Meeting Minutes

Sigma Chi Eta (SCH)

Annual Business Meeting

Friday, November 12, 2:00 – 3:15 pm

Meeting Chair: Liz Van Lysal, National Coordinator

Information: Van Lysal  presented a report from the NCA National Office:

·        Since the last national convention, SCH chapter have been chartered at Ohlone College, Santiago Canyon College, Gainesville College, and Dixie College

·        Shauna Adams left the National Coordinator position to pursue her graduate studies.  Stephanie Materese served as the Interim National Coordinator over the summer, until Van Lysal Van Lysal was hired in mid-August.

·        The National Office has been working with Ken Jernigan, our vendor, to produce quality charters to present to all of the current chapters.  They can be expected by January.

Discussion: Advisors and members discussed what has worked on their campuses to get students involved.  At Sinclair, the SCH chapter has brought in speakers and then organized a lunch with the speaker for SCH members to attend.  At Gainesville, a student political panel was organized that garnered attention from two local newspapers as well as the local political parties.

Action:  None

Discussion:  Morreale led a discussion on the formation of a SCH Faculty Advisory Board to create a member-lead leadership structure.

Action:  Three Faculty Advisors volunteered to serve on the SCH Faculty Advisory Board for two year terms, 2004-2006:

1.      Melinda Womack, Santiago Canyon College

2.      Allison Ainsworth, Gainesville College

3.      Jeff Tyus, Sinclair Community College

David Bodary agreed to ask the Community College Division to require the Chair of that Division to serve as a liaison and an ex-officio, non-voting member of the SCH Faculty Advisory Board.

Discussion:  Morreale led a discussion regarding student requirements for membership.  This discussion included amending Article V, Section 1 of the constitution to require 12 semester credit hours (15 quarter hours) before a student can apply for SCH.  This would lower the current requirement of 20 semester credit hours.  Also discussed was the option of non-member participation or provisional membership.  In order to remain in compliance with ACHS bylaws, Morreale & Van Lysal suggested that any version of the term “member” not be used to refer to students that are not yet eligible to be members.

Action:  A motion was, made, seconded, and carried unanimously to amend Article V, Section 1 of the constitution  to read:

Eligibility for Membership. To be eligible for admission applicants must have completed 12 semester credit-hours (15 quarter-hours) at the institution they are now attending, or the equivalent number of hours at a transfer institution, or through life-long learning credit; have a minimum cumulative GPA of at least 3.0 (on a 4.0 scale) for all courses taken; have a GPA for all communication studies courses taken of at least 3.25 (on a 4.0 scale); completed the equivalent of 3 communication courses or 9 semester credit-hours (12 quarter credit-hours) in communication studies[i][iii]; and currently be enrolled as a student in good standing, as determined by the local institution's policies. In addition, all persons considered for membership shall exhibit high standards of personal and professional character and shall support the purposes of the honor society.[ii][iv] Individual schools may raise but may not lower these requirements.

The issue of non-member participation was delegated to the Faculty Advisory Board to discuss.

Discussion:  Van Lysal asked what the National Office could do to help SCH chapters.  Items that came up were: creation of a SCH blog to facilitate communication among chapters and help form a connection between SCH and Lambda Pi Eta chapters that are in the area so SCH members feel included when they transfer to a four-year school.

Action:  Van Lysal is going to work with advisors and members to address the above suggestions and thereby best serve their needs.  She is also going to check the SCH website for the language that refers to Lambda Pi Eta in order to better word it to suggest that the two honorary societies are compatible and complementary of one another.