 2nd half of the academic year? (Dean Haas and CAPT Heyl answered) The drop out rate for the Class of 2004 was within 1% of the nonnal trend. The class started with 335 cadets Swab Summer and ended the 2nd semester with 261. Some who left in the 2nd semester did not want poor grades to appear on their transcripts. The number of cadets in summer school was down. Summer school next year will be in between Eagle cruises instead of starting right after spring semester.
4. Any problems with cadets focussing on sports instead of academics? (Dr. Cieplik answered) Cadets having been doing well in balancing academics and sports participation.

This concluded the presentations from the USCGA Senior Management Team.

Parent’s Association Business

OLD BUSINESS

Bob Pray opened the meeting, and Frank Garcia briefly presented the minutes from the April 13 Council meeting. A motion was made to accept the minutes, was seconded, and passed.

Bob presented the President's report as follows:

• The CGA PA award for the highest GPA was presented to Cadet 1/C Meg Rapley at the graduation ceremony by Bob Pray.
• Dean Haas would like to raise $70,000 from the PA for the library day room.
• A new PA brochure with a membership form was sent to new Class of 2005 families. Parents were encouraged to attend the Pre-Swearing In Day reception and the New England Chapter cook out after check-in.
  

The Treasurer's report was presented by Denise La Rue. Current Balances:

• Endowment Fund: $60,291 ($2,011 available)
• Gift Fund: $22,395
• Total available for donation: $24,406
• Other Association expenses:
  
  • Name tags: $2,399
  • Income from name tags: 0

The Council needs to decide in September how to use the funds available for donation. The treasurer's report was approved.

Wayne Gronlund discussed Alumni Association activities. The Association has a conceptual plan for the new Alumni Center but needs to raise 50% of the $3 million before requesting public donations. A sum of $600,000 has been raised to date, and other large potential donors are being contacted. A decision to proceed with the Center needs to be made in two weeks. The Alumni Association will probably approve providing 50% of the cost to build the day room if approved by the Board.

The Association can provide an electronic list of alumni for a geographic region for a specific purpose such as All Academy Balls being sponsored by the Chapters. The Association will have a representative at the P A table during Swearing-In to assist with registering new members and collecting dues.

The slate of Members-at-Large and potential PA officers for 2002 must be developed by the nominating committee by August 1. Cliff Meeks will chair the committee. The members of the nominating committee are Bob & Tamara Slivinski, Steve & Dawn Switzer, Kevin & Pat Keffer. Seven new Members-at-Large must be selected for the Council. At least one member should come from the Class of2005.

Bob Pray opened the discussion about the Council's association with the Class E-mail Groups. In April the Council voted to sanction the class e-mail groups using a version of the proposed e-mail guidelines presented by Steve Switzer that incorporated comments from Council members. Bob said that a decision needs to be made at this meeting. Janet Meeks provided a background for the e-mail discussion.

A brief discussion of e-mail guidelines followed, including whether the Webmaster should be part of the Council. Frank Garcia recommended and presented a concept of how the Webmaster and Class Listmasters could work with the Council. He presented a conceptual diagram of the proposed system and a description as follows:

The National Parents Association Web Site was established "to provide information to the public about the U.S. Coast Guard Academy and the Coast Guard Academy Parents Association. " The Class E-mail Groups were created "to encourage parents of cadets to share their insights, observations, ideas. advice, and experiences in an atmosphere of mutual respect and trust. " These objectives are consistent with the Constitution and By- laws of the National Parents Association. The individuals responsible for managing the Web Site and Class E-mail Groups must be members of the National Parents Association and are subject to the Constitution and By-laws of the National Parents Association. This means that the Executive Committee already has the responsibility for administrating these "affairs of the Parents Association" under the Constitution within "guidelines established and approved by the Parents Association National Council." Considering this, I recommend the following guidelines:

1. The National Parents Association Web Site and Class E-mail Groups will be administered in accordance with the attached National Web Site Policy and Class E- mail Group Policies. (Posted as of June 30, 2001)
   
   
2. The Web Master responsibilities will be those listed in the National Web Site and Class E-mail Group Policies.
   
   • The responsibility of the Web Master is to provide liaison between the class list masters and the National Council in order to meet the communication objectives of the Parents Association.
   • When required, the National Parents Association President, Corresponding Secretary and the current Webmaster shall select a suitable volunteer to act as the new W ebmaster.
   • The Web Master will manage the class list masters per the attached Class E-mail Policy. The Web Master will mediate all e-mail related disputes. Disputes that can not be resolved by the Web Master will be forwarded to the Corresponding Secretary for arbitration.
     
     
3. The Class list master responsibilities will be those listed in the Class E-mail Group Policy. The list masters have the responsibility to exchange messages between members of their groups and the list masters of the other groups in accordance with the Class E-mail policy.
   
   
4. The Corresponding Secretary will have the responsibility of maintaining liaison between the National Executive Committee and Council and the Web Master and Class list masters.
   

The proposal was discussed and the Council agreed that the Listmasters and Web Master were part of the PA and that the Council should have a liaison with them. The Council decided that the following changes to the concept presented by Frank Garcia should be made:

1. The Listmasters and Webmaster will have equal access to the P A Council liaison, which will be the Corresponding Secretary.
   
   
2. The Corresponding Secretary, instead of the Web Master, will mediate all e-mail related disputes and problems. Disputes that can not be resolved by the Corresponding Secretary will be forwarded to the Council for arbitration.
   

A motion was made to adopt Frank Garcia's e-mail proposal with the two changes listed above. The motion was unanimously approved.

The Council requested that Frank send out a description of the new e-mail guidelines to the CGA parents in the Class E-mail Groups. The existing Class E-mail Group and Web Site policies will have to be modified slightly to reflect the new system. Frank will be working with Web Master and the Class Listmasters to make the changes.

Cliff Meeks discussed the PA donation to the gift fund. The fund raising committee will be discussing raising money from the membership. Kris Garcia reminded the Council that in April RADM Teeson requested that the PA donate to the library day room.

Dom DiIulio presented information on the P A membership. The following data was presented on the 337 PA members:

• Class of 2002: 214 cadets; 105 paid members
• Class of 2003: 206 cadets; 96 paid members
• Class of 2004: 277 cadets; 136 paid members
  

Dom suggested sending e-mails to all parents not in the P A, requesting that they consider Jommg.

This discussion concluded the old business.

New Business

Bob Pray discussed changing PA officer terms to start on July 1. He said that he thinks it is a problem having officers serving until November I when their cadets have graduated. It was pointed out that the current terms started based on elections on Parents Weekend. Any change would require a change to the Bylaws. The Council recommended no action be taken on this item.

Bob Pray mentioned that the P A newsletter cost is high and started a discussion on ways to send out PA information in a different manner. Most Council members thought that the newsletter was a good benefit for the membership. E-mail was considered but would also go to non-PA members and would not be perceived as a benefit of PA membership. Some Council members stated that they were not receiving the newsletter. There have been problems in the accuracy of collecting names and money for the Alumni Association. Having an Alumni Association representative at the PA table during Reporting In day will help.

The Keffers said that they would have the PA pins for Reporting In day. One pin will be given for membership. Additional pins can be purchased for $5.

Parents Weekend will start on September 21. All P A Council members should attend. The P A general meeting will be held on Friday afternoon, September 21.

The use of the Parents Endowment Fund dividend was discussed. Bob Pray said that a lacrosse scoreboard would be useful since league championships are held on the Academy field. Kevin Keffer recommended a portable scoreboard that could be used for other sports. Ric Waechter will investigate scoreboard options.

The current dues process for four years of membership does not match the dues description in the Bylaws. A Bylaws change to incorporate the new dues process should be discussed at the September meeting.

This discussion concluded the new business.

Chapter Reports

The following Chapter reports were presented:

Upstate New York

Ann Roller represented the Upstate New York Chapter. The Chapter had two picnics to welcome new 2005 Cadets that were very successful. We toured the CG Station in Rochester, NY and went onto Lake Ontario in the 44 ft. boat stationed there. The Saratoga Springs picnic was attended by 4 of the 8 new cadets, and they were given care packages courtesy of the Chapter. We answered many questions and they were grateful for our support. We have everything ready for reporting in day for our table in Leamy hall and have 3 people to staff the table during the day.

Delaware Valley Chapter

Kristine Garcia represented the Delaware Valley Chapter. The Delaware Valley Chapter and Merchant Marine Academy Philadelphia Chapter will host All Academies Military Ball for 2001 in December 2001. Planning meetings have begun.

The spring meeting was held on April 21 st at Group Air Atlantic City. We had a great picnic and passed on a lot of good information. There are 30 members of the Class of 2005 from the Chapter. The Chapter hosted a hospitality tent at the Dad Vail Regatta on May 11, 12 for the USCGA crews and alumni. The Chapter provided meals for 30 alumni as well as parents and officials

Plans for the Pre-Reporting-In Day Reception for Swabs and Families, hosted by the Delaware Valley and C & P Chapters, are set for tonight. All Council members and upper class parents are invited to attend to help answer the last minute questions of our new swabs and families. Any Chapter donations would be appreciated.

Florida Chapter

Karen Patel represented the Florida Chapter. The Chapter had the annual swab picnic on June 2 at Cape Canaveral. Four new swabs and their families attended. There are 22 new swabs from the Chapter. There have not been a lot of responses from the Chapter membership to serve as officers and to help with Chapter activities.

New England Chapter

Jack Murphy represented the New England Chapter. The Chapter hosted a reception in Leamy Hall for new swabs on Apri129. Cadets from the Chapter spent time with the swabs and parents.

Great Lakes Chapter

Gary Cox represented the Chapter. The Chapter hosted 40 parents and new swabs at the Michigan City CG Station. Everyone got a tour of a 44 ft. boat. The Chapter has a new constitution and bylaws. The Chapter has a large area with few members, which is a challenge to run. The Chapter's web site is being updated. The next meeting will be in late August.

Greater Los Angeles Chapter

Dawn Switzer represented the Greater LA Chapter. The Chapter welcomed 20 new swabs. All of the swabs and parents had a tour of a new buoy tender and received a great orientation.

Golden Gate Chapter

Dave Haley submitted the following report via e-mail:
We held our annual 'Hot Prospects' meeting at Coast Guard Island, Alameda, on April 8,2001. Academy prospects and their families were given an extensive tour of the 378' cutter Morganthau and a long question and answer period was held in the ship's galley with two Ensigns from the ship. A lot of good information about an Officer's role in the Coast Guard came out of this exchange. We then retired to the Island's galley for a great 'Coast Guard' dinner and informal conversation with the new parents. All in all, it was a very productive meeting.

Our annual 'Give the Gouge' meeting for new Swabs was held June 10, 2001, at Group San Francisco, Yerba Buena Island. Located in the middle of San Francisco Bay, this is the ideal location for a Coast Guard Academy Parents meeting! We watched 'The Making of an Officer' during lunch at the galley. Then the new Swab families were formally introduced to the 'veteran' parents in attendance. An informal question and answer session followed while Group Commander Tim Sullivan finalized plans to surprise the new parents. All of us were soon herded to the 82' cutter Point Brower and taken on a cruise of the Bay out to the Golden Gate Bridge! This was a great treat, as it was the first time many of our parents had ever been underway on a CG cutter! The meeting was concluded after the cruise, with some of our more ambitious parents deciding to take a tour of the Buttonwood, one of the few 180' buoy tenders remaining in the fleet. It was quite a day for us all !

Our Fall meeting is yet to be planned, but we are hoping to coordinate our meeting with the San Francisco port call of the Maple in September --a brand new 225' buoy tender heading to Sitka, AK and also our oldest daughter's ship.

List of Attendees: