UPE’S 40th Anniversary

Many of you may not be aware that 2007 marks the 40th anniversary (1967-2007) of Upsilon Pi Epsilon.  Our society has grown to over 230 chapters in colleges and universities in North American and overseas.  UPE is also a proud member of the Association of College Honor Societies (ACHS). Founded in 1925, the ACHS is the nation's ONLY certifying agency for college and university honor societies in the country, and our membership is testimony to the standards upheld by UPE.

New Membership Fee for UPE – $50 effective January 2007

The UPE membership fee is a one-time payment from each new member and membership is for a lifetime.  In addition, new members receive one-year complimentary student membership in the ACM.  About 70% of all funds collected from UPE members are used to fund student activities of UPE.  Below is a summary of the awards that are funded by UPE.

A recent survey by the ACHS (Association of College Honor Societies) showed that UPE’s 70% expenditure for student-related awards is the highest among the 67 honor societies who belong to ACHS.  The average ACHS member society allocates only 16.1% of collected member fees to student-related awards, with the balance of their funds going to management-related expenses.

It is the intent of the UPE Executive Council to maintain the above awards at the current level of 70% of total income.  In addition, a large number of UPE chapters are unable to carry out meaningful chapter activities due to insufficient funds and resources.  Council considers it appropriate to start providing financial assistance to chapters by returning to them a portion of the membership fees.

In the past four years, the number of students, who declare as major a field in the computing and information disciplines, has been on a continuing downward trend.  This downturn in enrollment numbers has resulted in a similar reduction in the number of new UPE members each year.  The overall result has been a reduction in UPE’s annual income.  So we can maintain student-related awards at the present level, and also provide chapters with funds for local chapter activities, the Executive Council of UPE has approved an increase in the membership fee to $50 (Fifty Dollars) per member.  This new fee will become effective for all individuals who elect to join UPE beginning on January 1, 2007.  In order to assist in the local activities of each UPE chapter, the UPE Headquarters will return to each chapter $5 (Five Dollars) for each paid up member.  The amount returned to each chapter will be equal to the total number of paid up members for a given year multiplied by $5.  Funds will be paid to each chapter at the end of the UPE fiscal year (December 31st).  The initial payment to chapters will be mailed out at the end of 2007.

UPE Membership Fee – Projected increases

It was noted in the previous section that the UPE membership fee will increase from the current fee of $35 to $50 per member beginning in January 2007.  In order to counter projected increases in UPE expenditures for student awards and related society expenses, Council has made tentative plans to impose a membership fee of $60 beginning in 2009.  With this new fee, Council plans to return to chapters $10 for each paid member for a given year.

UPE Scholarship Awards

The Executive Council of UPE is pleased to announce the recipients of the 2006 UPE scholarship awards.  Scholarship applications were received from active members of UPE in June 2006.  Applicants were evaluated in several areas including their academic records, participation in computer science - related activities, adviser recommendation, completeness of their application, and contributions to their respective UPE chapter.

The 2006 scholarship awards included three categories, namely:  The Dan Drew and Jim Nolen Awards ($1,000 each); UPE awards of $1,000 and $500.

ACM/UPE and IEEE-CS Scholarship Awards

UPE provides scholarship funds that are administered by the ACM and the IEEE-CS.  Each ACM recipient receives $1,000.  IEEE-CS scholarship recipients receive $500 each.  A list of the 2006 award recipients is shown below.  Interested students should note that applications for these awards must be submitted to the ACM and the IEEE-CS.  Additional information on these awards can be obtained from Ms. Lauren Ryan (lryan@hq.acm.org) of the ACM and Mr. John Daniel (jw.daniel@computer.org) of the IEEE-CS.