Sigma Xi: The Scientific Research Society: 2003 Assembly of Delegates Business

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2003 Assembly of Delegates Business

Eight-Point Motion
In accordance with the Society's Constitution, each year the Assembly of Delegates considers a motion from the Board of Directors to set the dues and fees for the year beginning next 1 July. This motion form the Board contains 8 parts or items and is referred to as "the eight-point motion" because the motion has 8 points, yet is traditionally voted on by the Assembly as a single motion. This enables the Assembly to set the dues and fees in a single vote, rather than voting separately on each of the 8 points within the motion.

The eight-point motion contains the proposed dues for each class of Sigma Xi membership (regular, student, emeritus, etc.), the initiate and promotion fee, and the travel subvention that will be paid for delegates to attend the next annual meeting.

Eight-point motion for 2004-2005 (FY05). The eight-point motion recommended by the Society's Board of Directors to the November 2003 Assembly of Delegates contains some changes from recent motions from the Board to the Assembly. These are:

Student dues (point #1 in the motion) will be increased from US$20 to US$25. Students granted membership prior to 1 July 2004 would continue to pay at the US$20 rate until they no longer are students. The last time student dues were increased in Sigma Xi was by the 1991 Assembly of Delegates. At a rate of US$25, student dues cover the cost of receiving American Scientist and a very small administrative fee. Student members do not contribute to Grants-in-Aid of Research, or to Local Support for chapters.
The initial and promotion fees (points 3 and 4 in the motion) will be increased from US$7.50 to US$10. The last time these fees were increased was by the 1989 Assembly of Delegates.
Basic annual dues (point #1 in the motion), Local Support (point #2 in the motion), and Life Membership (point #6 in the motion) will be increased by the Higher Education Price Index (HEPI) as of 30 June 2003. Basic annual dues will be rounded up to the nearest US dollar, while the Life Membership fee will be rounded up to the nearest US$25.

The Higher Education Price Index (HEPI)
For the November 2003 Assembly of Delegates, the Board of Directors has recommended that the Society's annual dues, Life Membership, and Local Support be tied into the Higher Education Price Index, rather than the Consumer Price Index (CPI) that has been used recently.

The Higher Education Price Index (HEPI), produced by Research Associates of Washington DC, is based on the prices (salaries) of faculty and of administrators and other professional service personnel; clerical, technical, service, and other nonprofessional personnel; contracted services such as data processing, communication, transportation, supplies and materials, and equipment; library acquisitions; and utilities. The HEPI more accurately reflects the types of expenses that Sigma Xi must meet annually than the Consumer Price Index (CPI), which measures the cost of a market basket of consumer goods and services. Recently, annual increases in dues have been tied to the CPI but the CPI clearly does not reflect the expenses that Sigma Xi has experienced over the last several years.

Since the HEPI more accurately reflects the expenses incurred by the Society, for the year beginning 1 July 2005, the Board has recommended that the HEPI rather than the CPI increase basic annual dues, Life Membership, and Local Support. Normally the HEPI is similar to the CPI and tracks similarly to the CPI from year to year.