Question about your org's conventions
 

Who is considered a "delegate" (i.e. voting member) at your convention?
For KD:
1 delegate from every collegian chapter (almost always the pres of the chapter)
All of the various national officers
1 delegate from each alumnae association (not all AA's send a delegate because usually the delegate has to pay their own way because the AA doesn't have the funds to do so).

AGDs, correct me if I'm wrong, but here are the official voting delegates from what I remember of the last Convention:

-collegiate chapter delegate; again almost always chapter president, but the chapter has to be one IN GOOD STANDING. If a chapter is not in good standing (for example, because of grades), she will still be considered a delegate, but will not have voting privileges...which is reflective of standard chapter voting rules

-chapter advisor

-alumnae chapter or club delegate (again, usually the president)

-members of the VST? I'm not really sure about this one

-International Officers

KD also has the good standing rule... i'm guessing that's pretty standard. It seems to usually take effect due to financial bad standing of a chapter.

I also think it's interesting that your chapter advisors get a vote as well

I need confirmation on that one. Usually at business meetings, the delegates sit in the front of the meeting rooms, I just assumed that they (CAs) get a vote as well.

For Kappa Sig, each chapter sends one delegate. The fraternity picks up the bill for delegates, all they have to pay for is transportation and social stuff (dinner at night, drinks, etc.)

The delegates, undergrad and alumni alike, are the ones with the votes.

I could be wrong though - I remember that when I went to Conclave I had a vote, but I can't remember who else did.

At Phi Sig convention each chapter delegate...(The pres) gets a vote... now, the more members you have in your chapter, the more officers you get to send (IE paid for) but I do not think they get a vote. Chapter Advisor also gets a vote as well... although I believe that it was discussed last year at convention whether or not that was going to continue. Each member of supreme council also gets a vote.

Alpha Sigma Tau....
 

Each chapter is required to send 4 members (but encouraged to send more). One is considered the chapter delegate, and gets a vote as long as the chapter is in good standing.

Each National Staff member gets a vote.

Each Council Member (except the President-unless it's a tie) gets a vote.

Each alumnae chapter who sends a delegate gets a vote.

I believe each Chapter Advisor gets a vote as well, but I'll have to look that one up.

Once again this all depends on the chapter and the member being in good standing.

And might I add....CONVENTION IS FUN!!!
PsychTau

Re: Alpha Sigma Tau....
 

WOW! Each chapter sending 4 members???? I'd imagine that gets quite expensive. We're only required to send 1 (the collegiate chapters, that is) but it's all but mandatory to send 1 more. I think the more people that go, the better. But that's gotta take some financial planning on part of the chapters. Either that or your convention is a lot cheaper than KD's! :)

Wow...4 is a lot! For Conventions, only the collegiate Chapter President and Chapter Advisor are required to attend. Their airfare and lodging are taken care of by the Fraternity. Of course, more members are encouraged to attend, and the chapters who are closest to the Convention site usually send the most [although the Hawaii delegation sent 5 to Atlanta in 2001!].

TLCs, held in non-convention years, have specific workshops geared toward certain collegiate offices. This year, our President and VP Finance went. VP Recruitment wanted to go too...but KC was just too $$$.

SAI
 

SAI nationals provides funding for each chapter to send one delegate to COnvention, which is every 3 years. When possible, the delegate is the newly elected chapter president. When she cannot go, the chapter votes on who to send. I'm the delegate for my chapter and will be flying up to Michigan for our convetion on July 31! :D

SAI nationals pays for the delegate's transportation (either their plane ticket or gas if they are driving), hotel, and other things as well. I only had to pay about 170 dollars to go, and will have to pay for food. Everything else is covered. :)

In addition to the chapter delegates, SAI National Directors, Province Officers, and National Executive Board members (all of these officers equal the National Officers Council) each get a vote.

A delegate is one representative from each chapter and alumnae association. Only those from chapters/AAs in good standing may vote. The national officers also vote.

Each chapter/AA is encouraged to send as many members as it can. The chapter/AA pays for the registration fee and hotel cost of its delegate (usually the president); the fraternity picks up the tab for transportation. The chapter is also responsible for paying for the registration and hotel of an advisor; again, the fraternity pays for transportation.

Our chapter alumnae were generous enough to pay for two of us to join the president at the 2002 Convention. I had a blast! I plan on going next summer, also, but I'll have to pay my own way.

For Sigma Kappa
we usually send 2 delegates, the president and a suggested delegate from nationals (for example if convention is focusing on recruitment then we would send the V.P Recruitment)

We're the only fraternity I know of that does not have chapter delegates. We are divided into provinces (maybe an average of five or six chapters per province), each of which has a province governor -- an alum appointed by the national president with the National Executive Committee's ratification -- and a collegiate province representative (CPR) -- elected by the collegiate members of the province. The CPRs have a national council, the chairman of which sit on the National Executive Committee, together with the national officers, the chairman of the Province Governors' Council, and two committeemen-at-large.

With that background, the voting delegates to our triennial National Assembly are the National Executive Committee members, the province governors and the CPRs, each of whom has one vote. (CPRs and Province Governors on the NEC have only one vote apiece.)

BTW, National Assembly starts the day after tomorrow in Washington, DC. Anyone near the Capitol around noon to one on Friday should check out the Upper Senate Park for the Convention Step-Sing. (Pretty much what it sounds like -- standing on the steps or somewhere else public and singing.)

We have our convention every three years (conveniently named Triennial Convention)

We send a delegate from each collegiate chapter, though it does not have to be the president, and usually a back-up. I was the delegate for my chapter at the last Triennial convention, and three others from my chapter went. Its a good thing, too, because I got laryngitis the first day!

Each alumnae chapter may also send a delegate.

All of the national officers (except for the International President) also get a vote.

From what I remember, everything is covered for the delegate's transportation, room and board, and convention fees. In our case, they paid everything for me but nothing for anyone else, but we got such a good deal on mileage that it covered everyone else's expenses, too! Our week in GA ended up costing everyone $14 a piece. That's cheaper than being home, and a hell of a lot more fun!

Our next convention is this summer (this month, maybe!) in Kentucky, but I'm not in a collegiate or alumni chapter, so I won't be going. :(

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.