UCLA Retirees Association (UCLARA)
October 2022 Report
Submitted by Elaine Fox, President
UCLARA continues to be an active and thriving organization. Although faced with many of the challenges related to the ongoing Covid Pandemic, UCLARA responded and adapted our programs and in-person events to offer many opportunities for making the important connections to other retirees and to encourage participation/involvement in the ongoing UCLA campus programs.
Membership. 88% of our members renewed their membership in UCLARA as of September 30, 2022. 67% of FY21/22 first year free trial membership holders renewed for FY22/23. (Our Board of Directors recently expanded our offer of first year trial membership to UCLA retirees who have never joined the organization rather than limit the opportunity to those who only recently retired from the university.) The Membership Marketing Committee has made it a priority to connect with university retirees and have presented several ideas for expanding our membership going forward. These include sending emails to retirees who attended our 21/22 events, reaching out to members whose membership have lapsed; sending thank you notes for renewing memberships, sending welcome letters to new members. The committee is also marketing to less represented areas on campus, publicizing UCLARA's advocacy activities, marketing in various campus publications, and adding a special edition of the newsletter. We are in the final stages of publishing a first ever UCLARA Cookbook available as an incentive for membership in UCLARA. We created a business card to be used as a "tool" to introduce ourselves to newer areas of campus and to the community.
Programs and Events UCLARA provides a variety of virtual activities and events for our members, many at no cost, thus being able to capture a wider audience in a safe environment and also expand our "reach" beyond Southern California. In 2022, we tested the waters by offering a few in person activities visiting Southern California landmarks including The Huntington Museum and Gardens, a docent led tour of SoFi Stadium, a visit to the Museum of Tolerance, a visit to the WWII Exhibit at The Ronald Reagan Library, and a tour of the Museum of Flying in Santa Monica, CA. More than 150 retirees and significant others were invited to attend The New Retirees Reception at the Chancellor's Residence on October 18th. We are looking forward to seeing our friends and colleagues at our annual Holiday Luncheon in December which will be in person this year and will be held at The UCLA Faculty Club.
In recognition of ongoing concerns regarding providing in person activities, and although CDC and UCLA have relaxed campus Covid protocols, our Board of Directors still requires proof of vaccination and masking for those attending indoor activities.
Interest Groups. Again, as a result of ongoing Pandemic concerns, many of our interest groups have chosen not to meet in person and have adopted a "wait and see" posture. However, some of the groups do meet online and they continue to play bridge, discuss suggested books; the play reading group meets online, too.
Campus and Community Relations. We continue to invite senior campus administrators to join us at our virtual monthly board meetings to discuss opportunities for partnerships and collaboration between UCLARA and their areas of responsibility. We are also pleased to announce the launch of our campus mentorship program in partnership with two campus organizations (The College of Letters and Science and The Administrative Management Group (AMG) to expand existing mentorship programs that pair Emeriti Faculty and UCLARA retiree mentors with mentees. At a Kickoff Event for the ACE Mentorship Program earlier in October 2022, it was announced that 50 participants are paired with 11 mentors. A second opportunity (The AMG ProShare Program) kicks off in November for a six month networking and support program that pairs groups and group leaders to explore and share career and life experiences. UCLARA also continues to support career staff by funding staff development scholarships at $500 each that are awarded annually through UCLA Staff Assembly. In June 2022, we made a gift to the UCLA Bruin Resource Center and acknowledged the assistance of the retiring Health Care Facilitator who was incredibly supportive to retirees.
IT Committee. The IT Committee continues to improve and update our website including the current webpages on advocacy showing our university partnerships and connections and introducing our mentorship program. We continue to see healthy click rates on our website and in our social media presence.
Travel Committee. The UCLARA travel committee continues to grow and prosper offering many trips abroad as people are venturing out. Our travel chairperson is the CUCRA assistant travel director and she is working with Collette, OAT and other travel agencies. So far in 2022, commission to CUCRA on travel is $9,000.
Finance Committee: Since November 2021, our Treasurer and Finance Committee explored an opportunity that was offered by UCOP's Office of the Chief Investment Officer to invest UCLARA excess funds with the investment pools offered by the University. Unfortunately, UCOP administration determined that the proposal was not feasible; UCLARA is investing our reserve/excess funds to grow and be available in the future for the benefit of our members and the university.
Advocacy. UCLARA continues to be a key advocate for our members. We are keeping our members informed on important health, welfare, and California budget concerns as they affect each of them. Of special concern this year has been the ongoing Navitus prescription insurance issue. In addition, our members receive a quarterly newsletter with the latest news of the organization, campus and UC. The UCLA ERRC continues to publish an electronic bi-weekly newsletter informing UCLARA and UCLA Emeriti members of virtual programs, timely campus information and services, and other matters of concern and interest to UC retirees.