CALL TO ORDER: The on line meeting of Sigma Phi Delta Fraternity Supreme Council was called to order on May 14, 2002, at 6:15 PM PST with Grand President Derek Troy presiding.

ROLL CALL:
Supreme Council Members:
1. Grand President Derek Troy
2. Grand Vice President Keith Hileman (Absent)
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:
· Treasurer Ed Hurst
· Information Systems Manager Golam Bokhtier (Absent)

A quorum was present to allow the conduct of business.

APPROVAL OF MINUTES:
Minutes of the April 16, 2002, Supreme Council Meeting were approved in accordance with the Fraternity’s review and approval policy.  They were sent to the ISM for posting to the Fraternity’s web site on April 28, 2002, and subsequently posted.

OFFICER REPORTS:

Grand President: Reported the following:
1. BUET Petition for Charter was not received in time to be voted on by GC this spring.  It will be reconsidered in the fall.  In the meantime the SC should discuss the merits of the Petition and the implied consequences on the Fraternity. The Transcript from the March International Committee meeting will be distributed in advance, so that all SC members can be conversant with the issues thus far articulated. The Petition will be discussed in detail at the June 2002 Supreme Council meeting.
2. Visits to Epsilon and Phi went well.

Grand Vice President: Reported the following:
1. Efficiency Contest: In the Grand Vice President’s absence, ED Featheringham reported that only the Eastern Province Councillor’s evaluations are missing.  When they are completed, the results of the contest will be announced. (Brother Votaw stated he was working on the results and would have them completed in a day or two.)

Executive Director: Reported the following:
1. Certificate of Revivor for Articles of Incorporation: Brother Bob Beals supplied Treasurer Brother Hurst with the required tax statement data; Hurst will complete the Forms. (Brother Hurst reported that the accountant was expected to complete the tax forms this week.) On 25 April another Form “Statement by Domestic Nonprofit Corporation” was sent to the California Secretary of State with an updated listing of our Board of Trustees.
2.  Contacted Brother Mat Gavronskey (Eta Alumnus) who agreed to help get our expired trademarks reinstated. His firm will not be unable to do the work pro bono; we are negotiating a fee for reinstating US and Canadian Trademarks. Ballpark estimate is $6K (eight total), including filing fee of $600 for US. To keep the amount of attorney time required to a minimum, Brother Gavronski suggested that the Fraternity send him the old trademark filings.  Brother Bob Beals sent Executive Director the originals of our three US and three Canadian trademarks, and these were sent to Brother Gravronski. Executive Director is awaiting a proposal from Brother Gavronski’s firm to re-instate our expired marks.
3. Mailed May birthday cards: 338 US; 25 Canada; 5 other.
4. Worked directly with Psi and Phi to get spring 2002 delinquent dues paid.  Theta was to have sent theirs in after finals.
5. E-mail sent to all Active Chapters notifying them of the requirement to send a picture of their rip-off trophies to the ISM for posting on the web.

Treasurer: Reported the following:
1. April 2002 Financial Statements posted to the Web.
2. Theta and Psi became delinquent on dues on 30 March. (Phi’s check has a problem and needs to have a Form 22 attached.)

Communications Director: Reported the following:
1. Spring 2002 Castle was mailed on 18 April. Next issue will be September.
2. Spring 2000 Castle was posted to web.
3. RITUAL Issues. RITUALs have been reprinted.  A full set was sent to Phi; new versions will be sent to Grand President and Executive Director this week.

Western Province Councillor: Reported the following:
1. Active Chapter Issues/Reports:
· Alpha: Not getting any communication from Alpha. Grand President Brother Troy stated Alpha was done for the summer.
· Theta: Spring dues are delinquent; money is in the bank, but no one is available to sign a check.
2. Alumni Chapter Issues:
· Alpha Alumni held its elections this spring. They will submit a Form 26.
· Vancouver Alumni completed their election of officers.  Their Form 26 will be submitted tomorrow.

Central Province Councillor:
1. Active Chapter Issues/Reports:
· Eta: Received Marquette’s award for most improved GPA.
· Delta: No issues to report.
· Epsilon: No issues to report.
· Phi: Got into temporary house.  Trying to straighten out missing documentation with National.
2. Alumni Chapter Issues: No issues to report.

Eastern Province Councillor:
1. Province Retreat Planning. Eastern Province retreat is scheduled for June 7-9 in at Ohiopyle State Park in Southwestern Pennsylvania. Over 20 attendee confirmed (without Kappa’s headcount yet.)  Lots of fun events are planned plus good brotherhood, and fraternity tutorials.
2. Active Chapter Issues:
· Psi: Has not yet paid its spring dues. ED F’ham is working with Psi’s Business Manager, Brother Sedutto. Psi doing much better thanks to visit by GVP Brother Hileman and ED Brother F’ham.
· Omega: No issues to report.
· Kappa: No issues to report.
3. Alumni Chapter Issues: No issues to report.
 
COMMITTEE REPORTS:

Expansion: (Hileman). No report; following was compiled from other sources.
1. ED F’ham sent out listing of 270 +/- US and Canadian schools with ABET or CEAB accredited engineering and engineering technology curricula.  Will use this as a basis for evolving a strategy for fall 2002 expansion efforts.

Publications: (Troy)
1. Pledge Manual was posted to web.  Intend to distribute paper copies in three-ring binders.
2. Manual of Procedures (MOP) Update. New Intern Brother Jeff Leesman of Delta was tasked to translate MOP from .pdf to HTML and link it to Constitution and Statutory Code.  Treasurer Brother Ed Hurst will supervise this work, which should take a month or two’s effort.

Fund Raising. (F’ham) Results as of 5/11/02: 169 contributors total $20,615 for an average of $121.98.  Distributions: General Fund $12,365; Foundation $6,110; various Alumni Chapters $2,140.  We’ve exceeded our $20,000 goal!

Engineers United. (Troy) No report.
 

Merchandise. (F’ham) Low level of commitment until fall. Working with local graphics house to get logo designed, ($175 approved by Grand President.)

35th General Convention. (F’ham) The convention will be held on 24-27 July 2003, with Delta Active and Alumni chapters hosting.  Announcement is on the web site.  Delta members are still working out details as to whether to use dormitory or hotel housing for the delegates.  They will not be able to confirm meeting halls until summer when the reservations will be taken.

OLD BUSINESS: The following Old Business was addressed:

Budget Rental Car Accident Status. Attorney made a settlement offer six weeks ago, with no response yet from Budget.

Chapter Visits by Officers: Visits since January 2002 were as follows:

1. Alpha: ?F’ham 4 March 2002
2. Delta: ?CPC  Stelzner (unofficial) March 2 (Postponed due to weather, but stopped by for short visit April 6)
3. Epsilon: ?CPC Stelzner February15;?Troy April 21
4. Eta: ?CPC Stelzner (unofficial) March 1
5. Theta: ?70th Anniversary Formal Dinner March 9, Farnworth
6. Kappa: No visits
7. Phi:?CPC Stelzner February 22; ?Troy April 19-20
8. Psi: ?GVP Hileman and ED F’ham April 11 for Founder’s Day.  ?F’ham attended pledge installation 30 April.
9. Omega: ?F’ham attended pledge initiation on April 21.

Visits for 2002-3 school year will be planned over the next few months.  ED Brother F’ham will develop a draft schedule.

Transfer of Monies from Trustees to Fraternity. Treasurer Brother Ed Hurst reported that the quarterly transfer of $10,000 has not yet occurred for the current quarter.

Rip Off Trophy.  Executive Director Brother F’ham reported that he had sent an e-mail to all Active chapters notifying them of the requirement to put pictures of their Rip Off Trophies on the web site.  All Province Councillors were charged with getting their Chapters to submit the pictures. A general consensus was reached that the pictures of the Rip Off Trophies would be available on the web site where pledges can have access, and CPC Brother Stelzner agreed to inform the ISM of this when he submits his Chapters’ pictures.

Acrobat Reader Purchase.  Grand President Brother Troy directed Treasurer Brother Hurst to hold off on purchasing the software until the Intern has progressed to the point where he needs it to complete his work.

Action Item Recapitulation from 04/16/02 SC Meeting  (?=completed item. Italic=carryover from last month):

Bokhtier:
1. ?Post convention announcement to web page.

Farnworth:
1. ?Determine status of Theta’s spring dues check now that they are delinquent as of 30 March.
2. Check fall schedules and plan fall visitations accordingly.
3. Get pictures of Chapters’ Rip-Off Trophies and provide them to ISM for posting on the web.
 

Featheringham:
1. ?Write announcement regarding convention date for web page.
2. ?Attend Omega’s Initiation 4/21.
3. ?Attend Psi’s Initiation 4/30.

Hileman:
1. Reschedule IPFW meeting for Lambda reactivation.
2. Keep SC informed of Budget Rental Car accident claim status.

Hurst:
1. Supervise Intern’s efforts to convert Manual of Procedure to HTML and link it to the Constitution and Statutory Code.
2. Seek availability of .net for sigmaphidelta domain.
3. Contact Brother Carlo Mejia (Alpha Alum and owner of sigmaphidelta.com) to make sure nothing "bad" happens to it.
4. Complete Tax Forms for California Franchise Tax Board.
5. Write Purchase Order for PC version of Adobe Acrobat Writer.

Minden:

Stelzner:
2. ?Check with Phi re: status of Form 22 to support spring dues payment.
3. Check fall schedules and plan fall visitations accordingly.
4. Get pictures of Chapters’ Rip-Off Trophies and provide them to ISM for posting on the web.
 

Troy:
1. Print copies of Pledge Manual for Hileman.
2. ?Task intern Brother Jeff Leesman of Delta to convert MOP to HTML and link it to Constitution and Statutory Code.

Votaw:
2. Complete Form 5C Efficiency Report for each active chapter by 1 March.
3. Determine status of Psi spring dues now that they are delinquent as of 30 March.
4. Check fall schedules and plan fall visitations accordingly.
5. Get pictures of Chapters’ Rip-Off Trophies and provide to them ISM for posting on the web.
 

NEW BUSINESS:

BUET Petition to Become a Chapter. The Interest Group at Bangladesh University of Engineering Technology presented a Petition to become a Chapter. The Petition requires the vote of the General Convention.

After discussing the merits of the Petition in April, Grand President Brother Troy stated that it was too late in the year to present such an important issue to the General Convention (by mail vote).  Treasurer Hurst raised concern about the ABET accreditation (or national equivalent) requirement of the Constitution.

Transcript of International Committee meeting indicates several major hurdles, and Brother Troy decided to postpone discussion of this topic until the June Supreme Council meeting.

NEXT MEETING:
The next SC meeting will be on June 18, 2002, at 6:00 PM PDT.

ADJOURNMENT:
There being no further business, the meeting adjourned at 7:05 PM PDT.

ACTION RECAPITULATION: Actions resulting from the meeting:

Bokhtier:
1. Put Rip off Trophy pictures on web in location where Pledges can view them.

Farnworth:
1. Follow up with Los Angeles and Vancouver Alumni Chapters to be sure Form 26’s are sent to National Office.

Featheringham:
1. Publish Draft Schedule for fall 2002 visits.
Hileman:

Hurst:

Minden:

Stelzner:

Troy:

Votaw:
 

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