HMR History

As a private, tax exempt Foundation Harold M. Raynor ALSITE Scholarships, Inc. cannot directly undertake fund raising campaigns and must depend on the generosity of the ALSITE membership and other income sources to fund the current scholarships, and hopefully to expand the number of annual scholarship awards over the years.

The Beginning

The 1985-86 Alabama Division ITE (ALDITE) year was busier and more hectic than usual, so much so that a portion of the membership was disgruntled. But when Jerry Reeves of Traffic Products, Inc. stepped forward with a generous offer to fund a $1,000 scholarship for students studying transportation, members saw something encouraging. On March 6, 1986 at the Spring Meeting of the ALDITE, the Division adopted a motion to accept the scholarship donation and to establish a committee to make the initial award at the 1986 Annual Meeting. Division President Tom Culpepper appointed an Ad Hoc Scholarship Policy committee that included Rod Long (Chairman), Dick Garner, Jerry Reeves, Charles Alexander and President Culpepper.

Scholarship Committee Chairman Rod Long reported at the June 20, 1986 Division Business Meeting, that the Committee had done much more than just select a scholarship recipient; it also recommended establishing a perpetuating scholarship fund in excess of $10,000. The interest from this fund would provide a scholarship each year for a transportation student with financial needs. Student applicants would have to be from an accredited engineering school within the State of Alabama, and show strong interest in transportation engineering as demonstrated by work history, course selection and future goals. The Division accepted the Committee’s recommendation and adopted a motion supporting the scholarship endowment fund.

Although no one knew it at the time, the simple motions adopted at the 1986 ALDITE Spring and Annual Meetings had formed the foundation for what would become the most successful locally administered scholarship program within International ITE.

Raising the Money and Adopting a Policy

At the June 20, 1986 business meeting, Joe Hoehn moved to have the proceeds of the Annual Auction go to the Scholarship Fund. The motion passed and $122.50 was placed into the Fund. In its meeting on October 22, 1986 the Board of Directors of the Alabama Division ITE transferred $500 from the general treasury to the Scholarship Fund.

In the business meeting of the Alabama Division ITE on October 23, 1986, the Scholarship Policy Committee announced that their report on procedures would be published in the next edition of the Newsletter. The Committee also reported that the Division had a balance of $2,122.50 on deposit in the endowment fund of the International ITE.

In its business meeting on March 19, 1987, the membership voted to increase all meeting registration fees by $5.00 to produce more funds for the scholarship endowment. Additionally, a scholarship operating policy was adopted by vote of the Division membership.

Success

The original Scholarship Committee placed a great deal of work into developing the operating policy. They wanted something of which the Division could be proud. They worked hard to provide open, clear and strong fiscal management. The Committee established a large goal of $10,000. At that time it seemed reasonable to provide a $1,000 scholarship every year. None of the original Committee members dared to dream that the goal would be reached so quickly and so successfully. Nor did the Committee imagine that $1,000 would ever be insufficient to pay annual tuition and fees at a state university.

A Private Foundation

On May 23, 1994, ALSITE Scholarships, Inc. was incorporated in Baldwin County, AL as a private foundation by David R. Griffin, Harold M. Raynor, Jerry L. Reeves, Daniel S. Turner and Robert L. Vecellio.

The IRS notified the Foundation on September 2, 1994 that ALSITE Scholarships, Inc. was classified as a private Foundation under Section 509(a) of the U.S. Internal Revenue Code and it was recognized as a nonprofit organization under Section 501(c)(3) of the U.S. Internal Revenue Code.

As a private, tax exempt Foundation the Harold M. Raynor ALSITE Scholarships, Inc. cannot directly undertake fund raising campaigns and must depend on the generosity of the ALSITE membership, other interested parties and various income sources to fund the current scholarships, and hopefully to expand the number of annual scholarship awards over the years.

The Alabama Section of the Institute of Transportation Engineers has done an outstanding job of accumulating funds for the scholarship program. The Alabama Section elected to use indirect fund raising avenues. Its scholarship contributions to the Foundation originate from many sources including ALSITE Meeting surcharges, ALSITE Newsletter proceeds, the Annual Meeting Auction, Annual Billy Jones Memorial Golf Tournament and ALSITE Bass Tournament.

These contributions coupled with voluntary directed gifts to the Foundation along with the annual interest earned by the Foundation’s endowment and money market funds have provided adequate scholarship funds for two significant annual awards.

On October 6, 2005 at a special meeting in Mobile, AL of the Board of Directors of ALSITE Scholarships, Inc., Vice Chair Bob Vecellio offered the following resolution:

Harold Raynor, through his vision and dedicated work, has provided outstanding leadership and service to ALSITE Scholarships, Inc. He was instrumental in setting up the Foundation and recently completed thorough documentation of the history of the organization. Two numbers characterize his tenure: 10 years and $100,000. He has provided outstanding leadership to Dan, David and me serving on the Board of Directors. Most importantly he has helped the Foundation achieve its goal of providing scholarship funds to assist Alabama Civil Engineering transportation undergraduates. I move that the Foundation be renamed in honor of its first Chairman, Harold M. Raynor.

Vice Chair Bob Vecellio confirmed that legal counsel had been consulted regarding this proposed name change and that such a change could be easily accomplished. The motion was unanimously approved.

Harold Raynor was surprised by the motion and expressed deep appreciation for this special honor, and offered the following observations:

Many others have played key roles in the Scholarship Program’s success and in particular the ALSITE membership. The true success of ALSITE Scholarships, Inc. since its inception has been due to the dedicated efforts of an exceptional group of Board Members. Bob Vecellio, Dan Turner and David Griffin have served as ALSITE Scholarships Board Members since the Foundation’s beginning and they have been a true joy to work with. The Foundation’s success has been a team effort, and it has been personally rewarding to work with colleagues who shared a passion to assist undergraduates in Civil Engineering and cultivate their interest in the transportation field.

The name change became official when Articles of Amendment, changing the name of the corporation to Harold M. Raynor ALSITE Scholarships, Inc., were filed in Baldwin County, AL on May 5, 2006.

Overview of Other ITE Scholarships

International ITE conducted a survey of scholarship programs in 1991. Although not all of the Districts and Sections answered the questionnaire, 16 replied that they had scholarships. While the ITE Survey reported that District 7 began the first scholarship program in 1975 that claim is factually incorrect. In 1972 the Southern Section’s President formulated an extensive awards program that was unveiled at the 20th Annual Meeting in Memphis, Tennessee on May 9, 1972. A key component of the Section’s awards program was a monetary incentive to encourage Student Chapter activity within the Southern Section. An anonymous donor provided the funding for a 5-year fellowship which awarded $1,000 annually to a worthy student of a graduate CE program at a university within the Southern Section. Each year the Southern Section would select its Best Student Chapter and the Chapter’s faculty advisor would designate the most deserving student member as the recipient of the $1,000 award. The first fellowship award was named in honor of Herman J. Hoose to commemorate the establishment of the SSITE Herman J. Hoose Distinguished Service Award and was presented to Clemson University on June 20, 1972. The Alabama Division and the North Central Section both started their scholarships programs in 1986, becoming the fourth and fifth ITE Scholarships.

Scholarships awarded by other ITE Sections and Districts range from $300 to $1,500. The amounts awarded by Alabama appears to be comfortably above of this range. The other ITE organizations awarding scholarships indicate that they plan to give future annual awards in the amount of $1,000 to $3,000. Usually the amount they award is determined by the amount of money on hand or the amount of pledges received for an individual year.

ALSITE has done an outstanding job of accumulating funds. Other Sections require members to make pledges each year, or place great pressure on ABD Members to provide all of the funds. The Alabama Section elected to use other more indirect fund raising avenues. Its scholarship funds originate from many sources including voluntary gifts, meeting surcharges, ALSITE Newsletter proceeds, the Annual Meeting Auction, Annual Billy Jones Memorial Golf Tournament, Annual ALSITE Bass Tournament and interest from the endowment.