Dear Brother,
At this years Meeting of the Members we voted to ratify a revised constitution for the fraternity. The Department of Law has devoted a considerable effort over the last two years to examining the fraternity constitution and developing this revision. The nine members of the Board of Directors have reviewed the revised document and voted in favor of sending it to the membership for ratification. Before the review began a mission statement was developed which is as follows:
The mission of this Constitutional Review Task Force, as charged by the Board of Directors is to; correct inconsistency, clarify interpretation, and close gaps m the constitution which was approved on December 2, 1988. Understanding the ideals that the founding Board of Directors of the Corporation intended, we are committed to maintain the integrity this cornerstone document while updating it to account for the Corporation’s evolution over our first decade and well into the 21st century.
At the end of this page, you will find a link to a copy of the revised constitution
(Word for Windows Version 2.0 or Later). I encourage, you to read and
review this constitution to keep yourself informed with the by-laws of the Alumni
Association. If you don't have time to review the entire constitution,
you can read the following highlights a few key points. The first major change you will note is that the requirements for membership
in the Corporation, in Article 1, Section 4, have been dramatically changed.
Previously, membership in the corporation was open to any member of any chapter
of Alpha Sigma Phi so long as he resided m New Jersey. This has changed so that
only members of the Alpha Rho Chapter are able to join the Corporation. This
was done in order to prevent the possibility of members of an outside chapter
having the potential to come in and vote themselves into control of the Corporation.
Members from other chapters are still welcome to join our Alumni Association
and participate in social, fundraising, or service events which is in Article
VI - Department of Alumni (Alumni Association). Many people have worked very
hard to create on organization which we should all be proud of, there is no
reason we should have to risk letting others damage it. Article I, Section 8 has been revised to create three standing committees of
the corporation which will report to the Board of Directors and the membership.
These committees have been relocated from the Alumni Association (Article VI)
because time has shown us that these are really corporate functions. All corporate
members have power to vote at the meeting of members and are invited to attend
the Black & White, regardless of if they pay dues to join the Alumni Association. Article I, Section 9 has been revised to include a detailed procedure for proposing,
reviewing, and voting on amendments to the constitution. Essentially we have
formalized the procedure the Board has used in the past for amending the constitution
so that we will have continuity. Article III, Section 7 has added a standing committee under the Department
of Law to over see the collection of back dues. Article IV, Section 7 has added three standing committees under the Department
of Finance. The Corporate Budget Committee will review the corporate budgets;
The Undergraduate Finance Committee will review the undergraduate account books
at the start and end of each semester (a function the Department of Finance
has already been performing); The Fund Raising Committee will conduct activities
to raise money for Corporate projects, such as purchasing housing, house renovations,
etc.. Article IV, Section 9 has been revised so that the undergraduate Treasurer
will collect rent from undergraduates in the house and then pay a lump sum to
the Finance Department. This is the practice we have been using for many years
but was in conflict with the existing Constitution. It was felt that the current
system works well and allows the undergraduates to control finances at there
level. Article V, Section 5 the title of Chief Executive Officer was removed from
the Director of Undergraduate Housing because it is not used in practice and
is not really meaningful in the context of the department. Article V. Section 7 has added the Undergraduate Development Committee permanently
under the Department of Undergraduate Development and Housing. This committee
was instituted m 1996 to provide educational and training programs for the undergraduate
chapter. Article V, Section 9 was modified to specify that the Executive Board should
meet in the fourth week of each month. This means that their meetings will alternate
with Board of Directors meetings which are in the second week of each month
in order to help maintain a smooth flow of information back and forth from the
BOD to the undergraduates. Article V, Section 11 contains the undergraduate chapter constitution. This
section contains only minor changes to bring its wording into agreement with
the corporate constitution. There are many other small changes in the constitution which you will see as
you read through it. These should all be minor adjustments to make the document
consistent within itself or with the way we operate in practice. Hopefully you
will find them self explanatory, however, if you should have any questions as
you go through the constitution please feel free to call me at 973-628-9332. Hope to see you all at the convention. Fraternally yours, Greg LaSala, '91
Director of Law