UC San Francisco Retirement Association Report
April 2023 Report
Submitted by Gail Harden, UCSFRA President and CUCRA Representative
- UCSFRA Membership:We currently have 496 paid members and additional comp members (membership for the first year is complimentary). In our database we have a total of 3438 contacts, the majority (1943) with email addresses and a smaller number with home addresses only. We have changed our membership year to start in January instead of July. We mailed 3600 renewal notices. Many members renewed on-line.
- Monthly Activities for Members: Our Program Committee has been revised and plans on offering at least one program each month starting in May. Since the last CUCRA meeting we have done tours of the Presidio and the Marin County parks. The hiking club continues to hike once a month.
- Volunteer Activities: We provide volunteer opportunities at the Student Food Market and with the San Francisco Village, a nonprofit membership organization that connects older San Franciscans to the community, resources and expertise they need to live independently at home.
- Educational Programs: We continue to offer our monthly educational programs, some in partnership with UC Berkeley. We are currently doing these talks remotely, but are working towards hybrid talks in the near future. During the summer UCSFRA sponsored three successful sessions on laughter and restorative yoga. Other presentations include the San Francisco Villages, Navigating the Challenges of Aging, Carville by the Sea, Master Gardeners on Attracting Bees and Butterflies, Trash Talk - Refuse Refuse, Long Term Care Insurance, and a joint program with the Emeriti on the Gender Spectrum. We coordinate presentations by our Health Care Facilitator, with Fidelity on various topics, and with the CUCRA Travel Program. Recordings of these presentations are available through the UCSFRA YouTube channel and our Resource Pag
- Other Offerings: We maintain a web site and active Facebook page. We provide links for information about specific Medicare plans and have scheduled meetings about Open Enrollment. UCSFRA has a representative on the JBC and the Health Care Benefits Advisory Committee. We also participate in the "Pathway to Retirement" event, speaking to upcoming retirees about retirement and the UCSFRA.
- UCSFRA Center: We are actively pursuing the formation of a Center, modeled after the Centers at the other nine UC campuses. We made a presentation to UDAR/Provost who would be the sponsors of the Center.
- New Retiree Welcome Fair: We have begun planning for our ninth annual new retiree reception which will take place in September in person. Last year we had fourteen speakers and eight information tables and expect to have about the same this year. 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, Lunch Club, Knitting Club and Travel Club. We are working on starting a Photography Club.
- UCSFRA Luncheons: UCSFRA continues to sponsor two annual luncheons: a Spring luncheon in June and a Holiday luncheon in December. We present our annual “Frances Larragueta Award for Voluntary Service†at the spring luncheon.
- Additional Activities: UCSF participates in the monthly UC Directors meetings. We held our first hybrid board meeting in March. UCSFRA offered access to the Columbia Sportswear Employee store, and discounted tickets to the Merola Grand Finale and Symphony Parnassus. We are in the process of digitizing our photos from albums. We send out a monthly electronic newsletter to all the retirees for which we have email addresses.