FINAL MINUTES
SIGMA PHI DELTA FRATERNITY
SUPREME COUNCIL MEETING
January 15, 2002, 6:00 PM PST
CALL TO ORDER: The on line meeting of Sigma Phi Delta Fraternity Supreme Council was
called to order on January 15, 2001 at 6:00 PM PDT
ROLL CALL:
Supreme Council Members:
1. Grand President Derek Troy
2. Grand Vice President Keith Hileman
3. Executive Director Bob Featheringham
4. Communications Director Alix Minden
5. Eastern Province Councillor Mike Votaw
6. Western Province Councillor Darren Farnworth
7. Central Province Councillor Mike Stelzner
Non Supreme Council
Members attending:
1. Treasurer and Information Systems Manager Ed Hurst
2. Jay Fitzgerald Alpha Alumni
3. Ed Gin Vancouver Alumni Secretary
4. Golam Bokhtier Omega Active
A quorum was present to
allow the conduct of business.
APPROVAL OF MINUTES:
Minutes of Supreme Council
Meeting of December 16, 2001, were approved in accordance with the Fraternity’s
review and approval policy. They were
posted to the Fraternity’s web site on January 10, 2002.
OFFICER REPORTS:
Grand President: Brother
Derek Troy reported:
1. Met with past GP Lindner and transferred GP
files. Lindner has a list of actions on
which he needs to get back to GP Troy.
2. GP Troy welcomed all to the start of his
administration.
Grand Vice President: Brother Keith Hileman reported:
1. Received a box of fall Castles for use in expansion.
2. 2001 Efficiency Contest Results Due March 1st (Form 5A, B, C,D, E) Available on-line.
Executive Director: Brother Bob Featheringham reported:
1. Sent January Birthday cards (348).
2. Coordinated with Orion Offset and bulk
mailed 4184 Castles on 12/31.
3. Polled Officers to see who needs
Supreme Council Jewelry Keys: Oldknow, Stelzner, Hileman, Farnworth, Minden and
Featheringham responded “Aye.”
4. Disposed of excess Pledge Manuals and
“What Fraternity” pamphlets, per SC direction.
5. Shipped 75 SPD Logo Magnets per chapter
to Province Councillors to be distributed at Province Retreats for use by
Chapters in spring 2002 Pledging activity.
6. Heard from Angie Eichler, Greek
Advisor, at Oneonta (NY) State Univ. As a result of SPD’s letter to the editor
demanding that the ladies there cease using the SPD letters for a local
sorority, the ladies sought her console and decided to petition for chapter
status from a national sorority.
7. Mail votes by the General Convention
arrived all month on whether to change the wording of the Fraternity's Object
(via a Constitutional amendment) from "Christian manhood" to
"virtuous manhood." Cutoff
for voting was 31 December. As of that date four "Nays" had been cast
(five are needed to defeat the question). Need to make vote official under New
Business.
Treasurer: Brother Ed Hurst reported:
1. December and 2001 Year-to-Date Financial Statements
were posted to the Web site on 01/09.
2. Alpha and Theta 2001 fall dues situation. Checks
sent in November did not arrive by 31 December. Theta’s check arrived in
January; Alpha will reissue theirs.
Communications Director: Brother Alix Minden reported:
1. He will start working on
the February Castle layout at the end
of the month. He will need pictures and
articles at that time. EPC Votaw suggested that the content have more articles
on active and alumni members and engineering content and less on the officers
and their reports.
2.
Brother
Minden raised the possibility of switching to electronic delivery of Castles. After discussion of several pros and cons, it was decided to work
this idea in a small committee and to put the idea forward formally at the next
Supreme Council meeting. Irrespective
of that, the February Castle will go
out in the mail.
3.
Brother Minden
has not yet received Castle or RITUAL
files from Immediate past CD Wagner.
Note: GP Troy will contact Brother Wagner to attempt to speed up the
transfer.
Western Province Councillor: Brother Darren Farnworth reported:
1. Province Convention/Retreat Report. The
Vancouver Retreat is ready
to go January 18-20 with 37 confirmed attendees. Location for LA retreat has
been booked at Camp Arbolado for Feb 1-3.
2. Chapter Issues: Newly received e-mail
to Brother Farnworth indicates a serious problem at Alpha Alumni. Brother Fitzgerald was present to discuss
it, but since the WPC had not had a chance to read and digest the e-mail, it
was decided to put off discussion until next month when all will be conversant
with the issue.
Central Province Councillor: Brother Mike Stelzner reported:
1. Province Convention/Retreat: The retreat is ready
for 18-20 January with 65 registrants.
2. Chapter Issues: Eta has enlisted the help of
influential alumni and had positive meeting with Marquette administration
regarding their housing situation.
(Eta’s Chief Engineer’s report is attached.)
Eastern Province Councillor: Brother Mike Votaw reported:
1. Province Convention/Retreat: Eastern retreat is
postponed until early spring. Province Secretary Brother Bill Vogel and Omega
member Brother Steve Weiss are working the details.
2. Chapter Issues.
EPC Votaw is having difficulty contacting Psi Chapter, and will redouble
his efforts. Planning to visit Omega in February. Needs a listing of Kappa
Alumni donors to Fundraising Campaign.
COMMITTEE REPORTS:
Expansion: Brother Hileman reported:
1. BUET Interest Group is progressing well, and will
probably petition for charter this spring.
2. MSOE has four Brothers who joined Eta. They will
start a colony at MSOE when CPC Stelzner feels they are ready to be cut free.
MSOE administration has no issues.
3. VCU Colony has lost several members, but have a
firm core. Brother Wagner has
volunteered to be their Alumni Advisor.
4. Nu reactivation effort is currently dormant for
SPD. However, AOE will get a colony as
a consequence of our joint efforts.
5. Lambda reactivation effort is also dormant; will
attempt to revive it in the next few weeks.
6. Nothing is active on the Canadian front, and
Brother Rich Taylor, Director for Canadian Expansion, will be contacted to
attempt to get some activity.
Chapter Health: Brother
Troy reported the draft Forms for assessing Chapter health have been used at
Alpha (Lindner), Theta (Oldknow), Eta (Stelzner) and Psi (Votaw). It is time to
finalize the process and the forms.
Brother Stelzner stated that making it a mandatory requirement is a
problem, and the assessment should only be used in conjunction with the
official visit of a National Officer.
Brother Troy stated he would change the mandatory requirement and then post
the Form to the web site where all could use it.
Publications: Brother
Troy reported:
·
Pledge Manual has
been updated. It is in .pdf format and
will be posted to the web in a password-protected area so that Pledges can get
it. Additionally, Brother Troy is
planning to print the Pledge Manual so Pledges can have their own copy. He wants the PM to be printed and
distributed in a standard way and not by the individual Active Chapters and
will have a printing recommendation next meeting.
·
The Manual of Procedures
is also ready for web posting. It still needs to be
changed to HTML and linked to the Constitution/Statutory Code.
Leadership: Brother Troy reported that
the next Leadership Committee meeting will depend on identification of any
urgent issues.
Fund Raising: Brother Featheringham reported 4200+/- Appeal letters were sent on
11/30. Contributions from actives and alumni began to
arrive in mid December. They were
posted to a log, and the checks are being sent to Treasurer Hurst weekly. On
01/14, four weeks into collections, the following results were posted: 100
brothers have responded to our Appeal.
They have sent in checks for $11,655.00 for an average of $116.55.
Engineer’s United: Brother Troy stated he would head this committee
temporarily, until a permanent chairman can be found. Coordination meeting with
Alpha Omega Epsilon sorority is slated for February. Brother Featheringham will contact AOE and coordinate dates,
after GP Troy provides several candidates. (After February 25.)
Merchandise: Responsibility for this is being passed to Executive Director
Featheringham.
Convention. Brother Featheringham reported he had contacted Event Planning Office
at the University of Illinois for the 35th Convention dates. He is awaiting a formal proposal from the
university before putting the issue to a vote.
Working dates are July 17-19 or 24-26 2003.
ISM Search: Brother Hurst reported he had not made contact with the ISM
candidates. He said he would begin
efforts to update the web site.
(Editors Note: By e-mail, one candidate, Brother Justin Kruger of Eta
Chapter, removed himself from consideration on a matter of conscience.
OLD BUSINESS: The following Old Business was addressed:
Budget Rental Car Accident Status. Nothing new to report
2001-2002 Internships and Scholarships There was a lengthy discussion regarding the need
to hire an intern. Brother Votaw volunteered to get the application form from
the web site and update it. The working
plan developed during the meeting is to solicit candidates from the Actives,
and select the finalist by 1 March. The
position would be paid the usual amount ($3000) and would run for eight months
and be directed toward expansion
and ISM activity.
Nomination for Sigma Phi Delta Foundation Board
Vice-Chairman. This position,
previously held by Brother Gary Ray, became vacant on 31 December 2001. There were no nominations at the 34th
General Convention. Past GP Lindner
stated that when the position becomes vacant the GP, with SC concurrence, can
appoint someone to the position. Brother
Featheringham reported Brother Bob Beals recommended Brother Chuck Shrontz, a
Lambda an alumnus, who works at Bob’s former company. Their close physical proximity would allow meetings to
occur. Brother Troy stated he had e-mailed Brother Beals, and unless there are objections, he
agreed to contact Brother Shrontz about the position. There being
none Brother Troy stated his optimism that he will be able to formally appoint
Brother Schrontz at the next meeting
BUET Alumni Advisor. Brother Troy indicated that he intends to appoint Brother
Don Nash, a Theta Alumni, to this position.
Brother Gin stated that Brother Nash is going to be in Thailand for most
(if not all) of February, and may be difficult to get a hold of. Brother Farnworth stated that Brother Nash
had expressed reservations about holding the office. Brother Troy stated he would contact Brother Nash with the
express idea of appointing him to the position next SC meeting.
Action Item Recapitulation from 12/16/01 SC Meeting (√=completed
item. Italic=carryover from last
month)
Farnworth:
Featheringham:
1.
Provide 35th GC planning data to Hurst
for Web Posting.
2.
Develop National Officer Contact List
Hileman:
1. Reschedule
IPFW meeting for Lambda reactivation.
2.
Keep SC informed of Budget Rental Car accident
claim status.
Hurst:
1.
Seek availability of .net for sigmaphidelta domain.
2. Contact Brother Carlo Mejia (Alpha Alum and owner of sigmaphidelta.com) to make sure nothing "bad" happens to it.
3. Set up
area of CyberCastle web site that can be accessed by Pledges.
4.
Make ISM recommendation to Troy.
Minden:
Stelzner:
Troy:
1.
Complete Pledge
Manual Updates, print and distribute hard copies, and post to web.
2.
Complete Manual of
Procedure Updates and post to web.
Votaw:
1.
Establish Eastern Province Convention and ensure
Province Business is included in Agenda, per Lindner e-mail.
Wagner:
1.
Provide RITUAL files
status report
2. Provide Castle files status report
NEW BUSINESS:
Certification of Virtuous Manhood Vote Result. Ballots
were mailed on 28 November via Certified (Registered to Canada), return receipt
requested. Because of the December
holiday mail rush, the official close was set at 31 December, 33 days from
ballot postmark.
A quorum was present to
hold a mail ballot (Constitution requires 2/3 Active Chapters [6] and two
officers.) Seven Active Chapters, seven Alumni Chapters, and seven officers
participated. Note: Ballots not received by close were cast as “Aye” by the
secretary in accordance with Article III, Section 3 “When business is
transacted by mail, the failure to return the official ballot within 30 days
from postmark will cause said ballot to be counted as an affirmative vote.”
Because of the mail
situation in the US, checks from Alpha and Theta active chapters for Fall 2001
dues were not received on time, and they were considered “not in good standing”
for this vote. Accordingly a total of
21 ballots were cast as: 17 “Ayes” and 4 “Nays.”
Constitutional Amendments
require 3/4 vote as “Ayes.” The “Ayes” have it. There was no objection, and the motion passed.
Brother Troy directed the
Object be changed on the web site immediately.
Changes to print version will be delayed until Eta’s proposed amendment
is finally disposed of.
Other New Business:
Disposition of Eta’s Proposed Amendment to the
Virtuous Manhood Change to the Object. Eta’s proposed amendment (e.g., “manhood under God”) to the Virtuous
Manhood proposal was offered at the December SC meeting, and it was disposed of
on Parliamentary grounds (lack of a second). After lengthy discussion the SC
concluded that Eta could now offer their own stand-alone amendment (rather than
an amendment to an amendment) to the Supreme Council, and if it passed in the
SC, the SC would pass it on to the General Convention for another mail ballot.
Or Eta could wait until the next General Convention in summer 2003 to offer
their amendment.) In the meantime
Brother Hurst had suggested “virtuous manhood under God” as a compromise that
would not require a change to the newly adopted “virtuous manhood” language and
still address Eta’s concerns.
Theta’s 70th Anniversary. Brother Gin announced that this is Theta’s 70th Anniversary
year. Although no special celebration
is planned, all brothers are invited to Theta’s annual formal dinner. Contact brother Gin at egin@interchange.ubc.ca.
NEXT MEETING:
The next SC meeting will be on February 12, 2002 at 6:00 PM PST.
ADJOURNMENT:
There being no further
business, the meeting adjourned at 7:35 PST.
ACTION RECAPITULATION:
Farnworth:
·
Report on Alpha
Alumni situation and make recommendations, if any.
Featheringham:
·
Schedule Coordination Meeting with AOE for February.
Hileman:
·
Contact Brother
Taylor re: Canadian expansion
Hurst:
·
Task incoming ISM (or
intern) to convert MOP to HTML and link it to Constitution and Statutory Code.
Troy:
·
Contact Brother
Warner to expedite transfer of Castle and RITUAL files to Brother Minden.
·
Appoint Brother Don
Nash (or other) as BUET Alumni Advisor
·
Appoint Brother Burt
Wagner (or other) as VCU Colony Alumni Advisor
·
Provide F’ham
potential dates for AOE meeting in February
·
Appoint Foundation
Board member.
Votaw:
·
Make contact with Psi
to ascertain any issues there.
·
Visit Omega in
February
·
Get Intern
Application Form from the web and update it.
Members
of the Supreme Council of Sigma Phi Delta,
Over the past few weeks, there has been much concern
regarding the situation of Eta and its newly acquired chapter house. There was, for a time, a concern about us
possibly losing the house due to rent, and Brothers moving out. We feared the worst, with the possibility of
a domino effect beginning and having the chapter bottom out.
The active chapter decided to contact alumni about
the situation, and find a remedy for the situation. We knew that the alumni were our best chance in gaining any
leverage with Marquette in any lease negotiations.
After a few meetings with alumni, a small committee was
formed, which consisted of Bill Burkhart, Jim Finn, and Tom Urban. With the Vice-Chief John Loftus III, the
Business Manager John Egan, and myself we had a meeting with the Vice President
of Student Affairs, Andy Thon, S.J.
To give a brief overview of the meeting, Fr. Andy stated that
we would look into long and short-term solutions regarding the Eta house. He also stated that he spoke on Marquette’s
behalf when he said they were not planning on removing us from the house, and
that they would work on the lease with us, which would be fair to all parties.
After the meeting, Jim, Tom, and I decided it would be most
beneficial to bring back the Alumni Chapter, which could act as a guide and
liaison between Marquette and the active Chapter. Their first meeting will be this Thursday at 7pm at the Chapter
house.
In closing, the outlook for Eta has become very positive over
the last few weeks. We will continue
negotiations with Marquette, and come to a fair deal for both Marquette and
us. Feel free to email me at stevemascheri@yahoo.com if you have
any questions.
Fraternally,
Steven
C. Mascheri
Chief
Engineer
Sigma
Phi Delta, Eta Chapter
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