To: Dominic volpi, SGA President; Dr. Michele Yovanovich, Dean of Student Affairs; Dr.

J. Mike Rollo
From: Kevin ODonnell, Financial Advisor of Sigma Chi Fraternity
Date: October 19, 2015
Subject: Balfour Leadership Training Workshop Travel and Stay costs
Our Proposal for BLTW
Sigma Chi is proposing to have five of our brothers attend Balfour Leadership Training
Workshop starting July 30, 2015 and ending August 2, 2015. We have been sending
brothers to this retreat ever since we were founded in 2009. This event has become
tradition for us and we benefit greatly from it every year.
What is BLTW?
Balfour Leadership Training Workshop is a retreat that the Sigma Chi organization puts
together every year. The Training workshop has been around since 1947 and is Sigma
Chis premier workshop for undergrads. Participants of this retreat have to be brothers in
the fraternity and have to either hold a position, or be an undergraduate student at their
host university. All participants of the retreat work together in chapter leadership teams
learning valuable information from experienced brothers who once held the positions the
participants now hold. Within these teams are brothers from all across the U.S. and
Canada, this allows the brothers to meet new brothers and get their insight on the
fraternity. The values that brothers receive from Balfour Leadership Training Workshop
help them better their home chapter along with teaching participants how to be a
gentleman of society. Each chapter is given five slots for brothers to travel to Balfour and
participate in the learning activities. The retreat takes place on July 30, 2015 at Bowling
Green State University. I am requesting the amount of $8,500 to pay for the retreats cost
and expenses.
Benefits and Learning experiences that are gained from BLTW
Balfour teaches the many positions of Sigma Chi how to execute their tasks to the full
potential that Sigma Chi has always lived up to. The retreat also teaches the men how
participate and how to conduct themselves as men in society. This Workshop is essential
for our fraternity because it prepares young brothers for the upcoming years where they
will have to hold more important positions and in a sense run the chapter. The workshop
helps our fraternity by giving us new ideas from other chapters about how to run our
chapter. It would be a great benefit to have five of our brothers participates for the fifth
time in a row this summer. We have selected a fine group of undergrads that are eager to
apply for the workshop. The fraternity Pi Kappa Phi does something similar to Balfour
but on a smaller scale. Pi Kappa Phi holds a workshop for new members along with a
workshop for the officers elected to a position. They focus on all positions of the Sigma
Chi fraternity such as consul, which is the President of the fraternity. They offer training
for the Pro Consul, the vice president of the fraternity, the Quaestor, the due collector,
Magister, the leader of all pledges and pledge activities, Recruitment chair, in charge of

rush week activities, Risk Management, the risk controller of the fraternity keeping every
brother safe, and the Ritual chair, the manager of all ritualistic activities and ritualistic
items. At Balfour our own brothers develop a strategic plan for the upcoming year. This
strategic plan is focused on our goals as a chapter for the upcoming year along with laws
and regulations that we will input in the upcoming year.
Costs of Balfour Leadership Training Workshop
The 5 plane tickets to Bowling Green State University located in Ohio all together costs
$4,000. The three hotel rooms for the brother going add up to $1,500 for the weekend and
we included a budget for leisure while visiting, our conclusion for this budget was
$2,500. This way each brother/student could spend up to $500 on going out to dinner,
bars, and other leisure activities. We will also need to rent a car in order to get around
once we land. We will need the car to meet us at the airport and we will need a car that
can fit up to five people and up to 7 bags. The cost for the rent-a-car from Thursday July
30 to Sunday August 2 is $500. In total we are asking for $8,500 for the whole trip of
Balfour. Brothers will be taking a little bit more of their own money just incase
something does come up, or if they run out of money. I can assure you that this money
will be handled in the most professional way possible, if granted. As Sigma Chis we
pride ourselves on being honest with all endeavors and having integrity to finish them
with our upmost potential. For the trip would need our chapter advisor to come along
with us because it is required they come with. We would also need transportation once we
landed in Ohio so we can get to our hotel and to the retreat at Bowling Green University.
We have already found the hotel we will be staying in, the car we will be renting, and the
airline we will be flying with. Whatever we do not spend of our leisure money we will
return to you with copies of our receipts from where we spent it.
Plane Tickets (5)

Hotel Rooms (3)

$4,000
$400 a ticket times
5. Two ways

1,500
$166 per night for 3
nights

Leisure Activities
(500 ea.)
$2,500
$500 for each
person

Rent-a-Car
(1)
$500
$500 for rental
Thursday through
Sunday

How Balfour can Benefit the School/Our Involvement with the School
Balfour can benefit Florida Gulf Coast University because it will encourage our brothers
to get involved with the school so that we can be on good standing with not only the
school but the Sigma Chi headquarters. It will teach our brothers the necessary
components of how to run a fraternity appropriately. Teaching them from the mistakes of
the past our fraternity here at Florida Gulf Coast University can build from those lessons
and become a great asset to our college community. By becoming better leaders in our
fraternity we can then lead other members of other fraternitys to lead and become more
involved in the school and community around us.

We will not need a room on campus at any point during this process or for the training
workshop. We will be having rides to the airport for our brothers as well as rides when
they arrive back into Fort Myers.
Conclusion/Recommendation
There are numerous benefits that our chapter can receive by participating in Balfour
Leadership Training Workshop. Our brother who participate can learn more about the
organization that they belong to and can learn strategies that they can implement in our
chapter to improve it. Our goals from participating in Balfour Leadership Training
Workshop are to better our chapter, learn from alumni who have experienced the ups and
downs of being in a fraternity, make connections that can benefit us in the future, training
our brothers in their respected positions, and to make our presence known as a chapter of
the Sigma Chi fraternity.
I hope that this request meets with your approval, I am eager to hear back from you and
your thoughts on Balfour as a workshop for our brothers. I recommend that you do some
more browsing on Balfour Leadership Training Workshop if you are interested in the
history of it or why we as Sigma Chis do it. By your participation in funding this retreat
for our five brothers it will be advantageous to the whole fraternity to step up and help
our school out along with our community. Balfour is a very important trip for Sigma
Chis around the United Sates and Canada; we can wait to join in on the fun too. Thank
you for time and consideration towards this retreat.

Works Cited
http://balfourltw.sigmachi.org/eventreg/register/Pages/Display.aspx?
menu=About&page=GettingThere
http://www.pikapp.org/content.aspx?id=216