Western and Pacific Region Meeting
Western and Pacific Region Meeting
July 19, 2015, Renaissance Hotel, Seattle, WA
Called to Order at 12:30
Attending
Nine Members from seven states:
Greg Latreille – Alaska (Chair)
Brad Fristoe – Alaska
Cynthia Wernet – California
Curtis Beck – Hawaii
Greg Brands – Idaho (Director)
James Baker – Idaho
Craig Sisco – Nevada (Chair-Elect)
Tamara Johnson – Oregon
Alan Werner – Washington
Introduction were made around the table
Incorporation Status
The Registered Agent has been transferred from Ramona Gray, deceased, to Jim Szatkowski. All necessary paperwork for the State of Nevada is in order.
Bank Status
Jim Szatkowski reports the bank account has been transferred to a no-fee account and is in good order.
Budget
A budget was not provided. Action: see Region Dues below.
WPR Structure and Operations
The goals and purpose of the WPR was discussed and defined. The WPR needs to elaborate its Visions and Missions more frequently at meetings and correspondence. The roles of the three WPR leaders, the Chair, the BOD Regional Director, and the Secretary/Treasurer were defined and discussed. The website needs revisions to be current. Action: The WPR strategic plan needs to be aligned with the NSPE Strategic Plan, and the mission / vision statements and/or “statement of purpose” for the region needs to be developed, distributed, and made more widely accessible and known amongst regional participants.
WPR Annual Meeting
The Annual Meeting was discussed as to schedule and location. The present consensus is to have the Annual Meeting in conjunction with the NSPE Annual meeting, although this may need to be flexible if circumstances warrant, such as a prominent state meeting, including an Auxiliary meeting,. In discussion, pro’s and con’s were expressed. Working the region annual meeting into the schedule of the NSPE annual meeting will reduce travel costs, both for the region and for the individuals, and hopefully increase the number of participants. Ideally, a block of time for regional meetings will be set aside in the schedule, moreso than the 1 hour given for caucusing on House of Delegates agenda items and elections. It would be beneficial to involve the other regions in this request, since it will hopefully be a benefit to each region and since the NSPE Annual Meeting Planning committee will be more willing to accommodate a scheduling request coming from all regions instead of from only one. Action: Director Greg Brands will introduce the idea of regional meetings to the other regional directors and in the context of the Regional Best Practices Task Force work for the goal of a dedicated scheduling block (ideally 2.5-3 hours) for annual regional meetings at future NSPE Annual Meetings. For the sake of recording, the set up of the Annual Meeting needs to be added or revised in the WPR Operating Procedures with a flexible context.
Region Dues
The primary reason for collecting dues is the expense of officer travel to the region Annual Meeting. Without this expense, the WPR can continue to pay the current minimal operating expenses out of existing reserves for many years to come. The consensus at the meeting is that an annual face-to-face meeting is beneficial and worth the cost of member dues to maintain. By holding the region annual meeting in conjunction with the NSPE annual meeting, the cost to the region is minimized. The state delegates, presidents, and other participants are already paying the expense to attend the NSPE meeting, and many are also being financially supported by NSPE or their state societies to attend. To ensure an effective meeting, the region officers should be financially supported to attend through travel reimbursement, per the meeting consensus. Note that of the three regional officers, the region director is supported for attendance by NSPE. The Region chair and secretary/treasurer are not, unless they happen to serve other roles within NSPE or their state, such as Chair Latreille, who is the HoD rep for Alaska and thereby financially supported to attend the NSPE Annual Meeting. To provide capital for this support, it will be necessary to assess regional member dues, although the amount will be notably lower than the dues levels assessed in recent previous years. It was also discussed that California felt they bore an unfair portion of the dues amount, since they have a much higher number of members and therefore had a much higher dues level than other states, yet they feel their benefit from regional participation is not so proportional to their member number. The consensus is that this is a valid argument / request. Action: A task force, chaired by Director Brands and including Secretary/Treasurer Szatkowski and at least one member of the California Society, will convene for the purposes of proposing a regional dues structure that will include some elements of previous dues but be calibrated to be perceived as fair to all member organizations and also to pay down current reserves incrementally over a period of years, with an adjustment made once the “target” reserve level has been reached such that our income matches our expenditures. It is desirous to have the proposed dues / budget at the September regional teleconference.
Membership Committee
Chair Latreille is stepping down as region Chair but is moving forward as NSPE Membership Committee Chair. He explained the primary goals of this committee over the coming year and noted that significant participation by state staff and volunteers will be necessary for success of these projects. The primary focus of the NSPE Membership Committee will be to implement an integrated marketing plan that will include the development of material from National but the addition of local information and nuances from the state members. Director Brands proposed that the regional structure is an already-existing effective vehicle for this collaboration between the states and National. Action: None at this time, but state members are advised to look for actions on this effort and be ready to allocate time and resources.
Dues Discussion
Currently, the financial balance is close to $800o, which the Chair wishes to reduce to $5000. One proposal is to reduce the rebate able Annual Meeting Flat dues from $200 to $75 per state and the active member rate reduced from $0.70 to $0.20. Action: The Chair formed a short-term task force to include Jim Szatkowski, Greg Brands, and an unnamed California representative. The completion target is September, possibly extending to October. Marti Kramer, California Executive Director was mentioned as a resource
Greg Brands Report
Regional Director Greg Brands provided a detailed report on NSPE and NSPE BOD activities and results. Discussion ensued.
NSPE Position Statements
Chair Greg Latreille opined that NSPE needs more Position Statements on Artificial Intelligence, Nuclear, Fracking, Energy, and possibly others. The Position Statements need to be aligned with the NSPE Strategic Plan.
NCEES Structural Engineer in the Model Law
Tamara Johnson brought the plan by NCEES to include in their Model Law for a separate Structural Engineer category. Discussion ensued. Action: Obtain information from Arial Eisner at NSPE Headquarters.
Adjourned at 3:00
Submitted by Alan Werner, P.E., F.NSPE
1