Sean Cusack BSE’98 Running for: Secretary Treasurer Nomination Committee New York, NY Senior Software Engineer, Deutsche Bank AG Assistant Adjunct Professor, The Cooper Union

Professional Qualification:

• 18 years of computer programming in the financial industry
• Experience as an entrepreneur in the game-based learning space
• Long history in volunteerism, even outside Cooper activities, as a tutor and co-Scoutmaster for Troop 999 at Icahn House West homeless shelter for many years
• Rabid dedication to Cooper for the last 5 years, as one of the 6 founding members of Friends of Cooper Union, and an extremely active CUAA Council Member from 2012 onwards
• Full resume here

Relevant Skills:

• Setting up and managing digital resources
• Handling corporate financial and tax documentation
• Documentation and training
• Negotiating and mediating discussions between different Cooper constituencies
• Experience working with the administration, staff, and faculty at Cooper, even in past more difficult circumstances
• Event planning and scheduling

Personal Statement:

First, please vote YES on the Constitution! I want to have the freedom to file for 501c3, and to allow graduating seniors to be involved in the CUAA elections!

As Secretary-Treasurer and Nominating Committee member this past year, the first half of my term was spent on extra duties, alongside President Nil Anderson and Nomination Chair Kelly Smolar, working with the Attorney Generals office and the Cooper Union Board, on the discussions that led up to the lawsuit agreement, and the CUAA’s part in it (see Exhibit A on the lawsuit agreement page).

As Treasurer this year, I have overseen the formation of a clear budget, with the school depositing a year of funding into a separate CUAA account for possibly the first recorded time – $15,000. Our activities have been properly funded with room to spare, people have been paid for their time and resources expediently, and our backlog of tax forms from previous years is nearly complete. We have a working PayPal account for easy payments now, and all of our many digital accounts (email, banking, website, voting, etc) are now properly consolidated under the collective ownership of the CUAA.

As Secretary this year, I have been continually consolidating our digital and procedural resources so that more volunteers can manage them in the future. Our Council meetings and critical events have been recorded and livestreamed so that alumni outside the area, or those that cannot attend in person at the time, can keep up with the activities in the Council. I have attended most committee meetings and all but one Council meeting and dutifully recorded meeting notes, and shared them with the Council and appropriate committees quickly (though, admittedly, I am behind on getting them vetted, voted on, and published publicly).

Over the remainder of this year, I plan to properly document the yearly treasury and secretarial responsibilities for those in these positions in the future, as this has not been done before. Meeting minutes from this year and the backlog from last year will be made available. And the alumni contact database and constellation of technologies and procedures that surround it will be transferred to the up and coming Membership Committee.

This coming year, if elected as Secretary-Treasurer I hope to:

• More fully integrate and document a shared budget between the CUAA and the school
• Oversee the tax paperwork for filing for 501c3 status
• Help to structure the finances for our first year of fundraising for the CUAA budget itself
• Continue to document, train, and delegate duties to a wider volunteer pool
• And more expediently post Council meeting minutes in the future

If elected as Nominating Committee Member, particularly if elected Chair, I hope to:

• Lead a public discussion in, and finally straighten out the procedures and documents for, cultivating future elected alumni trustee candidates
• Help grow interest in the Nominating Committee in the future, as it is a shorter commitment but an important one for broadening the active volunteer base
• If the Constitution amendment is passed, help oversee the first ever CUAA election with graduating seniors voting, and perhaps even running for CUAA office!

Three Bullet Points About You:

• Very actively on nearly every non-award CUAA committee, at nearly every meeting
• Transparent, communicative, and responsive to my fellow alumni
• Always looking to engage more people, magnify other voices, and bridge the divides on the way back to Free