Board of Trustees Update
by Matt Terry (’02)
Several of you have from time to time asked how you can become involved, as an alumnus, with the progress we are making at the Chapter. Often, the institutional knowledge you possess from having faced the same challenges during your days at the University or your experiences gained in the “real world” can be applied to assisting the Chapter. Board of Trustees meetings are typically held three times during the academic year: the start of the first semester, the start of the second semester, and the end of the second semester. While certain roles within the Board are best accomplished with direct contact during these meetings, many others can be done from afar. In addition, outside of the work that the Board does directly, there are opportunities to assist with organizing and carrying out reunions, publishing the Delta Dispatch, and maintaining the Chapter House. I would invite any of you who are interested in assisting in any way to email, call, or grab a beer with me when you are back in Charlottesville to discuss how you can help.
We continue to explore professional property maintenance of the Chapter House. One of the chief advantages of moving toward professional property maintenance is the reduced time from the reporting of an issue to its resolution, since we are then not relying on the availability of a full-time student or volunteer alumnus. Also, we anticipate that having an individual who routinely inspects the property will help to spot maintenance issues before they become serious repair issues. Toward this end, we have begun using Piedmont Facilities Management on an ad hoc basis to address many of the small projects that fall beyond the expertise of the House Manager, and often include Piedmont in the bids for larger projects. However, I and other Charlottesville alumni, along with the House Manager, still take on scheduling contractors for bids and for performance of the work on the House. This approach has been an economical means to test the waters with Piedmont and to iron out the procedural details with the House Manager, BOT/House Corporation, and a third-party property manager. We foresee many benefits to professional property maintenance, and plan to continue moving in this direction.
As always, please feel free to contact me at any time with your questions or suggestions. I can be reached via email at mmt7y@alumni.virginia.edu or via phone at 434-466-5190. I hope to see many of you in Charlottesville for the various reunions in the coming year!