Ricker College Board of Trustees holds annual meeting

by Staff Pioneer Times
13 years ago

The Ricker College Board of Trustees held its annual meeting on Oct. 28, 2011.
The Board elected the following officers for the year 2012: Susan Nason, Chair; Woodrow Dunphy, Vice-chair; Jay Clark, Treasurer; Alison Bossie, Secretary. Chairperson Nason appointed Bob Askren and Bud Anderson to serve on the Executive Committee.
    Trustees re-elected for three-year terms were Susan Nason, Lanny Putnam and Jay Clark. Gary Bossie will continue serving as Executive Director.
Chairperson Nason thanked Betty Stone for her twelve years of service on the Board and presented her with a Trustees jacket. Elected to replace Stone was Robert Lyons; Gerald McCarthy was also newly elected to the Board.
Director Bossie reported on numerous matters. Even though no formal treasurer’s report is presented until the May meeting, he explained that the endowment fund had lost approximately $350,000 since the May meeting. Depending upon how the market does between now and next May will determine how many scholarships the Board will be able to present in 2012. This year the Board was able to award $120,000 for 27 new scholarships. Ricker has given an average of $122,700 annually for 27 years. To date we have given $3.3 million in scholarships to Aroostook and Washington County students. Bossie also commented on the type of student that the scholarship favors. The original intent of the scholarship was to help the average or slightly above average student, not necessarily someone at the very top of the graduating class. This discussion was generated because 19 of the 27 scholarships awarded this past June went to students who had honor graduation parts. The remainder of his report focused on going over the whole scholarship process for the benefit of the new trustees.
The Ricker College Board is a private non-profit, charitable corporation which administers funds bequeathed to the board for educational purposes.
The Board maintains its office at 30 Market Square in Houlton. It makes its contacts with prospective recipients through the guidance officers of high schools. Other information is available on-line at rickerscholarship.com.