Frank Harrington
AW2019 - Registration Live!

Get ready for the Pi Chapter annual Alumni Weekend, to be held 26-28th, 2019! Hotel and registration details available.

AW2019 - Registration Live!
Frank Harrington
Deadline Approching for 2018 Fundraising ...

2018 Fundraising Campaign Deadline is approaching!

Deadline Approching for 2018 Fundraising Campaign
Alumni Weekend
Frank Harrington
Save the Date! Alumni Weekend 2017 - April ...

Get ready for the Pi Chapter Alumni Weekend to be held April 28-30th, 2017. See below for link to reserve your room at the Hilton Garden Inn at our discounted rate.

Josh McWilliam
Zeta Psi Presentation Room Inauguration

Pi Zetes at the Sunday Brunch inauguration of "Zeta Psi Presentation Room" in the Folsom Library. Design and build of the room funded by our $75,000 gift to RPI in honor of our 150th Anniversary last year.

Zeta Psi Presentation Room Inauguration
Josh McWilliam
John Spohn Retires as Elder Phi

After faithfully serving as elder Phi for over 8 years, John Spohn '81 has stepped down as elder Phi and will replace Rick Kasold '70 as chairman of the board. 

John Spohn Retires as Elder Phi

The End of an Era

Michael Bruce '08 was elected Treasurer of the NYSCDA of Zeta Psi on April 30, 2011. Mike had been serving as an Assistant Treasurer for the prior 15 months. Mike and Jim Ljunglin ’57, the retiring Treasurer, agreed that learning by doing was the best way to achieve a very desirable 51-year downward generational leap in this key office. Accordingly, Mike has mostly run the job since January 2010 with Jim as advisor. Because of the coming of bursar billing (in which the house states its Actives and Elders fees to RPI, RPI states them on its invoices to parents, collects the money and deposits the Zeta Psi share in NYSCDA’s bank account), the Elder Treasurer’s job has drawn much closer to the Gamma’s. Mike and Justin Persin ’11, the Gamma, have improved their methods of communication and reporting for greater harmony and efficiency in both Elder and Active financial matters. The Elder Treasurer’s job is thus closer to house operations than ever in the past.

Since Jim had kept the books on a spreadsheet (Lotus 123 if you can believe it), Mike’s taking over made the time ripe to begin using QuickBooks, a widely understood accounting package which will aid further eventual succession. QuickBooks has saved a lot of effort in reporting to the Board. It also assists in preparing the annual IRS filing (Form 990). Mike has led all these tasks.

Jay Webb ’61 continues to hold and Jim has taken on the title of Assistant Treasurer. Jay handles the important contracts paperwork with the Actives. Jim advises Mike on precedent.

Mike is only the fourth treasurer in NYSCDA history. Henry Elliot, Eta ’45, held the job for 38 years from 1951 to 1989. David Lewson ’86 took over for 14 years till 2003, when Jim succeeded him for these last eight years. Henry’s long service and unwavering dedication remain the inspiration for this responsible office. Perseverance and optimism were perhaps more important than bookkeeping. Henry was a moral force in Zeta Psi. The modern Treasurer needs this stature and has as well to care about the details, the integrity of the accounts, and be able to state the financial situation concisely and understandably to the board and the other officers. The board recognizes this capability in Mike.

(thanks to Jim Ljunglin '57 for the article)

Website Moving!

This may be the last post before the "Rapture" so we wish everyone well. We're in the process of moving the website, email addresses, and documents from a Google Apps / WordPress.com free hodgepodge to a fully integrated WordPress.org site with paid hosting.   This should allow us to have much more flexibility with the website, share documents easier, and have better email lists and functionality.  Please keep this page bookmarked though - we aren't changing the URL or anything visible!  It's all behind-the-scenes stuff.

If anyone is interested in helping us out, please email Frank or Mike.  We always need the help!

Thanks!

New Property Manager Elected

On Saturday, April 30, Jim Ljunglin '57 was elected to replace Michael Bruce '08 as the Elder Property Manager. Mike would like to thank the chapter for giving him the opportunity to serve as Property Manager from 2008 to 2011. He also wants to thank Jay Webb '61 for his past and continued service as Project Manager. Jay's efforts and expertise are invaluable and we all hope he continues to work his magic. We have several large items looming over the horizon, including bathroom renovations, flat roof replacement, vinyl siding, basement renovations, and sprinklers. We believe that we can complete either the bathroom renovations or the vinyl siding in FY13 (i.e. Summer 2012), which will go along with the expected completion of the wing electrical upgrades. Mike believes it is important for Jim to complete three tasks before August 2011:

Find a dependable, timely, and trustworthy "handyman." A good handyman is one that will be able to fix leaks, holes, and other small items for a fraction of the cost of our larger vendors. This person should also be proactive in visiting the house periodically and fixing things with minimal input from us or the Actives. We had one for a time, but he became complacent after the honeymoon period ended, and we had to let him go.

Find a reasonably priced cleaning company that will clean the kitchen and bathrooms periodically. Even though we don't want them to come on standard intervals, it would be useful to have someone on standby to do work for us within a reasonable time frame. Jay has already done a lot of research on this front, so this might already be done.

Have an architect and/or interior designer to give us a plan for the basement. Even if it is not acted upon for a year or two, it will allow us to show a real plan to the Actives and our bigger donors for inspiration.

Of course, the chapter is in desperate need of young blood. If anyone is interested in helping Jim out and eventually succeeding him, please contact the Property Committee.