Meeting Minutes

International Affairs Committee

February 16, 2016

The APWA International Affairs Committee (IAC) met on February 16, 2016. Committee members in attendance included Vydas Juskelis, IAC Chair, Chris Champion, Ross Vincent, Tracy Warner, Martin Pastucha, Rich Berning, Joy Schaad, and Ville Alatyppö.

The following members were not in attendance: Doug Drever, Inger Sundstrom, Noel Thompson and Tyler Palmer.

The meeting was staffed by Lillie Plowman and Dave Dancy.

A summary of the meeting follows.

The December and January minutes were approved.

======

IAC Chair Report

Strategic Planning Meeting

On February 3-4, 2016, the IAC came together for a two-day strategic planning meeting. IAC members included: Vydas Juskelis, Joy Schaad, Tyler Palmer, Martin Pastucha, Tracy Warner, and Doug Drever. APWA incoming President Ron Calkins, APWA Board Liaison to the IAC, Rich Berning, Larry Frevert, Interim Executive Director, and national staff Lillie Plowman, David Dancy and Brian VanNorman also were present at the meeting.

The results of this strategic planning meeting were:

1)  The IAC did not see a need for their own mission statement. The IAC’s mission is and should be the same as the APWA mission statement and the IAC exists to support the mission and priorities of the APWA strategic plan.

2)  The priorities of the IAC should align with the three priorities of the APWA. The IAC should develop strategies to support the main three priorities of the association.

Advocacy of Public Works

Continue to improve the perception of the public works professionals around the world.

Enhance efforts to increase participation in international educational exchange programs with APWA’s international partners and their communities.

Professional Development – Integrated and Comprehensive

Support technology transfer of public works topics to enhance education, professional development, partnering and advocacy.

Develop a Communication Plan that effectively demonstrates the value and opportunities in APWA’s international activities to the members, chapter, committees, board and partnerships.

Support and Strengthen Chapters

Cultivate an international exchange pilot program at the chapter level.

Broaden the International Ambassador program so that public works professionals in North America and abroad can share their insight and expertise with fellow public works professionals.

3) Since the international strategies support the main priorities of the association, the IAC does not feel that “international” needs to be a separate priority in the strategic plan going forward; rather it should be a means to support and accomplish the priorities of the association.

4) In addition, the IAC recognizes the secondary priority “advancing sustainability” and the importance of sustainable practices, and encourages the APWA to continue to foster and embrace sustainable practices in North America and around the world.

Finally, a discussion centered on the Presidential visits to APWA’s partnering countries, which led to the incoming President, Ron Calkins requesting the IAC put forth a recommendation and/or policy on how this should be handled in the future. This recommendation will be forthcoming for the APWA Board of Directors to review at their June Board meeting.

The IAC will also discuss how these strategic initiatives will be worked into the current work plans of the IAC. There will also need to be discussion in the coming months regarding the appropriate committee structure and their level of participation. Once these priories are formed and established, then the IAC will look to see what budgetary requests would go along with this.

ACTION: For the March agenda, time will be set aside to discuss the recommendation of Presidential visits to international partner countries. .

March Conference Call Time

The March conference call will be held on March 15th at 2:30 p.m. CT. We may need to make an adjustment once we get around to the spring.

Updates from Sub-Committees

APWA/CPWA/Mexico Latin America Sub-Committee

Tyler was not available, so there was not a report.

CZ-Slovak Sub-Committee

This Sub-Committee met on Wednesday, January 20th. They discussed the memorandum of understanding between APWA and Czech and Slovak organizations, as well as reviewed the purpose and goals of the Czech/Slovak Sub-Committee, and gathered information for the SWOT analysis.

It is hoped that the Agreement will come before the IAC, and upon Board approval will result in a renewed signing at PWX in August. The Sub-Committee will meet again in March.

APWA/CPWA/IPWEA/PWEA-NZ Sub-Committee

Noel Thompson has asked Chris Champion to lead the Sub-Committee over the next few months, as he will not be available due to his ankle injury.

It was reported that Mike Connolly, the Executive Director of IPWEA NZ, is no longer with the association and that Ross Vincent’s consultancy term had also ended. Thus, Jacqui Carol, will be the current contact until further notice. Jacqui also asked that all correspondence be sent to her and Peter Higgs, IPWEA NZ President’s attention.

There will be two contingents coming to PWX from Australia; so therefore, they are looking to conduct a public works study tour in Minneapolis. The Sub-Committee submitted an article for the April APWA Reporter.

APWA/CPWA/Nordic Sub-Committee

Sweden and Denmark are excited to have JR Fellow Matt Rodrigues traveling to their countries in the fall. They have been working with him on his public works study tour. Tina Nelson and Inger Sundström are working on a translation of the Swedish section of winter maintenance guide for IFME.

Dan-Henrik Langstrom, will attend his last PWX meeting in Minneapolis. Thus, the IAC would like to recognize his work at the Awards ceremony. This information has been communicated to the APWA national staff in charge of the Awards Ceremony, and a plaque ordered to present to him. It will need to be determined if this will be a surprise, or if he will be told of the acknowledgement so that the IAC can ensure his attendance at this event.

Currently, there will be nine individuals coming from Finland to attend PWX. They will be visiting Chicago prior to PWX, and then will head on to Montreal after PWX. There appears to be great interest in attending PWX from the Nordic countries. The next meeting will be held on Tuesday, March 1st.

ACTION: Design a survey to be sent to the chapters to see which ones have a designated international liaison.

Reports

APWA Board Liaison Report

The APWA Board of Directors will be meeting February 19-21, 2016 in Kansas City. The top priority will be selecting the new executive director. Rich Berning, IAC Liaison, stressed that the IAC report should be kept succinct and to the point, and that he perhaps some items may not be discussed until the June Board meeting.

It was reported that Brian Usher, APWA President fell and broke his hip and his travel will be curtailed for the next two months. Thus, incoming President Ron Calkins and APWA Interim Director Larry Frevert will facilitate the Board meeting. This accident could also potentially affect Chapter visits by the President.

IFME

Doug was not on the call, so Chris provided an update. The next IFME Board meeting will take place in Ottawa, Canada in conjunction with the CPWA Board meeting in April 2016. IFME is currently exploring ways to collaborate and build an international certification program. They are looking for a soft skill program that can be put together and shared with other countries. Also, it was reported that there is interest from Bratislava in joining IFME.

International Outreach

Review APWA Reporter Schedule

·  April – due February 25th IPWEA, Chris has submitted an article

·  May – due March 25th Sustainability article – no one assigned

·  June – due April 25th Engineering – no one assigned

Other Business

Nominations

The Nominations process is now open. IAC members should feel free to peruse the website http://www2.apwa.net/membersonly/ for more information.

If there are any IAC members who will not be seeking re-appointment, please let Lillie Plowman, IAC staff liaison know as soon as possible. The following IAC members need to self-nominate if they wish to continue on the IAC: Tyler Palmer, Noel Thompson and Martin Pastucha.

Travel Reimbursement

As a reminder, IAC members who have not submitted the paperwork for reimbursement for the IAC strategic planning meeting should do so as soon as possible.

IAC members should review the Travel Policy Guidelines so that they can ensure that their expenses will be reimbursed. Please note it is very important to keep and provide all itemized receipts when you submit your Expense Reimbursement Form.

The Account and Travel Authorization number for this meeting is:

Account Number: 555-120-132-010

Travel Authorization Number #: 2302

The next conference call will be on Tuesday, March 15th at 2:30 p.m. CT.

Submitted by: Lillie Plowman, Staff