Final Minutes

Sigma Phi Delta Fraternity

Supreme Council Pre-Convention Meeting

Kappa House

July 19, 2001

 

Roll Call: The following Supreme Council members were present:

 

Grand President Paul Lindner

Grand Vice President Keith Hileman

Executive Director Bob Featheringham

Communications Director Burt Wagner

Easter Province Councillor Mike Votaw

Central Province Councillor Mike Stelzner

Western Province Councillor Kevin Oldknow

 

Call to Order: GP Lindner called the meeting to order at 8:30 AM EST.  There was a quorum present to conduct business.

 

Accept Minutes: ED F’ham moved to accept SC Minutes from June 25, 2001, meeting that were sent out by e-mail for review.

EPC Votaw seconded, and the motion passed.

 

By unanimous consent, the SC dispensed with the normal order of business to allow for a full discussion and consideration of the items of business on the Grand President’s agenda:

 

General Convention Agenda

Convention Budget

Nominate Convention Officers

Establish Procedures Committee

Select location for 35th General Convention

Potential Officers Identification

Plans for Next Year’s Province Retreats

Next Meeting of Supreme Council

 

General Convention Agenda: Because of the guests from the Engineering Sorority ZFS and our pledges from the colony at Virginia Commonwealth University, GP Lindner announced that the Convention would open first with introduction of guests.  After that the guests would be excused, and the Convention would be opened in Form.

Agenda for 34th General Convention

Sigma Phi Delta Fraternity

Tri State University, Angola, Indiana

Kappa Chapter Host

 

Thursday, July 19th 1:00 PM

1st Business Session

 

·        Introduction of Guests

·        (Guests Excused)

·        Open in Form

·        (Recall guests)

·        Position Presentation (Executive Director)

·        Chapter Reports (Active and Alumni)

·        Merchandise Handout

·        Break

·        Officers’ Reports (Open Floor to Questions)

·        Risk Reduction Report (Kappa Chapter)

·        Chapter Health Presentation (Executive Director)

·        Future of the Fraternity (Grand President)

·        Close 1st  Business Session

 

Thursday July 19th 6:00 PM

·        Pig Roast at Kappa Chapter House

 

Friday July 20th 8:15

·        Board Vans

 

Friday July 20th 9:00 AM

·        Cooper Standard Plant Tour, Auburn, Indiana

 

Friday July 20, 1:00 PM

·        Go-Kart Recreation

·        Lunch

 

Friday July 20, 2:00PM

2nd Business Session

 

·        Chapter Financial Health presentation (Eastern Province Councillor)

·        Chapter Health Break-Out Session (Each Chapter to Rate Itself)

·        Break

·        Written Rush Plan Seminar (Grand President)

·        Women in Engineering Presentation (Grand President and Vice President)

·        Close 2nd Session

 

Saturday July 21, 9:30 AM

3rd Business Session

 

·        Rushing, A Personal experience (Grand Vice President)

·        Code of Ethics Presentation (Western Province Councillor)

·        Intellectual Property Protection Presentation (Executive Director)

·        Old Business

·        New Business

·        Women in Engineering

·        Fraternity Merchandising

 

·        Lunch

 

·        New Business (Continued)

·        Election of Officers

·        Break

·        Rush Written Plan (Break-out Session)

·        Closing Motions

·        Adjourn

 

·        Banquet:  Auburn Cord Deusenberg Museum

·        Cocktail Hour and Museum Tour

·        Dinner

·        Awards

 

Leadership SC meeting: GP Lindner announced that there would be a SC-level meeting on Leadership issues at the Kappa House on July 20th at 7:30 PM.  The purpose of the meeting is to shape the discussion that will ensue in Convention New Business with respect to the Women in Engineering initiative and the Merchandising Campaign.

 

With regard to the Women in Engineering initiative, GP Lindner stated that SFD  wants to be a partner with women engineering organizations.  However, the Fraternity has not received benefit from the assistance it provided AWE Sorority in establishing four chapters.  Accordingly, the Fraternity is seeking a relationship with a new local engineering sorority ZFS at Virginia Commonwealth.  Under New Business, the SC will seek the General Convention’s approval to continue with partnerships with engineering sororities, including AWE if the relationship can be made mutually beneficial.

 

With regard to merchandizing, GP Lindner announced that he discovered a company in Cary, IL, that is willing to work with us to sell merchandise over the web. This company will execute the entire merchandizing program: We’d describe the merchandise to be sold at the SFD “Company Store,” and the company will build the on-line store, inventory the merchandise at no cost (based on through-put assumptions of $40,000 in revenue), sell the merchandise at a price that would include margin for the Fraternity, which will be returned to the Fraternity to support its programs.  The buyer would pay by credit card on-line, and the Fraternity does not have to handle the merchandise. Access to the store would be from the protected area of the fraternity Web site.  In addition, the company is interested in taking over the jewelry merchandising responsibility.  GP Lindner will visit the company on July 23, 2001, to determine what the terms and conditions of such a deal would be; he will report back to the Supreme Council.  The GC will be asked to identify items of merchandise of interest.

 

Convention Budget:

 

The SC members worked through the various elements of the budget and resulted in the following estimated costs:

 

·        Hotel (SC members)             $1050

·        Dorm Rooms (Delegates)                $1200

·        Banquet (SC members)             $  500

·        Tri State Van Use                 $  300

·        Travel (Delegates)                        $2500

·        Travel (SC Members)             $2520

·        Go-Kart Track rental            $  400

·        Copies (various)                   $  200

·        Snacks (GC Sessions)               $  220

·        Meals (SC members)             $  350

_______

Total                                                 $9240

 

EPC Votaw moved and WPC Oldknow seconded a motion to set the budget at $9500.  The motion passed.

 

GP Lindner stated that official delegates must be at sessions or forfeit reimbursement.

 

A and Y  Chapters will present checks at the Convention, but C  and D   Chapters are expected to be delinquent in dues. Accordingly C and D will not be entitled to vote at the Convention. 

 

CD Wagner moved and GVP Hileman seconded a motion to withhold a delegate’s reimbursement check until his chapter pays its Spring 2001 dues.  The motion carried.

 

EPC Votaw will create a sign up sheet, because delegates need to commit to the plant tour, so that the plant officials can prepare properly.

 

Convention Officers: The Temporary Officers for the Convention were nominated as follows:

 

President           Grand President

Vice President        Grand Vice president

Secretary           Executive Secretary

Guide                Active Member Visiting Chapter

Chaplain            Active Member Visiting Chapter

Historian            Communications Director

Parliamentarian        Communications Director

 

Procedures Committee: Executive Secretary Chairman /EPC Votaw Member

 

These will be put before the General Convention for approval.

 

Slate of Candidates: The Nominating Committee presented the slate of currently known candidates:

 

GP            John Tighe, Derek Troy, Mike Votaw

GVP           Keith Hileman

CD            Burt Wagner

 

No candidate were slated for the offices of:

 

Sigma Phi Delta Trustee (Must be California Resident)

Sigma Phi Delta Foundation Trustee

 

Future Officer Candidates: In order to develop a slate of National Officers to be elected at the 35th Convention, GP Lindner directed that the 34th Convention attendees be polled to put forward a number of High Potential (or HiPot) members. These members will be developed and called upon to serve in leadership positions in the Fraternity.  Subsequently, Chapter Visit will be used to further develop and cultivate the candidates.

 

Location of 35th General Convention: EPC Votaw moved that the SC recommend to the 34th General Convention that the 35th Convention in 2003 be held in the Eastern Province at W Chapter, Rutgers University, East Brunswick, NJ.  The Alternate would be E  Chapter, North Dakota State University.  CD Wagner seconded, and the motion passed.

 

Province Conventions: GP Lindner stated that the Province Councillor is an important office and should be a member of the Supreme Council, but he is concerned that the Provinces as currently formulated are a redundant, unnecessary level of governance. Their only real business function is to elect a Province Councillor, which is done in years alternate to the election of the other National Officers.  This can be done without a formal level of government between the National and the Chapters, he stated.

 

Furthermore, he stated, if the Fraternity were larger, Provinces could be regional like, North America, Europe, East Asia, etc.  In this model there would be significant regional differences dealing with currencies and local customs.  But this is much bigger than the very fine differences the current Provinces address (minor dues difference, for example).  This does not need a whole level of government, in his mind. GP Lindner stated that trying to put forward a reorganization plan is too big a bite for this Convention, but it needs to start discussing reorganization in order to bring the membership up to speed for the time when such a proposal is put forward.

 

GP Lindner put forth the idea that next year’s Province meetings should be held in the Province in the winter, at the beginning of second semester, rather than in the middle of the summer.  This is the key time, he said, when the Chapters should be setting up rush and membership plans that takes them into the spring and into the fall.  A meeting in the summer is too late to plan for the fall rush; plans need to be made sooner.

 

Although the General Convention is a positive experience, many stated that delegates soon graduate, and the training, experience, and work that went into that person is lost to the chapter.  A more effective approach would be to use a Province retreat to focus on a good rush program primarily. 

 

The best time to do this would be early December, GP Lindner stated, but that’s not workable due to holidays and finals schedule.  The listing of incoming students for the SITE plan is available from the school, usually in February.  The spring is when new students start coming in for orientation and engineering open house.  Fall is way too early and the holidays and finals block out December, which is the ideal time.

 

The weekend of the 19th and 20th of January 2002, a week before Super Bowl, would be ideal.  Make it a road trip weekend for the entire chapter, so all can participate and get the training.

 

Two key ideas to be presented are the SITE plan and the rush plan, and how they help SFD ”win” by dominating engineering campuses.  A successful program will soon make the administration of the engineering school dependant on SFD’s help.  And this in turn lets us get to the best people.  In the future, this could actually lead to a professional management development program.

 

Therefore, the Supreme Council will announce to the General Convention that the Province Conventions will be held regionally as Retreats.  They will be held on 19/20 January, all members of the chapter are expected to attend, and it will be held within a day’s driving distance.  Exemptions will be considered, based on feedback, but in September, not at a late date.

 

Next Supreme Council Meeting: The next meeting will be on-line on 20 August at 6:00PM PDT.  Major pieces of business will be to decide Chapter visitations for the fall based on Chapter Health assessments and set the date for the VCU initiation.

 

Close: There being no other business before the Supreme Council, the meeting was adjourned at 11:06 AM EST.

 

Respectfully submitted,

 

Robert R. Featheringham

Executive Director

Sigma Phi Delta Fraternity

 

Approved for publication 20010925

 

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