April 16, 2025 Board Meeting

Randonneurs USA Board of Director Minutes

April 16, 2025

 

  1. Call to order: The meeting on April 16, 2025 was called to order at 8:01 p.m. Eastern time, over Zoom. The following members were present.
    1. Bill Bryant
    2. Dawn Piech
    3. Charlie Martin
    4. Chris Argo
    5. Gardner Duvall
    6. Dave Thompson
    7. John Lee Ellis
       
  2. The minutes of the March 2025 Board meeting were approved.
     
  3. The Treasurer submitted a written report for April.
     
  4. Gardner reported that the Financial Audit Committee reviewed the April Treasurer Report, without taking action on it.
     
  5. Chris made the RBA-L report. The RBA for FL:Southern is looking for a successor. Dave will speak to the RBA. An application for NY:Long Island RBA was deferred. Chris has scheduled an RBA “town hall” meeting for May 15.
     
  6. The Web Team submitted a written report. An improved event naming process for RBAs when calendaring events is being rolled out. The plan to place member personal data behind a login needs development of the user interface. The RBA interface for results submission will be used in the testing process for the member login. The goal is to have member user accounts in Fall 2025. The Web Team is looking for Drupal skills, or for a new member willing to learn Drupal.
     
  7. Dawn reported that the Board had received the March report concerning member engagement with Between Controls. The click rate was 81% with total click through number at 568, a positive trend. Dawn shared that the Member Spotlight with the revised video with added photos should flow well with the next edition. She expressed gratitude to Chris Argo for adding the photos to the interview. Furthermore, the region highlights remaining in 2025 include: Rocky Mountain Cycling Club, Lone State Randonneurs and New England Randonneurs. Dawn expressed recognition to the current 4 members of the Between Controls review team and looks to work to expand help/assistance with the addition of a few more members. Dawn also commented on the Relentless Forward Movement art and stickers that were developed for the Philadelphia Bike Expo (PBE), which was also placed as a photo in the next edition of Between Controls. This was well received at PBE.
     
  8. A motion to publish Board accomplishments for 2024 and goals for 2025 carried, and the documents were uploaded to the website under Records > Board Annual Goals. Dawn commented that the 2025 goals will now be added to Between Controls.
     
  9. Following a March 30, 2025 meeting with the member-composed consultation group for the December 2024 Gender Survey, a motion carried to provide the following self-identification options for RUSA members: Man/Woman/Non-Binary/Decline to State. An objective of collecting this gender data is to allow RUSA to understand its membership and how that membership may change over time. There was discussion about how real-time demographic data allows the potential identification of the gender of new members, and whether to analyze demographic data on a monthly, quarterly or annual basis to avoid this risk.

    There was a discussion about whether and how to publish awards with gender identification. The consultation group had discussed publishing recognition of certain achievements in addition to awards, and how that change might intersect with gender identification. The Awards Review Committee was asked to consider the possibility of recognizing certain achievements. The consideration of publishing awards with gender recognition was deferred to further discussion in the May BOD meeting.
     
  10. There was a discussion about the use of DOB on RUSA waivers. It was agreed in March to eliminate DOB on waivers for adults, in favor of an affirmation that the member is an adult. The use of DOB on waivers for minors was discussed, and deferred for further consideration in light of several states having an age of majority other than 18, and the available options provided by SmartWaiver.
     
  11. Adding a new member to the Awards Review Committee was discussed.
     
  12. Gardner led a discussion about cell phone use by riders, legal compliance, and distracted riding. This included whether regulation and enforcement by RUSA is feasible. It was agreed to remind RBAs that riders are to follow local rules of the road, and that RBAs have the authority to enforce this.
     
  13. In April an RBA sought to schedule an October 2025 1200k, more than 8 months past the deadline to apply. The application was denied.
     
  14. The Board was informed about a lawsuit that a rider brought against a driver.
     
  15. The next meeting was changed to May 12, 2025, and followed by a June 18, 2025 meeting.
     
  16. Adjournment: The meeting was adjourned at 10:10 Eastern time, without objection.