Meetings

The next WARF meeting is on Thursday, August 15, 2024.

All meetings start at 9:30 a.m. and are at the Montague House unless otherwise noted. 

Any WARF member can attend. 

About two weeks before the next meeting check back for a meeting agenda.

WARF Bylaws, 4.1: WARF business shall be conducted by the Steering Committee at meetings open to any WARF member.

Steering Committee Members

• William (Bill) McCarty, Chair

• Vacant, Vice Chair

• Christine Browning, Secretary

• Lowell Rinker, Member

• Robert Balik, Member

WARF Bylaws, 5.2: The Steering Committee shall select its officers annually at the January meeting. These include Chair, Vice Chair, Secretary, Treasurer, and Information Officer. Self-nomination and prior discussion are expected. At the December meeting, that year’s Vice-Chair shall designate a retiring or continuing member of the Steering Committee to conduct the selection of new officers in January. Officers assume office immediately.

Several members of the WARF Steering Committee wish to step down as they are in their 80s. Would you be available to help WARF by becoming a member of the Steering Committee? If yes, use the contact link above to send WARF a message.

WESTERN’S ASSOCIATION OF RETIRED FACULTY

BY-LAWS

Revised 2023

ARTICLE I—NAME

1.1 This organization shall be known as Western’s Association of Retired Faculty (hereinafter referred to as WARF).

ARTICLE II—PURPOSE

2.1 The purpose of WARF is to advocate for the health care and other benefits of Western Michigan University faculty retirees that are negotiated or may be negotiated as part of the WMU-AAUP Agreement. In addition, the organization shall provide information related to retirement to retired faculty and their surviving spouses/partners and associate members.

ARTICLE III—MEMBERSHIP AND DUES

3.1 Membership

3.1.1 Membership in WARF is open to those University retirees who meet the qualifications to retire as “faculty” as described in Article 35: Retirement of the current WMU-AAUP contract for their date of hire. These qualifications include the required full-time service in a Board-appointed, ranked faculty position and holding tenure in an academic department at the University prior to the effective date of retirement.

3.1.2 Associate Membership in WARF is open to surviving Spouses/Partners of WARF members and others invited by the Steering Committee. Associate members have all benefits of membership.

3.2 Dues

Members and Associate Members must pay annual dues for the period January through December. Dues are set by the WARF Steering Committee. Annual dues are to be paid through the WMU-AAUP. Members and Associate Members remain “active” as long as annual dues are paid.

ARTICLE IV—MEETINGS

4.1 WARF business shall be conducted by the Steering Committee at meetings open to any WARF member. WARF members may add to the agenda both items for discussion and motions for action. Minutes of all meetings shall be available to all members.

4.1.1 Normally, regular Steering Committee meetings shall be held quarterly, on a designated weekday and week in the month (e.g. second Thursday). Notice of regular Steering Committee meetings shall be posted on the WARF website.

4.1.2 A quorum of the Steering Committee shall consist of a majority of members.

4.2 In addition to regular Steering Committee meetings, special SC meetings may be called by the Chair or by a majority vote of the Steering Committee, with notice posted on the web site.

4.3 When an issue arises that must be resolved quickly, the Chair may, with approval of a majority of the available members of the Steering Committee, take necessary action.

4.4 General Membership Meetings may be called by majority vote of the Steering Committee or by petition from 10% of WARF members. Notice shall be posted on the WARF web site and sent by e-mail at least two weeks in advance of the meeting.

ARTICLE V—STEERING COMMITTEE AND OFFICERS

5.1 The WARF Steering Committee shall consist of six to nine members elected at large for three year staggered terms, beginning in January. There is no limit on consecutive terms.

5.2 The Steering Committee shall select its own officers annually at the January meeting. These include Chair, Vice Chair, Secretary, Treasurer, and Information Officer. Self-nomination and prior discussion is expected. At the December meeting, that year’s Vice-Chair shall designate a retiring or continuing member of the Steering Committee to conduct the selection of new officers in January. Officers assume office immediately.

5.3 The Steering Committee shall establish ad hoc committees as needed. Committees may include people from the general WARF membership as well as from the Steering Committee.

5.4 The Steering Committee shall appoint persons to fill vacancies that occur between elections. Such appointments complete the term of the elected person they replace.

5.5 The Steering Committee shall maintain a web site for its members. WARF may use a link on the WMU-AAUP web site for this purpose.

DUTIES OF OFFICERS

5.6 WARF Chair shall preside at Steering Committee and general membership meetings.

5.7 The WARF Vice-Chair shall assist the Chair in the discharge of his/her duties, and shall assume the responsibilities of the Chair in his/her absence. The Vice-Chair shall select a member to conduct the annual election of officers.

5.8 The WARF Secretary shall keep minutes of the meetings of the Steering Committee and of the general membership. The Secretary shall keep records of all business of WARF, including the names, addresses, and e-mail addresses of all WARF members and of surviving spouses who wish to retain WARF association. The Secretary shall pass on the complete records to his/her successor.

5.9 WARF income and expenses shall be recorded, maintained, and disbursed through WMU-AAUP Chapter accounts. The WARF Treasurer shall consult with Chapter office staff and report income and expenses to the Steering Committee. The Treasurer will maintain records of income and expenses and pass these on to his/her successor.

5.10 The WARF Information Officer shall give timely notification of meetings to members. He/she shall prepare communications and monitor the content of the WARF website to assure timely and accurate postings. The Information Officer shall coordinate responses to media inquiries with the WARF Chair.

ARTICLE VI—ORDER OF BUSINESS FOR WARF STEERING COMMITTEE

6.1 The order of business for all meetings shall be:

Call to Order and Roll Call of Members

1. Approval of Agenda

2. Approval of Minutes

3. Reports of Officers and Committees as needed

4. Unfinished Business

5. New Business

6.2 All WARF business and meetings shall be conducted in accordance with the By-Laws and the most recent edition of Robert’s Rules of Order.

ARTICLE VII--AMENDMENTS

7.1 Amendments to the By-Laws shall be conducted by an e-mail ballot to WARF members or by U.S. postal service if requested. A simple majority of those voting is required for passage.

ARTICLE VIII—ORGANIZATION AND DISSOLUTION

8.1 At the request of five or more members of the Steering Committee, the members of WARF shall be asked to vote on whether to dissolve the organization. Dissolution requires a majority of members voting.

8.2 In the event of dissolution any remaining assets shall be donated to one or more 501(c) 3 organizations selected by the Steering Committee and confirmed by a majority of members voting.

Minutes of the May 11, 2023, of the Western Association of Retired Faculty
Montague House

Bill McCarty called the meeting to order. Those in attendance were Emily Hoffman, Peter Krawutschke, and Christine Browning. Associate member in attendance: Lowell Rinker.

The agenda had been distributed by Bill by email. It was approved as distributed and posted online at warfwmu.org.

Minutes of the May 11, 2023, of the Western Association of Retired Faculty
Montague House

Bill McCarty called the meeting to order. Those in attendance were Emily Hoffman, Peter Krawutschke, and Christine Browning. Associate member in attendance: Lowell Rinker.

The agenda had been distributed by Bill by email. It was approved as distributed and posted online at warfwmu.org.

The minutes of the March 21, 2023 meeting had been distributed by Christine and were approved as distributed and also posted online

Treasurer’s report: There were no financial transactions the past three months so no new updates.

Chair’s report: Bill shared that the outcome of the votes for the two amended articles was unanimous. Christine will update the bylaws.

Whitney DeCamp, current VP of WMU-AAUP, cannot determine who the respondents were who indicated interest in being on the Steering Committee (SC). It was decided that Bill would send out an email to the membership asking who is interested in participating more in WARF in addition to who would be willing to serve on the SC. Bill asked Christine to draft an email for the membership regarding this question.

Bill thought we might also ask about reactions to the January healthcare presentation. The SC felt the presentation was well received by those in attendance. The only issue Lowell thought of as he watched the posted video on the WARF website was the difficulty in hearing questions posed by those in the audience. Those questions raised by participants on Zoom were very clear. During next year’s presentation we will either have a microphone that can be used by audience members or have the presenter repeat the question.

Since the contract negotiations will commence in Summer of 2024, Lowell also mentioned he could expand his presentation to include an example of what could happen if the health package would include a 70-30 split. We are considering inviting the current WMU-AAUP officers and will encourage senior current faculty to attend, as they prepare for their retirement in the near future.

Other items of discussion/new business:

Peter suggested we might begin another seminar with a focus on getting ready for retirement with regards to insurance and other topics (investments, elder care). Lowell thought that Jan Van der Kley might be interested in supporting such a seminar. Perhaps find other sponsors such as Sanford Advisory. Bill will check with WMU’s Financial department to search for possible speakers as well as contacting Tom Trish.

We now can get analytics data from our Webpage. Christine will check with Whitney to see what they are for the past 2 months.

Mary Lagerway, Chair of the Emeriti Council, has talked with the Provost’s office about managing our financial records. The conversation has not been too productive. We are still searching for a campus office where we can move the WARF account.

A motion was made by Emily to adjourn the meeting, seconded by Peter and was approved.

The next meeting will be the Aug 17, 2023.

Submitted by Christine Browning

Link to minutes as PDF file

Minutes of the May 11, 2023, of the Western Association of Retired Faculty
Montague House

Bill McCarty called the meeting to order. Those in attendance were Emily Hoffman, Peter Krawutschke, and Christine Browning. Associate member in attendance: Lowell Rinker.

The agenda had been distributed by Bill by email. It was approved as distributed and posted online at warfwmu.org.

The minutes of the March 21, 2023 meeting had been distributed by Christine and were approved as distributed and also posted online

Treasurer’s report: There were no financial transactions the past three months so no new updates.

Chair’s report: Bill shared that the outcome of the votes for the two amended articles was unanimous. Christine will update the bylaws.

Whitney DeCamp, current VP of WMU-AAUP, cannot determine who the respondents were who indicated interest in being on the Steering Committee (SC). It was decided that Bill would send out an email to the membership asking who is interested in participating more in WARF in addition to who would be willing to serve on the SC. Bill asked Christine to draft an email for the membership regarding this question.

Bill thought we might also ask about reactions to the January healthcare presentation. The SC felt the presentation was well received by those in attendance. The only issue Lowell thought of as he watched the posted video on the WARF website was the difficulty in hearing questions posed by those in the audience. Those questions raised by participants on Zoom were very clear. During next year’s presentation we will either have a microphone that can be used by audience members or have the presenter repeat the question.

Since the contract negotiations will commence in Summer of 2024, Lowell also mentioned he could expand his presentation to include an example of what could happen if the health package would include a 70-30 split. We are considering inviting the current WMU-AAUP officers and will encourage senior current faculty to attend, as they prepare for their retirement in the near future.

Other items of discussion/new business:

Peter suggested we might begin another seminar with a focus on getting ready for retirement with regards to insurance and other topics (investments, elder care). Lowell thought that Jan Van der Kley might be interested in supporting such a seminar. Perhaps find other sponsors such as Sanford Advisory. Bill will check with WMU’s Financial department to search for possible speakers as well as contacting Tom Trish.

We now can get analytics data from our Webpage. Christine will check with Whitney to see what they are for the past 2 months.

Mary Lagerway, Chair of the Emeriti Council, has talked with the Provost’s office about managing our financial records. The conversation has not been too productive. We are still searching for a campus office where we can move the WARF account.

A motion was made by Emily to adjourn the meeting, seconded by Peter and was approved.

The next meeting will be the Aug 17, 2023.

Submitted by Christine Browning

Link to minutes as PDF file

Minutes of the March 21, 2023, of the Western Association of Retired Faculty (WARF) Montague House

Bill McCarty called the meeting to order. Those in attendance were Emily Hoffman, Peter Krawutschke, and Christine Browning. Associate member in attendance: Lowell Rinker.

The agenda had been distributed by Bill by email. It was approved as distributed.

The minutes of the September 22, 2022, meeting had been distributed by Christine and were approved as distributed.

Treasurer’s report:

Peter reported the expenses approval of the check made for WARF’s renewal of Zoom. The Steering Committee voted through email to support this purchase. The overall balance of the WARF account as of March 21, 2023, is $7620.01.

Peter made a motion to provide an honorarium to Lori of $200. Unanimously approved.

Bill will contact Lori to write the check.

Chair’s report:

Bill shared that as of March 14, 2023,138 retirees have renewed their WARF membership, with a total membership of 154 (includes 16 Associate members) in good standing.

The January Navigating Health Care session went very well. Guest speakers gave informative presentations well received by those attending, physically and virtually. We agreed this session should be repeated next year. It was suggested that we get word of this session to current faculty near retirement too. The AAUP may send an email to those faculty before our next Navigating session in 2024.

Survey data was reviewed briefly. The Steering Committee (SC) believes it is an effective way to stay connected with membership. Many positive suggestions were provided in the open question 10 (What suggestions would you make to WARF and the Emeriti Council to better serve WMU termed faculty?) that need to be followed up in subsequent SC meetings, e.g. how to be an active member but not be on the SC, providing regular communication, providing information on Sindecuse services available to retirees, I am interested in being on the SC, etc. Christine will contact Whitney DeCamp to see if we can determine who the respondents were who indicated interest in being on the SC for follow-up contact and communication.

The discussion of the survey data prompted a question of how many hits the WARF webpage gets. Christine will ask Whitney if the AAUP has any analytics to respond to this.

Other items of discussion/new business:

WARF Bylaws:

Bill moved that we change the language of Article 4.1.1, “Normally, regular Steering Committee meetings shall be held monthly on a designated weekday and week in the month (e.g., second Thursday)” to the SC meeting quarterly rather than monthly. Seconded by Peter. Unanimous approval. 

Emily proposed the following months: Feb, May, August, and November. Bill will determine tentative dates for the next meetings and submit those via email to confirm them or suggest alternative dates when conflicts arise.

It was noted this article also indicates the dates of the SC meetings should be posted on the WARF website. Once we have a tentative confirmation of proposed meeting dates, Christine will contact the AAUP office so the dates, along with tentative agendas as they are developed, can be posted online for the membership.

Article 3.1.2 indicates that “Associate Members have all benefits of membership except voting and serving as board members.” Peter moved that we delete all language relating to the exceptions. Christine seconded that motion. After a brief discussion on the original intent of this language and the benefits of the proposed change, the motion was unanimously approved.

Christine will develop a draft ballot of the proposed changes to these two articles. The draft will be distributed to the SC by email for review and then sent to Lori for distribution to the membership for a vote. Lowell noted that the ballot should include language that mentions the SC has approved the proposed changes.

Peter proposed at our next meeting that the SC discuss a potential addition to our bylaws that clarifies language on voting by email. For example, if there needs to be a debate over the topic that is being voted on, how is that handled?

A motion was made by Peter to adjourn the meeting and was approved.

Submitted by Christine Browning

Minutes of the September 15, 2022, of the Western Association of Retired Faculty
Montague House

Bill McCarty called the meeting to order. Those in attendance were Emily Hoffman, Peter Krawutschke, and Christine Browning. Invited guest: Lowell Rinker.

Treasurer’s report: Peter reported the expenses ($217.12) and income ($1,235) for the period of Jan 1 through 12 September 2022, yielding a net income of $1,017.88. Expenses were for website update and maintenance. It was noted that WARF is not currently being charged any administrative fees by the AAUP.

Over the life of WARF, total expenses have been $36,323.68, with a total income of $42,890.90, providing an overall balance of $6,567.22.

Given that our current expenses are low and membership dues are providing a sufficient income, Emily suggested that all members could have a one-year membership “holiday” or that dues be reduced from $10 to $5. No vote was taken at this meeting as several matters need to be examined by the Steering Committee as we plan for the best use of WARF funds.

Report of the Chair: Bill reported that the letters to new retirees and to renewals and potential new members need to be updated. He volunteered to work on the letter to new retirees, Lowell and Christine will work on the renewal/potential members' letter. Emily volunteered to work on the letter for spouses of faculty retirees. Bill suggested the completion of drafts within the next ten days. We plan to send these letters out by Nov 1. As we plan to have another Navigating Health Care session, we should include that date in the letters once it is determined. It was also suggested that the data from last year’s meeting on health care be included in the letters.

As of June 2022, we had 104 paid members and 17 surviving spouses. There are many more retired faculty (over 200) who are not members of WARF. All retired faculty are sent the email newsletter regarding membership however some requests have been made by retirees to have the newsletter sent through regular mail. Given that the cost of a single mailing to all retired faculty would not be that costly given WARF’s current overall balance, it 

was decided to send one mailing and see if that promotes an increase in total membership

Other items of discussion:

Health Care: Lowell shared information regarding the health insurance plans and costs for retired faculty and spouses from the 2021 Navigating Health Care session with Jan Van Der Kley. She was interested in discussing the information with Lowell but would not be able to meet until late October 28th. Given that, as well as several other factors regarding leaving/switching health care programs, new social security and Medicare rates, new health care plans for WMU, etc., it was proposed that the session be held in mid to late January.

Lowell will talk with CHHS to find out what Fridays are available in January. Peter and Bill worked with a local insurance agent, Paul Minor, when they switched out their health care plans. Bill offered to see if Paul would be interested in being a speaker at the January session, with the understanding that our bias is towards Medigap plan G. Lowell would contact the Agency on Aging to see who would be able to represent that group at the January session. An honorarium will be offered to all speakers, although in the past they have been declined.

Emeriti Council: Chair of the Council is Mary Lagerway. She wondered if the two groups could do more collaboration. A common goal between both would be to get a good emeriti/retired faculty list. A closer relationship between the two groups might be helpful.

Bill will set up a meeting with Mary to discuss possible collaborations.

A motion was made (Peter) and approved unanimously to meet quarterly. Typically, meetings are held the third Thursday of the month at 9:30 am. We also agreed that a lot of decision making can be done electronically prior to a FTF meeting.

Article 4.1.1 of the Bylaws will need to be amended to reflect this change in the frequency of the meetings.

Our next meeting will be held sometime before the January session.

A motion was made to adjourn the meeting and was approved.

Submitted by Christine Browning

For minutes for prior meetings contact WARF. To contact WARF send an email to warf@warfwmu.org or select Contact on the  navigation bar at the top of the webpage.