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MASSACHUSETTS MARITIME ACADEMY PARENTS’ ASSOCIATION The meeting was called to order by Beth Sobiloff, President, at 6:35 PM. The following individuals were in attendance: Admiral Rick Gurnon opened the meeting with updates of what has been happening on campus. License Exams began last week for 1/C’s. It’s a stressful time but so far there has been great success. The recent Job Fair was also a great success. Many companies were represented. They all indicated that the shipping industry and the employment forecast for shipping remains strong. Many companies also indicated that MMA cadets are at the top of their hiring lists. A grant request is being written for a tidal turbine. This would allow MMA to tap into the canal’s current for electricity. Construction on the new library will begin after graduation, right on schedule. Clean Harbors has proposed a $1.5M grant to name the Athletic Complex. This will allow construction of the final phase of the renovation which includes bleachers and a press booth. Head count remains a concern for the administration. There are currently 375 accepted students and 50 wait listed students. We have “No beds for their heads.” Many options exist and are being considered for alternate forms of housing for qualified upperclassmen. National Maritime Day is May 20th. Captain Rich Phillips will be honored as MMA’s Person of the Year. The change of command will also take place that day where 2C’s will officially take over their duties as cadet officers. Fifteen cadets will be chosen to attend Shanghai Maritime University next spring as part of the new exchange program with that university. Captain Ed Rozak shared additional information regarding campus activities. The Ring Dance is scheduled for May 16th in Boston. A reception for Coach Carradi will be held tomorrow morning (5/7/09) to celebrate his 1,000th college victory. Leadership classes are winding down. It’s been an honor to have General Johnston of the US Marine Corps participate in the lecture series. General Johnston will be taking over command of US troops in Afghanistan this summer. Preparation for graduation is underway. Since the conversion will begin this summer on the TS Kennedy to add 90 racks to accommodate more cadets on cruise, it will not be available for use during Orientation at all. The question was raised as to opportunities for 3/C’s to take leadership positions within the companies. Captain Rozak explained that 3C’s can qualify as Petty Officers and as such begin their pursuit of higher ranks as 2/C’s and 1/C’s. Summer Jobs are available on campus. Any cadet can apply. The Small Arms training course is available to all cadets with a TWIC card. Those need to be renewed annually. The deadline for that is June 7th. The question was raised as to when rooming assignment information is distributed. Captain Rozak indicated that cadets will have those rooming assignments for next year before they leave campus for the summer. Beth Sobiloff shared a report she received from the MMA Foundation which provided additional information about what’s happening on campus. A copy is attached. The Secretary’s Report from the last meeting was reviewed and corrected. A motion was made to approve the minutes. It was seconded and approved. Ann Kenny presented the Treasurer’s Report. She indicated that this was a slow time of year. As of March 31st, the balance our MMAPA’s account was $13,743.00. April’s statement had not yet been received. The T-shirt order for Orientation has already been placed. Our vender has passed on a small price increase but agreed to lock that price for two years. MMAPA has allocated $8,000.00 for scholarships for the 2009-2010 academic year. A motion was made to approve the report. It was seconded and approved. Fund Raising Activity Anne Prete suggested a new fund raising idea. She has agreed to research the idea of selling an MMA puzzle. It would be an aerial view of the campus packaged and possibly sold at the bookstore. Of course, that would need to be cleared with Jerry. Karen Nahigian discussed the upcoming Open House on May 9th. This will be the final Open House of the academic year. There have been at least 100 prospective students at each of the five previous Open Houses this year. In addition, this year’s Welcome Aboard registered the largest number of accepted students ever. We still need parent volunteers. If anyone is interested, please meet at the Mess Deck at 8:30 AM. Check in begins at 9:00 AM. Old News Bill Yalen has also offered to chair the Parent Handbook Committee. He’s been working on it off and on for some time. A draft exists but needs a good review to update the information. We would like to work on this over the summer so as to have a good working copy for this coming Fall. Again, representation for each class would provide more current and broad perspective. Anne Prete offered to “scrub” the document from a formatting perspective so as to be able to get an electronic version out around June 15th. Election of Officers took place. Positions were individually voted upon with the following results: President – Beth Sobiloff The meeting was adjourned at 8:00 PM. |
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