National Officer Visit to State Society (Also Included in Tab F)

Report Form: National Officer Visit to State Society (also included in Tab F)

Please complete electronically (if possible) and return to: Al Gray, Ph.D., P.E., CAE ([email protected], cc: [email protected]) Executive Director, NSPE, 1420 King Street, Alexandria, VA 22314-2794; Fax 703/519-3763. The report should be submitted within three weeks of your state society visit and must be received before expenses can be reimbursed.

NSPE Officer _____Dan Wittliff ______

State Society Visited: ___Arkansas Society of Professional Engineers ______

Meeting Date/Location ___February 22-24, 2007, Hot Springs, Arkansas

Who met with: ___Board of Directors and General Membership Committee______

COMPLETE THIS BOX ONLY IF you carried out a president-assigned state society visit. You may skip if you did an RVP state outreach visit.

Number of attendees at State Meeting: ______

Social Events attended: _Dinner with some members of the BOD, Afternoon at the races, and E-Week Banquet

 Did state society cover your expenses?  YES XNO

 Did you install officers?  YES X NO

 Did you address the Board of Directors? X YES  NO

 Did you attend Executive Committee meeting?  YES X NO

Please describe the important issues raised by state leaders/members that need to be relayed to the NSPE Board. Note any issues that you feel require the Board’s immediate attention.

The biggest issues that we discussed included:  Dropping Mathcounts Program – Despite many rewarding experiences, ASPE has seen a decline in student participation over the past 10 years. ASPE does not believe that this program provides “back for the buck” in promoting/ recognizing the engineering profession. ASPE will replace Mathcounts with a program more aligned with its goals. They met with the Deans of Engineering at the Universities of Arkansas at Fayetteville and Little Rock to discuss options for: (1) mentoring high school students and (2) sponsoring interdisciplinary events for freshmen in engineering courses.  Declining Membership – Faced with a declining membership base, ASPE is making a big push to increase new members and retain existing members. For every new member gained, ASPE is providing a $50 finders fee to the sponsoring member. In addition, ASPE is soliciting voluntary contributions from Life Members through a Legacy Program ($100 for silver, $250 for gold, and $500 for platinum).

E-1  Enterprise Membership – I presented the successes experienced with the Enterprise program as a way to promote membership growth and retention. Reggie Corbett of Little Rock Wastewater Utilities and Ronnie Hawkins of Hawkins, Wier, McGodwin, and Yates expressed an interest in signing up their employees.  Candidate Screening Committee – Texas is next in the rotation for the CSC while Arkansas is due up in 2008-2009.  Operations of House of Delegates and BOD – Discussed need for HOD from the states to be named and participate in preparing for the HOD meeting in Denver in July 2007.  Regional Meetings –.ASPE reaffirmed their desire to continue to participate in and host a regional meeting of NSPE focused on regional issues rather than governance. ASPE is due up in the rotation in October 2008 while Oklahoma is due up in October 2007.  Legislative Issues – In the Arkansas Legislature, ASPE is fighting a bill that would allow pre- manufactured, pre-engineered structures (>$25,000) to be designed by a P.E. from another state to be built in Arkansas.

Please list any presentations made (e.g., keynote, membership workshop, etc.) and NSPE resources used (e.g., officer talking points, PowerPoint presentations, Membership Toolkit, etc.)  Dan Wittliff gave a 1½ hour seminar on Homeland Security, threats and tools, and how volunteers can help local governments plan, prepare and respond to natural and manmade disasters.

Please list any successful state and chapter programs that you heard about and that you feel would provide a valuable model for other states/chapters.

 Member Recruiting Bounty – For every new member gained, ASPE is providing a $50 finders fee to the sponsoring member.

Please list the names and phone numbers of members that you met who should be considered for service on national committees and task forces. Please explain briefly why you are recommending the individual (e.g., He/she developed an outstanding recruitment program that brought in 50 new members. Or He/she showed outstanding leadership qualities and creative ideas at a particular meeting/session.) Also indicate which committee the individual should serve on.

Did you hear of any major issues related to the governance and operations of the state that NSPE should be aware of? If so, please describe.

See items listed in NSPE BOD attention.

Please indicate any newsworthy or image-enhancing events, programs, projects, or personalities that should be forwarded to the NSPE Publications Department for consideration as a news or feature story.

Other comments on your visit.

Signature______Date: _3/20/07__