Announcements & News
(updated July 13, 2008)
Career Services | Chapter Annual Reports | Chapter Starter Kit | Executive Committee Meeting | Informative Session | New Ritual | Jobs | Handbook for Advisers & Student Officers | Featured Chapter | Merchandise | Chapter Anniversary Certificates | Entre Nosotros | Grants, Scholarships & Awards | The Orders
Career
Services
Sigma Delta Pi is
pleased to announce its partnership with Experience,
Inc. to provide Sigma Delta Pi members FREE career opportunities and services
through its new website: sigmadeltapi.experience.com.
All members are encouraged to take advantage of this newest benefit of Sigma
Delta Pi membership.
Chapter
Annual Reports
Although chapter
annual
report forms were due by May 31, 2008 to be considered for various
national awards, we still encourage chapters to submit late reports so we
may keep our national records updated.
Chapter
Starter Kit
Thanks to
Kalamazoo Regalia,
Sigma Delta Pi's only authorized merchandise seller, new and veteran chapters
of the Society may now purchase the Sigma
Delta Pi Chapter Starter Kit (click here for purchase) for initiation
ceremonies. The kit includes two 8" solid brass candle holders, one solid
brass pillar candle holder, the red hardcover chapter registry and the Sigma
Delta Pi altar runner. Purchased separately, these items sell for $139.35,
but the complete set is specially priced at $109.35.
Executive
Committee Meeting
On August
1-3, members of the Executive Committee will convene in Milwaukee for their
annual meeting where various national awards will also be determined. Chapters
wishing to make suggestions regarding Society matters should e-mail delmastrom@citadel.edu.
Informative
Session at the Kentucky Foreign Language Conference (KFLC)
Presided
by Germán D. Carrillo, National President, and Mark P. Del Mastro, Executive
Secretary-Treasurer, Sigma Delta Pi's 6th annual informative session was held
at 10:00am on Friday, April 18 at the 61st Kentucky
Foreign Language Conference (April 17-19, 2008). The Citadel's Chapter
President, Mr. Valentín Boza, also collaborated with a presentation on the
activities of his award-winning chapter. Highlighting the standing-room-only,
one-hour session was the induction of Gardner-Webb
University's Dr. Charles B. Moore into the prestigious Orden
de los Descubridores for his exemplary leadership as Chair of
the national Ritual Investigative and Ritual Revision Committees in 2007.
The 7th annual informative session will take place at the 62nd Kentucky
Foreign Language Conference in 2009 (details forthcoming in fall 2008).
New
Ritual
Thanks to
the work of last spring's national Ritual Investigative Committee (Dr. Charles
B. Moore, Committee Chair, Gardner-Webb University; Dr. Raysa Amador, Adelphi
University; Dr. Maria Redmon, University of Central Florida; Dr. Maria Trillo,
Western New Mexico University; Dr. John C. Wilcox, University of Illinois,
Urbana-Champaign) and this past fall's Ritual Revision Committee (Dr. Charles
B. Moore, Committee Chair, Gardner-Webb University; Dr. Michelle Hamilton,
University of California, Irvine; Dr. Antonio A. Fernández-Vázquez,
Virginia Tech University; Dr. Marta Loyola, Lakeland College), the Executive
Committee of Sigma Delta Pi is proud to announce the publication of a revised
initiation ritual now available online (e-mail delmastrom@citadel.edu
for access). This new ritual does NOT replace the 1974 versions, but simply
serves as an alternative. All the approved rituals are currently available
online, and a new consolidated booklet containing the 1974 and 2007 versions
were distributed to all chapters on February 12, 2008. Extra copies of the
booklet may be purchased for $3 each (simply write in this item on the standard
order form for pins and certificates).
Job
Announcements
Please visit www.sigmadeltapi.org/jobannouncements.htm
for tenure-track and temporary Spanish positions at institutions with active
chapters of Sigma Delta Pi. To post an advertisement, simply e-mail the information
to delmastrom@citadel.edu.
Chapter
Adviser Handbook, 2nd Edition
We are pleased to announce
the online publication of the 2nd
edition of the Chapter Adviser Handbook, which reflects numerous updates
from our inaugural 2001 issue. All chapter advisers, student directors and
chapter officers are encouraged to download this indispensable guide.
En
el foco: California State University, Fullerton
Sigma Delta Pi congratulates
the Phi Gamma Chapter, recipient of the 2007 Ignacio and Sophie Galbis Award
and the subject of our En el foco
webpage for the 2007-08 academic year.
Merchandise:
Apparel
and Ceremony Paraphernalia
Kalamazoo Regalia is the only authorized
seller of Sigma Delta Pi's official honor cords (for graduating members),
stoles (for SDP-related ceremonies and/or graduations), induction ceremony
items, apparel and select paraphernalia for our interested chapters and members.
Online purchasing is available at www.honorgrads.com.
El
repostero
Sigma Delta
Pi banners are available to chapters through our National Office. For further
details and a photo, visit the following link: El
repostero.
Chapter Anniversary
Certificates:
Chapters that
plan to commemorate founding anniversaries are asked to notify the National
Office three weeks prior to the event. Upon request, a complimentary
certificate will be sent to chapters for each 10, 25 and 50 year celebrations.
Please inform the Executive Secretary-Treasurer at mark.delmastro@citadel.edu.
Submissions
for Entre Nosotros
To submit material for possible
publication in Entre Nosotros (in Spanish only),
please forward by e-mail to Dr. Mark
P. Del Mastro. For publication in the spring 2009 issue, please send by
October 1, 2008 and include the name of the chapter adviser with all submissions.
Photographs must be sent electronically as .jpg or .gif files and accompanied
with the names of the individuals pictured and the chapter.
Grants, Scholarships
and Awards:
Graduate
Research Grants
Sigma Delta Pi will offer two
(2) graduate research grants of $2000 each for use during the 2008-09 academic
year. Click here for further details.
Only graduate students in Hispanic Studies who are active members of Sigma Delta
Pi are eligible to apply for these grants. The application deadline for this
year's program was February 1, 2008. Details for the 2009 program will
be available in September 2008.
Undergraduate
Summer Scholarships
Sigma Delta Pi will offer 27
undergraduate summer scholarships for use in 2008. Click
here for more details. Only undergraduate students who are active members
of Sigma Delta Pi are eligible to apply for these scholarships. Contact your
local Chapter Adviser for an official application form. The application deadline
for the 2008 program was February 1, 2008. Details for the 2009 program
will be available in September 2008.
The Richard E.
Chandler Scholarship:
This award is
named in honor of Honorary President and President Emeritus, Richard E. Chandler. Chandler
served as President of Sigma Delta Pi for a total of fifteen years (1977-92)
during which time 141 new chapters were installed.
The highest ranked
applicant who accepts one of the undergraduate summer scholarships
for study in Spain will receive this award. The scholarship will consist
of a supplement to the basic award.
The
T. Earle Hamilton Scholarship:
This award is
named in memory of Honorary President and President Emeritus, T. Earle Hamilton,
who died October 2, 1996. Hamilton served as President of Sigma Delta
Pi for a total of fifteen years (1960-68 and 1972-77). He wrote and published
a history of Sigma Delta Pi in 1994-95 to commemorate our seventy-fifth anniversary.
The highest ranked
applicant who accepts one of the undergraduate scholarships
for study in Spanish America will receive this award. The scholarship
will consist of a supplement to the basic award.
Merit-Based
Scholarships for ACHS/WWI Internship Program
The Association of College Honor
Societies (ACHS) and the Washington Internship Institute (WII) are pleased to
announce that all inducted student members of Sigma Delta Pi are eligible to
receive a merit-based scholarship for the ACHS/WII Internship Program. For application
details, please visit www.ielnet.org/admissions-scholarships.shtml.
El
Premio Frida Kahlo
This award will be presented yearly
to a chapter for its outstanding website. To be considered for this honor, chapters
must e-mail their current website addresses to the Executive Secretary-Treasurer
(delmastrom@citadel.edu) by December 1 of the year in question. Websites will
be judged on the basis of information provided, navigability, appearance, innovation
and current maintenance. The selected chapter will receive a handsome plaque.
Congratulations to The
College of New Jersey (Upsilon Psi), the 2008 recipient of the Frida
Kahlo Award.
El Premio José Martel
Once every
three years, at the national triennial convention, Sigma Delta Pi honors one
of our most outstanding chapter advisers with a check for $1000.00 and a beautiful
plaque. Sigma Delta Pi congratulates Dr. Dale J. Pratt of Brigham Young University
as our 2007 awardee who was honored on August 4, 2007 at our triennial convention
in San Diego.
A nominee for the Premio José Martel
must have served at one college or university as a successful chapter adviser
for five consecutive years with at least one initiation each year, be currently
serving as chapter adviser, and be nominated by a chapter or by a member of
the Executive Council. The nomination must document the accomplishments of the
adviser in connection with the chapter, as well as the adviser's other academic
attainments. Supporting letters from the nominee's dean and another high college
official must accompany the nomination. It is suggested that the activities
of the chapter during the past five years be enumerated and described, and that
a résumé that details the nominee's professional activities be included. The
next call for nominees will be in the fall of 2009.
The Premio José Martel commemorates
the service of Dr. José Martel, who died August 22, 1979, at the age of 96,
after serving Sigma Delta Pi loyally and unselfishly for over half a century
in many capacities: chapter adviser, vice president, honorary president, faithful
counselor, orator on national occasions, and polished author in the rewriting
of parts of our ritual and in the preparation of certificates of award. The
Premio José Martel was first presented in December, 1971, at the triennial convention
in New York to Dr. Lucía D. Bonilla of Hunter College, CUNY.
El
Premio Minaya Álvar-Fáñez
Each year, Sigma Delta Pi may choose
one Chapter Adviser for the Premio Minaya Álvar-Fáñez for exemplary initiative
in encouraging and assisting with chapter activities. The honoree will receive
a plaque and a check for $100 and will be chosen on the basis of the Annual
Reports that each active chapter submits at the end of the academic year.
El
Premio Gabriela Mistral
Any active chapter
may nominate one oustanding student per year for El Premio Gabriela Mistral.
The awardee, who may be either a graduate or undergraduate student, must be
an active member of Sigma Delta Pi, as defined in the By-laws.
Nominations, together with supporting documentation, including several letters
of recommendation and a current transcript, should be sent to the Executive
Secretary-Treasurer. Winners will be given a handsome certificate.
Capítulos
de Honor y Mérito
Outstanding
chapters will be designated Capítulos de Honor y Mérito
and will receive a special certificate and recognition in Entre
Nosotros. These chapters will be selected on the basis of Annual
Reports that each active chapter is asked to submit at the end of the academic
year.
El
Premio Ignacio y Sophie Galbis
The Premio
Ignacio y Sophie Galbis is named in memory of Ignacio Galbis, former Executive
Secretary-Treasurer, who, along with his wife Sophie, served Sigma Delta Pi
for more than two decades with uncommon love, dedication and efficiency.
This award will be presented each year to a chapter whose Annual
Report of activities is judged to be indicative of genuinely outstanding
work in the furtherance of our purposes.
El
Premio Octavio Paz
Chapters that
maintain Capítulo de Honor y Mérito status for a complete triennium will
receive El Premio Ocavio Paz. The inaugural award was announced for 11
chapters on July 31, 2004 at Sigma Delta Pi's Triennial Convention in Acapulco,
Mexico.
El
Premio Jorge Luis Borges
Established
in 2007 as one of Sigma Delta Pi's most prestigious honors, this recognition
for lifetime achievement is reserved for those persons who have demonstrated
sustained and exemplary dedication to the work of the Society. Nominations detailing
the candidate's relevant contributions must be sent to the Executive Secretary-Treasurer
by a chapter or a member of the Executive Council; awardees will be approved
by a majority vote of the Executive Committee, and the award presented in a
venue determined by the same committee. The inaugural recipients were Drs. Richard
E. Chandler and John H. LaPrade who were honored on August 4, 2007 at our Triennial
Convention in San Diego, CA.
The Orders:
La Orden de los Descubridores
One of the highest honors conferred by Sigma Delta Pi, the Order of the Discoverers
recognizes (1) outstanding teachers of Spanish or Hispanic studies at the college
or university level; (2) outstanding community-college or high-school teachers
of Spanish, with a proven record of excellence in teaching, who were elected
to membership in Sigma Delta Pi while in college; (3) Chapter Advisers and regional
Vice Presidents who have given distinguished service to Sigma Delta Pi; (4)
others--such as government officials, professional people, and university personnel--who
have served the cause of Sigma Delta Pi in an exceptional way.
Nomination to this order may be made
by a local chapter (by unanimous vote of all active members and approval of
the Chapter Adviser), or by a national or regional officer, and must be sent
together with a detailed supporting letter and résumé of the nominee, to the
Executive Secretary-Treasurer. He will examine the nomination and notify the
nominating chapter or officer of his decision within three weeks, unless additional
information is needed. If this award is granted, the nominating party must purchase
the plaque and confer the honor at an appropriate ceremony of a local chapter.
La
Orden de Don Quijote
The highest honor conferred by Sigma Delta Pi, the Order of Don Quijote recognizes
(1) nationally or internationally distinguished scholars in the field of Hispanic
studies; (2) distinguished teachers of Spanish who are employed in an accredited
four-year college or university, or retired from such service, and have published
extensively in the field of Hispanic studies; and (3) college officials, members
of the clergy, officers of service clubs or fraternal organizations, members
of the judicial, legislative, or executive branches of our federal or state
governments, and other such professional people who have served our cause in
a very distinguished manner and who would honor us by accepting this award.
Nominations for this award shall
be sent via e-mail with a detailed supporting letter and résumé of the nominee
to the Executive Secretary-Treasurer
who will then submit the nomination to a committee consisting of at least three
past inductees of this Order. If this award is granted, the nominating party
must purchase the emblem and plaque and confer the honor at an appropriate ceremony
of a local chapter. Please allow at least 3-4 weeks for the review of the nomination.