Call for UMRA board and officer nominations
As we repeatedly say, UMRA is run by volunteers, and that includes our board of directors and officers. Each year we form a nominating committee to identify and recruit candidates for leadership roles. We add several new members to the board as we say our thanks to those whose terms have ended.
We are looking for your suggestions for candidates for board and officer positions— including president-elect, who serves as Program Committee chair for one year before becoming president, and secretary. The board meets monthly from September through May. Board members serve three-year terms and may be elected for a second term.
If you know of anyone who might be willing to step up to a leadership role in UMRA, please contact Julie Sweitzer, 2026 Nominating Committee chair, at [email protected]. And yes, that someone could be you!
The Nominating Committee is formed based on the UMRA Bylaws. This year it includes the immediate past president as chair (Julie Sweitzer), current president-elect (Sally Kohlstedt), University Retirees Volunteer Center Council Chair (Jerry Rinehart), two current board members (John Bantle and Kate Maple), and three non-board UMRA members (Kay Louis, Will Craig, and Jeanne Markell). Kay, a member of the Host Team, greets you at luncheon forums, Will helps plan special events, and Jeanne chairs the UMRA Cares Committee.
The slate of nominees will be presented to the UMRA Executive Committee and Board for approval at their March meetings. Information about the nominees will be published in the May newsletter and included in an email about our online election process.
You can find position descriptions in the UMRA Bylaws for officers (Article IV) and the Board of Directors (Article V).
Also, remember to check out Operational needs: Help make UMRA run for specific volunteer roles in UMRA. And each year we look for program and host committee members, so if you want to help make our workshops and forums happen, please let President Diane Young or President-elect Sally Kohlstedt know!
—Julie Sweitzer, UMRA past president and 2026 Nominating Committee chair
News
One last reminder that the Nominating Committee is looking for your suggestions for candidates to serve on the UMRA Board—primarily president-elect, who serves as Program Committee chair for one year before becoming president; secretary; and up to five directors. The Board meets monthly from September through May and directors serve three-year terms.
Volunteerism is declining across the country, and the University Retirees Volunteer Center is gearing up to help reverse the trend. Please be on the lookout for a short survey in February or March. URVC wants to hear about your interests, experiences, and suggestions related to volunteering.
Meet UMRA member Nanette Hanks, a fourth-generation Texan who has hiked the Camino de Santiago in Spain nearly 40 times! She’s going back in June, and still has a couple places left if you’d like to join the group she will be leading.
There are some relatively easy things you can do to help protect yourself against identity theft and online and telephone fraud. Here are some New Year’s resolutions to help make your 2026 a safe year.
The third of Marilyn Erickson's three stories about her family history. She wrote each story “to check out the verbal family stories and connect them to documentation and photos.”
This third story is about Scandal in the Graveyard.
The second of Marilyn Erickson's three stories about her family history. She wrote each story “to check out the verbal family stories and connect them to documentation and photos.”
This second story is about the Sea Wing disaster.
The 2026 Nominating Committee is looking for your suggestions for candidates for UMRA board and officer positions. If you know of someone who might be willing to step up to an UMRA leadership role—and that someone could be you!—please contact Julie Sweitzer, Nominating Committee chair.
The University Retirees Volunteer Center greets 2026 with some exciting news: its office is moving to Morrill Hall, which houses the University’s administrative offices on the Twin Cities campus. The space is being provided by the office of Chris Gade, the vice president for communications, who oversees University Marketing Communications.
Meet UMRA member Pat Tollefson, founder of the UMRA Book Club (in 2011) and shining example of how volunteering and engaging in a variety of other activities can lead to a full life in retirement.
How would you like to participate in one or more informal afternoon group conversations at the Campus Club with University leaders—deans, center directors, department heads, for example—regarding their current situations and thoughts about the future?
Here’s how to make payments for UMRA events easily in the UMRA member portal, and how to use your UMRA membership card for on-campus parking and other discounts, including University Bookstores.
UMRA member Marilyn DeLong was one of three panelists who participated in a recent discussion and idea exchange on the value of shared writing groups as a means of community building, hosted by the national Association of Retirement Organizations in Higher Education.
Marilyn Erickson has an interesting set of three family history stories that she wrote “to check out the verbal family stories and connect them to documentation and photos.”