| SECRETARY’S
REPORT The overall year 2001-02 was good in most respects, despite a difficult year for the investments in trust. Strong support by alumni through their volunteer efforts, gifts, and bequests were impressive, while corporate financial support of THE BENT remained high. Extensive improvements were made to the internal and external websites and to the automated membership-reporting system. CHAPTERS The 2001 Convention granted charters to the University of Missouri–Kansas City (where members of Missouri Alpha had operated for 16 years), formally established as the Missouri Delta Chapter on Jan. 26, 2002; the University of Portland, formally established as the Oregon Gamma Chapter on Feb. 9; Dartmouth College, formally established as the New Hampshire Beta Chapter on Feb. 23; and the University of Texas at San Antonio, formally established as the Texas Mu Chapter on March 2, 2002. Sketches of the institutions and accounts of the installations were published in THE BENT. An inspection team visited the local engineering honor society at Virginia Commonwealth University. Its petition will be considered by the 2002 Convention. Petitions for new chapters were received from the local honor societies at Idaho State University, Grand Valley State University, and the University of California, Riverside, and inspection teams will visit the campuses in 2002-03. Tau Beta Pi has chartered 59 alumnus chapters. Sixteen units are active (two were re-activated), and their activities are reported in THE BENT. The Annual Chapter Survey was conducted in the spring. A total of 132 chapters (down from 135) completed surveys, and 80 chapters reported 1,056 projects. A report on the contents of the survey was published in the September 2002 issue of THE BULLETIN. A large Bent monument was dedicated by New York Tau. A special anniversary celebration was held by Arizona Alpha (75th). MEMBERSHIP The chapters initiated 7,577 members in 2000-01, up seven percent and the highest total since 1998-99. This included 7,248 undergraduates, 219 graduate students, 62 alumni, and 48 eminent engineers. Tau Beta Pi’s initiated membership on July 31, 2002, was 453,098, and an estimated 47,000 are deceased. During the school year, about 28,031 engineering students in the 225 Tau Beta Pi chapter schools were scholastically eligible for membership in the top one-fifth of their senior or the top eighth of their junior classes. About 41.5% of these were members of Tau Beta Pi at the close of the year, up slightly from 41.4% the previous year. About 3.8% were not initiated, chiefly because of their chapters’ failure to hold spring ceremonies. The remaining 54.6% indicated a lack of interest in membership, up from 52.5% last year. Tau Beta Pi chapter schools graduate about 91% of all B.S. engineers completing their education at 337 ABET-accredited and 12 other schools. Thirty-seven chapters held only one election and initiation of new members; all others held two or more. Thirteen chapters held unapproved initiations. One member resigned during the year, and none was expelled. CONVENTION The 96th Convention of Tau Beta Pi was held in October 2001 in Columbus with Ohio Gamma as host. The meeting was fully reported in THE BENT and THE BULLETIN. The 2002 Convention will be held in Detroit with Michigan Epsilon as host, and the 2003 meeting will be hosted by Texas Beta in Lubbock. The 2001 Convention approved two amendments to the Constitution and Bylaws of the Association, which were ratified by Executive Council vote for invalid and non-voting chapters: to make English the official business language of the Association and to place a chapter on probation if it fails to hold an approved initiation during a fiscal year. The Convention decided: to use the standard reimbursement schedule for the 2002 Convention; to continue to reimburse 20% of the cost of a coach/super-saver airline ticket purchased by the travel-plan deadline for one non-voting delegate per chapter (up to $200); to create an optional program for guests to be presented in parallel with the initiation; and it studied the eligibility of computer-science students, declared them eligible for another year, and referred the issue to the 2002 Convention. The delegates also: accepted an invitation from Florida Alpha/Delta to host the 2004 Convention in Orlando (which acceptance was later approved by the Executive Council); decided that guidelines for electee duties were clear and sent the issue of recourse by a candidate to the 2002 Convention; declined to permit Fellowship stipends of dual monetary values; made recommendations to modify documentation required in the petitioning process; made recommendations on Tau Beta Pi image materials and the chapter survey; and made recommendations on potential petitions from international institutions and referred future work to a task force for study and to report to the 2002 Convention. OFFICIALS The current Executive Council of Tau Beta Pi, elected for the 1998-2002 term, comprises President D.M. Green, Vice President E.J. D’Avignon, and Councillors J.A. Atkins, C.P. Rice, and G.D. Peterson. Council meetings were held on Aug. 11, Oct. 17, and Dec. 1, 2001, March 23, and June 7, 2002. The Four Corners slate of Council candidates was elected by the 2001 Convention and will serve the 2002-06 term. It has already named its officers. Thegroup consists of President M.W. Ohland, Vice President E.D. Styles, and Councillors A.L. Hu, R.W. Pierce, and D.J. Tyner. The new Council will be formally installed on October 5 at the closing meeting of the 2002 Convention. Tau Beta Pi has three appointed officers with responsibilities in major areas of its interest: D.S. Pierre Jr. serves as Director of Fellowships, A.R. Hirsch as Director of Rituals, and R.W. Pierce as Director of Engineering Futures. Members of the Fellowship Board include H.J. Chaya, S.L. Holl, and V.A. Marsocci. The Trust Advisory Committee, which directs the investment activities of the corporate trustee, includes R.F. Smith (chair), J.A. Runde, and J.W. Johnson Jr. The District Directors on July 31, 2002, were: District 1 Henry H. Houh District 2 Selden J. Houghton District 3 Edward P. Gorzkowski District 4 Lisa C. Pawlak District 5 L.-K. “Jimmy” Lin District 6 Joseph J. Hanby District 7 Teresa J. Cutright District 8 Michael J. Cunningham District 9 Charles W. Caldwell District 10 Daniel A. Kamat District 11 James C. Hill District 12 Wade A. Hull District 13 Jeffrey G. Dabling District 14 Ellie R. Phelps District 15 Scott E. Fable District 16 Allen Klinger.The Headquarters staff, which is located on the Knoxville campus of the University of Tennessee, includes Executive Director J.D. Froula, P.E., Assistant Secretary-Treasurer R.E. Hawks, Director of Development P.B. McDaniel, and seven additional employees. DISTRICT PROGRAM Each District held a conference last year and meetings at the 2001 Convention, and Directors visited many chapters during the year. The Directors and the Council met in Chicago, IL, during June 2002 and discussed means for improving regional activities and communications and helping the collegiate chapters. ENGINEERING FUTURES A total of 249 training sessions in developing the leadership skills of student members was presented by 44 volunteer facilitators during 2001-02. This program helps to prepare engineering students for their careers by enhancing their technical effectiveness through interpersonal-skills and teamwork-development seminars. FELLOWSHIPS The Summer 2002 BENT carried reports by Tau Beta Pi’s 68th fellowship group of 35 students, 16 with stipend, who were selected in the spring of 2001. The 69th group, comprising 35 students—17 with stipend, will do graduate work in 2002-03 and was announced in the Summer 2002 BENT. Fellows with stipends are paid cash grants of $10,000 each. Four James Fife Fellowships, sponsored by an irrevocable trust bequeathed by William Fife, CA A ’21, were given. AWARDS Tau Beta Pi’s top chapter prize, the R.C. Matthews Outstanding Chapter Award, was given to Wyoming Alpha for the excellence of its total program in 2000-01. Honorable mentions were awarded by the Convention committee to Iowa Alpha and Michigan Theta. The R.H. Nagel Most Improved Chapter Award went to West Virginia Alpha, with no honorable mentions. The Council made two Chapter Project Grants under the Greater Interest in Government Program. The Headquarters staff gave 55 Secretary’s Commendations to chapters for the perfection of their reports to the Headquarters office in 2000-01 and 39 Chapter Project Awards for ingenuity and creativity in activities. The Distinguished Alumnus Award, established by the 1993 Convention for a trial period and renamed in 1999, will be presented at the 2002 Convention to Dr. Lyle D. Feisel, IA A ’61. The National Outstanding Advisor Award will be presented to the ninth winner, who was selected in June 2002 by a national selection committee of engineering deans: T.S. Greene (chair) and P.P. Khargonekar. The recipient of a $1,000 cash award and an equal sum to be presented to his dean’s discretionary fund is Larry A. Simonson, SD A ’69, South Dakota Alpha Advisor. During the year, the Executive Council gave seven Resolutions of Appreciation, five Distinguished Service Awards, one Exemplary Service Award, and seven Superior Service Awards to collegiate chapter advisors and national officials for long and outstanding service. LAUREATES A selection committee of three District Directors chose three winners from 11 nominees. [See pages 24-25.] SCHOLARSHIPS/GRANTS The third group of 38 Tau Beta Pi Scholars, who will complete their undergraduate engineering studies in 2002-03, was announced in the Summer BENT. Each Scholar receives a cash grant of $2,000. The inaugural E.W. Beans, J. Benard, Ruth M. and C.L. Campbell, and A.R. Orr Scholarships were awarded. In the Tau Beta Pi Chapter Performance Scholarship Program, 43 scholarships of $500 each were presented to students in 33 chapters. Six $1,000 grants for the first year of college study in 2002-03 for incoming freshman engineering students were provided by the Society (for a total of 30) through the national program conducted by the Society of Automotive Engineers. No Special Assistance Grant was made. CONTRIBUTIONS FROM ALUMNI Tau Beta Pi’s 2001 annual Alumnus Giving Program brought gifts of $709,487 (down 4.4%) from 15,159 donors (down 12%), including 1,067 new donors (down 36%). Their names were published in the Winter and Spring 2002 issues of THE BENT. Included in the total are gifts of $17,137 allocated to the Fellowship Program from 168 companies that match gifts from employees. The 2002 Giving Program was begun in March, and the response by July 31 reached $486,394 from 10,425 loyal members. The Society uses professional assistance in the conduct of this program; the national officers are deeply grateful to the generous alumni whose gifts fund important programs that help our chapters and student members. OTHER ACTIVITIES Tau Beta Pi has maintained its affiliation with the American Association for the Advancement of Science, its association membership in the American Society for Engineering Education, and its affiliations with the Association of College Honor Societies and the American Association of Engineering Societies. The Executive Director is Tau Beta Pi’s official representative to these organizations, although other officers of the Association occasionally attend their meetings. Tau Beta Pi is also an affiliate of the Junior Engineering Technical Society, which works with high-school students across the U.S.A. The Society was included as an eligible organization on the 2002 Combined Federal Campaign national list. Tau Beta Pi continued an agreement with MonsterTrak to provide on-line job listings to members. The AlumNet Program, an electronic mentoring service to encourage student-alumnus interactions, is in a second, three-year trial period. The Association was a contributing society to National Engineers Week 2002 and was represented at the inauguration of the new president of Iowa State University. Approximately 9,000 copies of the Winter issue of THE BENT were mailed to non-subscribing donors in January, and 14,700 letters encouraging the study of engineering were mailed to high-performing high-school students in September. Tau Beta Pi has maintained its classification under Section 501(c)(3) of the U.S. Internal Revenue Code as a tax-exempt, charitable and educational, non-private organization and is exempt from sales tax in 13 states. Collegiate chapters are separately classified under Section 501(c)(7) of the code. Treasurer’s Report The financial condition of Tau Beta Pi at the close of the fiscal year was strong, despite the worst trust performance in 20 years. Assets decreased in 2001-02 by $3,340,000 to a total of $12,977,000. Excess of expense over revenue for the year was just over $3,413,000. FINANCIAL POSITION STATEMENT Nearly all of the asset decrease for the year was in investments and a receivable contribution from the Record Trust. The several named trust funds are commingled and invested under the jurisdiction of the Tau Beta Pi Trust Advisory Committee. The trustee is the trust department of the National City Bank in Cleveland, OH. The trustee performed satisfactorily during the year, and the status of the trust at the end of the year was weakened by the second year of large unrealized losses. Investment earnings of the funds, less trustee fees and excluding capital gains resulting from security transactions, are used for the purposes indicated by the fund titles: paying for BENT magazines delivered to life subscribers, helping to pay fellowship and scholarship stipends, paying project grants to winners in the Greater Interest in Government Program, helping to support the Convention, and financing many useful activities of the collegiate chapters. Overall net earnings of the trust funds, including security sales, were -18.8%; the previous year’s figure is -11.8%. Net earnings were -$2,717,800. Securities held by the trustee on July 31, 2002, are carried at market value of $11,998,000, a decrease of 17% below the previous year, and comprise holdings in eight non-overlapping, no-load mutual funds. Equity securities constituted 85% of the total trust funds. The current liability in fellowships and scholarships is for those stipends committed in 2001-02 for payment to student winners in 2002-03. The 2002 Convention liability includes the assessments paid by new initiates during the year and $3,400 in gifts from four corporate sponsors. The deferred BENT subscription liability is for both annual subscriptions and the four-year subscriptions for new members included in the national initiation fee. The liability for delivering future magazines under four-year subscriptions is entered on the books at the time of initiation. The increase in BENT life subscription liability resulted from the 752 new life subscribers. Life subscription fees are recorded as a liability because of the commitment against the annual earnings of those fees to pay for copies of THE BENT to be delivered. This liability represents the total value of all life subscriptions in force on July 31, 2002, at their enrollment-fee prices. On the deaths of life subscribers, their paid fees are transferred on the books to the Fellowship Fund and then are reported as revenue. The net assets of the Association decreased by $3,413,700, despite generous contributions from alumni and two bequests and five capital gifts totaling $159,000. Earnings on securities fell by $861,000. A subsidiary report details the changes during the year in individual funds, most of which decreased after a loss in market value of securities of $2,917,000. THE BENT Life Subscription Fund balance decreased by $1,210,000, the Convention Fund fell by $341,000, the Fellowship Fund fell by $178,000, the Program Development Fund dropped by $170,000, and the Engineering Futures Fund dropped by $170,000. The Leroy E. Record Scholarship Fund decreased by $825,000. STATEMENT OF ACTIVITIES Chapter and initiation fees (shown less the BENT subscription portion) rose by $11,600. Convention revenue consists of assessments for the 2001 Convention, $23,750 in industrial gifts, and $55,147 from 114 alternate delegates and visitors. Overall contributions and bequests decreased by $3,382,000. Total gifts from alumni and matching corporations in the two annual giving programs in 2001-02 amounted to $700,181 (down 4.4% from 2000-01). The Association is deeply grateful to the 14,442 members (down 9%) who contributed during the year. BENT publication revenue fell by $139,000 despite the second-highest total of recruitment advertising; expenses fell by $51,000. Normally, publication is a “profitable” activity when Life Subscription Fund earnings are included. Total earnings on the invested Life Subscription Fund were the lowest in 24 years. In 2001-02, the invested fund earned (before the trustee fee deduction) only $0.27 per life copy delivered, compared with the previous year’s $1.74. Earnings exceeded cost per life copy by a record $1.01. The total of interest and dividends in 2001-02 fell by $861,000. The record net loss on investments was $2,917,000; changes in market value are reported as either gains or losses in investments. The 10 major chapter programs (the first 10 under Expenses) usually show an operating loss. Convention expenses include the cost of attendance by one student delegate from each collegiate chapter, alternate delegates, alumnus delegates, chapter advisors, and visitors, but not by national officers, and fell by $137,000. Expenses for fellowships and scholarships grew by $52,000 because many more scholarships were awarded. (Revenue for fellowships includes all matching gifts from corporations and certain alumnus contributions, including those specifically earmarked by donors.) Since the Fellowship Program was inaugurated in 1929, Tau Beta Pi has given and committed $3,787,395 in stipends to a total of 791 young members. It is the major philanthropic program of the Society and is made possible by gifts from alumni and cooperating industrial firms. INITIATION FEES Tau Beta Pi’s low national initiation fee covers the cost of the official badge, membership certificate, copies of the Constitution and Bylaws and Information booklets, a subscription for student members to THE BULLETIN, and a four-year subscription to THE BENT. The national fee, formerly $21 during 1972-90 and $23 during 1990-94, was last raised on August 1, 1994, to $27. Prior to 1934, it was $15. In addition, new members are charged an assessment of $3 for partial support of the annual Convention of the Association. The initiation fee and assessment would be higher if not for the generous gifts from alumni. STUDENT LOANS Two new student loans were made to members in 2000-01 for a total of $5,000. None was for the amount of Tau Beta Pi’s initiation fee. Nine loans were repaid and 12 were written off during the year, leaving 31 outstanding on July 31, 2002, with a principal balance of $64,881. Since inauguration in 1932 of the loan program, 1,744 loans have been made to student members for a total exceeding $777,000. Editor’s Report THE BENT During 2001-02, the four issues contained a total of 256 pages, and 374,044 copies of the magazine were available for paid subscribers. This is a 0.5% decrease in paid copies below the previous year’s circulation total. Engineering and graduate-school recruitment advertising for the year totaled 22.4 pages, a 42% decrease from the previous year. Total production cost of the magazine per paid copy was $1.28, down from $1.40 the preceding year. New BENT life subscribers added during the year numbered 752 (up 7%) bringing total life subscriptions to 75,123. Of all the life subscribers enrolled since 1929, when the plan was instituted, 6,756 are deceased, and their fees totaling $191,408 have been transferred to the Fellowship Fund in accord with the Constitutional requirement. An average of 383 copies per issue in 2001-02 was delivered to annual renewal subscribers, 29,384 copies to original four-year subscribers, and 63,744 copies to life subscribers, for a total of 93,511 paid copies per issue. The total number of paid copies for the Summer 2002 magazine was 93,860. THE BENT carries articles on general professional topics in engineering, news about Tau Beta Pi and its members and chapters, and regular departments. The Association is indebted to the alumni who serve as judges and writers of the Brain Ticklers column: H.G. McIlvried III (chair), D.A. Dechman, R.W. Rowland, and F.J. Tydeman. Publication of THE BENT is a major activity of the Headquarters staff. By Bylaw provision, the Secretary-Treasurer of the Association serves as editor. THE BULLETIN During 2001-02, the three issues contained a total of 22 pages, and 29,750 copies were printed. All issues were published on the website. This newsletter is published chiefly for the information of the student members and advisors of the collegiate chapters and is a valuable means of exchanging project ideas and distributing information and instructions on the operations of the student groups. The Executive Director serves as editor of THE BULLETIN. OTHER PUBLICATIONS & WEBSITE A new edition of the “Constitution and Bylaws and Eligibility Code” of the Association was published in August. The Advisor’s Book 2001 was updated and reprinted in October. The President’s Book 2002 was updated and reprinted in January. A new promotional video/CD was produced for chapters in March. A new planned giving booklet and new Heritage Society brochure were prepared in July. The other Tau Beta Pi descriptive brochures and promotional materials were updated and reprinted during the year for chapter use. The Tau Beta Pi website received numerous improvements throughout the year. It contains much interesting material at www.tbp.org. —James D. Froula, P.E. Executive Director SECRETARY-TREASURER AND EDITOR THE TAU BETA PI ASSOCIATION STATEMENT OF FINANCIAL POSITION On July 31, 2001 and 2002 ASSETS
THE TAU BETA PI ASSOCIATION STATEMENT OF ACTIVITIES For the years ended July 31, 2001 and 2002 (With summarized financial information for the year ended July 31, 2001)
Financial statements have been audited. |
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