CALL TO ORDER: The on line meeting of Sigma Phi Delta Fraternity Supreme Council was called to order on June 18, 2002, at 6:15 PM PST with Grand President Derek Troy presiding.
ROLL CALL:
Supreme Council Members:
· Grand President Derek Troy
· Grand Vice President Keith Hileman
· Executive Director Bob Featheringham
· Communications Director Alix Minden
· Eastern Province Councillor Mike Votaw (Absent)
· Western Province Councillor Darren Farnworth (Absent)
· Central Province Councillor Mike Stelzner (Absent)
Non Supreme Council Members attending:
· Treasurer Ed Hurst
· Information Systems Manager Golam Bokhtier (Absent)
· Vancouver Alumni Secretary Ed Gin
A quorum was present to allow the conduct of business.
APPROVAL OF MINUTES:
Minutes of the May 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 May 30,
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 was distributed, so that all SC members can be conversant
with the issues thus far articulated. The Petition will be discussed in
detail under Old Business.
2. Star issue being planned.
Grand Vice President: Reported the following:
1. Efficiency Contest: Brother Hielman has all inputs and has tabulated
the results. He is not yet ready to announce the winner; it will
probably be in the next Star issue,
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 and send them to the California Franchise
Tax Board.
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. 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. However, a search by his office of the
Patent and Trademark Office (PTO) on-line data base failed to retrieve
our Trademarks. We consequently decided to have Brother Gravonski’s
firm contract with the PTO to make a manual search of their files to determine
whether someone else has claimed our marks. Executive Director is
awaiting an “Engagement Letter” from the firm, which they require before
commencing any “real” work.
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. May 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.) Brother Featheringham
has contacted each of the Chapter in order to resolve this issue.
3. Documentation for California FTB cannot be completed until a unified
fraternity/trustee 2001 end-of-year statement is completed. Brother
Hurst will ask Board of Trustee Treasurer Brother Bruce Myatt for the Board’s
end-of-year data.
Communications Director: Nothing new to report.
Western Province Councillor: Absent. Following was compiled from
other sources:
1. Active Chapter Issues/Reports:
· Theta has not paid it spring dues, nor submitted reports for
its spring 2002 pledge class. Brother Featheringham contacted incoming
Chief Engineer to get this resolved.
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 on 19 June.
Central Province Councillor: Absent. Following was compiled from other
sources.
1. Active Chapter Issues/Reports:
· Phi has not sent in a Form 20 to support its spring 2002 dues
check. Brother Featheringham is in contact with Chief Engineer Chad
Meirose trying to get this resolved. Separately, the paper work for
supporting their Spring 2002 initiation was received on 6/17; checks were
received by Treasurer Brother Hurst.
2. Alumni Chapter Issues:
Eastern Province Councillor: Absent. Following was compiled
from other sources:
1. Province Retreat Results. Eastern Province retreat was held on June
7-9 in at Ohiopyle State Park in Southwestern Pennsylvania. Over 20 attended
from Psi and Omega (Kappa did not participate.) Brother Mike Votaw
was re-elected Province Councillor and Brother Steve Weiss was elected
Province Secretary. Report will be posted to the web site shortly
by outgoing Secretary Brother Bill Vogel.
2. Active Chapter Issues:
· Psi: Has not yet paid its spring dues. ED F’ham is working
with Psi’s immediate past Business Manager, Brother Sedutto, and immediate
past Chief Engineer Brother John Soisson, to get this matter resolved.
They are also delinquent on the paper work to support their Spring 2002
initiations.
· Omega: None
· Kappa: None
3. Alumni Chapter Issues:
COMMITTEE REPORTS:
Expansion: (Hileman)..
1. ED F’ham sent out listing of 270 +/- US and Canadian schools with
ABET or CEAB accredited engineering and engineering technology curricula.
Brother Hileman selected 20 from this list for further research, based
on location, presence of competitor fraternities, and student body. Brother
Featheringham will do on-line research and attempt to call the schools
to determine the potential.
2. The status of current colleges being considered for expansion is:
· University of Texas at Arlington (UT-A). Interested students
have invited Brother Hileman to a summer rush function on July 20, which
is being supported by 5-7 alumni in the Arlington area.
· Milwaukee School of Engineering (MSOE). The Brothers
there are members of Eta, and they are considering splitting off into their
own colony in the fall of 2002.
· University of Toledo. Brother Corey Pressler, a Kappa Alumni,
is attending graduate school there. He held a information session
two weeks ago with engineering students interested in forming a Sigma Phi
Delta chapter. No report from Brother Pressler at this time.
· University of Calgary. A female student there is still
interested in helping us start a colony.
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 completed translating the MOP from .pdf to HTML and linked it
to Constitution and Statutory Code. Treasurer Brother Ed Hurst has
reviewed the material, finds it to be a quality product and a great resource,
and will post in on the web in the Pledge-accessible area.
Fund Raising. (F’ham) Results as of 6/17/02: 216 contributors total $25,910 for an average of $119.95. Distributions: General Fund $14,455; Foundation $8,620; various Alumni Chapters $2,835. We’ve exceeded our $20,000 goal! The campaign closes on 30 June; a full report will be enclosed in the Star. Premiums will be ordered and shipped during July.
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.) Discussion of Draft Logo followed; with several ideas on improving the draft (and for a completely new design). Brother Featheringham took an action to get the draft changed per comments and send it out again. If another round of comments is required, we’ll have to rely on fraternity resources, as the graphics house is for a firm fixed price, without major iterations.
35th General Convention. (F’ham) Nothing new to report. 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 for 2002-3 school year will be planned over the next few months. ED Brother F’ham developed a draft schedule matrix.
Transfer of Monies from Trustees to Fraternity. Treasurer Brother Ed Hurst reported that the quarterly transfer of $10,000 hadn’t occurred for the current quarter, and he needs to contact Trustee Brother Myatt about this.
Rip Off Trophy. Brother Bokhtier reported only one Chapter has submitted its photo.
Acrobat Reader Purchase. Nothing new to report. 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.
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. In the interest of time, Brothers Troy and Featheringham will develop a firm proposal for Supreme Council vote. That will then be the Supreme Council’s recommendation to the General Convention. The plan is to send out ballots on the first part of September and get votes back in early October.
Action Item Recapitulation from 05/16/02 SC Meeting (?=completed item. Italic=carryover from last month):
Bokhtier:
1. Put Rip off Trophy pictures on web in location where Pledges can
view them.
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.
4. 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 Matrix for fall 2002 visits.
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:
· Check with Phi re: status of Form 22 to support spring dues
payment.
· Check fall schedules and plan fall visitations accordingly.
· 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.
Votaw:
1. Determine status of Psi spring dues 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 to them ISM
for posting on the web.
NEW BUSINESS:
NEXT MEETING:
The next SC meeting will be on July 16, 2002, at 6:00 PM PDT.
ADJOURNMENT:
There being no further business, the meeting adjourned at 7:50 PM PDT.
ACTION RECAPITULATION: Actions resulting from the meeting:
Bokhtier:
Farnworth:
Featheringham:
1. Provide comments on Draft Logo to Graphics house.
2. Develop SC position on BUET Petition for next meeting.
Hileman:
Hurst:
Minden:
Stelzner:
Troy:
Votaw: