Members Present:Donald Briggs, Bruce Burton, Robert Chandler, Kumar Chatterjee, Edward Crowley, Stanley Cunningham, Seymour Faber, Wendy Fraser, Edwin Habib, Joseph Habowsky, Nigel Hedgecock, Henry Jansen, Ross Johnston, Lucien Krause, Robert Krause, Bernard Kroeker, John LaGaipa, William Libby, Joan MaGee, Bruce McGarvey, Eugene McNamara, Ted Manzig, Alan Metcalfe, Charles Morgan, Phyllis Nolan, Ralph Nelson, Datta Pillay, Devamma Purushotham, Idalia Rappe, Edward Rosenbaum, RipuDaman Singh, Norman Shklov, K. Sridhar, Donald Stewart, Stuart Selby, Peter Wilkinson, Robert Whitehurst, and William Youdelis.

1. Minutes of the meeting of March 16, 1999 - On the motion of Kumar Chatterjee, seconded by Ross Johnston it was resolved that the minutes of the Spring General Meeting, March 16, 1999 be approved as distributed. Carried.

2. Message from Professor Howard Pawley - Professor Pawley brought greetings from the Faculty Association (FA) and welcomed the opportunity speak to the Retirees Association as the Faculty Association president.

He expressed a keen desire to be part of the Retirees Association when he retires on June 30, 2000. He thanked the Retirees Association Executive members Stan and others for working closely with the FA Committees with him since July 1, 1999 and previously with Gordon Drake, in building a stronger role in the FA for retirees. He had hoped to get the constitutional changes approved, giving retirees representation on FA Committees on Oct 14, but could not succeed due to lack of quorum. They expect to hold one more meeting on November 2, failing which a mail ballot will be sent.

Although there was not much emphasis from the FA for retirees concerns in the past, he said that in future there will be participation at all levels, which is a major achievement. He was pleased to note that the pension consultant will be able to compare our pension plan and suggest improvements to it. Professor Pawley encouraged all retirees with skills and talents to serve in various roles as consultants to the FA and the University of Windsor (UW). He quoted the example of two retirees who are at present serving as grievance officers. He wished WURA a productive meeting.

3. Remarks of Jim Skinner - Mr. Skinner commended the recognition of retirees concerns by FA which makes it more meaningful. With respect to market trends, he did not anticipate more fluctuations. He stated, that the Board of Governors Committee on Pension is still examining the plan. He has not received any new plan progress statement in September other than the one in July/August. He referred to the meeting of the Investors on Nov 4 and 5 on campus and to the open meeting on November 5^th at 3-5 p.m.. A reference was made to the Queens plan as a model to look at, since their plan protects retirees from market trends. Members present felt that it was time that we seriously looked at a Queen's type plan.

Ms Diane Russett - Greenshield started out by saying that she participates in a number of retirement benefits sessions of various groups. She welcomed the opportunity to address the WURA members.

She focused on payments by the UW and the individuals, particularly since prices are rising each year. It was her suggestion that WURA group should review their needs, consider various options, and configurations, including different kinds of deductibility to reduce overall costs.

She offered to meet with a WURA committee to discuss various possibilities. She stated, that the Extend Health Benefits Plan (EHB) though good with coverage for chiropractic, physiotherapy, psychiatric services, dental plan and semi-private needs, yet it is a costly one, subject to increase due to heavy utilization. It was reported, that last year there was 30% increase in EHB costs and she estimates a 10% increase next year. She said that in the Health Plan, the major expense was the cost of drugs, for which she suggested either putting a maximum or having a deductible of $ 500 to bring costs down. Some people complained that it did not cover acupuncture, chiropractic and podiatry. It was noted that Chiropractic was covered for up to $ 300 and Podiatrist was paid for by Green shield until two years ago. These caused an increase in utilization.

4. Remarks of Ms Asae Cuthbert - Director Student Awards:

Ms Cuthbert stated that the plan was doing very well. Last year at this time the fund value was $ 41,600 and in October 1999, the fund is at $ 48,000 a healthy increase. In 1998 two $ 1000 awards were presented to two students . She expects to receive all new applications for this year by October 31 and two more awards of $ 1000 will be given out this year with the possibility of adding a third award within the next couple of years. The fund earnings net rate was 10 %, out of which 6% is used for bursaries and the balance is capitalized.

5. Business Arising From The Minutes - None

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