April 2022 – Region 9 Reports
REGION 9 REPORTS – APRIL 2022 NEWSLETTER
ASCE Region 9 – Membership Committee
Co-authored By:
Elias Karam, ASCE R9 Governor & Membership Committee Chair
Co-authored By:
Ryan Prasad
ASCE Member & Membership Committee member
Contact
Gov.Sac@asce-r9.org
with Membership questions today!
As Membership Committee Chair for Region 9, I would like to start with the committee’s mission:
“The ASCE Region 9 Membership Committee monitors ASCE membership in Region 9, directs membership campaigns to recruit new ASCE members and participates in section, branch and student activities of Region 9 for the purpose of advancing knowledge and membership in ASCE.”
The past year has been challenging for most of us, both professionally and personally. Providing value to our membership in the virtual world provided us with new challenges as well as opportunities to find new methods of providing value for our members. ASCE Region 9 consists of over 17,000 members, 3,700 of which are student members. As a member-driven organization, we rely on engaged members to run our events. Here is some data from the end of the 2021 fiscal year.
Recent Membership Accomplishments
In December 2020, Director (now Secretary) Toks Omishakin of the California Department of Transportation (Caltrans) became a member of ASCE and signed a partnership agreement that provides membership discounts to Caltrans employees. This is available to all Caltrans Employees at all member grades. An announcement went out to all 20,000+ Caltrans members. This opens the door for Sections and Branches to find new leaders within Caltrans by reaching out to their Caltrans Partners. Some existing Caltrans members may not have received this benefit and I encourage them to reach out to me via Gov.Sac@asce-r9.org & memapp@asce.org.
ASCE Society Membership Resources
ASCE Society keeps an update-to-date website with current membership resources. They have numerous programs that assist in retaining and increasing membership including templates for PowerPoint presentations, brochures, giveaways, flyers, postcards, and posters. This info can be found at the following link: www.ASCEmembershipkit.org
One of the most successful programs for increasing membership is the Member-Get-A-Member program. For each new member recruited, the individual gets a $50 Amazon Gift Card. The top 3 recruiting sections earn a prize as well. This information can be accessed at https://www.asce.org/mgam
ASCE Region 9 Membership Resources
Sections can benefit greatly by identifying a Membership Champion that can analyze the current trends in membership changes for each branch. This allows Sections to collaborate and capitalize on Best Practices from the rest of Region 9. If interested in learning more about ways to improve your local membership, please email me at gov.sac@asce-r9.org. To learn more about becoming an ASCE Society Membership Champion, please visit: https://www.asce.org/champions/.
Here’s some more detailed membership information within Region 9. Below are the Younger Members by grade in each Section and Branch.
This chart shows the total number of members by age range for all of Region 9 members. Similar graphs were created for each section and the data shows the same trends.
From the tables above, what kind of information can be determined and used by each Branch? And how can this data be used to increase member engagement? The data shows a strong student base, however a sharp decline in the membership after graduation. There seems to be steady decline after members reach age 26 until age 38, after which the membership numbers level out.
Have additional comments or ideas? Please send the membership committee an email with your thoughts to Gov.Sac@asce-r9.org.
ASCE – Providing You with the Leadership Advantage
By Elizabeth Bialek, PE
Chair, Committee on Developing Leaders
When we think about how ASCE membership benefits our careers, most of us immediately think of ASCE’s technical resources, its journals and publications, and the networking opportunities we have through various events and conferences. As civil engineers, much of our career success, especially early on, depends on our technical competence and ability to perform sound analyses and designs to solve problems. However, leadership and management skills are what make the difference in our career advancement, and ASCE also provides you with the leadership and management resources to support your career growth.
For over a century, ASCE has been the recognized leader of the civil engineering profession. During this time, our profession has changed significantly. Delivering projects today involves not only solving technical problems but navigating a complex path involving environmental and local permitting, community engagement, and funding challenges while rising to the challenge of developing sustainable and long-enduring infrastructure. Today more than ever, civil engineers need to be master leaders in infrastructure development, and increasingly need to take on the role of leading discussions and decisions that shape public, environmental, and infrastructure policy.
In this new complex framework, effective leadership and management skills are of paramount importance. Leadership effectiveness requires solid project management and communications skills, but in order to continue to advance in your career, other less tangible leadership and business acumen skills become important, such as the ability to influence, build trust, obtain broad consensus, and call others to action become important. Those are the skills that will differentiate you as a leader. Although many organizations provide leadership training, ASCE is uniquely positioned to provide you will the specific skills you need to lead and perform effectively at a higher level when delivering civil engineering infrastructure projects.
The ASCE Committee on Developing Leaders is working on a comprehensive leadership curriculum to support you in your career growth at various phases. ASCE offers programs targeted toward early career professionals through licensure and also offers courses suitable for mid and late-career professionals. There are many free resources along with guided online courses. These courses are available at a lower cost to members, and many are available at no cost and are eligible for the use of the 10 free PDHs that are available as part of your ASCE membership dues. Be sure and take advantage of this important membership benefit!
Take a look at the new, updated ASCE website at www.asce.org Under the “Career & Growth” section, there are dedicated pages for students, early-career engineers, experienced engineers, late-career engineers, and educators, with customized information about ways in which ASCE can support your career advancement. ASCE provides opportunities for specialty certification, small business partners and resources, education, and events, along with mentoring opportunities for mentors and mentees. Also explore the “Education & Events” section, for information about upcoming in-person conferences and virtual events.
As Chair of ASCE’s Committee on Developing Leaders and a member of the San Francisco Section and Region 9, I look forward to collaborating and bringing more specific opportunities to our membership. I will be presenting a virtual session on “Becoming a Trustworthy” to the San Francisco Section – so standby for more information. If you are interested in a similar presentation for your ASCE Section or Branch, please reach out to me at elizabeth.bialek@ebmud.com .
In addition, the Committee on Developing Leaders plans to pilot ASCE’s “Professional Skills Series in Leadership and Management” locally, and so I will be working to offer this five-part series, which covers Career Development, Leadership, Project Management, Communication and Change & Innovation. On that note, if you are interested in becoming involved in teaching these sessions using pre-developed content – please reach out to me as well. This will be a great opportunity for experienced professionals to give back and also add to their own skills and list of accomplishments for their resumes!
Over the next year, the Committee on Developing Leaders will be seeking input for other leadership tool and resources, and I look forward to reaching back out to you for further engagement opportunities.
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