Message from the President

By Selena Swartzfager

Greetings and Happy New Year! I hope 2004 finds you all in good spirits. The BONUS Steering Committee met in Washington, DC the weekend of October 11, 2003 to finalize the conference plans for the upcoming Seattle conference on April 21-23, 2004.  Although the purpose of the meeting was to plan for 2004 in Seattle, we also got some ideas for 2005 in Washington, DC. Minutes from this meeting will be distributed to all BONUS members once they are approved and voted on by the Steering Committee. You can expect to receive these via email some time this month. More details on the 2004 conference offerings will be sent soon.

If you have never attended a BONUS conference, make Seattle your first! If you are new to a nursing school, let me share this story with you. I attended my first BONUS meeting in 1998 just a week after starting my job with the University of Mississippi Medical Center, School of Nursing. I was very apprehensive about attending since I had no knowledge on what it took to run the operations of a nursing school. What would I be able to offer the Business Officer group, would I fit in, would I feel welcome? What I quickly found out was the BONUS conference was exactly where I needed to be. I was welcomed with open arms and learned more in 3 days than I would have learned in the next year on the job. The contacts I made would assist me in getting my feet on the ground over the next year.   If you have been in your job for a while, you will still enjoy the conference offerings and continue to foster your relationship with other Business Officers. These contacts are invaluable. If your school is having a budget crunch, consider paying for it yourself and counting it as a business expense on your taxes. If you have questions regarding BONUS please feel free to contact me at 601-984-6203 or sswartzfager@son.umsmed.edu.

Message from the President-Elect

By Rudy Gomez

Greetings from San Antonio! Eight months have passed since our meeting in San Antonio and I cannot tell you how much I enjoyed hosting BONUS during our annual Fiesta. It always gives me great pleasure to show off our City

and our School and I was fortunate enough to do both. I have received many positive comments and acknowledgements from my BONUS colleagues and I would like to take this opportunity to thank all of you who have placed your confidence in me by voting me in as President-Elect. I intend to work very

hard to earn your trust over the next three years as a steering committee member, as we plan new and exciting programs for our very special

professional organization.

This year as we prepare for our 19th Annual meeting in Seattle, I am reminded that the following year, 2005 will be our 20th Anniversary year. I am looking forward to taking us all back to Washington DC where BONUS had its beginnings. I will be calling on many of you to assist with this special event and hope to convey to our newer members a sense of history and significance of our roots. We will be remembering our past, celebrating our

present and embracing the challenges of the future of BONUS.

Our archives are being sorted through as part of this effort and I am asking each of you who have taken pictures over the years to share them with me so they can be used in a display/presentation. Also, another of my goals

is to work with the Bonus Alumni, to encourage this growing group to stay in touch and to participate when possible in our annual meetings. A By-laws revision will be recommended and brought to the members at large for a vote to formalize the alumni as a membership category.

Finally, I want to say farewell to our good friend and colleague Colleen Cummins from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. She has resigned her position as of September and she wanted me to pass the word to each of you.

Colleen was one of the last few remaining founding members of BONUS and I know we will all miss her tremendously. I am hopeful Colleen will return as a BONUS Alumni, but it won't be the same since we will no longer be able to nominate Colleen from the floor for an officer position, which she has so eloquently and respectfully, declined for 18 years. Those of us who really know Colleen appreciate her untiring efforts at promoting BONUS and her

special approach at making the new BONUS members feel welcome as well as the many contributions she has made to BONUS over the years. Colleen, you will truly be missed.

Planning Committee

By Tricia Satkowski

Plans are off and running for the upcoming 19th Annual BONUS Meeting in Seattle, Washington! As Selena mentioned, the Steering Committee met in mid-October to discuss details for the next BONUS meeting to include group activities, speakers, and sessions. The Planning Committee has been contacted for their input into the upcoming meeting as well. (It's not too late to sign up to be on the Planning Committee - if you are interested, please contact Tricia at TCSatkowski@uams.edu). The meeting in Seattle promises to be like it's name-sake, "Sleepless", as we fill the two and a half days of the BONUS conference with times for learning, relaxation, and interaction among friends.

For those who would like to plan ahead for the April meeting (especially if you are coming early or staying late with family or friends), please visit some of the following websites to see the sites on the "extras" to do in Seattle and also to see our gorgeous hotel! (We are staying at the Elliott Grand Hyatt Seattle, 721 Pine Street, Seattle, WA 98101 or 206-774-1234 www.seattlegrand.hyatt.com). There will be more information distributed via the list serve the closer we get to April 2004.

www.showmeseattle.com

www.seaseattle.org

www.tourism.wa.gov

www.seattleweekly.com

Also, please start planning ahead for the 20th Anniversary Meeting in Washington DC in the year 2005!

Nominating Committee

By Sherry Abernathy

The following BONUS Officers will be elected at the BONUS 19^th Annual Meeting in Seattle:  President-Elect, Planning Committee Chair, Membership Committee Chair, and Special Projects Committee Chair.  Nominations for these positions will be solicited by email from all BONUS members by the Nominating Committee in mid February 2004, for response by March 8^th.

The President-Elect is a 3-year commitment to serve as President-Elect, President, and then Past President.  All other officer positions are 2-year commitments.  Complete descriptions of the responsibilities for these offices are in the BONUS By-laws at http://www.bonus.aacn.nche.edu.

In addition to the annual conference, Steering Committee officers are asked to attend a Planning Meeting in the Fall to plan for the Spring Conference. 

If you know of people who you believe could make a contribution to BONUS as an officer - yourself included (self nominations are accepted) - I encourage you to do so, and also to volunteer for service on any of the five BONUS committees (Membership, Networking, Nominating, Planning, and Special Projects).  Please don’t hesitate to contact Sherry Abernathy at abernath@oakland.edu or other officers and colleagues if you have questions about committees or the organization, which are not answered by the information you find on the web site.

Special Projects Committee

By George Gunderson

I hope all of you are having a busy year, like I am, because if you’re not, you are missing out on a lot of fun. At the October Steering Committee Meeting, the Special Projects Committee had been given the following Items to work on.

• Poster Presentations – a minimum of (4) will be solicited from the general membership.
• Presenters will be solicited to be on a panel to lead a discussion on compliance issues in regard to “Handling electronic processing and soft ware programs and Time Management suggestions”.
• Lists serve topics. The committee will try to summarize some of the many questions that have been asked and answered during the past year. If any one that asked a question has already summarized the answers, I would appreciate it, if you would contact me.

The committee would appreciate any suggestions on a topic or item we could work on and present our results either on the list- serve or at the meeting. Any one who didn’t sign up for the Special Projects Committee in San Antonio, can still do so by contacting me at ggunders@kumc.edu .

The committee will have its first teleconference call sometime in January, 2004.

The current committee members are:

Pat Burke-University of Pennsylvania

Sylvia Masson-Indiana University-Kokomo

Lynn Shull-Medical University of South Carolina

Ann Thomasson-University of Maryland

Dale Walker-The University of Akron

See you in Seattle.

Message from the Secretary

By Marilyn Hargrave

I'm looking forward to my two-year appointment as secretary of the Business Officer's of Nursing Schools (BONUS) organization. I have been a member of BONUS for eight years. Getting involved on committees or as an officer of BONUS has helped me learn and grow in my position. Our members are professional people who care about their schools, colleges, health science centers, and each other. That dedication shows in the way they give their time and effort to BONUS.

BONUS Members, Spread the Word

By Kathleen Papes, Membership Chair

Our strongest recruitment tool is having a BONUS member talk to a non-member. Therefore I invite all BONUS members to check the BONUS website and see if a business officer you know is a member. If the answer is no,

please call or write them inviting them to join. The membership voucher is on the website as are highlights of what makes our organization so worthwhile. Seattle is approaching, and a special orientation is planned for

new members. Our membership numbers are holding from last year when it was

over 90. My thanks to us all for affirming the value of our membership!

Best wishes for a new year where peace prevails.

Other Steering Committee Members:

Susie Miller, Past-President

Linda Bantle, Networking Chair