January 26, 2004

January 26, 2004

In Attendance: JaneGrace Bowman, Cortlandt Cammann, Cassie Cammann, Sam Clark, David Coupland, Jackie Deron, Mary Grannan, and Martha T. Zingo.

Brief sitting. Gratitude to JaneGrace Bowman for her service on the Board; formal acceptance of Sam Clark onto the Board. November minutes approved.

REVIEWED ACTION ITEMS: (1) Deep Spring Press: unknown whether the email address list, that's needed to handle inquiries regarding Aaron's newest book and that Barbara and Hal plan to monitor, has been set up by Alice yet; (2) Discussion regarding Barbara's plan [with Haju (Zen Temple) and Aura Glaser (Jewel Heart)] for a sangha day in June or the fall needs to continue (3) Board needs to make time for discussion of basic identity question: is DSC non-denominational; what is/are the implications of being non-denominational; how can this identity be actualized. These issues need development.

FINANCIAL REPORT: Overall DSC is doing fine financially Board approved the selling of the DSC stock and approved as policy that any stock received by DSC would be sold at the current market price when received and not be held. 2004 Budget not yet done - David will work with committees to complete

OLD BUSINESS: Yellow donation envelopes need to be corrected to reflect the Washtenaw Avenue address. Board recommended that retreat prices not be changed; it recognized that retreats are net money-makers for DSC Shambala Sun advertisement reconsidered. Decided that DSC would continue to be listed under the Buddhist Centers and approved $150 to cover the cost of that listing; DSC would not continue to place an advertisement in the magazine. Board approved $200 annual donation to Inquiring Mind to cover advertising for DSC retreats, at a rate of $50 per listing of DSC retreats]. Board suggested that Kentucky and Seattle make donations to Inquiring Minds for advertising those retreats. Board suggested merging advertising expenses with Newsletter expenses. It was noted that there is currently no allocation in the budget for advertising. It was agreed that future costs of advertising and publicity needs to be discussed with the Sangha to decide how much of their donations they are willing to spend on national advertising.

ACTION ITEM: Board will discuss how to bring the advertising issue to the Sangha at either the March or April Board meeting.

OFFICE AFFAIRS: Board approved spending $250 to purchase a 17" monitor for the DSC office as the existing 13" monitor is unsatisfactory. JaneGrace offered to lend her Epson printer to DSC while discussions/decisions are pending regarding whether DSC ought to invest in a good printer and copier. Board decided that teachers can use the DSC copier for class materials, but suggested they use a commercial duplication service when more than a few pages total are needed due to the expense of volume copying on the office copier.

ACTION ITEMS: Board member needed for Publicity Committee Sangha member needed for Publicity Coordinator position. Whoever fills this position would also need to be on OMA. Sangha member needed for Fund-Raising Committee, since David would like to be replaced on that committee. Sangha members are needed to fill two openings on the Board. Jackie will write text for announcing "Barbara and Bagels" annual Sangha meeting for the "No Name" newsletter.

TEACHER'S GROUP: Written report prepared by Dottie and read to the Board. A bi-monthly Saturday morning Introductory Vipassana class is being planned

RETREAT COMMITTEE: Breath Workshop filled and currently has a waiting list

NOMINATING COMMITTEE: Corty, Sam, Barbara, and 2 current DSC teachers should write a charter and lay out the formal nominating process. Once the policies are written, Corty will resign from the Committee, but the other members will remain active.

ACTION ITEM: Cassie will email all DSC teachers and follow up in the Teacher Training Class to request committee volunteers. Corty will then convene the Nominating Committee to begin drafting the governing policies.

CLEAN-UP COMMITTEE: Cassie noted that cleaning the front hall, kitchen, and bathroom needed to occur more frequently than once a month.

ACTION ITEM: Teachers will announce opportunity for Sangha members to sign-up for monthly cleaning sessions. Building Committee will discuss opportunity for Sangha service in areas of cleaning and other jobs.

PLANNING FOR ANNUAL MEETING: Assignments of Board members to make announcements in meditation classes Sangha members will be reminded to RSVP to Alice by email or by phone so enough food can be mad available at the meeting Jackie will provide bagels, cream cheese, oranges and coffee for the meeting. Ann will deliver "State of the Sangha" report; David will deliver the financial report; Committee Reports will be made as deemed necessary by Ann Fund-raising envelopes will be made available for Sangha members Request for agenda items and issues/concerns Sangha would like to have discussed next year and for Sangha concerns for future discussions Altar discussion review due Announcement of the "No Name" newsletter Request for needed volunteers Ann will lead discussion of Barbara's Sangha Role

DISCUSSION OF E-MAIL ETIQUETTE: Board suggested that email list be divided into "DSC Business" [which would include only information on DSC classes, Sangha meetings, and retreats] and "DSC Community Announcements" [which would include information on non-DSC classes, visiting monastic teachers, non-DSC sponsored Sangha get-togethers, etc.]. Board decided to wait until Barbara and Ann could both be consulted before moving forward on this matter as more discussion is needed on this issue.

Next Board Meeting will be 23 February 2004.

Meeting adjourned at 9:30 p.m.

Respectfully submitted,
Martha Zingo