For FIJI it is required that undergraduate chapters send three representatives and all three are given voting priveledges granted in good standing and a full chapter not a colony.

Grad chapters are given the opportunity to have one voting member.

Sigma Tau Gamma states in the BY-Laws that each Active Chapters must have Two Delegates in good standing to partake in Voting. Colonies, while they cannot vote until they become a full chapter, must send a delegate as well. Alumni Chapters are encouraged to send a delegate.

Collegiate Chapters are given 2 delegates.

Alumni Chapters are allowed 1 delegate.

Our Grand Chapter, held every other year, determines the direction the national organization will go. In Sigma Nu, the undergrads make the major decisions about the direction of the organization. It is at Grand Chapter that we decided to desegregate, we voted down the alcohol free housing initiative, etc. Nothing is forced on chapters without it being discussed and voted on in Grand Chapter.

From Alpha Sigma Phi's Constitution and Bylaws:

ARTICLE VI. NATIONAL CONVENTIONS AND ANNUAL MEETINGS

Section 1. National Convention: The supreme legislative authority of the Fraternity is the National Convention, the voting members of which shall consist of delegates selected by the several Chapters and Chartered Alumni Councils in good standing, members of the Grand Council, and Past Grand Senior Presidents.

Section 2. Chapter Convention Delegates: Each Chapter shall choose from among its undergraduate members one delegate and one alternate delegate to the National Convention and certify such election to the Grand Council under the hand of the Secretary (H.S.) attested by the President (H.S.P.). If a chapter has not chosen and certified a delegate and alternate, the President (H.S.P.) shall attend as delegate for the Chapter and select an alternate. If no delegate or alternate is chosen and certified, if the certified delegate or alternate fail to attend, and if the Chapter President (H.S.P.) or his selected alternate fail to
attend, another undergraduate member in good standing from the Chapter, or, if none, an alumnus in good standing of the Chapter, may be seated by the Credentials Committee as delegate or alternate of the Chapter.

Section 3. Expenses: Convention expenses and travel allowance or any portion thereof may be authorized for one official delegate for each Chapter, for the members of the Grand Council, for the Executive Vice President, and for such others as may be designated by the Grand Council. Alumni seated for absent delegates or alternates of Chapters shall receive no expense allowance.

Section 4. Alumni Council Convention Delegates: Each Chartered Alumni Council shall be entitled to appoint and send one delegate and alternate delegate to represent it at the National Convention at its or its member’s own expense. A member in good standing of an alumni council may be seated as delegate or alternate for the Chartered Alumni Council if the appointed delegate or alternate fail to attend the National Convention.

Section 5. Voting:

A. At a National Convention, each Chapter, each Chartered Alumni Council, each Past Grand Senior President, and each Grand Council Member shall have one vote, and the undergraduate representatives to the Grand Council shall have one vote collectively in all matters except undergraduate fees and dues. At no time may any member be permitted to exercise more than one vote at a National Convention.

B. In matters concerning undergraduate fees and dues, each Chapter, and each Grand Council Member shall have one vote, and the undergraduate representatives to the Grand Council shall have one vote collectively.

Section 6. Fractionalization to ensure undergraduate majority: If at any session of the National Convention, the number of votes of the Grand Council members, Past Grand Senior Presidents, and Chartered Alumni Councils present and entitled to vote exceed the number of votes of the Chapters and Undergraduate Representatives to the Grand Council present and entitled to vote, the votes of the Grand Council members, Past Grand Senior Presidents, and Chartered Alumni Councils shall be so fractioned that their total vote shall be weighed as one less than the number of Chapters with delegates or alternates present and entitled to vote.

Section 7. Qualifications: Subject to this Constitution, the Convention shall be the sole judge of the qualification of its members.

SAE's Conventions.....
 

Our Conventions happen every other year. The most recent was just last month (147th Anniversary Convention / Cleveland, Ohio), but I don't have any information about the 2003 edition of the National Laws (changes are always made at each Convention). However, according to Title II, Section 11 of the 2001 National Laws (from the 145th Anniversary Convention / Orlando, Florida), membership to each Convention consists of:

• all past national presidents who have served at least 23 months of their (24 month) term
• the current honorary national president
• members of the Supreme Council
• the national executive director
• one member of the Board of Directors of SAE Services
• one representative from each province (generally the president)
• one delegate from each Chapter Collegiate
• one delegate from each Alumni Association

At last count, there are 13 living past national presidents (I believe they've all served the minimum 23 months), 29 provinces, around 206 active Chapters Collegiate, 91 area Alumni Associations and 78 chapter Alumni Associations. The Supreme Council (national board of directors of the Fraternity) consists of five members. So if everyone currently entitled to a seat showed up, there would be 13+1+5+1+1+29+206+91+78=425 total representatives.

Obviously, in order to qualify for representation, each Chapter Collegiate and Alumni Association must be in good standing with the national office (current with all forms and fees, etc.), and I believe the delegate himself must also be in good standing. Each Chapter Collegiate is absolutely required to send a delegate (assuming the Chapter is in good standing), or will be fined $1,000 for non-representation. No such requirement or penalty exists for the Alumni Associations or other bodies to my knowledge. As a result, in most cases the undergraduate delegates constitute a majority of those present, thus dictate to a large extent what happens with the Fraternity nationally.

In general, Convention membership looks like this:

• 4.9% - national officers and other national-level officials
• 6.8% - regional officers
• 48.5% - undergraduate delegates
• 39.8% - alumni association delegates

Allowed to vote:

The 7 members of National Council
One delegate from each collegiate chapter
One advisor from each collegiate chapter (if they're there)
One delegate from each alum chapter (again, if they're there)
The 9 district facilitators
There are a few other national chairs that can vote but since we went to this new structure I'm not quite sure who.

Collegiate chapters are required to send at least one delegate or they will be penalized.

Re: Question about your org's conventions
 

For Alpha Phi Omega, this is defined in our National Bylaws.

Basically:

Each chapter gets 2 voting delegates who are supposed to be the highest officers in the chapter. If one person goes, they get 2 votes. If a chapter can't send a active, but can send an advisor, they get to be the voting delegate.

Alumni in each region (we have 11 Regions) choice an Alumni Voting Delegate for that region.

Our elected National Officers (Nat Prez, Nat Veep, 6 Program Directors, 11 Regional Directors) are all voting delegates.

Our 50+ elected Section Chairs have voice but not vote.

I think some of our appointed National Officers have voice (certainly not a vote), but not sure which ones.