October 2015    

REGION UPDATE
Highlights of October’s ASCE Board of Direction Meeting 

Kenneth B. Morris, P.E., PTOE, M.ASCE, your Region 6, Director, is a member of the Oklahoma Section.  Ken represented you at the Oct. 10-11 Board meeting in New York City, held in conjunction with the new ASCE 2015 Convention. The Convention featured a new format – an array of tours, courses, sessions, and speakers focused on key themes vital to today’s civil engineer. The excitement of Times Square as well as the chance to see the many marvels of civil engineering achievement in the New York area made for a great week and further inspired the Board members’ work in guiding ASCE and the profession.

ASCE’s incoming officers participated in the meeting as observers and were formally installed Oct. 13 at the annual business meeting.

Among the many issues discussed at the October Board meeting, the Task Committee on Governance Activity Review recommended and received approval on several actions aimed at improving and assisting ASCE’s work at the Region level.
  • The Board approved the creation of a new task committee to study the revision of ASCE’s Geographic Region boundaries. This will seek to more appropriately balance the number of members in each Region while better aligning communities with common experiences and common needs. Currently, the number of members assigned to each Geographic Region ranges from 9,688 to 23,917.
  • The new task committee was also charged with bringing forward a proposal to reduce the total number of Regions by one (and thus the number of region directors by one) to allow for another technical region director to be added to the Board without increasing its overall size.  In anticipation of this eventual reduction in geographic regions and related Board seats, the Board authorized proceeding with putting the Constitutional amendment required to add a third technical region director on the 2016 election ballot.
  • The Task Committee on Governance Activity outlined core activities for Geographic Regions and Geographic Region Directors and Governors. This list consolidates into one easily referenced document those activities, including those already underway in many Regions, such as hosting Region meetings, awards, developing future leaders, maintaining Region web pages, and nominating members for Society and Institute committees.
  • The Committee also recommended that funding be built into the 2017 ASCE budget for an annual agenda of interaction and training options for ASCE Geographic Region Directors, who serve as the Geographic Region Board of Governors chairs.
  • The Board also approved a new Region funding model for future years, including travel reimbursement and an annual allotment.
Read more about the Board meeting, including its strategic planning actions, in ASCE News.

Board members are interested in your views on the issues they are considering. To share your views, or other ideas on how ASCE can better serve its members and the profession, please email Ken. 



Great outreach event or other activity? Let the whole Region know!

If you’re a local ASCE leader and your Section, Branch, Younger Member Group, or Student Chapter has staged any special events, engaged in outreach from grade-school kids to lawmakers, done charity work, fund raising or anything of the sort, let ASCEnews Weekly know and we may include it in next month’s Region report. You may already have written about it and posted pictures in your newsletter, website, or social media. Share the details and any photos at asce.org/localnews. Got questions? Write to submissions@asce.org.


See the other Region reports for October
If you live adjacent to a Section in a different Region, or are merely interested in the other Region reports for October, click on each to view them:
 
Region 1   Boston Society of Civil Engineers Section, Buffalo Section, Connecticut Society of Civil Engineers Section, Ithaca Section, Maine Section, Metropolitan Section, Mohawk-Hudson Section, New Hampshire Section, New Jersey Section, Puerto Rico Section, Rhode Island Section, Rochester Section, Syracuse Section, Vermont Section 

Region 2   Central Pennsylvania Section, Delaware Section, Lehigh Valley Section, Maryland Section, National Capital Section, Philadelphia Section, Pittsburgh Section

Region 3   Akron-Canton Section, Central Illinois Section, Central Ohio Section, Cincinnati Section, Cleveland Section, Dayton Section, Duluth Section, Illinois Section, Michigan Section, Minnesota Section, North Dakota Section, Quad Cities Section, Toledo Section, Wisconsin Section

Region 4   Arkansas Section, Indiana Section, Kentucky Section, North Carolina Section, South Carolina Section, Tennessee Section, Virginia Section, West Virginia Section

Region 5   Alabama Section, Florida Section, Georgia Section, Louisiana Section, Mississippi Section
 
Region 6   New Mexico Section, Oklahoma Section, Texas Section

Region 7   Colorado Section, Iowa Section, Kansas City Section, Kansas Section, Nebraska Section, South Dakota Section, St. Louis Section, Wyoming Section

Region 8   Alaska Section, Arizona Section, Columbia Section, Hawaii Section, Inland Empire Section, Montana Section, Nevada Section, Oregon Section, Seattle Section, Southern Idaho Section, Tacoma-Olympia Section, Utah Section 

Region 9   Los Angeles Section, Sacramento Section, San Diego Section, San Francisco Section

Region 10  All International Sections, Branches, and Groups


Missed last month's Region 6 update?
See the September edition of  News Around Region 6  this is a test

Share this page via social media and email:
Share
IN ASCE’s CIVIL ENGINEERING ONLINE MAGAZINE
In a first, China overtakes United States in value of built assets

According to an Arcadis analysis, decades of underinvestment in infrastructure in the United States have resulted in a net depreciation of built assets, suggesting weaker economic growth prospects. Explore the report's conclusions in an exclusive article for ASCE’s Civil Engineering online. 
IN ASCE’s CIVIL ENGINEERING ONLINE MAGAZINE
Good STEM jobs are indeed growing, researchers find

The U.S. economy created a surprisingly high number of good jobs between 2010 and 2014, many in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics fields, a Georgetown University research team finds. Delve into the positive findings in an exclusive article for ASCE’s Civil Engineering online.
NORTHERN NEW MEXICO YOUNGER MEMBER GROUP
Hispanic Night provides networking opportunities


Courtesy Northern New Mexico YMG

The Northern New Mexico Younger Member Group recently hosted a Hispanic Night, featuring live Latin music, local food, and plenty of networking opportunities.    
TEXAS SECTION, CORPUS CHRISTI BRANCH
Raise your right hand


Courtesy ASCE Texas Section

Che Corpus Christi Branch recently installed its 2015-16 officers with the help of former Branch President and Texas Section President-Elect Craig B. Thompson.
OKLAHOMA SECTION
ASCE bestows Noble Prize to Oklahoma State researcher


Courtesy Lehigh Valley Section

Mohamed Soliman, Ph.D., A.M.ASCE, a professor at Oklahoma State University, and Dan Frangopol, Ph.D., P.E., F.EMI, Dist.M.ASCE, F.SEI, of Lehigh University, received ASCE's Alfred Noble Prize at the ASCE 2015 Convention in New York City.  The Noble Prize honors researchers under 35 years of age who have written a paper of exceptional merit demonstrating a promising future in civil engineering.

IN ASCE’s CIVIL ENGINEERING ONLINE MAGAZINE
Study of nation's growing traffic congestion suggests solutions

The 2015 Urban Mobility Scorecard has crunched the numbers to determine just how bad traffic congestion has become across the nation, and while the numbers are sobering, the report offers five potential solutions. See what's being lost in time and fuel in an exclusive article for ASCE’s Civil Engineering online.
TEXAS SECTION
Former Rio Grande Valley Branch state director named Fellow

Alfonso A. Soto, P.E., F.ASCE, a teaching and practicing civil engineer in the Rio Grande Valley region of Texas, has been named a Fellow by the ASCE Board of Direction. He is a principal with Terracon Consultants, serving also as manager of both the geotechnical and materials departments in the firm’s Pharr, TX, office. Soto has been a Society member since 1997 and has participated in several ASCE initiatives, as well as served on the board of the Rio Grande Valley Branch in various positions, including that of Branch state director. Read more about what made Soto worthy of Fellow status.