Kappa Chapter Hosts

Minutes of 2nd Session

July 20, 2001

13. PLANT TOUR

In support of the Fraternity’s professional development object, the entire delegation toured the Cooper-Standard plant in Auburn, IN, where a line of vibration dampening parts for the auto industry is manufactured. There the entire manufacturing process (from raw material input to final product inspection) was observed. Additionally, the ancillary plant operations of customer requirements engineering, product research and development, quality assurance and test, plant HVAC, and special tooling development were included in the tour.

14. AFTERNOON RECREATION

Following our “Work hard. Play hard” ethic, after the plant tour, the delegation returned to Angola, IN for an hour’s worth of highly competitive Go-Karting.

15. CALL TO ORDER

GVP HILEMAN called the Second Business Session to order at 3:15 PM. on Friday, July 20, 2001, on the campus of Tri-State University. The guide checked additional attendees for membership.

GVP HILEMAN called roll, and all delegates were present.

He then announced that a series of tutorial presentations, aimed at educating the delegates about Fraternity matters, would follow. The intent is for delegates and guests to carry these messages home to their respective chapters.

16. RISK REDUCTION

Kappa Chief Engineer Mark HEITMYER and members of Kappa Chapter put on four skits that emphasized four points of the Fraternity’s Risk Reduction Policy to keep everyone safe: Fire Safety including, prevention and detection. and fire escape planning and rehearsal; Sexual Harassment and of the need to not offend others; Drug abuse awareness (including abuse of alcohol and of prescription and over-the-counter drugs) ; and Hazing and the need not to subject pledges to physical and mental harm.

GP Lindner emphasized that hazing laws differ in each state and school and that it is imperative that each Chapter know and abide by the laws of the state in which, and the school at which, the Chapter is located.

17. FINANCIAL PRESENTATION

EPC VOTAW presented a tutorial on the need to manage money correctly, through the process of managing costs to a budget and keeping accounts receivable at zero. With regard to receivables, he stated that “Brotherhood stops at the checkbook.” The fraternity is not a bank; good receivables management requires getting promissory notes and/or parents’ co-signing.

GP Lindner stated that the correct approach to letting a member’s bills “slide” is to take the deficit to the membership and have them all agree to put up a share of the arrears, because letting it slide is doing the same thing, but not in the open.

EPC VOTAW’s presentation is included as Exhibit 29 in the Appendix.

18.RUSH AND MEMBERSHIP RECRUITING

GP LINDNER gave a presentation on finding the best people. The Fraternity, he stated is made up of people and principles. The fraternity’s principles are sound; they’re time-tested over 77 years. Finding the right people is the key to continued growth and prosperity, and getting them requires making a plan and then working it.

His presentation is included as Exhibit 30 in the Appendix .

19. ENGINEERS UNITED

GP LINDNER and GVP HILEMAN led a discussion on the Fraternity’s initiative to partner with women in engineering, under the rubric of Engineers United. This emanates from the Fraternity’s dissatisfaction with the 1996 Memorandum of Understanding with Alpha Omega Tau engineering sorority whereby each organization pledged to help the other expand. To date Sigma Phi Delta has helped establish four Alpha Omega Epsilon chapters, but there has been a lack of reciprocation. Most recently Alpha Omega Epsilon established a new chapter at Ohio State, and we were not invited into their expansion effort there.

Although the Fraternity intends to maintain a cordial relationship with Alpha Omega Epsilon, it has to seek other avenues for partnership to. Among these is a newly formed local sorority at VCU Zeta Phi Sigma.

Representatives of the sorority (Meghan Dunwiddie, Mai Nguten, and Leah Lovell) were invited to address the General Convention. They stated they are active engineering students whose goals are similar to Sigma Phi Delta’s, but they received little support from Alpha Omega Epsilon in starting an Alpha Omega Epsilon colony

At the conclusion of the discussion, GP LINDER answered many questions from the delegates and members. The bottom line is that Sigma Phi Delta will continue to find ways to work with Alpha Omega Epsilon’s National, albeit with less enthusiasm than before. Toward that end, either GP LINDNER or GVP HILEMAN will attend the Alpha Omega Epsilon National Convention in August to put forward Sigma Phi Delta’s concerns about the state of the relationship and try to turn it around.

In the meantime, Sigma Phi Delta’s local Chapters were encouraged to continue good relationships with Alpha Omega Epsilon’s Chapters on campuses where they co-exist. But, given that the relationship with ALPHA OMEGA EPSILON is not an exclusive one, Sigma Phi Delta will encourage ZPS and other local engineering sororities so long as these sororities’ goals and objectives coincide with Sigma Phi Delta’s.

There being no other business to conduct, the Convention recessed at 6:10 PM

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