A letter from Jack Klemeyer,
Chair of the Mentors Committee of the College of Fellows

The list of fellowship mentors for FY 2013 again represents all ten Regions; thank you to everyone who has been willing to serve in this capacity. To see the list of the current Mentors, click on "Becoming a Fellow" at the left, and scroll to the end of the page.

Although we do our very best to get this information into the hands of all Chapter Presidents and Awards Chairs, as well as the Region officers, there are too few candidates for Fellowship that are aware of the program. Please do everything you can to make nominees in your Chapter or Region take full advantage of this opportunity; if necessary, encourage the appropriate mentor to contact the candidate if the candidate is not contacting them. A mentor who knows the candidate well can identify whether the dossier fully represents the nominee's accomplishments, and suggest areas that may need additional information. Even if the mentor does not know the candidate well, I have every confidence that the advice that can be given will be of great benefit. Preparing a proper dossier takes a lot of hard work; please stress to candidates to carefully follow the instructions - and note that this year the material is submittable only electronically. For detailed information refer to the Honors and Awards Guide and other information on the Institute Awards page, or contact Paulette Salisbury, Chair of the Jury of Fellows, at pksalisbury@yahoo.com.

If you would be willing to become a Mentor for a few years, please contact Jack Klemeyer at wvk@sbcglobal.net or (415) 664-0134; it can be a very rewarding experience, and you will be providing a wonderful service to our membership. In particular if you have served on the Jury of Fellows, you know how valuable a well-prepared submittal package can be. Thank you for anything you can do to help the mentoring program accomplish the mission for which it was created: helping to assure that worthy candidates for Fellowship are successful.

A letter from Jim Robertson,
former Chancellor of the College of Fellows

One of College of Fellows’ important programs involves growing the COF Student and Emerging Professional Fund in the CSI Foundation. The purpose of the fund is to provide financial resources to support annual programs devoted to promoting the interest of students and emerging professionals in the construction industry and CSI.

There are two parts to the funding: One part is to build an endowment fund of at least $160,000 to support future student and emerging professional activities; the other part is to provide $5,000 per year to support the ongoing program while the endowment fund is being built. Interest income on the eventual $160,000 fund is anticipated to support the COF student activities in future years at a level of $5,000 to $10,000 per year without the need for additional fund raising.

As of January 2013 the COF has raised a little over $36,000. 24 Fellows have pledged to contribute yearly payments ranging from $50, $100 and $250 over a five-year period. 41 Fellows have made lump sum contributions in amounts ranging from $25 up to $2,500. We have even received contributions from two CSI Chapters.

I am asking that those of you who have not already contributed to consider doing so now. If you cannot commit to $250 a year for five years, then I would ask you to consider $100 per year or whatever you can. Your commitment can help the college develop a fund that has a meaningful balance. If you want to make a onetime contribution, that is okay too. By establishing the fund within the CSI Foundation, all of the contributions are tax deductible.

While the endowment is being funded, the first $5,000 raised by the COF each year goes to support the current year program endorsed by the COF Board. Amounts in excess of $5,000 go into the long-term endowment fund.

Contributing to the fund is easy, just print out and send in this pledge form with your contribution.

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