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A Special Report
Covering:
• BAA Board of Directors approves move to operational independence
• What operational independence means
• Timetable for achieving operational independence
• Need for alumni support
At a meeting held on January 12, the Baylor Alumni Association's (BAA)
Board of Directors voted to pursue "operational independence" for the
association.
In his report to the board, BAA executive vice president and CEO Jeff
Kilgore recommended the action and noted, "I feel very positive about
the continued progress and growth of our alumni association over the
years, and the natural next step in the health of our organization
relates to operational independence. In so doing, we will preserve the
integrity of the BAA and our ability to remain a strong, independent
voice while moving forward in collaboration with university leadership.
I certainly want to thank our members for enabling this to be a
reality," he said.
In recent decades, the BAA has operated within Baylor's personnel
system, allowing the alumni association to provide the same kind of
benefits and retirement packages to its employees that university
employees receive. However, the BAA has directly paid for all such
employee expenses through reimbursement to Baylor. The new
"operationally independent" model will include separation of processes
such as insurance, benefits, retirement, and payroll, requiring the BAA
to function with a separate, small-business model.
In tandem with this action, the BAA board also approved initiating the
process of securing the technological capability to deliver its online
communications independent of Baylor's server and website. In recent
years, the BAA has enjoyed the services of Baylor's Information
Technology Services in creating, hosting, and maintaining the BAA's
website as well as the design and distribution of its monthly online
newsletter, Between the Lines.
Working Out Details
After the initial exchange of proposals, which was reported in the fall issue of the Baylor Line,
the BAA and Baylor did not pursue further versions of the overall
relationship agreement, deeming the situation to be at something of an
impasse. However, now that the BAA's governing board has voluntarily
elected to implement operational independence, members of the BAA's
staff have entered into a series of meetings with Baylor administrators
that promise to enable both parties to put past differences behind
them, attempt to enter into more direct conversations with the Board of
Regents, and to establish a healthy, less politically fraught business
and legal relationship.
"In these conversations, I'm beginning to realize that much of the
tension and acrimony of recent months may have been avoided if
board-to-board relationships and communications had not broken down in
recent years," said Kilgore, referring to the two organizations'
governing bodies. "As recommended and approved at our board meeting in
January, re-establishing the relationships between our directors and
Baylor's regents will be a priority for us. At the end of the day,
these are our classmates and our family, and this is Baylor University."
In addition to defining the processes of facilitating the BAA's
operational separation, the weekly meetings between BAA and Baylor
representatives are being used to explore opportunities to establish
mutually beneficial programs and partnerships that benefit the
university and best serve her alumni. "I am encouraged by the current
conversations and intentions expressed thus far by all those involved
in the trenches of the discussions and am hopeful that they are
recognized by all as such," Kilgore added. "We'll continue to work
hard, and I look forward to reporting on these details soon, but we'll
just have to see."
BAA officials say they hope a simpler, more business
operations-oriented document will emerge from these talks, instead of
the all-encompassing, thematic-oriented relationship proposals that
were exchanged last fall. "There are some aspects of the business
partnerships that have cross-benefits to both parties that will
obviously need to be drafted and somewhat formalized, but I believe the
greatest evidence to greater aspirational and process-oriented
components would be something that is simply executed in the good faith
and daily practices of both parties, kind of like marriage," Kilgore
said.
Any new agreement with Baylor, BAA officials emphasize, would not
affect the standing of the three foundational pre-existing agreements
that define the legal relationship between the BAA and Baylor. These
agreements, which were all signed to extend rights and define the
relationship in perpetuity, include the "License Agreement" of 1993 and
two agreements concerning the BAA's use of the Hughes-Dillard Alumni
Center that were signed in 1994 and 1995.
The Need For Support
Kilgore said the BAA's goal is to make all changes necessary to achieve
operational independence by June 1, although many pieces of the puzzle
may be in place before then.
"We feel like the kid who turned twenty-one and went off to college and
wanted to do his own thing, but was still getting a check from Daddy,"
Bill Nesbitt '67, JD '70, the BAA's president for 2008, told the Waco Tribune-Herald. "It's not that we were shoved out of the house by the parent, but we wanted to stand on our own two feet."
Kilgore noted that the changes do pose a financial challenge for the
alumni association. "We are committed to keeping our personnel benefits
at a competitive level for our staff," he told the Lariat,
Baylor's student newspaper. "As much as possible, I just don't believe
good, hard-working people should have to bear the brunt of decisions
that are made in the best interests of an organization."
In addition to no longer receiving the $213,000 a year from Baylor to
support the previously contracted programs—which the BAA will continue
to provide on its own, Kilgore noted—the BAA is facing significant
costs in securing its own online communications tools and personnel
benefits.
"Becoming operationally independent is how we step up in our supportive
role as an independent voice to the benefit of the greater Baylor
family," Kilgore said. "But to do this in the most positive fashion, we
need our alumni to provide greater financial support."
Kilgore said such support can be provided in a number of ways. First,
current BAA members can personally recruit non-members to join as
annual or life members. Life members can also provide additional
sustaining annual gifts, such as becoming a member of the BAA's
Torchbearers Society.
In addition to providing such annual support, members of the Baylor
family can make significant gifts to the BAA's recently launched
Sesquicentennial Campaign, which has the goal of building the alumni
association's endowment up to a level that allows it to be financially
self-sufficient. "Everyone working together can make this process an
enormous success story for the Baylor family," Kilgore said.
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