UC San Francisco Retirement Association Report

April 2022 Report

Submitted by Gail Harden, UCSFRA Vice President and CUCRA Representative

UCSFRA Membership: We currently have 307 paid members and additional comp members (membership for the first year is complimentary). However, we have a total of 3194 contacts, the majority (1628) with email addresses and a smaller number with home addresses only.

Monthly Activities for Members: Our Program Committee has met recently to plan events for the upcoming months, but so far only one has taken place: a historical tour of Stow Lake, boat rides, and lunch (the hot dogs and the tour were great!). We had planned an outdoor picnic for September, but because of the UC restriction on serving food and the number of people allowed in a gathering, we had to cancel. Even though the museums and other venues are open, they are not ready to resume their tours and activities.

Volunteer Activities: We hope to continue to volunteer at several non-profits at least twice a year.

Educational Programs: We continue to offer our monthly educational programs, mostly focused on aging, in partnership with UC Berkeley. We are currently doing these talks remotely, but are working towards hybrid talks in the near future. Recent topics include a presentation on Increasing Health Equity, Movies filmed in Golden Gate Park, and from the Institute on Aging - making choices about our living options as we age. On May 5th there will be a lecture by a professor of Asian Studies. Recordings of these presentations are available through the UCSFRA YouTube channel and our Resource Page.

Other Offerings: In November UCSFRA coordinated an Open Enrollment presentation sponsored by the UCSF Health Care Facilitators. In February we hosted a workshop with Fidelity Investments which had a good turnout. In March we gave retirees the opportunity to go behind the scenes and get the insiders' scoop on the 2022 Merola Opera Summer Festival. In November UCSF Retirees had exclusive access to Columbia Sportswear 50% discount. We are also establishing a travel club. In February, 12 UC retirees/emeriti went on a UCSF escorted trip with OAT to Spain and Portugal. Four members of the group were from UCSF. Other UC trips thru OAT and Collette Travel have also been scheduled.

UCSFRA Center: We are actively pursuing the formation of a Center, modeled after the Centers at the other nine UC campuses. At present there is no sponsorship department for the UCSFRA or UCSFEA. UDAR/Provost and an advisory board would be required to guide the center, and a director for the center would be chosen. Next steps will be to establish funding requirements and staffing needs.

New Retiree Welcome Fair: Our eighth annual new retiree celebration is to take place in October in person. We have done this remotely for the last two years. The in person fair is the most successful event that we sponsor and connects us with many new retirees who continue to participate in our events throughout the year.

UCSFRA Clubs and Interest Groups: We sponsor a number of interest groups. Our Hiking Group, with more than 50 members, organizes monthly hikes in the Bay Area. There is also a Book Club, a Lunch Club, and a Knitting Club

UCSFRA Luncheons: UCSFRA continues to sponsor two annual luncheons: a Spring luncheon in June and a Holiday luncheon in December. Our Holiday Luncheon was in person this year and we had good attendance. Our Spring luncheon will also be in person and our speaker will be Dr Bob Wachter, current chair of Medicine at UCSF. We are also scheduled to present our annual "Frances Larragueta Award for Voluntary Service". We have begun a "Retiree Spotlight" where retirees can do a presentation about their special interest. Our first presentation was photos of the birds in GG Park.