CSA FAQ


 * The FAQ in DOCX format: https://onedrive.live.com/view.aspx?resid=3ECDA7A5909EEE37!461483&ithint=file%2cdocx&app=Word&authkey=!AGOEW3Ph_70CyaE

1. What is CSA? The CSA / Concerned Stuyvesant Alumni group on Facebook was created as a space for Stuy alumni to speak openly about how they are or are not being represented by the current leadership of the SHSAA. Membership of CSA has grown as more people have become suspicious of the vibe they are getting from posts and actions by the administrators of the SHSAA Facebook page and members of the SHSAA Board of Directors.

2. Why was CSA formed?

The creation of CSA was initially sparked by concerns about SHSAA’s management practices, in light of murky and incomplete information that was provided about a so-called merger with the Campaign for Stuyvesant. Those concerns were compounded by questions that went unanswered for long stretches, and by seemingly arbitrary changes to the structure and by-laws of SHSAA. Simple inquiries about finances were met with what can only be called stonewalling. Requests that a process be established to join the SHSAA Board – one that does not require being hand-picked by incumbent Board members – were ignored for far too long. This revised process, which is still considered inadequate (see 2A), has not still been published on the SHSAA website. Other alums, especially those with responsibility for organizing their class reunion dinners, were drawn to CSA when they found the administrative support the SHSAA traditionally provided to help organize class dinners abruptly withdrawn, followed by the implementation of seemingly fluid and ad hoc support procedures. It appeared to many that the mission of the Alumni Association had swung heavily away from working with alums toward trying to build an endowment.

2A. Why is the new provision in the SHSAA bylaws regarding petition candidates considered inadequate?

The bylaws impose 3 requirements on an alum who seeks to run for the Board by petition. First, the signature requirement requires at least 5 signatures from alums in at least 10 different classes, which is to say the least an unusually cumbersome procedure that would be hard for an alum to accomplish, especially if they're not provided with a membership list with emails by the SHSAA leadership. The other two requirements - that an alum be a paid member for at least a year prior to being nominated and that they serve on a committee for at least a year within three years of being nominated - might seem reasonable on their face. But both requirements serve to severely limit the pool of qualified alums who could serve, and most significantly these ARE NOT requirements for directors handpicked by the Board. In practice, these provisions – which still do not appear on the SHSAA website along with the other information on running for the Board – would make it very hard for an alternative candidate to run. This is compounded by the fact that the Board by practice nominates only so many candidates as there are open slots, so the members who take the time to vote in the “elections” actually have no choice at all.

2B. What other issues do members of CSA have with the way the SHSAA is being governed?

Some members find it particularly irksome that leaders of the SHSAA have put out misleading information on a number of occasions.

3. Who can join CSA? Anyone affiliated with Stuyvesant High School can join, including directors and employees of SHSAA.

4. What roles have CSA members played in the SHSAA? Many of the participants in CSA are people who have long been active in the leadership of SHSAA, including former employees and board members. Participants in CSA include individuals who actively support the Stuyvesant alumni community, for example, by planning their class reunions.

5. What are the Campaign for Stuyvesant and Friends of Stuyvesant and how are they related to SHSAA? The Campaign for Stuyvesant (CFS) was a separate non-profit organization that was founded in the late 1990’s by then-principal Jinx Perullo to build an endowment to support Stuyvesant. After a falling out in the early 2000’s between the leadership of CFS and the leadership of the high school, then-principal Stanley Teitel helped form Friends of Stuyvesant (FOS) as a separate organization with similar goals. Several years ago [be more specific], the leadership of SHSAA started an effort to merge CFS and FOS with SHSAA and for the first time include building an endowment as one of the goals of SHSAA. While that merger appears to have been completed, the details of the merger have not been shared broadly with Stuyvesant alumni community. SHSAA now has a Board of Trustees, separate from its Board of Directors, which is responsible for managing this endowment. The Board of Trustees includes several of the leaders of the former CFS. For some additional history on this, see this New York Times article from 2003: Dueling Fund-Raising Campaigns Undercut Efforts at Stuyvesant [link: http://www.nytimes.com/…/dueling-fund-raising-campaigns-und…]

6. What are the goals of CSA? CSA is a collection of individual Stuyvesant alumni, not a formal organization, and does not have official goals per se. That said, the participants in CSA generally agree that SHSAA needs to change its rules and practices to be more transparent with and accountable to the broad community of Stuyvesant alumni.

7. What actions have members of CSA taken to date to achieve its goals? Members of CSA have met with and talked to members of the SHSAA Board of Directors and Board of Trustees to request detailed information about the CFS/FOS merger and about the finances of the organization. They have attended SHSAA board meetings – which are open to all members of the SHSAA – and pushed for additional transparency in the organization’s governance and for a more open process for nominating board members. Unfortunately, some of these efforts have been met with indifference and even outright hostility by behalf of some members of the current SHSAA leadership. In 2015, Beth Knobel, an early participant in CSA, was elected to join the SHSAA Board of Directors. She worked tirelessly, including imploring other CSA members to join her good faith efforts. In short order, she found a Board culture that seemed to view transparency and accountability as impediments and inconveniences. Beth has recently resigned from the Board.

8. What specific steps would CSA members like to see SHSAA take? The current friction could all go away – quickly -- if the leadership of the SHSAA were to take a few simple and reasonable steps to make the SHSAA more transparent and accountable to its members. We believe that this would result in a larger, more engaged, and more supportive membership of the SHSAA. · Provide complete transparency to the SHSAA membership about the purpose and status of the merger with CFS and FOS. · Provide standard, timely, ongoing financial information to alumni: What money is coming into the SHSAA, from what sources, what money is going out, and where is it being spent? · Explain clearly how the SHSAA operates under its revised organizational structure, including the role and responsibility of the newly–created Board of Trustees, the degree of oversight provided by the Board, and how money flows into, out of, and between the different parts of the SHSAA. · Demonstrate that the SHSAA is operating consistent with its by-laws and that the Board of Directors and Treasurer have control of all SHSAA funds. · Allow nominations for the Board by petition in a reasonable way that gives alumni true input into the governance of their Alumni Association, with transparent elections, and easily accessed and up-to-date information on the SHSAA website. · Provide information on the Board’s rationale for establishing an endowment. · Provide a forum for discussion and comment by alumni on the actions of the SHSAA. Open discussion can only improve decision-making on important matters. · Ensure the SHSAA is led by a chairman who is committed to transparency, and who values, respects and is committed to serving the tens of thousands of Stuyvesant alumni who are the organization's members.

9. It feels like there’s a lot of negativity in online discussions about SHSAA, some of it coming from folks associated with CSA. Why can’t we all just get along? Most participants in CSA are individuals who have demonstrated a deep and long-term commitment to community of Stuyvesant alumni, including serving in leadership responsibilities within SHSAA and organizing their own class reunions. It is this commitment has caused them to advocate passionately on behalf of Stuy alumni. To the extent that negativity surfaces at times, it reflects frustration that individuals feel having spent several years attempting with little progress to get the current SHSAA leadership to behave more transparently and accountably on behalf of the alumni community that they serve. We believe that everyone involved in these discussions is motivated by a strong desire to act in the best interests of Stuyvesant alumni and to have an official alumni association that is the focus of these efforts.

10. What is CSA’s position on whether SHSAA should be raising funds for an endowment? CSA is a collection of individual Stuyvesant alumni, not a formal organization, and does not have official positions per se. Participants in CSA have a broad range of opinions on this issue. CSA includes people who were early supporters of and contributors to the Campaign for Stuyvesant and includes people who are not supporters of the endowment. If there is a shared position about an endowment among CSA members, it is that efforts to build an endowment be done transparently and accountably.

11. What is CSA’s position on whether the entrance guidelines for Stuyvesant should be preserved or changed? CSA is a collection of individual Stuyvesant alumni, not a formal organization, and does not have official positions per se. Participants in CSA undoubtedly have a broad range of opinions on this issue. The discussions in CSA have focused on the governance of SHSAA and not on the policies and administration of Stuyvesant High School.

12. If I want to make a monetary contribution in support of Stuyvesant High School but don’t want to contribute to the SHSAA, what other options are there? CSA isn't an organization, it’s a forum, so it doesn't have a unified point of view of where your money should go. Members of CSA have given to the SHS Parents Association, and they've also raised money at their reunions, for example, and done something that seemed valuable to honor members of their class in personal ways. CSA has not specifically called on anyone to withhold their dues or contributions, but many members have arrived at the conclusion on their own.

13. What actions can I personally take to make SHSAA more transparent and accountable? In the past, we've asked people to join us at Board meetings or the Annual Meeting to listen and ask questions. We've asked people to sign the petition we posted more than a year ago. We think it's great when people comment to support or argue against ideas that a CSA Member has posted, either on the CSA page or on the SHSAA page. Some CSA Members have contacted, by email or phone, members of SHSAA's Board to gain better understanding of an issue or to make their thoughts known. Getting informed and having your voice heard, whether you are in agreement with our ideas or not is the best practice.