March 10, 2026, Global Connections (GC) Executive Committee (EC) Meeting Minutes
Meeting Date and Time: March 10, 2026, 7:00 PM
Location: Zoom
Officers Present
President: Bob Persiko
Treasurer: Bruce Truitt
Secretary: Alexandra Persiko
Not Present
Vice President: Ciara Halloran
Public Relations Officer: Rose Sharp
Committee Chairs
Small Groups: Deb Leo
Membership: vacant
Cultural Events: vacant
Penn State Global Representative
Wenjie Fu (not present)
Call To Order: 7:05 PM
February 10, 2026, EC meeting minutes were accepted as submitted.
Reports of Officers & Standing Committees
President – Bob Persiko
Bob provided an update on his contact with Anisha, who will be graduating in May. Her membership chair position is being advertised again. Bob retrieved all promotional materials from her.
He reported on 50 paid attendees at the Sri Lankan cultural event. Asantha is interested in the cultural events chair and Bob provided a lot of information and a checklist on the position. She is currently considering whether to officially apply.
Alexandra noted that despite the event’s success, it did not lead to increased membership interest, particularly among international attendees. Bob mentioned he would add the non-member attendees’ names to the contact list for future event outreach. Bruce suggested exploring how to use Wild Apricot for better tracking of attendees and payments but acknowledged the practical challenges of using it at the event venue.
Vice President – Ciara Halloran: N/A
Treasurer – Bruce Truitt
Bruce noted a checking account balance of $4,553 with all bills paid and $18,303 in the money market account.
He shared the financial results of the Sri Lankan event, which had a net surplus of $339.63.
He has whittled down the list of Center County nonprofit organizations with whom to share GC activities and events. There are 24 left to review.
Bruce reported that the application for the Centre Gives campaign was approved, with the previous year’s event generating $2,809 in donations, including $712.58 in stretch grants, making it the highest ever.
Bruce and Alexandra discussed the issue of multiple email addresses for managing Global Connections traffic, agreeing that having one person manage the emails would be simpler than creating separate accounts for each person. Bruce mentioned that he receives about half a dozen messages per week. He will reach out to George in Penn State Global again.
Newsletter distribution to friends and family: this is a great idea, and Bob voiced his support.
Civics test: Bruce mentioned that he had asked Rose to deploy the civics test on the website for wider access. He also noted that the test functions very well on a Mac computer.
Secretary – Alexandra Persiko
Alexandra said that she will work with Rose on uploading meeting minutes that currently are not included in the Meeting Notes section of the website.
Public Relations – Rose Sharp (written update)
Rose provided written updates on events and the website.
Poetry Evening publicity:
Added to Newsletters (reach: 5000+).
Posted on Social Media (reach: 200).
Flyers posted at Schlow Library.
11 RSVPs & 2 Readers (“would love to see 2-3x that”).
Website update
Homepage has pictures (https://www.gc-cc.org/).
Exec Team Page reformatted.
“Become a Member” page has a new gallery.
IGNORE: ‘Meeting Agenda and Minutes’ listed under “About.”
IGNORE: ‘Testimonials’ listed under “Get Involved.”
Deb’s name is on the ‘Get involved’ page under book discussion.
Meeting Notes page successfully updated.
Interns went through all pages and fixed the notes.
We are ready to add the notes from last year.
Events Page has 1 event: International Poetry Night.
Penn State Representative – Wenjie Fu: N/A
Small Groups – Deb Leo: N/A
Deb provided a written update on Starla Dietrich who will handle the beginners’ book club.
Planning, together with Rose, for the March 31 Poetry Night is under way.
Special Orders – None
Unfinished Business
Ongoing: working with other non-profit, community organizations.
The committee addressed storage challenges for event materials and books, with Bruce suggesting a potential storage solution that would cost approximately $500 annually. The group suggested revisiting this topic in a few weeks.
New Business – see Officer Reports
Action Items
Bob
Add names and addresses of non-member Sri Lankan event attendees to the contact list for future outreach. (Note: Wild Apricot does this automatically so there is no action to take.)
Reach out to the coordinator of the ExCEL program/Kazakh Bolashak Scholars to discuss and potentially arrange a Kazakh cultural meal event.
Follow up with Ciara regarding contact information for the Scottish theme event.
Obtain from the two marketing student assistants their final recommendations before they graduate; follow up on their suggestions.
Bruce
Follow up with Ciara to obtain the remaining 24 qualifications for the NPO list.
Distribute the newsletter (and civics test) to friends and family, and coordinate with Rose to get the civics test posted on the website.
Follow up with George Rainey regarding the Global Connections email account access issue.
Call or visit Harris Township Community Organization if no email response received to explore a venue possibility.
Follow up with Rose to obtain the list of international student organizations with links for circulation.
Be prepared to handle the electronics/sound system for the Poetry Night, March 31.
Rose
Promote participation in the Centre Gives campaign and begin publicity efforts.
Work with Deb on Poetry Night.
Alexandra
Circulate the meeting minutes and work with Rose to post past and future minutes to the website.
Deb
Continue to plan for Poetry Night.
Next Meeting: April 14, 2026
Meeting adjournment: 7:41 PM
Submitted By: Alexandra Persiko Date of Submission: March 16, 2026
