SIGMA PHI DELTA FRATERNITY

SUPREME COUNCIL MEETING

September 24, 2002, 6:00 PM PDT

CALL TO ORDER: The on line meeting of Sigma Phi Delta Fraternity Supreme Council was called to order on September 24, 2002, at 6:00 PM PST, Grand President Derek Troy presiding.

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 (Absent)

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

·        Western Province Secretary, John Tighi

A quorum present to allow the conduct of business.

APPROVAL OF MINUTES:

Minutes of the August 20, 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 September 14, 2002, and subsequently posted.

OFFICER REPORTS:

Grand President: Reported on the following:

1.    The Star is completed, will be at the printer this week and in the mail by month’s end.

2.    SC members need to get their ballots submitted to ED Featheringham by the 30 September deadline, and Province Counselors need to remind their chapters to submit their ballots.  The ballots are for General Convention mail votes on changes to the Constitution and Statutory Code, acceptance of the Petition for Charter from the students at Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology (BUET), and selecting a new fraternity logo.  Official ballots are on the web site and are appended to these minutes.

Grand Vice President: Reported on the following: Nothing new to report.

Executive Director: Reported on the following:

1.    Certificate of Revivor for Articles of Incorporation: Treasurer Hurst will complete the Forms and send them to the California Franchise Tax Board (FTB). The accountant sought another extension to October.

2.    The Patent and Trademark Office (PTO) reported that they could find no record of our previously recorded marks; the files were not renewed for over 20 years and apparently destroyed.  Brother Gavronski recommends that we just file for new marks.  The costs per mark is approximately $800, $600 to the PTO and $200 in attorney fees.

3.    Mailed September birthday cards: 339 US; 18 Canada; 2 other.

4.    Paperwork is still incomplete for Epsilon’s and Phi’s fall 2001 Pledge Classes (Forms 1, 20 [with checks] and 21).

5.    Ballots are arriving at the National Office and will be tabulated on 1 October.

6.    Continuing to research cost of a National Liability insurance policy.

7.    Will attend informal information exchange meeting with Theta Tau and Triangle in November.

8.    Met with Brother Bob Beals in East Liverpool, OH.  Retrieved six boxes of historical material, which will be catalogued and filed.

Treasurer: Reported the following:

1.    Combined July/August/September 2002 Financial Statement will be posted to the Web.

2.    Spring 2002 dues now all paid. Phi still needs to submit its Form 22.

3.    Documentation for California FTB cannot be completed until a unified fraternity/trustee 2001 end-of-year statement is completed.  Our accountant wrapped up the (IRS) forms on September 25. Treasurer Brother Hurst will submit the forms to FTB subsequently.

4.    Delta Active Intern Brother Jeff Leesman is working on automating forms. He is converting most Fraternity Forms to HTML, allowing online submission.

5.    Checks will be written this week to the Foundation Board and Alumni Chapters for monies collected during the fundraising campaign.

Communications Director: Reported the following;

1.    Deadline for Articles for fall 2002 Castle was sent to all Chapters and Officers.

Western Province Councillor: Reported the following:

1.    Active Chapter Issues/Reports: 

·        Theta

·        Alpha. There is some concern over the behavior of some of the members at Alpha.  They are considering  4-3 (expulsion) for one individual.  Will report more detail after the scheduled to visit Oct 18th. 

2.    Alumni Chapter Issues:

·        Vancouver. No issues.

·        Alpha Alumni held its elections this spring. They have not submitted a Form 26. Will follow up with them.

3.    Chapter Visit Planning: Will visit Alpha October 18. and Theta. October 5. Will make a second visit to Theta in the spring and will also visit Alpha again if it is the general opinion that this is a good use of Fraternity funds.

4.    Rip Off Trophy Status:

·        Theta -- No rip off trophy to date; will discuss during visit October 5.

·        Alpha—No rip off trophy from these guys either; will discuss on October 18.

Central Province Councillor: Reported the following:

1.    Active Chapter Issues/Reports:

·        Delta issued a “Delta News” to their web site.

·        Epsilon’s paperwork (and fees) for fall 2001 Pledge Class is incomplete.  They are working directly with ED Featheringham to get this situation corrected.

·        Eta. Nothing new to report.

·        Phi’s paperwork (and fees) for fall 2001 Pledge Class is incomplete. Phi says it is working on its paperwork issues and will contact ED Featheringham when they know what is going on.

2.    Alumni Chapter Issues: None.

3.    Chapter Visit Planning. CPC-elect Brother Hayes will do the spring 2003 visitations. CPC Brother Stelzner is working a schedule for Delta and Eta visits later in the fall semster.

4.    Rip Off Trophy Status:  Nothing new.

Eastern Province Councillor: Reported the following:  No report; this was compiled from other inputs.

1.    Eastern Province Retreat report was posted to the web site.

2.    Active Chapter Issues:

·        Kappa

·        Psi

·        Omega

3.    Alumni Chapter Issues:

4.    Rip Off Trophy Status:

5.    Chapter Visit Planning: Planning all three chapters for fall 2002 visits.

COMMITTEE REPORTS:

Expansion: (Hileman)  Reported on expansion efforts at the following universities:

.

University of Toledo:  Kappa Alumni Brother Corey Pressler halted original efforts for rush functions during UT's rush week due to fears that he would be overwhelmed by the competition of the other larger established fraternities.  He is planning to reschedule in the next few weeks with the support of the Kappa Active chapter for the events he's hosting on Friday and Saturday.  Grand Vice-President Brother Hileman solicited the support of Detroit- and Toledo-based Kappa Alumni (Brothers Todd VonLehmden, Andrew Hoshock, Chris Baker, Wes. Neuenschwander, Jeff Boll, and himself) to support Brother Pressler’s Wednesday and Thursday evening events.

University of Texas at Arlington (UT-A):  Contact with Jason Lee is good and bad.  After Communications Director Brother Alix Minden and Brother Hileman I visited this group of students in late July, there was still an uneasy feeling that things may not progress as hoped.  Two weeks ago, Jason contacted Brother Hileman, stating that the student at UT-A had submitted for University Recognition, which requires a faculty advisor, membership numbering a minimum of 10, and the proper paperwork. This was obviously a forward step in their progress.  They are currently having difficulty setting meeting times so that everyone can attend and in getting their bios together to submit their Petition.  Brother Hileman is assisting them find their path and to stick to it.

Milwaukee School of Engineering (MSOE) The National office has not had much contact with Eta about the progress here.  To this date, there has been no official Petition to Colonize from this group of MSOE students who are Eta Brothers.  Earlier, they expressed their belief that by the end of the fall semester, they would be adept enough to venture out on their own and start the colony from that point forth.  The group has been accepted by MSOE as an Organization, but is still required to submit the appropriate paperwork to National for recognition.

Lamar University in Beaumont, TX: The fraternity received an e-mail contact from a student at Lamar late last week.  Richard Nero is an Electrical Engineering major at Lamar and is very eager to start an Engineering Fraternity at his University.  Brother Featheringham responded to Nero’s initial inquiry and had an additional follow-up with him over the weekend.  At that point Featheringham made a preliminary qualification of the contact and turned it over to Brother Hileman, who’s had several correspondence with Nero over the last two days.  They’'ve set up a call for Thursday (9/26) afternoon to discuss the options and opportunities and to answer any and all his questions.  During this conversation, Brother Hileman will feel out what the potential is here, and perhaps work towards the decision if this would be a good location for expansion.  Brother Featheringham will  add this candidate to the top 20 target list, and place it at the top for research.

Bangladesh University of Engineering Technology (BUET):  Pending the results of the mail in ballot, Grand President Brother Derek Troy, Information System Manager Brother Golam Bohktier and Brother Hileman will be traveling to BUET somewhere in the first part of November to install that group as a chapter.

University of Calgary:  Our female contact, Emily, is unfortunately taking a year off between high school and college to get money collected to attend the University.  So our main contact there is not available until next year to assist us with our efforts.  She still has some contacts there, and stated that she would keep fighting the fight, and let us know of any sparked interest.

Publications: (Troy) Brother Troy’s goal is to provide each pledge his own paper copy of the Pledge Manual as a keepsake, with personal notes and memorabilia. A paper copy, in three-ring binder form, will be provided to the officers for comment and discussion purposes.  Printing is complete and will be sent to ED Featheringham shortly.

Fund Raising. (F’ham) Three late checks arrived in September. The number of Brothers donating grew from 206 to 209; funds raised, from $26,270 to $26,520; General Fund donations, from $14,505 to $14,755. The average donation dropped from $127.52 to $126.89;This new tally will be reflected in the soon-to-be published Star.  Additionally, ED Featheringham is developing a kick-off story for the Castle, together with remittance envelopes.

Engineers United. (Troy)  We are currently in contact with Alpha Omega Epsilon Engineering Sorority, negotiating a date and time for our semi-annual meeting in October.

Merchandise. (F’ham) The General Convention is voting logo candidates; results will be tabulated on 1 October. ED Featheringham is also checking with licensing companies on the feasibility of licensing our logo on merchandise.  Will develop a plan for licensing and merchandising by next SC meeting.

35^th General Convention. (F’ham) The convention business meetings will be held at Grainger Engineering Library.  It's a top of the line conference room with an AV island / podium.  Attached is a small kitchen / lounge where we can set up snacks.  Also attached to this room is a boardroom where the Supreme Council can meet.

OLD BUSINESS: The following Old Business was addressed:

Budget Rental Car Accident Status. Grand Vice President Brother Hileman reported that there’s still no response from Budget in regards to the settlement letter sent on January 29, 2002. Statue of Limitations in regards to this form of case is 6 years in the states of ND and MN, so this can drag out another four years.  His lawyer recommends keeping this low key and not sparking any re-interest since National has not responded in almost nine months.  There’s some hope that National will cut its losses and not pursue any further.

Rip Off Trophy. No pictures of chapters’ individual trophies are posted on the web yet.  Brother Bokhtier was instructed to post the two he has in order to inspire the delinquent chapters and to request photos from them.

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.

Chapter Book Scholarship: Brother Featheringham moved and Brother Hileman seconded a motion to maintain the Book Scholarship program in its current form for the 2002/3 school year.  The motion passed.

During discussion the Western and Central Province Councilors stated the program should be reviewed and possibly revamped next year, as many chapters do not participate, Four chapters participated in 2001/2, per Treasurer Hurst: Epsilon, Phi, Psi, and Omega.  Brother Hileman stated he got good response to the program while marketing the Fraternity.

The Book Scholarship program will be monitored during the school year and recommendations for change (if any) will be submitted to the General Convention in July 2003. In the meantime Western Province Councilor brother Darren Farnworth will draft an alternative approach.

Chapter Visitations Schedule: The following is the current schedule of Chapter Visits for the 2002/3 school year. Brother Troy stated that he and Brother Farnworth still have to coordinate visits to Alpha and Theta.

Troy will be at Delta, Kappa, and Eta on 9/26-28

Stelzner will be at Eta and Delta???

F’ham will be at Epsilon and Phi on 11/1 and 2.

F’worth will be at Theta on October 5 and Alpha on October 18.

Votaw/F’ham will be at Psi and Omega???

Action Item Recapitulation from 08/20/02 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.    Get pictures of Chapters’ Rip-Off Trophies and provide them to ISM for posting on the web.

2.    Follow up with Los Angeles Alumni Chapter to be sure Form 26 is sent to National Office.

Featheringham:

·         

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 and send Tax information to California Franchise Tax Board.

4.    Write Purchase Order for PC version of Adobe Acrobat Writer. (On hold until intern needs the software.)

5.    Supervise Intern’s efforts in forms and payment automation projects.

Minden: