NATIONAL SOCIETY OF PROFESSIONAL ENGINEERS
CENTRAL REGION DIRECTOR’S REPORT TO THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS
January 6, 2007
Regional Activities:
The Central Region Winter meeting is scheduled for January 12-13, 2007 and will be held in Lansing, MI. The format will consist of AMS training for SSEC representatives and interested state volunteers on Friday and the Region meeting on Saturday. At the region meeting we will be focusing on best practices and a membership workshop. Two NSPE staff members, Angel Baltimore and Felisha Battle, and President Bob Miller will be in attendance at the meeting.
A conference call is planned with all state delegates, presidents, and executives on January 3, 2007 to discuss the Board Agenda and finalize the region meeting plans.
State Society Information – Indiana
- The 2006 / 2007 ISPE State Directory publication has been recognized by the ISPE BoD as the “best-ever”, thanks to Laurie Howe and her work with an Indianapolis based Publications consultant. $2500. 00 (±) is the annual cost for the published directory & mailing – ISPE is now considering other electronic-based options for the 2007 / 2008 ISPE Directory.
- Financials: As of 12/7/2006 ISPE dues income was a (neg) $25,423.60 vs. the budgeted amount of $50,660.40. The shortfall is primarily attributable to the delayed payment of NSPE dues.
- ISPE BoD initiated review of the Indiana By-Laws regarding a change to consolidate the fiscal year (now ending Dec 31st) with the administrative year on Jun 30th). ISPE BoD anticipates taking action on this initiative at Feb 2007 BoD meeting.
4. Jeff Henkle, PE (Central Indiana Chapter) has been nominated for Young Engineer of the Year.
5. Mike Shirley, PE participated in the NSPE Board of Ethical Review meeting Dec 13-14, 2006 at NSPE Headquarters. Eleven new cases were configured for inclusion in the NSPE BER Case Files Reference Library. One of the twelve cases being reviewed was selected as the topic for the 2007 “Milton F. Lunch Ethics Competition”.
State Society Information – Michigan
State Society Activities
MSPE will host the Central Region Meeting, January 12-13, 2007. This meeting will include MSPE Committee and Board Meetings.
Chapter Activities
MSPE has many active chapters and a few not so active ones. Each Regional VP has been given the task of assessing their chapter’s needs, strength and weakness this coming year so that MSPE can lend its support wherever it may be needed.
Student Activities
This is one area MSPE has just begun to work on and one of our main focuses in achieving our membership goal. Our PEE President, along with members of the membership committee and the chapters, will be contacting each of the engineering colleges in our state to work on the formation of student chapters. We will be doing this jointly with the Engineering Society of Detroit as part of its community outreach program.
Continuing Education Activities
Planning is underway for MSPE’s 61th Annual Conference, June 7-10 at Boyne Mountain Resort in Boyne City, Michigan. The annual conference is conducted jointly with ACEC of Michigan. On average, members can receive 5-8 PDHs for attending. Over 250 people attended the 2006 annual conference.
Legislative Activities
MSPE’s increased penalties bill did not make it to the Senate floor for vote this session. We are already beginning to strategize for its introduction next year. We are looking at House and Senate leadership, a new bill sponsor and key committee member appointments.
We were able to defeat an Interior Design bill which would have permitted licensure for Interior Designers as well as increase their scope of practice.
We were able to negotiate with the Landscape Architects to have language removed from their licensing bill, which would have allowed RLAs to perform drainage and road design.
MSPE’s State Legislative Day is March 20, 2007. Over 100 participants are expected to make visits with their State Senators and Representatives.
Membership Activities
“2006 Members in 2006” was MSPE’s charge this year. So far—so good. We started off with 1764 members and to date we currently have 1953 members.
MSPE’s State Membership Committee meets via telephone conf. monthly.
MISC
Maura Nessan, MSPE Executive Director has been very active with the SSEC. She recently attended the SSEC retreat in Alexandria this past November. She was also asked to serve on the newly formed Policy Review Committee. As the SSEC moves forward working with consultant Jim Delizia, she will be part of the design
team that will focus on membership development programs and serve on the development council to draft the new NSPE-State Society Partnership Agreement.
State Society Information – West Virginia
WVSPE had a Christmas Dinner in Charleston in December in conjunction with the local ASCE chapter, and it was attended by approximately 30 engineers and their significant others. It was held on the 12th floor of the Charleston House Holiday Inn and the view of the Kanawha River at Christmas time was special.
We are planning our annual Engineer's Week dinner in Charleston, and we will be partnering with WVACEC and WVASCE to provide scholarships for engineering students studying in the state of West Virginia.
We are in the midst of elections for officers for WVSPE. According to the WVSPE By-laws, the Board of Directors (which consists of 7 directors) elects a President and Secretary/Treasurer. The 2007 Board of Directors are: Carol Costello, Joe Carney, Mark Trimble, Jack Pascoli, Kevin Wall, Elwood Penn and Chip Pickering.
At the December 13, 2006 WVSPE Board meeting: Carol Costello nominated Joe Carney for the position of Secretary/Treasurer and Mark Trimble for the position of President. Joe Carney nominated Jack Pascoli for the position of Secretary/Treasurer.
Plans are certainly ongoing for our Expo, however the dates are not yet available.
State Society Information – Wisconsin
CPESC Issue
This practice of engineering issue has been affecting multiple states and came up with the Wisconsin DNR a few months ago. Our legislative committee is addressing it and Todd Thomas of NSPE is sitting in on the committee. The first goal is to write up WSPE's position so we communicate consistently and definitively. We need to look at it from both sides before demanding anything. There is a reason the DNR would be considering this so we need to figure out how we can address that to help them.
Membership
We have a lot of ideas put together for a membership program. Some of it is targeting exam takers with letters and a presence at the license exams. Our biggest need now is implementation. Getting volunteers to work at the exams, getting good letters written, getting people in place to make phone calls, etc.
Continuing Education
WSPE adopted an official position supporting mandatory continuing education for Wisconsin. We are working with an association we are part of (Association of Technical Professionals) to write a position paper and work with the Department of Regulation and Licensing.
Supporting Organizations
After 5 years of our sustaining/supporting organizations program being dropped, we are restarting. We have the program detailed, and now our biggest step is to create a brochure for it and a target company list. This is an important program for getting companies more involved and for non-dues revenue.
BEPR Ethics Issue
We had a high publicity ethics issue this fall regarding a political fundraiser for the governor that consulting engineers attended. There was a request for our ethics board (BEPR) to investigate this. Out of the investigation WSPE published an
educational case study on our website and in our eNews. NSPE is also using it for a case study. Something we realized recently is that if there is a complaint, only our members get investigated and not the many more non-members who were in the same position. We are concerned that this has the effect of telling engineers not to be a member or to drop their membership, because they get singled out (especially for the ones who were involved). We need to change this somehow.
Calendar
We have calendars set up with Google calendar now. A different calendar for each major program/committee, plus a general events calendar that we are embedding on our website. The biggest task is getting it all populated and getting officers to use it, and doing so in a way that makes minimal rework in future years (e.g. creating recurring tasks so they show up each year, etc.)
I would say our biggest hurdle right now is implementing all the plans we have. It's hard for a very small group of volunteers to do a lot, and we can't just have our executive director and office people do it all either (time/resource limits and it needs officer input and decisions).
State Society Information – Illinois
Legislative
ISPE hired a new lobbyist – Linda Rene Baker, who has extensive experience in government affairs and license and registration issues.
ISPE successfully worked with ACEC-IL, AIA-IL and several other design industry groups to pass SB 1493. The bill clarifies that non-home rule local governments are to use a qualifications based selection process when engaging professional services for design work. The bill is awaiting the governor’s signature.
ISPE began using the CapWiz program made available through NSPE. ISPE utilized the software at all stages of passing the QBS bill this fall.
Membership
ISPE settled on a dues adjustment amount with NSPE for both society and chapter dues.
ISPE is working on an aggressive out reach effort for those members on the delinquent list.
ISPE is working to package the Enterprise Membership and IL Sustaining Partner programs for firms and suppliers with other marketing efforts such as website ads, magazine advertising, convention sponsorship, etc.
ISPE is about to launch a new job board program.
ISPE is planning a certificate ceremony with the Division of Professional Regulation in Chicago this Spring.
Professional Development
The ISPE Professional Development program for 2007 will include:
§ 5 Training Programs with IDOT
§ 1 full day concrete seminar in March
§ 1 full day electric seminar in April
§ 1 full day drainage seminar in May
§ 12 hr Annual Convention in July
§ 30 hr Professional Development Boot Camp in October
Our Structural Engineering Boot Camp in October 2006 was a success.
Communications
ISPE is moving the management of the Illinois Engineer magazine inhouse with the Spring 2007 issue.
ISPE has made some updates on the website, including a “What’s new on IllinoisEngineer.com” link from the homepage listing the latest revisions on the website to aid in navigating new information.
State Society Information – Ohio
No information provided.
Respectfully Submitted,
Leanne H. Panduren, PE
Central Region Director, 2006-2007
Central Region Director’s Report - January, 2007 Page 1 of 5