Welcome and Introductions:Club President Brooke Rupert welcome meeting attendees and all in attendance introduced themselves.

Panthers in the News: Meeting attendees congratulated Rebecca Borghi on election to CAN Vice President position.

Treasurer's Report: Peter Ciarroca reports that the Club continues to be in good financial standing.

Our general fund sits today at $7961.

We have $12,709 for our scholarship fund and we have $2790 for our Grant fund. $2500 will need to be moved from our scholarship fund and sent to the University endowed scholarship by June 30, 2012. The last report I have on our Endowed Scholarship Fund balance is $54,967. The treasurer would like to obtain an updated balance from the University.

Membership dues are running well below budget. To date, we have collected $615 towards our annual target of $3000.

Fortunately, our expenses are also running at or below targets. We have spent $1,533 against a full year budget of $3000. However, as you can see, our spending rate is greater than the income we are pulling in.

Our general fund will allow us to keep operating with the existing expense budget, but the short fall of membership dues will need to be addressed. If an increase in membership dues collection does not occur, the treasurer would make a recommendation to do any of the following: Raise the annual dues; Host more money making events such as raffles and auctions; Or reduce the subsidy of the events that we host.

If you have any questions about the Club's treasury, please contact Pete at pciarrocca@cox.net.

Membership Report: Kate Sorensen continues to update the spreadsheet to reflect “Active” vs. “Expired” members. Currently, the database has 412 entrees. 188/412 (45.6%) of members are current in their membership dues. Kate Sorensen continues to manage the Membership Roster and alert those whose memberships have become expired.

Members provided the following comments and suggestions:

Members continue to request Basketball and Football game watches and sporting event tickets. Additionally, I have had a handful of emails from prospective club members who are interested in networking opportunities.

If you have any questions or suggestions about membership, please contact Kate Sorensen at pittclub.membership@gmail.com.

Webmaster Report: Webmaster Jake Repanshek was unavailable to provide a report at this time.

If you have any questions or suggestions about the website or future web initiatives, please contact Jake at pittclub@iamjake.com.

Scholarship Committee Update: There were no updates regarding the scholarship committee although it was noted that scholarship applications would be forthcoming and the committee would follow a schedule similar to last year’s schedule for application review and applicant interviews.

CAN Report:

CAN 2012 Board Elections were held on Monday, February 6th. The following folks will take office in April:
    Vice President: Rebecca Borghi (Pittsburgh)
    Secretary: Billy Kinsberg (Delaware)
    AC Directors: Andy Hyson (Tulane), JK Chaney (South Carolina)

Recent Community Service Events
Wreaths Across America: CAN Sponsored 175 wreaths and raised $2,625. Approximately 30 CAN schools participated in the event on Saturday, December 10th. Pitt had 20 people participate in the wreath laying ceremony and several members were also present for the removal of the wreaths on January 28th.

Higher Achievement Recap: CAN has recently partnered with Higher Achievement, which is an academic enrichment program that extends learning opportunities for middle school youth. Recently, CAN hosted a sports clinic where 20 or so people from CAN worked with 10 children from the local community.

Notable Upcoming CAN Events
Virginia Tech is sponsoring its 21st annual job fair where 60 companies are scheduled to participate. The event will be on Tuesday, March 6th from 2:00-6:00p.m. at the Northern Virginia Center adjacent to the West Falls Church Metro Station.

William and Mary is participating in the “Love the Run You’re With” 5K on Sunday February 12th at 9:00a.m. in Pentagon Row.

The Pre-Season Softball Party will be held on February 24th from 8-11p.m. at the Exchange. $25 for a wristband gets you all you can drink Bud Light and appetizers for 3 hours.

CAN is also offering discounts on its website to Shamrock Fest 2012 which will be held on Saturday, March 24th.

Opening day of Softball party is scheduled for Saturday April 14th (TBD) at the Exchange.

The CAN Golf Tournament is scheduled for May 12th. Entry fees and details regarding the event are still being developed.

Community Service Report: Members discussed possible community service projects including partnering with the USO. If you have questions or suggestions about community service activities, please contact Judy at missjudyretired@aol.com.

Upcoming Club Events:

Happy Hours - The Club is open to suggestions for additional locations for happy hours.

Basketball Game Watches - As in years past, game watches will be scheduled in conjunction with basketball games. The Club will host additional game watches if the Pitt Basketball team plays a weekend game during the Big East Tournament.

Bowling Night - The Club discussed hosting a bowling night at BowlMor in Bethesda in mid-April.

Rescheduled “Holiday” Party - Members discussed hosting an event in the Spring to replace the holiday party.

Pirates v. Nationals - As in years past, the Club will purchase a block of seats for the Pirates visit to National Stadium. This year the Club will purchase tickets for the May 16th game. Members also discussed the possibility of purchasing tickets for the Pirates v. Orioles.

Other Club Initiatives:

PAA Challenge to win free National Networking Day - Members discussed the PAA’s initiative to increase membership by offering to sponsor the National Networking Day for the club that attracts the most new members to the PAA.

D.C. Intern Event - The Club will host an event for interns and new grads in mid-June.

Event Ideas - Members discussed potential additional events including a wine tour and trivia night.

Communications Point Person - Members discussed the need for a communications point person to check email account, respond to emails, and perhaps help with newsletter and social networking sites.

Changes in the PAA - Members discussed the University’s search for a person to fill the Director of Alumni Clubs and Councils position.

The next meeting date was scheduled for April 18, 2012.

Hail to Pitt!