Alpha Chapter Annual Meeting

Founder’s Weekend

April 28, 2007

Meeting Agenda

• Important Issues / Announcements – P. Dalton / D. Fowkes

• President’s Update – N. Bonura

• Treasurer’s Update – D. Halsey

• Active Update – C. Baldauf / T. Kelly

• Alumni Update – D. Fowkes / T. Doherty

• Alumni Participation – D. Fowkes / R. Gholkar

• History – M. Glaccum

• Bylaw Modernization – P. Dalton

• Elections (including nominations from the floor) – P. Dalton

• Chapter Eternal – M. Glaccum

• Open Discussions - ALL

Important Issues

6294 Schedule / Summary

• Saturday Schedule:– 12:00 Actives versus Alumni Football Game– 2:30 Annual Alumni Association Meeting– 6:30 Buses depart for Dinner event– 10:00 Event ends– 12:00 Meet at The Ruck (Sutter’s)

• Requested Donation– $100 Stag– $150 With a date

• How to Pay– See Paul Dalton

Dates to Remember

• June 9 RPI reunion Theta Xi update• July 27-30 Theta Xi convention Louisville, KY• August 18-19 Extreme Makeover Zoo Edition• August 25-26Chapter planning and rush preparation• October 20 RPI Homecoming• April 26-27 6294

6294 for 2008

• Celebration scheduled for April 26-27– Friday night poker at 1490 Sage!– Saturday 12 pm active/alumni football– Saturday 2:30 pm alumni meeting location TBD– Saturday 7 pm 6294– Saturday 10 pm breaking bottles in the basement– Saturday 4 am closing the bars– Details to follow next Spring

• Goal of 100 alumni returning– Reach out to invite 2 alum not here today!

• Evite is on line – please sign up today

RPI - AIGC Update• No plans to implement a permanent live in advisor policy

– Citied culture change and financial hardships

• No major changes to the recruitment plan– Will attempt to market "going Greek" more. – Examined the retention numbers of Greeks vs. non-Greeks and felt that there

was no problem getting acclimated• There will be a new alcohol policy introduced for the Fall '08 semester

– Basically restates the previous BYOB policy and outlines exactly what is and isn't a party

– When questioned how this was different the response was pretty much "This time it will be enforced."

– Introduced a Good Samaritan policy,• If any student needs medical attention for alcohol related issues, the student

and the person and the organization that reports the situation will all be free from sanctions

• Focus is on student health and well being• Highly endorsed by the AIGC and it likely that a policy close to this outlined

would be enacted in the fall

President’s Update

Goals for the Year

• Continue Alumni Outreach program

• Further the renovation of the house

• Aggressively market the Chapter to potential members

• Advance the relationship of the Chapter with RPI

Alumni Outreach

• Regional Clubs– New York, Boston, Troy leading the way– Washington, DC club forming

• New Website– http://www.alpha6294.com

• Historical Projects– Data collection– Hall of Fame

Continued Renovations

• Main Goal: 3rd Floor Renovation– Funds Shortage– Document Creation

• “Extreme Makeover – Zoo Edition”

Aggressive Marketing

• Fall Rush Seminar– Incredible job by Riiz, Blanc, and others

• Slowly building chapter numbers

Relationship with RPI

• Current State is “never better”– Waived remainder of live-in advisor

requirement– No complaints in 3 years– Rated a 4 star chapter (only 6 with 5 stars)– Best alumni association

• Improvement by being more visible on campus

The Coming Year’s Priorities

1. Continued support of Actives in Rush activities

2. Alumni and Active Financial Stability, which leads to renovation activities

3. Even more Alumni Outreach (“Alumni Rush”)

4. Relationship with Administration, including more positive publicity

Treasurer’s Update

Active Chapter Update

Active Chapter Update

• This year (2007 – 2008)

• Next year’s facts and figures

• Next year’s goals

• How you can get involved

This Year

• Membership– 29 members, 5 associates, 17 in house

• Rush– 11 Fall (9 initiated), 5 Spring.

• Awards– 7 of 9 points from National– 4 of 5 stars from RPI, Alumni / National involvement

award

• GPA– 2.73 For Fall 2007

Next Year

• Membership – young house– 21 members; 5 seniors, 4 juniors, 12 soph.– 18 in house– 4 boarders

• Live In Advisor stipulation dropped

• Probation scheduled to end Jan 1 ’08

• Focusing on adhering to National 63 day AM period policy.

Next Year Goals

• Rush– 30 Fall bids, 20 signed, 18 initiates

• Membership Education – 1+ semester education period for Fall– 1 semester for Spring

• Awards– Most improved Chapter at National Level– 5 star and 2 specific awards for RPI

• GPA– 2.9 cumulative GPA

• Community Service– Participate in 2 community service events

How can you help?

• Scholarship Alumni Chair– Develop and implement a system to raise

chapter GPA; focus on academic excellence

• Community Service Alumni Chair– Work with Chapter, RPI, and Community to

coordinate 2 service events

• Awards Applications Coordinator– Handle our annual award applications for both

National HQ and RPI

Alumni Update

Annual Fund Summary• Donations have grown each year

by $ and number• Target for 2006-2007 is $35k

and 150 donations• 220 alumni have contributed one

or more times (A485-A1551)• We need to focus on better

repeat participation among 1980s and 1990s

0.00

2,000.00

4,000.00

6,000.00

8,000.00

10,000.00

12,000.00

2003-2004 2004-2005 2005-2006 2006-2007

1930s

1940s

1950s

1960s

1970s

1980s

1990s

2000s

Other

# $ # $ # $ # $1930s 2 125.00 1 25.00 0 0.00 0 0.001940s 2 35.00 5 850.00 7 1,025.88 3 475.001950s 10 1,980.00 19 4,116.34 20 4,310.88 16 3,717.941960s 3 362.94 8 1,162.94 15 5,601.76 11 4,175.001970s 4 412.94 6 1,050.00 6 930.00 2 300.001980s 10 3,263.44 21 4,151.76 16 4,120.66 8 2,911.881990s 28 5,493.82 52 10,935.82 41 7,829.72 22 3,600.942000s 16 2,071.98 18 3,850.00 33 6,125.98 17 2,064.29Other 1 2,000.00 1 0.00 0 0.00 0 0.00Total 76 15,745.12 131 26,141.86 138 29,944.88 79 17,245.05

Average 207.17 199.56 216.99 218.29Maximum 2,000.00 1,100.00 3,000.00 2,500.00Total Number of Individual Contributors 220Total Donations 89,076.91

2003-2004 2004-2005 2005-2006 2006-2007

Donation Directions• Suggested donation to attend 6294 celebration

– Too many alumni have failed to pay in recent years. Please pay before attending this year

– $100 stag– $150 with date

• Make checks to: Theta Xi Association of Troy, NY– Give checks to Paul Dalton

• Make cash contributions to Paul Dalton– If possible, please put in an envelope and include a note with your name and

amount given • Donations can be made on-line via credit card

– Pay Pal link on our web site • www.alpha6294.com

– See computer set up at house to donate today• Automatic payroll deductions/checks

– 5 alumni automatically donate now– See Rohun Gholkar for directions

Communication Update• Replaced communication company – Now using Laurus

– Significant savings (20+%)– Better service and products

• More focused communication to alumni– 2 printed AlphaBets per year (May/June, Nov/Dec going forward)– 2 Electronic newsletters per year (Feb/Mar, Aug/Sep)

• First issue sent in March• Very cost effective way to communicate

• Updated website– www.alpha6294.com– Designed and implemented by alumni owned company (VigCraft)– Significant content update (history, news, donation information)– Please sign in and update your information if you have not done so

• Improved alumni contact database– 2nd most important asset we own – critical for communications and fund raising– Password protected– Available to alumni to find/communicate with alumni friends– Improved coordination with National and RPI to systematically update our data

• We need volunteers to relieve current class and decade coordinators– Recently replaced 1990s and 2000s decade coordinators, select 2000s annual coordinators– Need 1980s, 1970s coordinators, help with all 1980s years and select 1990s tears

ZOO

•Alumni work with actives to make a major improvement to the chapter house–Provide skills, planning and manpower–Cost effective, high impact project focus

•House divided up into a number of manageable projects–Kitchen, outside, chapter room, basement, first floor common rooms, bathrooms, halls/stairways, select bedroom repair, more ideas?

•We need more volunteers–Many project foremen identified, we can use more to further divide larger projects–Manpower and skills needed–See David Fowkes if interested

•Fundraising will define scope•Many low dollar projects but highest impact projects will require funding•We will focus on our 140 lapsed donors

ZOO

•Now – May 15–Detailed plans and budgets developed for specific projects–Continue to sign up volunteers to work & plan projects

•Late May/Early June–AlphaBet mailed, fund raise focus

•August 18-19–First weekend, Alumni descend upon house to work with actives to complete work

•August 25-26–Second weekend, Finish up any project work, prepare house for rush, rush seminar and active annual planning sessions

Alumni Participation

What Can You Do?

• Participate at whatever level you are comfortable• Donate every year to the annual fund• Reach out to 2 or more alumni you don’t see

here today – Help find a lost alum and get him to re-engage– Tell them how much you enjoyed this 6294 and ask

them to participate at some level

• Extra Credit – find a project and help– Small time commitment of 10-40 hours per year

Donate Via Bill Pay1) Set up a payee on your online banking:

Theta Xi Association of Troy, New YorkAlumni Relations OfficeP.O. Box 80828Atlanta, GA 30366

2) Set up a recurring payment:

Start with your next pay check!

3) Suggested minimum donation is $10 / paycheck

• If you can’t afford 10 bucks, how about 5? If not 5 how about 2? Give at your own comfort level.

• There’s strength in numbers. If 100 of us give $5 / paycheck, that’s $13,000/yr!!!

• A great way for new alumni to start contributing and for older alumni to donate without remembering to write one big check

(If you can afford to do both, that is even better!!!)

Potential Projects• Award Application Coordination

– RPI 5 star, National accreditation and Barker trophy• Scholarship

– Help coordinate improved scholarship organization• Outside Activity Coordination

– Public relations with various communities– Help keep focus on community service, philanthropy, official Greek involvement, club participation– Help keep focus on National Theta Xi participation (President’s academy, rising star academy, district conference, convention)

• Extreme Makeover – Zoo Edition– Choose project to plan and coordinate– Show up and help

• Annual/Decade Support– Relieve existing volunteers– Help find lost alumni– Help reach out to older alumni

• Alumni Association Business Plan– Used to sell older alumni on large contributions– Mission statement, guiding principals

• Renovation Plan– Project estimate– Fundraising marketing packet

• Organize a class reunion for your class– Focus early (May 1) to get key alumni back– We will help you organize – not a lot of work

• Insert your idea here . . .– Anything that you think will help and are interested in doing

City Clubs• New York City

– Officially chartered– 8-10 chapters represented, core group of 30-40 alumni– Meet quarterly (next meeting 5/16 in midtown)– Discussing purpose – Re-chartering Columbia?? Chartering NYU?– Contact Rohun Gholkar

• Boston– Officially chartered– First meeting was earlier this month– Contact Chris Blanc

• Albany/Troy – 2 meetings so far– Trying to expand to include other chapters– Contact Brad Spencer

• Washington DC– Existing group of Beta Omegas– Alphas looking to join to expand group– First joint meeting this summer?– Contact Jay Virgil

• Coming soon?– Theta Xi circle area groups forming– Possible Chicago club? Others?

History

Forging Ties to the Past

• Status from Last Year– Not only do we have new History Section, we have a New

Website!• Check it out, new material posted regularly• See where the Chapter House was almost built…

– Alpha Chapter Hall of Fame Plans being finalized• Finishing a Draft of the Election Process this summer• First Induction Ceremony slated for 6294 in 2008

– Numerous posters have been created for display• 75th Anniversary of the Chapterhouse’s Construction• Rush

– Founder’s Room Names on Molding / Bronze Plaques• Molding to be included with renovation discussion• Bronze Plaques proposed

Current History Activity

• Posters – David Fowkes A1275 / Matt Glaccum A1324• Membership Review – Matt Glaccum A1324• Wikipedia – Pete Torelli A1353• Hall of Fame Election Process – Nino Bonura A1415• Chapter Room – Norm Baldauf A1487• Scanning/Cataloging – Norm Baldauf A1487/Brandon Devers

A1585• Website/Database – Ben Haynes A1526

• TX-Centric Map of Campus -- ????????• Collaborate on Creation of the Digital Archive -- ???????• Alumni Donation of Photos, Yearbooks, Documents -- ???????

• Check www.alpha6294.com/forum -- history for more information

Bylaw Modernization Vote

Why and How are We Making Changes?

• We would like to update our Association bylaws to reflect current needs and practices

– The Alumni Association board unanimously recommends the proposed changes be approved.

– National has reviewed our proposed changes, and although they have no official say in the matter, agree that the proposed amendments are prudent.

– The changes are summarized on the next slide.• Article XI of the bylaws states that amendments may be made by a majority

vote of all members present at any corporation meeting– We will vote on the proposed package of changes today– A majority vote of alumni present will change our bylaws

• Article V, Section 4 outlines the notice provisions required to announce the proposed amendments

– In accordance with this section we included an announcement in the December 2006 AlphaBet.

– On January 15, 2007 we posted proposed changes here on the website. – We accepted comments until March 1, 2007 and posted the final proposed by-

laws on March 2, 2007.

Proposed Changes

• Article IV– Clarification that only Alpha chapter alumni in good standing are members of the Association. – Clarification as to the definition of good standing.

• Article V, Section 2– Changes the process of election of officers. – Our by-laws currently state that the Alumni Board appoints officers after the annual meeting elections. – This proposed amendment will make our actual practice of electing officers at the annual meeting by

majority vote of the members present the official process. • Articles V and VI

– Changes to allow email notice and teleconference board meetings. • Article VI, Section 1

– Allows active member board positions to remain vacant if the chapter is ever inactive. • Articles VII and VIII

– Eliminates the office of Secretary and adds those duties to the Vice President. The Vice President has been acting as Secretary for a number of years already. This change conforms the rules with the current practice, may make it easier to recruit board members in the future (more at large members) and will give the President more flexibility to assign specific duties to members at large.

• Article VIII– Gives specific tax filing and budgeting responsibility to Treasurer to better reflect current responsibilities.

• Article IX– Eliminates double signing requirement for checks as it has not been followed for years. Allows the Board of

Directors to assign check signing authority to other members as needed. This will allow the board the flexibility to assign local alumni check signing permission.

Elections

Current Slate of Officers

• President – Nino Bonura A1415• Vice President – Paul Dalton A1512

– Local alumni outreach• Treasurer – Dave Halsey A1447• Chapter Advisor – Chris “Norm” Baldauf A1487• Member at Large – Ben Rosenthal A1427

– Renovation coordinator• Member at Large – Tom Doherty A1448

– Public relations/marketing• Member at Large – Rohun Gholkar A1515

– Business plan/fund raising plan

Elections• Today we will elect all 3 officers to one year terms and elect up to 4 additional

members at large to 2 year terms– Any alumnus elected to a one year officer position who is not a remaining board member

(Nino, Paul, Tom) will simultaneously be elected to a 2 year board term– After the 3 officers are elected we will know how many member at large positions remain

vacant• We will first elect the 3 officers (President then Vice President then Treasurer) and

then fill any remaining open member at large positions– President – one year term

• Nino remains on board as member at large– Vice President – one year term

• Paul remains on board as member at large– Treasurer – one year term

• Dave Halsey’s board term as member at large expires – VACANT SPOT– Member at Large

• Ben Rosenthal’s board term expires – VACANT SPOT– Member at Large

• Rohun’s board term expires – VACANT SPOT– Member at Large

• Chris Baldauf’s board term expires – VACANT SPOT– Member at Large

• Tom remains on board as member at large

Chapter Eternal

Chapter Eternal

• Carlton G. Provost A495

• Carl G. Johnson A713

• Howard C. Bursch A750

• Phillip Barnett A1120

Open Discussions