CALL TO ORDER: The on line meeting of Sigma Phi Delta Fraternity Supreme Council was called to order on July 16, 2002, at 6:00 PM PST; Grand President Derek Troy presided.

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

Non Supreme Council Members attending:
1. Treasurer Ed Hurst
2. Information Systems Manager Golam Bokhtier (Absent)
3. Vancouver Alumni Secretary Ed Gin
4. Delta Alumni Treasurer Andy Hill

A quorum was present to allow the conduct of business.

APPROVAL OF MINUTES:
Minutes of the June 18, 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 July 10, 2002, and subsequently posted.

OFFICER REPORTS:

Grand President: Reported on the following:
1. The students’ at Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology (BUET) Petition for Charter was not received in time to be voted on by the General Convention (GC) this spring and was postponed until fall. In the meantime the Transcript from the March International Committee meeting was distributed so that all Supreme Council (SC) members can be conversant with the issues thus far articulated. The SC has discussed the merits of the Petition and the implied consequences on the Fraternity a non-North America chapter would have on operations. A Draft of the Ballot for GC mail vote will be discussed, and vote will be taken tonight under Old Business regarding a SC recommendation to the GC on the Petition. The ballot will go out on 1 September and the voting will close on 1 October.
2. Star issue being planned. ED Featheringham is preparing an article or on results of the fundraising campaign.  GVP Hileman is preparing an article on the Efficiency Contest results.  GP Troy will write an article on the State of the Fraternity.
3. GP Troy announced that he is in the process of preparing a proposal for amending the Constitution.  The proposed amendments will restructure the way the Fraternity is organized making a unified National organization. This will result in reduced province government and a stronger National organization.  Conceptually, the provinces would remain as geographical areas, and the province counselors would remain as Supreme Council members; however, there would be no by-laws and a governmental organization at the province level. Accordingly, there would be just one National dues amount, and National would fund all province retreats/conventions instead of having separately accountable Fraternity funds for each individual province

Grand Vice President: Reported on the following:
1. Efficiency Contest results.  Winners will be announced formally in the upcoming issue of the Star.
2. A decision has to be made regarding our continuing to fund a book scholarship for the 2002/3 school year.

Executive Director: Reported on the following:
1. Certificate of Revivor for Articles of Incorporation: Brother Bob Beals supplied Treasurer Brother Hurst with the required tax statement data; Treasurer 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 database 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 executed an “Engagement Letter” from the firm, which they require before commencing any “real” work.
3. Mailed July birthday cards: 332 US; 25 Canada; 1 other.
4. Worked directly with Psi and Phi to get spring 2002 delinquent dues paid (both checks are in, but have problems).  No word from Theta on when theirs will be sent in; they are having problems coordinating among Brothers over the summer.
5. Paperwork is incomplete for Epsilon’s Spring 2000 Pledge Class (Forms 1, 20 [with check] and Form 21.

Treasurer: Reported the following:
1. June 2002 Financial Statements posted to the Web at: http://www.sigmaphidelta.org/financial/jun2002.xls
2. Theta, Phi, and Psi became delinquent on dues on 30 March. (Phi’s and Psi’s checks each have a problem; Phi’s needs the Form 22 and Psi’s is $60 short.)  These checks have not been deposited.
3. Documentation for California FTB cannot be completed until a unified fraternity/trustee 2001 end-of-year statement is completed. Treasurer Hurst received the 2001 Trustee account statements from Trustee Treasurer Brother Bruce Myatt and forwarded these to the Fraternity's accountant last week.  The accountant will complete our 2001 tax returns, along with the California forms necessary to re-incorporate the Fraternity in that state within the next 10 days.
4. The check from the Board of Trustees (Myatt) arrived at Treasurer Hurst’s post office on July 16.  Per the Supreme Council vote, it will be deposited as follows:
· $20,000 into the General Fund to supplement the Executive Director’s salary expenses for Q1 and Q2 of 2002.
· $5,000 into the Set-Aside Scholarship account for internship payments.

Communications Director: Nothing new to report.

Western Province Councillor: Absent; this report was compiled from other sources
1. Active Chapter Issues/Reports:
· Theta has not paid their spring 2002 dues, nor submitted reports for its spring 2002 pledge class. Brother Featheringham contacted incoming Chief Engineer Hugh Turner in June, but the issue is not yet resolved.
2. Alumni Chapter Issues:
· Alpha Alumni held its elections this spring. They have not submitted a Form 26.

Central Province Councillor:
1. Active Chapter Issues/Reports:
· Phi and Epsilon delinquencies.  CPC Brother Stelzner sent e-mails to Phi and Epsilon in regards to their current paperwork problems
· Phi has not sent in a Form 22 to support its spring 2002 dues check.  Brother Featheringham contacted Chief Engineer Chad Meirose trying to get this resolved.
· Epsilon’s paperwork for Spring 2002 Pledge Class is incomplete.
2. Alumni Chapter Issues: None.
3. CPC Stelzner will not be able to attend in the General Convention, Summer of 2003, but he will work with CPC-elect Brother Matt Hayes to ensure that the Rip Off Trophy points of the Central Province are correctly tallied. He reminded all that Kappa has to award the Master Rip Off Trophy to the chapter with the most points, unless Kappa has the most points. See: http://www.sigphi.org/RipOff-Trophy.htm for information and scoring rules.
4. Chapter Visit Planning.
· Brother Stelzner is planning Fall 2002 visitations trips to Delta and Eta. He sent out emails to both Chiefs to choose a weekend in October.  For both visits CPC-elect Brother Hayes will accompany him.  There will be no charge to the Fraternity for these trips.
· With regards to Phi, Brother Stelzner is prepared to make a visit there in the fall, probably October, given the difficult circumstances there; however, he is prepared to move the date to the second or third week of September, and is seeking advice from other officers. He is also prepared to have Brother Hayes accompany him there.  Brother Troy recommended that the Executive Director visit Phi in the fall 2002 and the CPC visit in the spring 2003.
Eastern Province Councillor: Absent.  Following report was e-mailed:
1. Eastern Province Retreat. Report not yet posted to the web site; minutes will be completed in a few days. EPC Brother Votaw started planning the 2003 retreat, but will have to confirm a date in the coming months with all three chapters.
2. Active Chapter Issues:
· Psi: Paid its spring dues, but check amount was incorrect--$60 short. All paper work to support their spring 2002 initiation is now complete.
· Omega: None
· Kappa: EPC Votaw working with Kappa and is very excited about the new Chief.  They will be working on the rush program in the next couple of weeks.
3. Alumni Chapter Issues: None
4. Rip Off Trophy. Talked to the chapters about the rip off trophy.  Kappa has not finished theirs, but is working on it.  Will have to check with Omega and Psi
5. Chapter Visitations. Planning for visits in Sept/Oct to all three chapters.
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 continuing to do on-line research and calling the schools to determine the potential (many contacts are away for the summer, however).
2. The status of current colleges being considered for expansion is:
3. University of Texas at Arlington (UT-A). Interested students have invited Brother Hileman to a summer Rush/Alumni function on July 20 at a local park near UTA, which is being supported by 5-7 alumni in the Arlington area. Expect a petition to colony from this group by the end of summer
4. 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.
5. University of Toledo. Brother Corey Pressler, a Kappa Alumni, is attending graduate school there.  He held a information session in June with engineering students to determine interest in forming a Sigma Phi Delta chapter there. Not much interest was developed; perhaps more students will show interest in the fall.
6. University of Calgary.  A female student there is still interested in helping us establish AOE and SPD colonies.
7. St. Louis.  We just received word that a total of four SPD Brothers from our Delta Chapter will be attending schools in St. Louis in the up coming fall semester.  They have asked for support and guidance to start up a colonization efforts there as well.  Will investigate and start communications immediately.

Publications: (Troy)
1. Pledge Manual was posted to web.  Intend to distribute paper copies in three-ring binders to each officer for discussion at the next meeting.
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 posted in on the web.

Fund Raising. (F’ham) We exceeded our $20,000 goal!  Final Results: 206 contributors totaled $26,270 for an average of $127.52.  Distributions: General Fund $14,505; Foundation $8,820; various Alumni Chapters $2,2945. A full report is being prepared and will be enclosed in the Star. Premiums will be ordered (and shipped, hopefully) during July.  Brother Votaw is heading that subcommittee

Engineers United. (Troy) No report.

Merchandise. (F’ham) Low level of commitment until fall. Working with local graphics house to get logo designed, ($125 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.  A second draft will be considered under Old Business.

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. Brother Hileman’s attorney made a settlement offer, with no response yet from Budget.  Attorney will send settlement/closuer letter stating that since there has been no response in six months to first settlement, he considers the issue closed. Brother Hileman will review status with lawyer early next week.

Chapter Visits by Officers:  A schedule of classes for the universities where we have chapters was provided with the Agenda and will be used to develop a visitation schedule under New Business.

Rip Off Trophy. ISM Brother Bokhtier reported only one Chapter has submitted its photo.

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.

Vote On Proposed Logo.  Two versions of the proposed logo are provided; the smaller one takes into account all comments from June meeting.  The larger one deletes the “ribbon,” allowing the word “Engineers” to be more boldly displayed.

Communications Director brother Minden moved to open discussion on the logo,and Grand Vice President Brother Hileman seconded it. Of the two logo candidates submitted, a consensus emerged around the larger.  Vancouver Alumni Secretary stated he’d still like to see a design that also incorporated a star as well as a castle, and agreed to draft one for consideration.
Discussion then evolved about whether the chapters should be included in the voting.  Since this is not a constitutional issue, a choice is within the province of the Supreme Council.  However, because the desire is to have widespread acceptance of the logo, the members agreed to put the decision to the vote of the chapters.

Brother Stelzner moved to allow the chapters to choose between the logo designed by the graphic artist and the one to be designed by Brother Gin. CD Brother Minden seconded.  The motion passed.

In order to maintain a schedule for producing fraternity merchandise as a premium for the Fundraising Campaign contributors, Brother Featheringham stated he would not wait until the new logo is approved, but would use the simple logo employed in the Fundraising campaign.

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.

Executive Director Brother F’ham moved and CPC Brother Stelzner seconded a motion to submit the Draft ballot (with subsidiary issues removed) to the GC with a recommendation to accept the BUET petition.

Discussion revolved around the Constitutional requirement that chapters be located at schools having a curriculum accredited by the Accreditation Board of Engineering and Technology (ABET), which is a US body.  ABET does recognize certain non-US engineering curricula as “Substantially Equivalent Programs (SEP),” and there are only 12 such schools, see http://www.abet.org/sub_equ_prg1.html . However, BUET is not one of the schools so recognized.

An interesting dichotomy was evidenced in that the Constitution does not even recognize Canadian Engineering Accreditation Board (CEAB); however, the Pledge Manual states in part "A separate group governs the accreditation of Engineering curricula and engineers in Canada, but it works closely with ABET in the United States."  The engineering curriculum at University of British Columbia is accredited by CEAB, not ABET.  Also, it was pointed out that the engineering curriculum at Tri-State (Kappa) and Indiana Tech (Lambda) were not ABET (then called ECPD) accredited, yet those chapters were given charters.  So, there is evidence of three cases where chapters were admitted from engineering schools that were (are) not ABET accredited.

After much discussion on this, a consensus congealed around a position that this matter needs to be addressed as a Constitutional amendment.  The amendment would require engineering school curricula be either ABET (US), CEAB (Canada), or ABET-SEP (non-North American schools) accredited.  In cases where Petitions for Charter came from students at non-North American schools that are not accredited as ABET SEP, the Supreme Council could waive the requirement before sending the Petition for Charter to the General Convention.

With that position developed, the motion passed unanimously.

Brother Troy announced that anybody having any other GC business, needs to submit it one week prior to the next SC meeting.

Action Item Recapitulation from 06/18/02 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 Alumni Chapter to be sure Form 26 is sent to National Office.

Featheringham:
· ?Provide comments on Draft Logo to Graphics house.
· ?Develop SC position on BUET Petition for July meeting.
 

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. Complete Tax Forms for California Franchise Tax Board.
4. Write Purchase Order for PC version of Adobe Acrobat Writer.

Minden:

Stelzner:
1. Check with Epsilon to determine status of Spring 2002 Pledge class paperwork (Forms 20 [with check] and 21)
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.

Votaw:
5. Post Eastern Province Minutes/Report on the web.
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:

Chapter Visitations Schedule: The following initial schedule of Chapter Visits was developed.

Fall 2002

 Spring 2003

NEXT MEETING:
The next SC meeting will be on August 20, 2002, at 6:00 PM PDT.

ADJOURNMENT:
ACTION RECAPITULATION: Actions resulting from the meeting:

Bokhtier:

Farnworth:

Featheringham:

Hileman:

Hurst:

Minden:

Stelzner:

Troy:
Distribute paper copies in three-ring binders to each officer for discussion at the next meeting.

Votaw:

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