Program Committee wants feedback
Ever wonder how the speakers for UMRA Forums and Living Well Workshops are chosen? The UMRA Program Committee, an evolving group of around a dozen people, meets to come up with ideas, selects what the committee members think will be the most popular, and then attempts to recruit speakers to present (for free) on our scheduled dates. Plans are made well in advance, sometimes a year or more.
Our winter and spring 2024 forums feature the Minnesota Speaker of the House, a PBS journalist with Minnesota connections, and climatologist and meteorologist Mark Seeley on wildfires and climate change in Minnesota. The workshop topics include bad knees, the brain explained, and children’s mental health. Next fall we’ll have a workshop on art and medicine, and a forum analyzing the November election results.
This coming summer we will form the committee to choose speakers for 2025. Membership generally requires two or three meetings per year, plus recruiting one speaker if possible. If you’re interested in joining the group, and/or if you have ideas for topics or speakers, please email me at [email protected].
I will pass all the names and ideas to the new president-elect, who will chair the 2024–25 Program Committee. We aim for a wide variety in our events, but we don’t know what we’re missing, so please let us know.
UMRA runs on volunteers. The Program Committee is a great way to have an impact with a very reasonable time commitment. Join us!
—Julie Sweitzer, UMRA president-elect and Program Committee chair
News
The election of UMRA officers and new board members for 2024–25 will be conducted via an online poll from May 13 to 19, with the results to be announced at our annual meeting on May 21. Look for the ballot in your email inbox on May 13. Diane Young has been nominated to be president-elect.
“I convinced myself I could handle this problem without support groups or doing additional research, but that’s only because I didn’t want to make it any more real than it already was. Denial comes in many forms, and one is to avoid thinking about the problem any more than need be.” —Alice A. Larson
Meet UMRA member Peter Moe. He retired in 2023 after a career that spanned nearly half a century at the Minnesota Landscape Arboretum, and is credited with developing the “Arb” into one of the few in the U.S. with world-class fruit and landscape breeding programs.
The University Retirees Volunteer Center (URVC) has welcomed two new members with valuable skills and experience to the URVC Leadership Council: Lynn Slifer and Jeanne Jacobson.
The University plans to remove retirees from the @umn.edu internet identity domain on December 7. UMRA has advocated for ensuring continued access to this identity (including email, Google Workspace, and associated services), citing University retirees’ enduring contributions to and engagement with the University. Thus far, our efforts have not prompted any change of plans.
If you’re looking for an opportunity to explore your photographic interests, hone your photographic skills, and hear what other retirees are up to, the UMRA Photo Club is a great place to be. We have fun! And whatever your skill level, there is room for everybody.
Leading the online Journal of Opinions, Ideas & Essays has been a labor of love for Kris Bettin. Alas, a change in family needs has necessitated her retirement. So, JOIE is seeking a new leader to join a savvy editorial committee of five and bring fresh ideas for continued development of the UMRA-sponsored journal.
Soon you will receive an email or letter inviting you to renew your UMRA membership for the 2024–25 year. Please renew before you get busy with your summer activities. Your support helps to make our programs and many other member benefits possible!
This will be a new regular column where you can find organizational tasks that need your help! We are currently looking for help researching a new UMRA Membership Database and URVC volunteer database, and a co-producer for UMRA's Zoom webinars. See more details: