Participating Members: Lee Brown, Joan Eckerson, Jeff Stout
- Ratified a unanimous email vote to approve all previous BOD minutes.
- Ratified a unanimous email vote to transfer $600,000 into four Real Estate Investment Trusts (REIT) ($150,000 per REIT):
- Behringer Harvard
- Cole Capital
- CB Richard Ellis
- Inland Diversified
- Ratified a unanimous email vote to approve one NSCAF BOD signature on all checks.
- Ratified a unanimous email vote to approve the Investment Policy Statement (IPS).
- Using advice provided by our Investment Manager, Mr. John Martin, Lee Brown made a motion to rollover all REIT dividends (~$3000/month) and continue to buy more shares in the trusts. The motion was seconded by Jeff Stout and passed by unanimous vote.
- A motion was made by Lee Brown to replace the President of the NSCAF BOD (Lee Brown) as check signatory with the Secretary/Treasurer (Joan Eckerson). The motion was seconded by Jeff Stout and passed by unanimous vote.
- A motion was made by Lee Brown to change the NSCA grant and scholarship applications to require that all applicants be current NSCA members, and that all faculty mentors have membership for at least one year prior to the application. The motion was seconded by Joan Eckerson and, after brief discussion, was passed by unanimous vote.
- A motion was made by Lee Brown to establish two centralized committees; a Grant Committee composed of three individuals, and a Scholarship Committee composed of five individuals, each with NSCAF BOD representation, to review and make decisions regarding the awarding of all grants and scholarships. The rationale for the motion is due to the BOD’s elevated fiscal responsibility given the growth of the fund (approximately $3 million), and to also decrease the possibility of a conflict of interest when awarding grants and scholarships. An amendment was made to the motion to recommend that Jeff Stout serve as the BOD representative for the Grant Committee, and that Joan Eckerson serve as the BOD representative for the Scholarship Committee. Other committee members remain to be determined, but would likely come from members of the Special Interest Groups (SIG’s), as well as other NSCA committees.
The motion was seconded by Jeff Stout and was passed by unanimous vote. - It is the policy of the NSCAF to spend 5% of its assets each year to fund grants and scholarships. Based upon the last five quarterly reports, the NSCAF is on pace to have approximately $110,000 available for funding this year, which is a substantial increase compared to last year ($68,477). Options regarding how the BOD may increase funding were discussed and included increasing the amount for scholarships, increasing the number and/or amount of the Young Investigator Grants, and possibly develop a Senior Investigator Grant. It was noted that only 16 of the 31 scholarship applications were funded last year, and that the amount of these awards has remained at $1000 for several years.
After more discussion, a motion was made by Lee Brown to increase the scholarship awards to $1500 and to work with the applicants to fund as many as possible. The motion was seconded by Joan Eckerson and was passed by unanimous vote.
The meeting was adjourned at 12:00 p.m. CST
