An Interview with National Executive Secretary Ruth Sieber

This article first appeared in the November/December 1996 newsletter of Beta Phi Chapter.

Biography

Ruth Sieber was initiated into SAI on April 27, 1982 by the Epsilon Tau Chapter at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock. While attending the university, she received a Bachelor of Music degree in vocal performance. Ms. Sieber is a recipient of the SAI Scholastic Award, the Sword of Honor, and the Rose of Honor. Offices she held before becoming the national executive secretary include the Mu Province Officer, the Tau B Province Officer, and the National Newsletter Director.

When asked why did she join SAI, she responded "My voice teacher, Dorothy Sawatski, was a member of SAI. She always spoke with the highest regard for the ideals of SAI and what members continued to do in the field of music even after graduation. When I was invited to join, I regarded it as a high honor since I had so much respect for her."

Ruth Sieber is a professional singer. She also directs a church choir, and does free-lance work in the musical theater field as director of music productions at the local university and community theater.

Ms. Sieber was asked to apply for the position of national executive secretary when the office became vacant in 1992. She was selected as a finalist for the position and was appointed to the position after an interview with the National Executive Board. At each Convention, she is up for review and reappointment.

About the Office

As national executive secretary, Ms. Sieber has communication with all officers of the fraternity - NEB, Province Officers, fraternity and Philanthropies directors, college and alumnae chapter officers. Her responsibilities include:

• receiving correspondence from unaffiliated members, subscribers to Pan Pipes, and those who are looking for friends that they knew in school and libraries.
• acting as business manager to Pan Pipes, suppliers and vendors of SAI products. taking official minutes at all National Executive Board meetings.
• making presentations at Province Days when invited.

One needs to possess good communication skills and a thorough understanding of the fraternity in its history and its goals. Tact is also necessary when handling such aspects as outside vendors, SAI members, and staff supervision.

The History of National Headquarters

Originally, records for the fraternity were kept in the home of the national executive secretary. Due to the 65th anniversary of SAI and the dramatic increase in membership and records, the National Executive Office (NEO) was established in 1968. The office was located on 4119 Rollins Avenue in Des Moines, Iowa. Dorothy Whinery was the national executive secretary at the time. When Ruth Sieber became the national executive secretary, the National Executive Office was relocated to Asheville, North Carolina. The National Executive Board voted to change the name of the National Executive Office to National Headquarters (NH). All permanent records are kept here, including records for chapter installations, member initiations, Life Membership payments, affiliations, proceedings of all National Conventions, Minutes of all Executive Board meetings, and bound copies of Pan Pipes. Today, all processing of memberships happens through NH. Correspondence with chapters, Province Officers, and National Officers is also handled through NH.

The national executive secretary supervises the National Headquarters and takes care of much of the business end of running the fraternity. In supervising National Headquarters, she must understand all aspects of the fraternity and see that records are kept accurately. She also makes sure that the needs of the members and the chapters are met and that fraternity policies are being followed.


The Staff of National Headquarters

The national executive secretary is assisted by a bookkeeper, a membership secretary, a data entry clerk, and a Philanthropies assistant. Except for the bookkeeper, all the positions are part-time.

The current members of the National Headquarters staff who aid the national executive secretary are as follows:

• Paul Walker, bookkeeper, has worked at NH for four years. He processes all fraternity money received, keeps chapter accounts, invoices chapters, runs statements, answers account questions, and maintains the jewelry inventory.
• Carolyn Sizemore, membership secretary, has worked at NH for two years. She processes all college initiations, records chapter officers and school information, orders certificates, keeps addresses and names updated, prints materials for mailings and process mailings, and sends the database for mailing out Pan Pipes.
• Gisela Peele, Philanthropies assistant, has worked at NH for two years. She processes all the donations made to Philanthropies and the Century Drive, prepares all the mailings about scholarships and Philanthropies projects, and reproduces Pan Pipes onto cassette tapes for the visually impaired members.
• Brenda Young, data entry/shipping clerk, has worked at NH since July. She processes alumnae affiliations and Life Memberships, and packs all the orders for shipping. Chapter correspondence is filed by her and Swords of Honor are processed by her.

By fraternity policy, the staff of National Headquarters are not members of SAI. Only the national executive secretary is a member of SAI. The staff is aware of confidentiality and do not handle issues of fraternity policy.

NH activities dovetail with the times that chapters are active and with events happening in the fraternity year. This year, for example, National Headquarters will handle the mailings and registrations for National Convention.


Conclusion

Ruth Sieber hopes that National Headquarters continues to serve the needs of the membership and continues to grow along with the fraternity as SAI approaches the 100th anniversary of its founding. She has found meeting much of the membership by letter and telephone as one of the benefits of being the national executive secretary. She looks forward to continuing the work of SAI.

A special thank you to Ruth Sieber, who provided the information for this article.

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The Washington D.C. Alumnae Chapter
Iota A Province
Sigma Alpha Iota

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