CLA from a Volunteer's Point of View

The weekend of February 1-3 I was on the CLA faculty for the Dallas (really Grapevine) TX CLA at the Gaylord Texan, site of the SigEp Conclave this summer (July 31 - Aug 4). The weekend was a grand success and was capped off by a surprise that caught me completely off guard.

On arriving Friday after noon we went through the usual routine of check-in, find the room, then head out to see who else has shown up. As a volunteer who has been to a number of CLAs, Conclaves, etc., connecting with others whom I only see at these events is always a treat. Some of my most cherished friendships have grown from these periodic gatherings. Many of the usual faces were in residence along with a few new ones and some disappointments who did not show up this year.

The venue was spectacular and should make for a very successful Conclave later this year. Over the course of the weekend we got a chance to get a dry run of the facilities, staff responsiveness, and of course, the food. All were first rate, though I personally think the Saturday dinner choice could have been better (tough flank steak rolled in underdone bacon is my best guess). Lets hope the menu improves by August. There were plenty of configurable meeting rooms, and even when I threw a curve by showing up with a projector for my session the hotel staff didn't break a sweat and got it set up right away.

Friday night I was tasked with facilitating a reading of the proposed "Brother Mentor" Ritual that is expected to be voted on at Conclave. As this is a public post I will simply say it is obvious the Ritual Task Force has put a lot of thought into making it meaningful.

Facilitating the VP Communications session took the bulk of Saturday. This was my first time as an all day session presenter, but the able and experienced Kay Robinson from OK Alpha (OSU) helped me out - or maybe I helped her - as we shared the duty. For those who would like to see what the VP Comm session entails, here is a set of presentation slides I made from the facilitator's guide.

SigEp District 26 2013 Volunteer of the Year

Thanks to Renato Villacort for posting this.
And of course congratulations to the recipient, Brian Licauanan, and to all the "Volunteers of the Year".
Really, everyone who volunteers for SigEp is a valuable resource and we can all be proud of our contributions.

PR 101 - for Chapter communicators

Sam Moschelli, District Governor for Michigan, wanted one of his chapters to get some practice with press releases and making a media push. This excellent example is what they came up with. How well does your chapter publicize itself? 

CLA Leadership training is coming up. If you want your chapter to do a better job of getting noticed in a positive way be sure that your VP Communications is attending the sessions. If he can't make it have him ask someone else to help out.

Sigma Phi Epsilon

Contact: Matt Russell
russelm1@mail.gvsu.edu
989-600-3225
http://gvsusigep.org/
www.sigep.org

January 27, 2013

IMMEDIATE RELEASE: GVSU student achieves prestigious level in Balanced Man Program

ALLENDALE, MI – The brothers of the Michigan Kappa Chapter of Sigma Phi Epsilon are proud to announce that Tyler Kinch of Grand Valley State University has achieved the highest level of the fraternity’s Balanced Man Program: Fellow. Kinch, a junior Athletic Training Major, completed the rigorous final challenge, which included the proposal and completion of a 500- hour or 60 day service project.

Only brothers who commit to undertaking a community service learning project of this level are able to apply for this challenge, which makes the number of members nationally who achieve this level in the program very small. Through these projects, Fellows receive hands-on experiences that teach leadership, mentoring, and how to care about and serve others.

For his service project, Kinch started his own 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, Students Providing Opportunities and Recreation Through Sports (S.P.O.R.T.S.), to provide fun, interactive experiences for underprivileged children in the inner cities of the Midwest. Kinch created this organization to be fully operated by GVSU students and to be built upon Christian values. The goal is to enhance the quality of life for these children through proper mentor guidance and building a brighter future.

Since its inception, the organization has already partnered with campus organizations to hold an athletic equipment drive between Thanksgiving and Christmas. This event encouraged students to bring back new or used athletic equipment from home to donate to local athletic programs as well as Christian ministries working in African countries.

Kinch has also partnered with Sigma Phi Epsilon and Kramer Entertainment to organize a $1 All-You-Can-Play Laser Tag fundraiser on Friday, January 25, 2012, from 6:15PM – 11:00PM in the GVSU Fieldhouse. Students and members of the community were encouraged to come and enjoy a night of laser tag, with all of the proceeds going to S.P.O.R.T.S. for future activities. The caused raised $300 in a very short amount of time that will go towards more equipment and camps on the east side of the Michigan in the 2013 summer.

Sigma Phi Epsilon, established in 1901, is one of the nation’s largest fraternities, with over 15,000 undergraduates on 240 campuses across the United States. Its mission is building balanced men, which is achieved through a continuous member development program that has contributed to a fraternity-wide GPA of over 3.0, a focus on the principles of Sound Mind and Sound Body, and service learning efforts that allow members to develop leadership skills while giving back to the community.

SigEp Volunteer Webinar: Officer Transitions

This is the time of year that new officers are being elected. This webinar from HQ will give some pointers on how alumni volunteers can help the chapters have a successful officer transition.

Make sure your new officers are ready to get the most out of CLA next year.

Concentration at CLA

From the Dallas CLA

CLA Reimbursement

I was pleasantly surprised today when I (finally) got around to claiming the reimbursement for attending CLA in an official capacity.

The reimbursement form is online, so I expected to have to scan the hotel receipt into an electronic format, then attach it to an email - like so many other similar processes require. Instead, the form simply asked if I had booked my own room or not. When I replied that I had it went calmly on its way and finished processing.

Thinking I had missed a step I sent a quick email off to HQ and got the reply that yes, I had done everything correctly. Since the room rates are negotiated in advance they put that information into the back-end of the processing, and all the information is available once you tell them where you attended.

Very nice. And no one has to know about the charge for "Sarah's Moonlight Shocker" from the adult movie channel.

Reports from CLA 2010

Steve Taylor reports from the st. Louis CLA:

The St. Louis CLA was awesome! It was the largest CLA ever, but also the best. The undergraduates well well engaged and active throughout the experience.

Friday night started with District Meetings run by the DG's that allowed for late arrivals to get active in the CLA upoin arrival. Saturday morning started with a full breakfast that was well attended.

While I initially thought there would be a problem with transporting 600 people from the first floor up to the 12th floor ballroom for the Ritual, the hotel staff had six elevators that were express to the top floor.

Starting the day with the Ritual in coat and tie led to an active and engaged group of participants for the whole day. Having the Ritual early set the right tone for the CLA.

Concluding the day, NBD Phil Cox gave an excellent speech that concluded with a standing ovation from the audience. Many thanks to the staff, the facilitators, and to the undergraduates for a great CLA!!!

Fraternally,
Stephen J. Taylor

What about the rest of you?

Good? Bad? Meh?
What impressed? What was cheesy? Leave a comment and let us know how your CLA weekend went.

Lots of Talk - Any Action?

Houston, We Have a Problem . . .

There have been several comments on the S&P Blog of late that when you put them all together begin to paint a picture that might well warrant concern and attention. Here are a few quotations from those postings – see if they catch your eye:

In times of economic uncertainty, successful organizations return to their core business and delay any/all expansion plans including growth in staffing modules.

I have no idea what business model Craig is following, but it sure isn't the one that tilts toward success. He reminds me of a Democrat controlled Congress; spend more and continue to raise taxes.

And then
Absolute power corrupts absolutely...

It looks like the NBD (and the ED) have been operating without any checks and balances for some time now. Or at least just chose which checks and balances they would follow.

Class action lawsuit?

Followed by:
Any consideration for any punitive measures against the NBD or ED for purposefully ignoring its own (NBD) rules or the rules of the Grand Chapter? Censure? A vote of no confidence? Impeachment? A return of a certain amount of fees to local chapters?

Here is a very clear statement that needs to be followed:
The real issue is one of transparency. What may have been acceptable year's ago is not acceptable for businesses and non-profits alike in a post Sarbanes-Oxley environment.

There is a difference between customers and contributors, staff and volunteers.

Poor allocation of limited resources by requiring a staff to participate in a junket at donor expense is a mis-use of resources and should become a priority.

The NBD has historically held a pre-meeting at the next GC Conclave site and for good reasons --- to scope out the facility, and to do so at potentially lower over costs --- a wise use of resources.

I am very proud of my Fraternity, and happy to serve as one of its long-term volunteers. I have personally benefitted from the experience beyond measure. And we "get it right" 95% of the time across the board, far better than anyone else.

However, it saddens me when we fritter away our resources unnecessarily in a day when the dollar is hard to get and keep. Mark my words, it's going to be a bumpy ride worldwide economically for the next five years and those that spend unnecessarily now will live to regret their foolish ways.

There have been concerns about what is happening to senior staff members disappearing and suddenly retiring and then concern about costs of staff and an October staff meeting in Las Vegas:
The staff expense went from $765,000 in 2000 to $1,700, 122 in 2007. That’s the number. $59.22 in 2000 per member now $118.45 per member. A 101% increase!

So, reduced staff coverage by 11% by increasing cost 100%.....stellar results in a decreasing wage inflation environment, especially for a non-profit.

Isn’t another expense a PR firm on retainer? Need to use it.

The point was also made again about a massive decrease in marketshare.

Perception becomes reality
The staff meeting is a perception thing. We tell chapters to be careful not to host events that would make the fraternity look bad yet Craig sees nothing wrong with spending undergraduate fees to host a staff vacation in Vegas. The staff who are on the BOG should be paying their way to the party like everyone else. It is just wrong.

Grand chapter by-laws not allowed to get in the way of progress
Check the grand chapter bylaws....editor of the Journal is supposed to be a Brother. When is Gay-Lynn Carpenter being initiated? She clearly is listed as Editor in the publications and on the website.

And then there is the stuff about money and charges to chapters
The bylaws clearly state that the fees to chapters may not be raised unless a 2/3 vote of the GCC approves it.

Specifically, the Grand Chapter bylaws state:
Sigma Phi Epsilon Administrative Policies and Procedures
Section D
EXPENDITURES
9. The National Board of Directors may authorize expenditures from the funds of the Fraternity
for the general operation of the Fraternity, including the operation of the Headquarters, and
for such other purposes as are specifically provided for in the Bylaws and Administrative Policies and Procedures.

10. A two-thirds vote of the Grand Chapter shall be necessary on all questions involving the
expenditure of any funds of the Fraternity not specifically provided for in the Bylaws and
Administrative Policies and Procedures.

Grand Chapter Bylaws
Article II
Section 7. The Grand Chapter shall determine the sources of revenue to meet the expenses of the
Grand Chapter and shall fix the amount of fees as may be required.
Section 8. All fees except charter fees shall be approved by the Grand Chapter.

Conclave went from $500 to $675 this two year period.
According to minutes of the NBD and Conclave this was never approved . It was reported to the NBD but not in the minutes.

To review the way one commentator understood it:
The Sig Ep Foundation money is a grant to SPE inc. for an educational purpose.
HQ (by way of NLC) puts on the CLAs and bills the chapters an amount that should equate to the cost difference of producing CLAs.

However, the NLC changed the makeup and required attendees of CLA. This resulted in an extra cost which was NOT subsidized by the Foundation Grant.

To cover the additional cost NLC increased the fees charged to the chapters.
However the bylaws state that fee increases must be introduced and voted on by the Grand Chapter (at Conclaves)

So according to the bylaws: a) CLA fees cannot increase; b) the fraternity could shoulder the extra cost if the NBD directs; c) but the Grand Chapter would have to approve, by a 2/3rd vote, that expense.

And if they don't? Then what? Heads rolling down the aisles!!!

Is that about it?

CLA – Problems with cost and locations
According to Ron Binder, chairman of the NLC he seems to think that the NBD voted to raise the fee. The NBD liaison person OK'd the increase to the NLC. The change does not appear in the NBD minutes. Something like that would be more than a casual thing and would be on the record. It would have to be official and would then have to be reported to the Grand Chapter to be approved at Conclave after the fact.

It appears that the NBD has been doing this for years and ignoring the bylaws when it's convenient to them. We need more of the affected chapters to speak up and express their concern.

Can anyone recall if the when the past conclaves stopped ratifying the actions of the board since the previous Conclave? We have been operating in violation for some time, if that is so.

Location, location, location
If you draw a circle around the 5 cities they booked that is about 250 miles (5 hours drive) you see where the chapters who get screwed by the CLA Change.

Supposedly the staff ran the numbers to calculate that the average chapter only added 2 hours to their drive. One look at the maps and one can see long drives for many chapters.

Costs of CLA
The charge for chapters for CLA:

2005 - $175 (4 officers & CC)
2006 - $225 (4 officers & CC)
2007 - $350 (4 officers & CC)
2008 - $500 (5 officers & CC)

If the NLC keeps adding officers as they are planning to the CLA at this rate the small chapters will no longer afford to be SigEp chapters.

These costs are exclusive of the hidden costs of extra hotel rooms and transportation. While it's great to set a goal that chapters send all 7 officers we can't bankrupt our smaller chapters to support one program.

Will we be raising the $675 per year charge for the Grand Chapter Conclave in 2009?

One Commentator Stated:
We need to move the burden for these programs over to the Annual Fee or abandon our small chapters.

In the fall 2008 semester a young man in a 30 man chapter (40 men on the March PMR) will pay $199.17 to the Grand Chapter from his fall dues. If we keep increasing the chapter fixed costs the men in these chapters feel the pain more than the larger chapters.

It's getting more and more painful for our small chapters to meet the financial obligations to the Grand Chapter. Many of these chapters are at smaller state schools where many of the students are on financial aid and working to stay in school. When the fees go up these chapters have to either cut programming or increase their dues. Both of these options make it more difficult for them to grow their numbers.

I hope the National Board of Directors considers these things before we increase the tax burden to these kids.

The Much Expanded National Housing Corporation
The announcement of an additional employee for the NHC raised more than an eyebrow:
National Housing Corporation Fills New Volunteer Recruiter Position

Sigma Phi Epsilon is pleased to announce that Jessica Faison has joined the National Housing Corporation's staff as volunteer recruiter.

The National Housing Corporation created the new position to focus on recruiting to fill vacant volunteer positions for the 35 Alumni & Volunteer Corporation Boards that are targeted for housing fundraising programs over the next four years.

One writer commented:
Legally, the NHC needs to be such to protect the Fraternity. And if like the Ed Foundation they can support their revenue expenses, then okay. The problem is that they are using the chapter's money to operate and not being very prudent. From what I understand collections are way off, but that does not surprise me. RDs used to have to work to get chapters and AVCs to understand the importance of rent increases and full facilities...it now is at the NHC so falls under the 'not my job' function when in the field - when the conversations are most effective.

Another said
How many "non Brothers" are we going to employ at Headquarters? Could we not find a SigEp to be able to relate to volunteers?

It was learned long ago that staff is ineffective as a recruitment tool for volunteers. No one is interested in listening to a 22 year old.

Suggestion from several:
Someone should propose legislation requiring that the bylaws be amended that all full time jobs should be offered to members of the fraternity who have been initiated at least 1 year. An exception could be made for administrative positions. Should a qualified member of Sigma Phi Epsilon not be available then the NBD may grant an exception and it noted in the minutes.

Justification is that if we are truly graduating the best men out there we should be hiring from that same pool of men. Who best understands our business than our own members?

It certainly has been a busy few days with lots of concern. SigEp needs to pay attention to those who pay the bill - the undergraduate chapters and the volunteers. That would quickly return focus to the right source.

Where in the world is CLA?

One of our intrepid correspondents has taken the time to plot the cities for the "new & improved" version of Carlson Leadership Academy (CLA) as specified by the National Leadership Committee (NLC).

As he puts it:

If you draw a circle around the 5 cities they booked (brown circles) that is about 250 miles(5 hours drive) you see where the chapters who get screwed by the CLA Change.

The problem becomes less if you add locations to Omaha or Kansas City, Roanoke, and Memphis (blue circles). All cities where we have hosted CLAs in the past.

Supposedly the staff ran the numbers to calculate that the average chapter only added 2 hours to their drive. I think that number skewed because of the chapters who are located around NY and Atlanta. I really feel bad for the chapters from ND through KS.

Let's all pray for good weather in mid-February. It's going to be a looooong drive for some chapters.

CLA Changes Raise the Bar and the COST

CLA Changes Become Winter Challenge in Many Ways

The National Leadership Committee has announced changes in the number, location and officers paid for for the Carlson Leadership Acadimies 2009 as can be seen in the article quoted from the most recent Officers' Monthly.

SigEp adds lasting value to the college experience because our programs set high expectations.

The National Leadership Committee (NLC) is setting the bar even higher by providing additional funds to train more officers to produce a better chapter experience for all undergraduate members through shared best practices and improved chapter operations.

In order to train more executive board officers at the 2009 Carlson Leadership Academies (CLA), the NLC has increased the CLA fee in the fall bill from $350 to $500. It is the goal of the NLC to provide funding for all seven executive board officers by the year 2011. This is the first step in making that goal a reality.

The Carlson Leadership Academy schedule for 2009:
1/30 – 2/1: White Plains, NY
2/6 – 2/8: Chicago, IL & Los Angeles, CA
2/20 – 2/22: Atlanta, GA
2/27 – 3/1: Dallas, TX

First thought is: Great we have all of our officers paid for. Then the realization is that we now have a $500 bill for CLA on the Fall Bill. But it says "provide additional funds" - those are your funds.

Next look where they are being held. How far is that for you considering that you have Friday classes which you must attend. For many chapters this will be more than a nine hour journey in a packed car for an eight hour program beginning Friday night. It is also February, which in the North usually means SNOW!

Do you always send all of your officers? Some chapters do and many do not. Can you afford to send them all? Will this new cost be affordable for your chapter?

We are to be pushing to get volunteers? How many volunteers will leave work on Friday and drive this distance? The chapter still pays whether they are there or not.

Is the cost of CLA more than your rush or social budget?

Is this progress? Who is THE AUDIENCE?

CLA Chicago - In One Word FABULOUS!

Chicago CLA Upbeat, Well Presented, Well Received

The site of CLA Chicago was a fairly new Westin Yorktown Center in Lombard. Great staff at the hotel, excellent facility, very good quality meals.

Stacy Dudley was in charge of the weekend and did an outstanding job of keeping all of the program pieces on track. Faculty was a combination of seasoned regulars and new presenters and from the comments of the undergrads, all was very well received. Things are good when they run on time and this event was like a Swiss watch. MC's for each event were well scripted and each large group gathering was extremely well attended and received. The breakout sessions on Friday night were a stroke of genius. There was some discussion of them even the following morning.

Officer sessions got rave reviews and in many cases did not have enough time. The hot topics seemed to be well attended. The scheduled ritual team had a tragedy in their chapter and could not attend. We have them in our prayers! ~ The host chapter, Illinois Institute of Technology, stepped up to the plate. They had never before done this ritual as a team and gave a flawless presentation.

The Alumni Reception was a class act with over 50 alumni in attendance. Suggestions were made to have attending chapters help with getting the alumni to attend and possibly have greater alumni programming as has been done in the historical past. It is great to see a first class effort for volunteers!

Awards were well spaced out at breakfast, lunch and dinner. Several new awards, especially recognizing volunteers, were presented.

As said previously by Lekau,

plenty of time for the undergraduates to interact with one another and find their solutions for their issues. . . . . Sessions were fast paced. Videos outstanding. Speakers on the mark. Ritual done by a rookie team, but was absolutely flawless. . . . The undergraduates were fully engaged from start through finish in all of their sessions from small groups through large groups.

In a few words - well done, great location, fabulous team effort - now just work on the weather!

Dallas Carlson Leadership academy (CLA)

The CLA in Dallas was well attended and by all accounts a success. We were fortunate to have both the current Grand President Steve Shanklin(OGH) and former GP Gary Griffith(OGH) in attendance. In addition to the expected "podium chores" they also were active leaders in the Chapter Officer training sessions.

The only hitch was that several of the expected faculty had to drop out at the last minute due to illness or transportation issues. Fortunately the folks who were there have done this a time or two and were able to ensure all sessions were covered. Bro. Lamar Roach(OGH) came with his Lamar University chapter. (He said he got a "weekend pass" from his children.) He and I went to the SEC/Sigma session during the Ritual and gave an impromptu personal discourse on the meaning and persistance of the ideals in the Ritual. (The lads may be warped for life now.)

Chapter and individual awards were given out over the weekend. Many Chapters showed impressive gains in manpower, grades, housing, alumni support, and other areas. Two Chapters stood out, however. St. Mary's SEC (shown below) and the recently rechartered Oklahoma Alpha (OK State University) both seemed to wear a path to the podium, each picking up several awards noting the hard work of the chapters and the support of alumni in their area.


CLA Dallas 2008_3 054
Originally uploaded by wordjunky.

The Education Foundation, which sponsors the CLA, held a reception for Dallas area alumni on Saturday evening which was well attended. Many of the alums stayed for the ritual presentation and the dinner afterwards. I thought it was a subtle but effective way to encourage those who may not have been active to become more involved.

I was asked by HQ to take photographs of the event for use in future marketing efforts. Here is a link to a few representative samples. If your chapter was there and you remember a camera in your face drop us a line. We'll be glad to send pictures for your web site, scrapbook or newsletter. Please: Dallas CLA only. The rest of you are on your own.

CLA Bloomington, Indiana: Welcome to IU

The Bloomington CLA was hosted at the Indiana Memorial Union, Hotel & Conference Center on the campus of Indiana University. Other than a bit of confusion realizing that our hotel was right on campus, this CLA proved to be a nice change of pace. There was more than one comment on the activity in the union and the beautiful architecture. Due to a recent snowfall, earlier that week, of nearly 8” of snow throughout the Indiana, Ohio, and Michigan region, turnout on Friday night was extremely low, at nearly 70 people present for the CLA kickoff. The looming weather and a healthy underestimate of travel time to IU played a distinguishing role. Attendance numbers slowly increased throughout the night and capped off around 200 to 210 attendees. You could audibly hear a collective sigh of relief from the tense faculty as the crowd filled in. Tired and hungry brothers proved tough to motivate on Friday night, and morale was low, but many brothers pushed on through the Chapter Plan / Buchanan cup exercise to close out the sessions on Friday night.

There were a number of notable volunteers present for the weekend. National Board of Directors member, and chair of the National Committee on Volunteers, Phil Cox, was proud to host CLA at his home chapter at IU (Indiana SEC / IN Beta). National Leadership Committee members, Tom Barton and Ron Binder, as well as National Committee on Volunteers member Steve Taylor were in attendance. Other faculty in attendance included Kathy Johnston (Director of Risk Management), Craig Templeton (Executive Director), District Governors Marcus Robinson (Ohio) and Sam Moschelli (Michigan), Dr. Rick St. John (OGH), Dave Bertorello (Past Staff), Shawn Dalgleish, John Milliken, Jason Cherish (HQ Staff), Steven Kolanowski, and rounding it out were the two region’s Regional Directors and a number of soon to be RD’s. Cameos were made by Director of Operations, Chris Minnis, and Director of Volunteers, Gary Huff, as he continued his whirlwind tour of every CLA across the country.

Gary held court Friday night in the Distinguished Alumni Room of the union where he met with about 25 of the volunteers that were present. Phil Cox explained the progress of the National Committee on Volunteers, and Gary spelled out the next steps. Gary showed everyone an example of one on-line training module that highlighted the high points of forming a corporation followed by a tour of www.sigepfoundation.org. (Sign up now for membership if you haven’t already). Gary then explained that there will be 100 trainers across the country that will be making the rounds to every AVC, every other year, to train and update on the local level. One of the next steps is implementing the training programs in a number of varying test markets to gauge its success, and work out the kinks. You can bet that everyone wanted to be in the test market. Gary finished things off with an excited discussion of issues that volunteers brought forth at the conclusion of the meeting, while NCV member Steve Taylor sat inconspicuously in the back taking notes on what the customer had to say. Volunteers ended the discussion leaving with one of their own personal volunteer goals clearly stated as well as gaining another volunteer from a different chapter as a follow-up mentor. As stated in some of our previous CLA reports, the volunteer track was vague. District Governors took some of this time and time during the chapter planning session to meet with their district’s volunteers and help to map out the best path for them at CLA.

The staff did its best to turn the weekend around from a dismal Friday night to an exciting Saturday. It was overheard that there was a combined 300 CLA’s between all the faculty members in attendance. This proved beneficial to a successful Saturday set of sessions. As the day moved forward our brothers proved inquisitive, engaged, and excited. Decorum was business casual until ritual, but many wore suits all day. I guess you can expect that type of thing at a CLA where you have at least 14 Buchanan Cup chapters. Shawn Dalgleish’s Presidents session had great interaction as they produced three full flip chart pages of ideas to leave with. After in-depth conversations about Standards Board and conduct, the Chaplain’s session with Dr. St. John took an innovative approach and combined the afternoon session with the Ritual Team’s practice session, which proved beneficial to all. Chaplain’s also gained some tips and tricks from the unofficial Balanced Man Program Chaplain’s Guide, an adaptation of the 1970’s & 80’s version of the Chaplain’s Guide, that has been circling around some CLA’s. It’s is filled full of underutilized ceremonies, standards board nuances, and ritual insights that can be incorporated with the different phases. A high energy Member Development session led by John Milliken merged with a productive Programming session let by Steve Taylor. The big take away was to kill two birds with one stone and tie your membership development events into your programming and not have separate calendars. A poll was taken of various event ideas each chapter uses, and classified under a number of different categories. Ideas were shared from around the room, with an interesting outcome. Here’s a tally of the ideas in each category:

Civic & Servic (6)
Social (4)
Leadership/professional development (2)
Health & Wellness (2)
Cultural (2)
Academic (1)
Ritual/values (0)

I think this tally in itself speaks volumes about what chapters are taking away as the focus of the fraternity. Is it really becoming SigEp Inc? Have we lost sight of two of the most fundamental components of a fraternity? The fact that this cross section of our chapters tallied a total of ZERO events for Ritual/values utilized above and beyond our typical ritual requirements is eye opening. Even the goal of that which we seek, the graduation diploma, Academics, only had one event worth mentioning. We’re in this together, why does academic success need to be solely on the individual when, as a chapter, we have the means as a group to pull together and take it to a whole new level? It is arguable that if there is a focus on the last two items above, then the other 5 will take care of themselves. I have a great appreciation for all of the above listed areas of focus, and am grateful for the things I’ve learned throughout the Leadership Continuum track. SigEp is leading the charge in the rebirth and validity of Greek life back onto our campuses and it is doing so by becoming a “partner in higher education”. We’re also leading the way in the nationwide fraternity g.p.a., and the Balanced Man Scholarship is our key. We’re finding smarter, and more motivated, active men. Let’s not let the BMS be our only academic event. Utilize the Residential Learning Community program, and if you can’t become one, dissect it and incorporate as many pieces as you can. The other take away from all of this is that the last two items, Ritual and Academics, are just so embedded into a typical chapter’s life, and programmed by HQ and volunteers, that the things they do for those are just ingrained in the chapter psyche and that they just don’t realize they’re doing some cutting edge things. I hope this is the take away, but I fear it is somewhere in between.

The Bloomington CLA finished out on a high note. There was little to no attrition in the final Hot Topic sessions. In fact, they were packed to the gills. The Ritual team from Valparaiso conducted an excellent Epsilon Rite of Passage as they initiated Michael Chown from the Indiana SEC chapter at Indiana University. The Ritual Discussion led by Sam Moschelli turned into an exciting and thought provoking session as our younger members gave their interpretation of the symbolism and meaning found in the keynote of our fraternity located on our chapter charters and membership certificates. Ron Binder and Phil Cox closed out the evening with equally entertaining speeches at dinner. Ron’s “mom” called while he was up at the podium and we all got to listen in on the weekend recap to his mother. “Mom…don’t call it a Frat.” It was entertaining to say the least. Phil left us all with a bit of history about Indiana Memorial Union. It turns out that this location was the first to host a Regional Leadership Academy for SigEp 40 years ago, outside of the ones held in Richmond. Late into the evening, undergraduates were still asking advice and questions to faculty and volunteers, email addresses were traded, and thank you hand shakes were abundant.

My final thoughts on this year’s sessions of CLA, was that the volunteer track was in an off year. With the National Leadership Committee and National Committee on Volunteers still figuring out the track for volunteer training, this year was left in transition, to the displeasure of many. Well trained and cohesive faculty can make or break the experience, and in Bloomington’s case, I think it worked. I suspect that next year there will be a new look to what volunteers will be doing at CLA. Hopefully, this year did not discourage too many alumni.

And that’s your news from the underground. I am the Superintendent.

CLA Report - Herndon

Thanks to Bro. Patrick Murphrey (Lt. District Governor, VA/DC) for this comprehensive account.

---

Carlson Leadership Academy
February 9th-11th, Herndon, VA

This past weekend's Carlson Leadership Academy was a unique event in many respects. In many ways it seemed like a "mini-Conclave" due to the attendance of such a wide range of chapters represented and SigEp dignitaries present. The Academy hosted chapters from Virginia, Maryland, Pennsylvania, West Virginia, New Jersey, Washington D.C., and North Carolina. After enjoying the CLA in Destin so much, our Clemson chapter sent 9 more undergraduates to the Academy in Herndon. However, the longest distance was probably traveled by brothers from the Florida Theta Chapter at Jacksonville University. The host chapter of this Academy was our University of Maryland-College Park brothers at Maryland Beta. Conspicuously absent were (at least I did not see or interact with) our brothers from nearby George Mason University or Virginia Mu.

The Academy was attended by 2 members of the National Board of Directors, Steve Shanklin (OGH) and Bert Harris, Brother Harris is also the President of the National Housing Corporation. Also, in attendance were District Governors Judge Mitch Crane (OGH), Joe Langella, and Billy Maddalon. The National Member Development Committee was represented by Gene Schurg (OGH), Zar Toolan, and Steve Shanklin, while the National Leadership Committee was represented by Bud Robeson. Headquarters staff was represented by Chris Minnis, Director of Fraternity Operations, Craig Templeton, Executive Director, Susan Williams, Finance Director, Gay-Lynn Carpenter, Journal editor, Matt Ontell, Director of Balanced Man Inititatives , John Weir, Managing Director of the National Housing Corporation and Gary Huff, Director of Volunteers. Regional Directors in attendance were Bryan Kaminski and Ryan Denny. Representing the Educational Foundation were Doug Scheibe, Executive Director, Scott Thompson, Director of Development-Chapter Campaigns, Laurie Ursiny, Development Administrator and Mindi Siedel-Adler, Development Administrator. The officer training sessions were facilitated by Joe DePaola (Presidents), Rachel Rollo (VPs of Programming), Joe Capodanno (VPs of Finance), Anthony Balestrieri (VPs of Member Development), Joe Langella (VPs of Recruitment), Patrick Murphrey (Chaplains), and Ryan Denny (VPs of Communications).

Friday night kicked off with an excellent recruitment focused session conducted by District Governor Billy Maddalon. Now, I have seen a lot of these sessions throughout my experience as a SigEp and I must say Brother Billy's presentation was one of the best I have participated in. He really articulated the message in a unique and fun way that the undergraduates seemed to respond well too. However, I must say this session contained one of the few "Frat Boy" moments of the weekend. When questioned about why recruitment is important the fraternity, one of our Virginia Eta (UVA) brothers responded "To help keep the house clean". Now whether he was figuratively referring to keeping the chapter "clean" by having respectable new members, or literally having those new members "clean" their chapter house, I do not know. All I know is that after that remark, the whole room fell silent with dropped jaws. In the spirit of brotherly love I will give them the benefit of the doubt.

Since I was busy most of the day Saturday, facilitating the Chaplain's officer session, I am unable to report on how the bulk of rest of the undergraduate/volunteer sessions went. However, after speaking with brothers throughout the day the general attitude I perceived was refreshment in seeing the positive evolution of the Academy from their previous experiences. They seemed newly motivated and charged with new ideas and best practices to take back to their chapters. I definitely took that away from my sessions, and was happy to hear similar reports from our undergraduates, volunteers, and facilitators.

Two of the major highlights of Saturday included the Foundation's Alumni Reception and the Renaissance of Brotherhood ceremony. The alumni reception that occurred in Herndon and Woodland Hills CLA served as "test balloons" for future alumni events at CLA. The Herndon reception was very well attended by area alumni representing the whole spectrum of chapter location and age. The alumni were treated to refreshment a presentation of what the fraternity has been up to and where we are going. Following the reception, the alumni were invited to attend the Ritual and the Awards Dinner. I also forgot to mention all of these events occurred FREE of charge. My kudos to the Educational Foundation and SigEp for a great program. The Renaissance of Brotherhood was conducted beautifully by the Maryland Beta chapter for a Fairfax police officer, whose father and brothers were already members of the fraternity. After the ceremony, which was only briefly interrupted by the usual confused hotel staff person going through the wrong door *cough*, the father embraced his son and new brother and pinned our Founder's Badge upon him.

Breakfast was emceed by Joe DePaoula, and lunch by District Governor Judge Mitch Crane (OGH). The Awards Dinner featured a beef meal and was emceed by District Governor Langella. The keynote speaker of the evening was given by National Director Steve Shanklin who challenged the audience to remember the risks taken by the Founders; in particular, those Carter Ashton Jenkens took to develop a fraternity that would be different from its competition. I will take this time now to say that throughout the meals on Saturday, awards were presented to our top performing undergraduates, chapters, and volunteers. To prevent accidentally leaving out a deserving brother or chapter I will not list them here. However, I do offer a heartfelt "well done" and congratulations to our honored brothers.

I must say the biggest disappointment of this CLA, as with almost any SigEp event, was the constant digression into the "Pledge vs. Balanced Man" debate. It's unfortunate that we can cannot seem to get past differences in development programs in order to move forward together into the 21 st century. I'm afraid it's going to take a total domination of either development model in order to end that recurring discussion and focus our attention to becoming a great fraternity. However, despite this debate, I was proud to see "quantity of quality" that SigEp is continually welcoming into its halls. The undergraduates, alumni, volunteers, and staff are the best in the fraternity world and I can't wait to see what the future will bring.

-Patrick C. Murphrey
Lt. District Governor (VA/DC)

Guest Post: CLA Lexington - Was it worth the trip?

Here's the word from our Lexington Kentucky operative.

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I returned Sunday from the Kentucky CLA. All things considered it was OK. Of the four CLA's I have attended since 1995, I would have to say the Kentucky CLA was the worst one I have had to experience.

I was disappointed with the alumni track. It really felt like it was an after thought and thrown together. Last year at the Philadelphia CLA, the alumni track was outstanding. In my opinion this CLA was far from the caliber of past CLA's I have attended. I will have to give some credit to the staff for dealing with a CLA that was spread out over three levels of the hotel. Registration, memorabilia, and some of the meeting space was on the main lobby level. Other meeting space was on the second floor. While the bulk of the meeting space was in the basement. To access the basement meeting space you had to go out into a shopping mall area, and down two escalators and make your way to the main meeting / conference area. This mall area was attached to the U of K basketball arena, and oh ya, there was this little event going on, the Kentucky vs. Florida basketball game. As the day wore on this area became increasingly filled with fans.

The facilitator of the Saturday morning alumni session did a good job (Adam Seiber I think was his name). The alumni committee director from HQ (Gary Huff) did a good job of talking about the alumni training, and showed off the soon to be rolled out alumni volunteer online materials. Ritual was also executed very well, and as always, makes me glad to be a SigEp. The remainder of the time I just kind of felt like I was there, not really sure where various rooms were located or what undergraduate session would be most beneficial to attend, or if there was an alumni session I should be in. I made the most of it by speaking with other chapter counselors, AVC members, or students regarding the undergraduate sessions. Several of the guys from the chapter commented that many of the sessions were the same as last year, or were not relevant (we don't have a house, but the finance discussion kept coming back to a housed chapter). The guys who went to the VP of development sessions felt that the facilitator kept presenting the same material just in different ways. After lunch Saturday I sat in on the presidents presentation, and the facilitator was suppose to be talking about action plans. The group chose academics, and then a very much longer than necessary discussion was allowed about having a chapter GPA requirement, and not enforcing it. I am pretty sure the facilitator realized the group was off topic, and tried to get back on topic by splitting the group up. This did not happen because a well meaning undergraduate did not want to split up because he was afraid he would miss part of the discussion one of the other groups had.

There were positives that came out of this weekend, I did meet other AVC and Chapter Councilor's, and was able to meet / speak with the RD. But most importantly the brothers from our chapter were able to bond, plan, and have some fun. I was happy that I was able to meet with several of the chapter officers one on one, and the entire chapter delegation was able to meet for two-three hours on Saturday night. We discussed what each officer is taking back, and what they are going to incorporate into their job when they return. One good concept sunk into my gray matter, that behind every one of our quality high performing chapters is an equally good alumni board.

CLA Appleton - Cold weather, Warm friendships

Another report on CLA, tis time from Appleton Wisconsin. Brought to you by Kevin Teets. (Can you tell he has some newspaper experience?)

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Negative temperatures were not enough to chill the momentum and celebration in Appleton, Wisconsin as 200 members of Sigma Phi Epsilon joined together this weekend for the Carlson Leadership Academy (CLA).

Chapters from the states including North Dakota, South Dakota, Nebraska, Iowa, Illinois, Minnesota and Wisconsin participated in the leadership development events of the CLA that began on Friday night with information on attending the Atlanta Conclave, and concluded on Saturday night with an awards dinner and keynote speech delivered by past District Governor and current National Leadership Committee member Tom Barton.

The focus of this year's CLA was execution. Former expansion director for Sigma Phi Epsilon Headquarters, John Schuyler, gave the charge to those in attendance. Schuyler's dynamic presentation was more than just a speech. Schuyler delivered comments on a topic, and then challenged each chapter to come up with responses to his question. Schuyler asked chapter members to identify specifically what the recruitment phrase "lifeblood of the fraternity," actually means. Faculty and volunteers rotated from table to table listening and assisting with discussion on the topic of execution and the importance of recruitment.

Friday night's events concluded with each brother being given a selected portion of the Buchanan Cup Application. The "Buc Cup," named for past Grand President Edwin Buchanan, who graduated from Ohio State in 1911, is the fraternity's premiere chapter award. In keeping with the theme of execution, Drake University's Resident Scholar, Kevin Teets, informed the audience that the Buchanan Cup application served as a "gut-check" for chapters to measure their current performance. The coveted Buchanan Cup is awarded biannually at the Grand Chapter Conclave. Chapters were told that this year's Buchanan Cup application is due on April 2, 2007.

Saturday morning began bright and early. Breakfast was served at 8 a.m., and the first session titled "Building Balance," commenced at 9 a.m. This session focused on building upon the self-evaluation of the Buc Cup applications that were filled out the night before. After this session, current chapter officers and those aspiring to be in a chapter leadership position went to rooms for training on the topics of chapter president, vice president of programming, vice president of member development, vice president of finance, vice president of communications, vice president of recruitment, and chaplain training.

These training sessions were facilitated by CLA faculty including John Schuyler, Chris Dillion, Shawn Dalgleish, Dave Friederichs, Ryan McCavitt, Mark Allen, David McLaughlin, Kevin Teets, Tom McGreevey and David Haug. Lunch and a keynote speech delivered by Brother McGreevey provided for a break between the officer training sessions.

The afternoon provided time for CLA participants to attend different hot topic sessions. Four sessions were on the topic of "Rainmaker Skills," taught by Brothers Dillion, Friederichs, Warren and Schuyler. Other hot topic sessions included Balanced Man Scholarship Summer Recruitment, Improving Senior Apathy, Improving the Brother Mentor Challenge, SigEp History, and the Ruck Leadership Institute.

An hour break between the last hot topic session allowed for brothers to adorn themselves in suits, ties and fraternity pins to celebrate the ritual of Sigma Phi Epsilon. SigEp members that had not been initiated participated in a discussion on ritual and brotherhood led by Brother Teets. A very moving impromptu gavel pass took place during this meeting that allowed for new members to talk about why SigEp is important to them.

After the ritual and ritual study, all brothers gathered together for the awards dinner. District Governor Dave Friederichs emceed the closing events. The awards dinner began with the annual raffle. Up for grabs this year was among other things, a pearl founders badge, a scholarship, and an Apple iPod Nano. Some confusion erupted as the names were drawn for the raffle prizes. The name that was drawn to win the iPod Nano was the same name that was told to sit down only moments before. Despite some recounts being demanded, the confusion set the stage for some very entertaining comments to be exchanged between Friederichs and Brother Barton.

Brother Barton's keynote speech challenged all brothers to be appreciative of what the founders created, especially William Philips, otherwise known as Uncle Billy. Barton reminded all brothers that they are forever in debt to Uncle Billy, and that they should do all that they can to pay that debt back to Sigma Phi Epsilon.

Awards and recognitions were given throughout the CLA. Among those recognized for their work for setting up the CLA were SigEp Administrative Coordinator Barbara Shanahan and SigEp Health and Wellness Director Ryan Blanck. Other key assistants on site included undergraduate Whitaker Leonhardt and Director of Chapter Campaigns, Scott Thompson.

Manpower Excellence Awards are given to those chapters who are number one on their campus in manpower. This award was given to ND Alpha, Wisconsin Beta, Iowa Delta, Minnesota Alpha and Wisconsin Theta.

Iowa Delta (Drake University) and Wisconsin Beta (University of Wisconsin) were also recognized for having more than 90 members.

Chapters that had excelled academically and achieved a grade point average greater than a 3.15 included Nebraska Beta, North Dakota Alpha, Nebraska Delta, Wisconsin Beta, and Iowa Delta.

Iowa Theta, Iowa Delta, Nebraska Beta, Wisconsin Theta, and North Dakota Alpha were also recognized for being number one on their campus in grades.

The Frank J. Ruck Leadership award was given to James Holstein of the University of Nebraska-Omaha. The Zollinger Outstanding Senior Award was awarded to Brian Burke from the University of Wisconsin at Madison.

Chapter counselor David Haug, of the University of Wisconsin was also recognized with an award for distinguished service as an alumnus.

All awards have their value and recognition, but none provide more opportunity to the recipient than does the Tragos Quest to Greece Award. This award allows for around 15 sophomores and juniors to spend one week in Greece studying the ritual in Delphi and studying the culture and history of Greece in the same place where Socrates taught. The award is made possible through the donations of Bill and Lilli Tragos.

This year's Tragos Quest to Greece recipient was Brother Matt Bruce of the University of Chicago. "I would be lying if I didn't say I was amazingly nervous," Brother Bruce said when asked how he felt during the awards dinner.

"It's very exciting. I'm looking forward to the opportunity to explore Greece with a group of extraordinary undergraduates, and learn from the alumni who guide the journey," Bruce said.

--
Kevin W. Teets Jr.
Sigma Phi Epsilon Resident Scholar
Drake University Law Student

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Thanks to Brother Teets for his comprehensive report.

Report from the Underground - CLA Destin

As we have done for the past 2 years, our operatives have infiltrated the Carlson Leadership Academy sessions in order to bring a true flavor of the leadership training weekend back to those who were not able to attend. In the coming weeks we will have more reports, but here is the first one, from Florida - the land of sunshine, Super Bowls, and pledges covered in catfish bait...

Take it away, "Brother Incognito":

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Waves lapping at white sand beaches. Palm trees waving in the breeze. Crystal clear blue water swimming pools just outside your room. A tropical paradise except for the fact that it was, oh, forty degrees outside. Such was the setting for the Carlson Leadership Academy held last weekend in the resort town of Destin, Florida. Everyone was disappointed by the chilly temperature but the location itself was pleasant and welcoming in spite of the fact we shared the Hilton hotel with 800 Mary Kay Cosmetics saleswomen with, in some cases, their husbands in tow. Of course it did make finding a parking place among all the pink Cadillacs (and at least one pink pick-up truck) something of a challenge. Having that many women in the hotel did cause a few problems: Headquarters was forced to cap attendance at 190 and some registrants were forced to move to off site lodging locations.

While I’d like to report that the event was abuzz with talk of the recent incident at FSU the fact is it was little more than a passing comment. Perhaps it was discussed more vocally than behind closed doors. It should be noted, though, that there was no one from the chapter’s alumni in the alumni session. [note: emphasis added] More about that later.

As academies go there was little difference between this one and most of the others I have attended. No collocation with a sorority (unless you count the Mary Kay Commandos) and no day long simulation of a campus environment. This one did what CLAs do best: Disseminate information and training. The event began (or at least tried) with the perfunctory advertisement for the coming Conclave in Atlanta. Not that much of it got seen since technical problems forced the staff to jump ahead in the schedule of events. That item, a lecture entitled “Execution!” was ably given by Billy Maddalon, the District Governor for North and South Carolina. The session focused on recruitment (where it all starts) and concentrated on recruitment salesmanship as a learned skill rather than an innate ability. Much of what was said in the seminar has been heard before (especially by one who’s attended as many of these as I have) but it was given in a logical manner I must admit I found more engaging than that of past CLAs. Recruitment is a skill one can learn. If a chapter does not recruit the best men possible it will not succeed. People and organizations that have written goals are far more likely to succeed than those who do not. Quality of men is directly related to GPA and vice versa. Too many chapters are using the “Social Worker” model, looking to men they can make better, and so forth.

Unfortunately I had leave in the middle of this talk to retrieve my undergraduates who were driving aimlessly around Destin having gotten lost trying to find the gated resort grounds. By the time I returned with them I was hopelessly perplexed by the material and so can’t really report more on it other than to say toward the end it seemed a little too much had been pressed into what should have been a 90 minute talk. The session on recruitment was followed by a session on chapter evaluation that used parts of the Buchanan Cup application as a guide. For me, I worked with my undergraduates to complete the form and then, exhausted from the days drive and ensuing activities bedded down for a well deserved rest.

Breakfast on Saturday morning was the typical bacon and runny eggs punctuated with a basket of bread, hash brown potatoes, OJ and coffee. But special mention must be made of the cantaloupe cut and garnished to look like a sailboat. One must wonder how much extra we paid for that special touch. Academic and manpower awards were handed out during the morning meal and while I certainly congratulate those that received awards, I’m sure Richmond will be publishing a complete list of winners so I will not list them here.

Following Breakfast the undergraduates remained for an additional full group session of “building balance” while the alumni retired to the boardroom to discuss “volunteer best practices.” In small groups, the twelve volunteers who attended the session discussed their best practices in a variety of situations. Those small group answers were then shared with the group at large. Examples of the type of “best practices” that came out of this session included having the entire alumni board run in a marathon to promote the sound mind sound body concept; re-initiating the oldest alumnus who returns for homecoming as a way to promote life long living of the ritual; strategic plans to drive undergraduate success; and working as an advocate with university administrations to support undergraduate manpower initiatives. Following this, alumni were free to join the undergraduates in officer training modules or sit and further discuss topics among themselves. This, in my opinion is the best part of the event when volunteers can seek real world advice from, shall we say, the more seasoned alumni in attendance. I hope they keep the break in the schedule for future CLAs.

Following a lunch consisting of a club sandwich and key lime pie, the alumni were granted their audience with a member of the National Board who was none other than Grand President Archie Yeatts himself (I should note at this point that undergraduate director Joseph Baird was also in attendance at the weekends festivities). Archie’s style and demeanor is a breath of fresh air at least to one who’s survived as many GPs as have I. He discussed with us the projects he has helmed for the past (almost) two years and the great strides made by the headquarters and the fraternity at large but clearly, given the problems at FSU we still have a long way to go. But it was the fact that he actually seemed to listen to the concerns of those of us in the trenches even when (or perhaps especially when) they ran contrary to the established dogma. More than once, he paused to take notes about our questions and concerns (and was still writing them on cocktail napkins late into the evening) so that he could research the issues himself. I give him credit for much of the success of those in our Headquarters in Richmond and his impending retirement will be a loss for us all (at least until he’s rested and is ready to hit the road as a volunteer again).

And what accomplishments should he rightly be proud of? There were two major ones presented to us (one of which he is merely tangentially associated but, what the hell). Doug Scheibe introduced us to the foundations new website and mentioned feedback he received no doubt thanks to S&P readers who got a sneak peek late last year. Doug told us that since the site went officially live in January some 6,000 brothers had registered. If you haven’t done so, I encourage you to visit the site and sign-up. It really will be a great way to communicate in the future and while there are still a few bugs to work out (I pointed out that a few alumni where listed as brothers in chapters that in fact they were not affiliated with) it really is a great piece of work.

Though Brother Yeatts may have had little to do with the foundation’s website, it is an independent organization after all, he can really be proud of the work done to help find, train, and maintain our volunteers. This program, I think will be the lasting legacy he leaves in his wake and it will impact chapters and the fraternity as a whole for years to come. Gary Huff, the newly appointed director of volunteers displayed for the first time the plan to bring training to the volunteers either in person or via a web-based system called WebEx. He presented one of the modules to us and it looked professional and, though incomplete, clearly articulated information every alumni board (or the new politically correct term AVC) should know. But most important Gary will be recruiting a group of volunteer trainers who will take the information directly to alumni boards on a rotating two year basis. Gary’s work will be supervised by a now standing committee on volunteer insuring this work will last longer than any one Grand President’s term. The committee is chaired by Phil Cox who, it was pointed out, is the only past staffer in the bunch. All of the others, including Stephen Taylor long of the Boy Scouts, and Mark Kiester of the YMCA, have a professional background in recruiting, training, and retaining volunteers. They really are the best and brightest and we should look forward to what is yet to come.

If you’ve read this far then you deserve a scoop or at least a spoon. So here it is and remember you read it here first. The 2009 conclave is planned for Orlando, Florida and the 2011 conclave “will be west of the Mississippi” though how far west is anyone’s guess at this point.

Following our educational sessions we gathered for a performance of the ritual that was only briefly interrupted when one of the Mary Kays (remember them) “accidentally” walked into the room. The evening concluded with the awards dinner where the Zollinger seniors, distinguished alumnus, and a few other awards were announced, the RDs made their final(?) remarks and the keynote address was given by Grand President Yeatts. His topic was about virtue and “its close cousin integrity” and it was a great speech. I understand he will be giving the same one in Los Angeles (Woodland Hills) later this month so those of you attending that one are in for a treat.

As the night wore on and the undergraduates left the hotel for the clubs and other attractions of Destin the alumni and staffers gathered in the lobby bar to share a drink and toast another successful leadership academy. Yes, the leadership training is important but it is moments like these that remind me why I’ve attended twenty of these academies since my undergraduate days. It is moments like these that give me the charge I need to return to my campus and reaffirm my involvement with my chapter and younger brothers. Moments like these that send me on my way knowing that my quest is not in vain.

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Thanks again to the volunteer who sent in this report. Oh, yeah. The links were added by the S&P staff to add definition and have a little fun.

Sig Ep Appoints Director of Volunteers

Letter Sent to Volunteers from Craig Templeton
Appointment of Gary Huff as Director of Volunteers

January 19, 2007
Dear Volunteer:

One of the five tenets of the Fraternity’s strategic plan is to build and strengthen the role of volunteers at the chapter level—equipping our volunteers with the skills, tools and abilities to manage the day-to-day affairs of their chapters and mentor their undergraduate leaders and officers. Grand President Archie Yeatts formed a special committee to formulate plans and recommendations for volunteer programming.

A central component of the committee’s recommendations includes a professional staff position dedicated to recruiting, training and retaining volunteer chapter leaders. After an exhaustive nationwide search, I am pleased to introduce Brother Gary L. Huff as our Director of Volunteers. Gary is a former District Governor for Arkansas and Louisiana, 1991 alumnus of the University of Central Arkansas and 2004 recipient of the Distinguished Alumnus Award.

Over the holidays, Gary relocated from Little Rock, Arkansas, to Richmond, Virginia, and has been hard at work designing and planning the volunteer training programs and modules recommended by the committee. As a former District Governor, Gary brings the unique perspective—District Governors are our primary network for recruiting, organizing and maintaining the Alumni and Volunteer Corporation boards at the chapter level.

Gary has taken the committee’s recommendations, working with Director of Operations Chris Minnis and volunteers, to outline 11 training modules on topics ranging from chapter recruitment, to property management, to legal issues and risk management. With training modules in hand this spring, he will begin training trainers to deliver the programs in the field.

Gary comes to us from Philander Smith College in Little Rock where he served as Controller. He has also worked in marketing and accounting for a wireless telecommunications company, operations and accounting for a startup software development company, and led the financial operations of a privately held company as it went through a series of acquisitions. Gary is a self-described “problem solver.”

As part of his transition, he has put together a grueling travel schedule to meet and begin work with volunteers at eight of the nine Carlson Leadership Academies next month (Karen Katz, a member of the Volunteers Advisory Committee, will be covering for Gary at the CLA in Burlington, Massachusetts).

You should expect to be hearing from Gary in the coming weeks to get your perspectives on building and equipping our volunteer leadership corps.

Fraternally,
Craig D. Templeton
Executive Director

Got CLA?

Have you registered for CLA yet? The links below will take you to the registration page for your area.

Carlson 1: Destin, FL February 2-4, 2007 Carlson 2: Appleton, WI February 2-4, 2007 Carlson 3: Lexington, KY February 9-11, 2007 Carlson 4: Herndon, VA February 9-11, 2007 Carlson 5: Burlington, MA February 16-18, 2007 Carlson 6: Woodland Hills, CA February 16-18. 2007 Carlson 7: Bloomington, IN February 16-18, 2007 Carlson 8: Tulsa, OK February 23-25, 2007

CLA Schedule Announced

Carlson Leadership Academies Scheduled for February, 2007

Every chapter should plan to send their current officers and their up-and-coming leaders to this year's edition of Carlson Leadership Academies. More information will be coming out soon, but you need to select your location and get the dates on your calendar now.

The dates and locations are:

February 2-4
Upper Midwest - Appleton, WI
Southeast - Destin, FL

February 9-11
Mid-Atlantic - Herndon, VA
Mid Central - Lexington, KY

February 16-18
Midwest - Bloomington, IN
Northeast - Burlington, MA
West Coast - Woodland Hills, CA

February 23-25
Mid-South - Tulsa, OK