MASSACHUSETTS MARITIME ACADEMY PARENTS ASSOCIATION MEETING MINUTES
May 16, 2007

Note:  These minutes were approved on September 19, 2007

Present: Karen White, Maureen and William McClellan, Anne Prete and Harry Wood, Susan Malone, Jim and Sandra Parker, Don and Susan Martel , Ann Marie and David Stoica, Karen Bacigalupi, Sue and Ron Schmidt, Beth Sobiloff, Carolyn Gilmore, Marie Griffin, Karen Nahigian, Marianne Sansone, Mary McLaughlin, Laurie Kaye, Lorraine O’Shaunnesy, David Ankener, Jane Moore, John Metaxas, Pat Proctor, Jim Casey, Brad and Lori Wallace, Nicole Sturgis, Donna and Bill Nedderman, Tom Collins.

Guests:

Admiral Richard Gurnon, President
Captain Allen Hansen, Vice President, Student Services
Captain Ed Rozak, Director, Commandant of Cadets
Captain Brad Lima, Vice President, Academic Affairs

Admiral Gurnon said that due to the improvements in the athletic facilities, women’s soccer and lacrosse will be offered this fall, with women’s track to be added in the fall of 2008.  The interiors of the new dorms are finished, and the furniture is on order.  With the additional dorm space, the cadet capacity is 1,100 which is the capacity of the sewage treatment facility.  Photovoltaic cells will be installed on the roof of the dorms.  The parade field will be getting some improvements, and in the spring of 2011 the new Information Center (library) will be constructed. 

The standards for admission to MMA are becoming more rigorous and in keeping with the state university admissions standards – higher SAT scores and four years each of Math and English are being required.  Our graduates continue to be in high demand, as evidenced by the recent open house that attracted 85 companies with 450 jobs to fill, and we have about 200 cadets graduating.  Employment prospects for our graduates are extremely good.

Captain Rozak described next year’s orientation schedule.  Check-in will be on Sunday, August 19 from 800-0900 (8-9 am) in the Bay State Conference Center (behind the mess deck).  Parents will be able to go with their cadet to drop off their gear.  The cadet candidates will change into their training clothing.  Lunch for everyone (free to cadets, small fee for family and others) will be served at the mess deck.  At 1300 (1pm) the usual orientation drop-off ceremony will take place in front of the gym, with the cadre of cadet leaders taking their oath, then the cadet candidates being called by name and heading off as in previous years.

A major change to orientation this year will be a mini-cruise aboard Enterprise during the second week of orientation.  After the evening meal on Tuesday, the cadets will move onto Enterprise and, the next morning, undergo required Coast Guard drills (evacuation, emergency, etc.).  On Wednesday late morning’s tide they will steam off to Boston (Black Falcon).  On board, the cadet candidates will have seamanship labs.  The seniors who will join the orientation cadre in helping to bring the ship to Boston are being selected now.  Those selected will need to return to campus earlier than the other senior cadets.  In Boston, there will be a reception on the ship, an opportunity to show off the ship, the cadet candidates, and all that MMA has to offer.   The ship will return to Taylor’s Point on Friday morning, and at 1900 (7pm) cadet candidates will march on for the inaugural “Chowder Bowl” football game v. NY Maritime.  The football game is open to parents on Friday night, but they will not be able to sit with their cadet candidates (they will be very busy doing push-ups for each touchdown MMA scores!).

The September 1 orientation graduation has not changed in format, except that there will be no marching competition that morning.  Parents are invited to Morning Formation (MoFo) just after 7:15am, and the graduation ceremony will be at 0900. 

The Sea Term Council is meeting to make recommendations to the President for next year’s sea term plans, which will likely involve a trip through the Panama Canal and an equator crossing.  There is a fee of about $150,000 for Enterprise to transit the Canal, so each cadet will be assessed an extra $250 for this sea term.

Captain Lima gave an interesting history of the academic growth of the Academy from a three-year year-round college in 1964 to today’s MMA that awards six Bachelors degrees and two Masters degrees.  Deck and Engine majors (Marine Transportation and Marine Engineering) can’t get their MMA diploma unless they pass the Coast Guard exams, which are being administered this week. 

Grades are not mailed home and are available electronically only.  Mid-term deficiency reports are mailed home addressed to the cadet.  Students are accountable for attendance in class, and can have points off their final grade, possible demerits, or even fail a course if there are excessive absences.  Therefore, Captain Lima asked parents to consult the academic calendar prior to making travel arrangements so cadets will be in class when they should be.  Students with disabilities must submit documentation of their disability to Anne Folino, the Disability Coordinator, in order to receive accommodations.

Captain Lima showed us the math courses, total number of credits, sea terms and commercial ship/co-op experiences that are required for each major.  There is a heavy focus on math at MMA.  Incoming cadet candidates who score less than 40 on the Accuplacer exam are scheduled for non-credit Intermediate Algebra, and those who do not pass that course are not allowed to go on sea term.  The other prerequisite for sea term is Vessel Familiarization (a course that a cadet will fail automatically with more than five absences). 

Starting next year (with this year’s freshman class), a number of Marine Engineering majors will, instead of going on Sea Term II, commercially ship during the summer between their sophomore and junior years.  This is an opportunity for these students to get some experience on a diesel ship (Enterprise is steam), save the sea term fee, and get paid for their experience (though they still need to pay for the credits), and it also frees up space on Enterprise for the larger freshman class.  The cadet does not have to find his or her own commercial shipping assignment.  MMA helps to set them up.

The Academic Resource Center, with help in Math and Written, is staffed by faculty and upperclass students, and struggling students need to get over there for help. 

Captain Lima closed by reminding the parents again of the employment opportunities available for MMA graduates.  He said that 88% of seafaring positions are on inland waters, that tugs and towing is the most rapidly growing segment of seafaring work, and that there is a huge demand for licensed mariners on LNG (liquid natural gas) ships, which are mostly steam (like Enterprise).  This is partly the case because foreign LNG ships are required to have 25% US mariners on their ships that are doing business with the US.

Captain Hansen gave us a construction update, and reminded parents of incoming cadet candidates that Recognition Day/Family Day is on September 29.  This is the day that cadet candidates are accepted into the regiment and become cadets.  Our home football game that day is v. Coast Guard.  There will be a presentation on sea term for parents.  Because Recognition Day is relatively early this year compared to past years, the requirements for cadet recognition need to be satisfied more quickly than in the past.  Those requirements include maintenance and community service.

President Karen White thanked Admiral Gurnon and Captains Hansen, Rozak and Lima for the help they have given her during her presidency and to the parents’ association in general. 

Secretary’s Report  The minutes of the December 3, 2006 meeting were approved without changes.

Treasurers’ Report  We sold $28,000 in goods and spent $27,000, $15,000 of that going to scholarships.  Next year’s cruise for the raffle is already paid.  We have about $10,000 cash on hand.  We need to restock t-shirts (about $2,000) and suncatchers (about $600).  We will give six $1,000 scholarships this fall.  Last year we gave $6,000 in scholarships in the fall and another $9,000 for the winter sea term scholarships.

Admissions Liaison Report  About forty parents volunteered to help with this year’s admissions open houses and college fairs.  Jim Parker reminded parents that we are looking for an Admissions Liaison because his cadet is graduating, and we should also try to find someone to pick up the hospitality work – finding places that will offer a discount on lodging or other things to MMA parents.

President Karen White said we need a sub-committee to update the MMA by-laws, which were written in 1991.  There will be a sign-up after this meeting, or interested parents can contact the officers.  Much of this work can be done online, so the committee members may not need to be physically get together that often.  This may present an opportunity for long-distance parents to become involved.

Jerry from the bookstore needs to hire people to help him prepare sea bags for the incoming cadet candidates.  He is willing to offer that work to parents and will, in exchange, donate $9 per hour volunteered to the MMAPA.  We need people:

• August 13-17, Monday through Friday, from 9-4, four people per day.  These people will sort through the contents of the bags and get bags ready.  Parents from any class, including incoming cadet candidates, are welcome.
• Saturday, August 18, he needs four people for about two hours.  These four people will do a dry run and will be the captains for the following day.  These four people should be organizationally strong and able to lead volunteers the next day.  Parents from any class, except parents of incoming cadet candidates, are welcome.
• Sunday, August 19th, he needs fourteen people for seven hours each (11am-6pm) for orientation drop-off day.  These fourteen people cannot be the parents of incoming cadet candidates, but may be parents from any other class.

For every full day of work, parent volunteers will be given a free cruise raffle ticket.  Jerry will need to know by the end of July how many of the available slots will be filled by parent volunteers so he can hire the remainder of the people he will need.  Please sign up to do a day or two.  The sign-up will be available on the web site.  The potential donation to MMAPA is $2,214 which would fully fund two scholarships.  Let’s try to fill those slots!  It should be fun, helpful to Jerry who is always good to us parent and our cadets, and a way to fund scholarships without selling stuff.

Co-Treasurer Anne Prete proposed selling postcards with a shot of Enterprise coming under the railroad bridge.  She will look into the cost for color postcards, since they will likely sell better.

Officer Elections were held and next year’s officers will be:

President Anne Prete
Vice President Ann Marie Stoica
Secretary Beth Sobiloff
Co-Treasurers Harry Wood and Pat Proctor
Admissions Liaison Karen Nahigian

Next MMAPA Meeting will be on September 12, 2007 in Blinn Hall, time to be announced.

Respectfully Submitted,

Ann Marie Stoica
Secretary