UCLA Retirees Association (UCLARA)
Aoril 2021 Report
Submitted by Sue Abeles, President, UCLA Retirees Association
Membership. In the wake of the pandemic, where in-person events, programs, and interest groups are no longer possible, maintaining our membership has become a major focus. While membership increased 14.6% in FY20, our membership year-to-date is at 95% of what it was as of April, 2020. This year, for the first time, we offered a free trial membership for a year to all new retirees who retired 7/1/2020 or later. Thus far, 35 retirees have taken advantage of this offer. This program was evaluated at our January Board meeting and a decision was made to extend the one-year, free trial program through FY25. The Membership Marketing Committee has made it a priority to understand the demographics of Association members and has worked with UCLA External Affairs to quantify the financial contributions that retirees make to the UCLA campus. We were successful in obtaining data for lifetime contributions as well as those made in the past four years for UCLA staff and non-academic Senate retirees for the CUCRA survey.
Programs and Events. Our Program Committee's focus has been on developing a schedule of virtual events and programs for FY21. Included among the offerings have been various tours of Los Angeles offered by the LA Conservancy, various travelogues including programs on upcoming travel tours, musical performances by LA Opera and a UCLA acapella group, art programs featuring Monet's Giverny, Frida Kalo's Casa Azul, and others, and our ongoing series of quarterly after-lunch lectures jointly planned with the Emeriti Association now presented virtually. We have a virtual tour of the Jet Propulsion Laboratory scheduled for May.
Interest Groups. Because many of our interest groups require in-person interaction, many have gone on hiatus during the "Stay at Home" order. Our book clubs and play reading group continue to meet virtually. Our beginning bridge group is also meeting virtually to play bridge online. The Association has funded the video-taping of cooking lessons offered by one of our chef retirees and has made those recordings available to our membership. As more of our members become vaccinated and in-person restrictions are loosened, we expect that some of our groups will begin to feel comfortable meeting again in person.
Campus and Community Relations. We continue to invite a senior campus administrator to each of our monthly virtual Board meetings and devote a portion of the agenda to discussions with that administrator focused on opportunities for partnerships between the Association and the programs and/or departments for which the administrator has responsibility. UCLARA is also exploring the creation of a mentorship program that would pair retiree mentors with career staff mentees. Working with the UCLA Professional Development Program, our Association commissioned two studies in 2019 and 2020, respectively, to look at the feasibility and interest in this type of program (2019) and to develop implementation guidance (2020). We are now forming an advisory board, whose membership will include representatives of our Association, UCLA Staff Assembly, UCLA Administrative Management Group, Campus Human Resources, Health Services Human Resources, and Housing & Hospitality Services, to develop an implementation plan. Also, for the second year in a row, UCLARA will be funding eight staff development scholarships of $500/each that will be provided through UCLA Staff Assembly to career staff.
IT Committee. The IT Committee has focused its efforts on further developing our website and increasing our social media presence (i.e., Facebook group page).
Travel Committee. As restrictions are loosening and more of our members are vaccinated, we are currently offering multiple travel opportunities including a Canadian rail trip with Collette for fall 2021, a Christmas trip on the Danube in December, a trip to the Netherlands, Belgium & France in spring 2022, and a trip to Switzerland in fall 2022.
Advocacy. Advocacy on behalf of UCLARA members continues to be a key area of focus. Throughout the pandemic and "Stay at Home" requirement, we have been reaching out to members and other retirees to help them stay connected to one another. The Board continues to publish its newsletter and, in coordination with the ERRC Director has communicated with retirees via email about services available to them during the pandemic.