I. 2011 Regions 1, 2, 4 & 5 Workshop for Sections and Branch Leaders
The workshop for Section and Branch Leaders in Regions 1, 2, 4 and 5 was held in Portland, Maine January 13, 14 &15, 2011. This annual meeting was sponsored by the ASCE Committee on Geographic units and was attended by Section and Branch Officers and members along with Student Chapter Officers and Members from throughout the Regions. President Elect Kathy Caldwell was unable to attend in person, but sent an inspiring recorded message to the attendees. Many ASCE Headquarters staff and other Society Leaders were also in attendance.
II. Region 2 Assembly held March 5, 2011
The Region 2 Board of Governor’s Assembly held on March 5, 2011. A very extensive agenda was covered in this one day meeting.
The Assembly was held at the ASCE National Headquarters in Reston, VA with approximately 95 members in attendance. Sessions were moderated by Region 2 Governors and included topics such as "Fostering Mutually Beneficial Interaction between ASCE and Universities", and Student Roundtable Discussions on "Funding Scholarships", "Student Chapter Fundraising", "Section Membership Strategies", and "Student Chapter Membership". Several speakers were invited such as the District 12 Director, ASCE National President Elect-Elect Greg DiLoreto, Assistant ASCE Executive Director and General Counsel Tom Smith. They joined our Region 2 Director, Rob Victor and who held a panel discussion on "Issues Affecting Civil Engineers". Joe Manous, Chair of the Committee on Professional Practice, showed a video and spoke on "Ethical and Unethical Practices for Engineers" and John Durrant, ASCE Managing Director of Technical Institutes, spoke on "Integrating ASCE Technical Institutes with Sections and Universities". ASCE National Student Member Director, Ping Wei, was also on hand in the morning to help answer questions and participate in the roundtable sessions.
Over one-half of all student chapters (15 of 25) were represented. In addition, some nine (9) YMG representatives met separately with the R2BOG YMG Representative to discuss issues of concern for their membership. A reception with tours of the ASCE Headquarters building was included at the end of the sessions as a way to wrap up the day’s activities. Several members indicated that the impact of the Assembly was beneficial in that it further initiated the establishment of better interaction between Section and Branches with the Faculty Advisors (FAs) and Practitioner Advisors (PAs). The Assembly also gave all of the Sections and Branches an opportunity to interact with each other and to meet any newly developed entities, such as the Western MD Branch who had a Member in attendance. It also provided both the student and younger members to learn from and provide ideas to Section, Branch and Region 2 Leaders. The one day Assembly was also a most beneficial learning session to the many new FA/PAs who were in attendance.
This Assembly was relevant to the ASCE Strategic Plan in that the overall goal was to increase membership and provide leadership potential, which was accomplished by the target theme of student and younger member interacting at all levels. The Assembly was also deemed a success in that there was an increase in attendance of over 30% as compared to the number of participants from last year. Many additional student chapters participated and many new FA/PAs got information and direction that they needed to take back to their respective groups.
III. Region 2 Governor Meetings
The Region 2 Governors meeting periodically throughout the year to discuss strategies as to how they can continue and further help the Member and Student Chapters and Branches throughout the Region.
Conference calls are held every 4-6 weeks and face to face meetings occur every 2-3 months to make sure all the Governors are up to date on the latest ASCE activities that affect the region and so they can report on their particular activities and assignments.