Epsilon Theta Newsletter
Vol. 23, No. 1 - Spring 2004
Chapter Bylaws and Governance Transition
Election Results for 2004-2006
Vice President and Chair of Program Committee Annual Report for 2003–2004
President-Elect Annual Report 2003-2004
Treasurer’s Annual Report March 3, 2004
Secretary Annual Report March 4, 2004
Counselor’s Report to the Board and Membership Academic year 2003-2004
Newsletter Editor Annual Report
You Are Invited To The Epsilon Theta Induction Ceremony
You are invited to STTI VIP Membership
Evidence-Based
Nursing, Sigma Theta Tau’s Position Statement
Read the Epsilon Theta January
2004 Meeting Minutes
Letter from the President
March 3, 2004
To: The Membership
Epsilon Theta Chapter
Sigma Theta Tau International
Re: President’s State of the Chapter Report
It was a busy year for Epsilon Theta Chapter. The Board of Directors held five meetings including the annual planning workshop in mid-summer, and the Program Committee planned and conducted two research forums, one chapter membership forum, and the annual membership business meeting.
A major goal of the chapter this year has been to increase outreach to and involvement of community nurse membership in STTI. Thus we were pleased to see the large number of Seton Network community nurses, faculty, and students who attended the research forums and open house mentoring programs.
Nurses from the Seton Network were actively pursued for membership at the Fall Research Forum (10 community nurses attended) and the January Membership Mentor Open House (a nice number of graduate students, faculty, and community nurses attended). Please thank Corinne Grimes for her excellent planning, warm hospitality, and patient perseverance!
Other Chapter accomplishments include:
- An Epsilon Theta insert was developed for the STTI member brochure for use in membership recruitment (Alex Garcia).
- Epsilon Theta is serving as chapter mentor to the new Mary Hardin-Baylor University Tau Epsilon Chapter.
- The chapter website was updated frequently by Scott Hudson. A newsletter coordinated by Katherine Bowman was posted to the website on December 6, 2003 (http://www.nur.utexas.edu/stt/index.html). A second newsletter is planned for late May around the time of induction.
- Dean Sands met with the Chair in September to discuss Epsilon Theta’s planned program, and again in January to discuss induction speaker and potential candidates for board positions.
- In planning for succession, the President and President-Elect attended the 37th STTI Biennium meeting in Toronto, Canada.
- Annual research, clinical innovation, and scholarship awards to the amount of $4000 will be announced at induction May 20, 2004.
- A Past-Presidents Advisory Task Force has been formed to provide consultation to the Board of Directors on governance issues.
Respectfully submitted,
Margaret A. Taylor, President
Epsilon Theta Chapter
Chapter Bylaws and Governance Transition
By Maggie Taylor, President
Over the next few months, chapter leaders are encouraged to consider plans for making the transition by talking with regional coordinators and members of other chapters. Your board is currently making plans for governance transition through the following activities:
- Past-Presidents Advisory Task Force. LaVerne Gallman, Lynn Rew, Betsy Bowman, and Betty Thomas (past presidents of Epsilon Theta) have expressed their willingness to assist in a “Past-Presidents Advisory Task Force, “ a group that would advise the board in accomplishing short, time-limited tasks related to governance and mentorship. The first task of this advisory group will be to assist the board in reviewing the model chapter bylaws provided by STTI headquarters. It is anticipated that the first meeting of this group will be in late May 2004.
- Region 6 Conference Calls. President Maggie Taylor and President-Elect Carol Gaskamp will participate in the Region 6 Spring 2004 Presidents/Presidents-Elect Conference Calls with Jane Allen, Regional Coordinator, April 16 or 18. By-laws and Governance are key issues to be discussed.
- STTI Governance Committee. Regina J. Johnson, Epsilon Theta member, was appointed to serve on the 2003-2005 Governance Committee, one of three international-level committees with members from around the globe. We look forward to her expertise and guidance on this issue.
Chapter bylaws are due MARCH 1, 2005. Chapters will have a full biennium to transition to the new model bylaws and committee structure. One of the final steps in making the transition is to submit our revised chapter bylaws to match the model chapter bylaws. In order to support this transition, a wealth of resources is available on the STTI Website under the chapter home page “Governance Transition Resources.” http://www.nursingsociety.org/chapters/governance_resources.html
Congratulations
Tau Episilon Chapter
The Chartering and Induction Ceremony for the University of Mary Hardin-Baylor Nursing Honor Society, Tau Epsilon Chapter, was held on the UMHB campus in Belton, Texas on April 6, 2004. Tau Epsilon Chapter inducted 169 new members, many of whom have dual membership in Epsilon Theta and Tau Epsilon Chapters. Epsilon Theta President, Margaret Taylor; President-Elect, Carol Gaskamp; and Nominations and Mentor Chair, Alex Garcia, were pleased to attend and share in the joy of their induction ceremony. Billye Brown (past president of STTI and Epsilon Theta member) served as Induction Officer, and Suzanne Belz (dual membership Epsilon Theta) is the new President of Tau Epsilon. We were honored to be present and to welcome this new chapter
Election Results for 2004-2006By Alex Garcia, Nominations Committee Chair
Congratulations to Lorraine Philips (Secretary), Hilda Guevara (Nominations Chairperson), Marty Meraviglia (Counselor), and Sherry Hendrickson (Archivist) - the new Epsilon Theta Chapter officers. There were no candidates for the office of President-Elect so the position will be added to the ballot next year. Thank you to each candidate for running for an office and thank you to each member who voted in the election.
Annual Committee Reports
Vice President and Chair of Program Committee Annual Report for 2003–2004
Activities for year:
- Maintained active support for President, attending all Board meetings and assisting with soliciting members who have done outstanding work in clinical/ community settings.
- Successful Fall Membership Meeting (Fall 2003) featuring Dr. Susan Huston speaking on evidence-based practice. In line with President’s initiatives, attendees included prospective and actual community members.
- In conjunction with the Association of Nurses in Graduate School, Open House for members held in January 2004. We were able to recruit an additional community member who is a leader in an area clinical setting and who will also serve in an active capacity with one of our Epsilon Theta committees. Research Award recipients presented their projects.
Respectfully submitted,
Corinne Grimes
President-Elect Annual Report 2003-2004
The highlight of my first year in office as President-Elect was attending the biennial convention in Toronto. I focused my time at the convention on learning more about the responsibilities and expectations of being President.
President Taylor and I negotiated that I would assume the office of presidency at the end of one year as President-Elect. Informed by STTI Bylaws, this decision was made to conform to Article IX. Section 4.b."Terms of office are staggered so that all officers . . . do not end their terms of office at the same time". A President-elect is elected in the even years (and the current President-Elect assumes the office of the President in the even years). President Taylor had also assumed the office of President at the end of one year as President-Elect to complete President Barnes’ term of office.
I assumed responsibility for reviewing and revising the chapter bylaws. Since the international organization adopted new bylaws at the biennial convention, chapter bylaws will need to be revised to be consistent with the parent organization. President Taylor is establishing a Past-Presidents Advisory Task Group that will assist in that process.
Respectfully submitted,
Carol D. Gaskamp PhD, RN
Treasurer’s Annual Report March 3, 2004
Chapter funds have been moved from Wells Fargo to University Federal Credit Union because Wells Fargo changed the account status to that of a small business, leading to additional monthly charges for the chapter. At UFCU, our account is treated as a regular individual account and is interest-bearing.
Distribution of the funds was changed when the Money Market account matured. Since the chapter has been relying on withdrawing funds from this account to meet budget expenses, a decision was made to reduce the Money Market account by the amount needed for the budget rather than to withdraw funds when needed. This decision was an appropriate use of funds because the difference between interest in the savings and Money Market accounts is minimal.
Our current account status is as follows Checking $2,520.86 Savings
$18,614.33 Money Market
$15,115.40
In summary, Epsilon Theta Chapter is fiscally sound. To date in this fiscal year we are working well within our budget.
Respectfully submitted,
Sharon L. Dormire
Treasurer
Secretary Annual Report March 4, 2004
- Participated in Board of Directors Planning meeting in July, 2003.
- Recorded and typed the minutes for each Board of Directors meeting.
- Distributed minutes to all members of the Board of Directors meeting.
- Kept an official record book of the minutes of all meetings.
- Ordered stationery, envelopes, and mailing labels for the chapter.
- Created information packet and maintained information for induction:
- President’s welcome letter
- Fact Sheet about Epsilon Theta Chapter
- Application form for membership
- Jewelry Brochure & Order form
- Attendance form
- Press release form
- Completed and submitted to international headquarters the application and jewelry forms for new members in 2003.
- Maintained records of chapter members in 2002-2003.
- Coordinated all plans for the Induction Ceremony on May 15, 2003
