March/April 2018
NSPE Today: Outlook
It Takes Volunteers to Build a Society
BY MICHAEL AITKEN, P.E., F.NSPE, 2018–19 PRESIDENT
As I move into the final months of my presidency, I reflect on the hard work and dedication of all of our Society volunteer leaders. I say “hard work of our volunteer leaders” because you are the ones doing the work. You look to the NSPE Board of Directors for guidance and motivation, and we rely on our volunteers to help accomplish the required task. According to the NSPE Leadership Orientation Guide, effective leadership means:
- Development of vision and strategies;
- Alignment of people with the strategies;
- and Empower individuals to make it happen.
I have had the privilege of working with and visiting many of our state leaders. Over my past four years as an NSPE board member, I have visited 23 states and will visit eight more before our Professional Engineers Conference in Kansas City, Missouri, July 17–21. During these visits, collaboration with volunteer leaders has given insight on what our members are looking for from NSPE. These are the dedicated members who give their time and talent to provide leadership and support to our members. They put countless hours into planning educational programs, planning annual state conferences, advocating for the profession, and working with our partners. The members who have been volunteering are the same volunteers who have given their time year after year. It is now the time to reach out to all of our members. NSPE and our state societies need your help.
Many of you have asked, What does NSPE do for me? But have you ever asked, What can I do? As leaders of NSPE, we need to find volunteer members with the desire and capabilities to build our Society. In our current 2018–19 administrative year, NSPE has 20 committees, task forces, and interest groups. These groups include the Board of Ethical Review, the Committee on Policy and Advocacy, the Continuing Education Task Force, the Engineers Joint Contract Documents Committee, and the Professional Engineers Conference Task Force. These committees and task forces continue to work on the NSPE goals to “Champion, Guide, Advance, and Unite” the Society.
The volunteer opportunities do not stop at the national level. Each state society is led by a board of directors. Typically, the board consists of a president, vice president, treasurer, and local leaders. And many of the local chapters have boards similar to those of the state societies. Volunteer opportunities are just around the corner. So, let me ask you: What can you do?
Through NSPE, our state societies, local chapters and partner organizations, there are numerous volunteer opportunities.
- National, state, and local leadership positions
- National, state, and local committees
- MATHCOUNTS
- Future City Competition
- FIRST Robotics
- EWeek
- Mentoring
Hundreds of volunteer opportunities are available every year.
I want to thank all of our volunteers for your dedicated service. Your time and commitment continue to support NSPE’s mission statement:
NSPE, in partnership with NSPE Member State Societies,
Serves as the recognized and authoritative expert in licensure, ethics, and professional practice;
Promotes licensure and assists individuals in becoming licensed; and
Protects and enhances the value of licensure and the opportunities for the licensed engineer.
I hope that all of our members take this opportunity to volunteer. I have cherished every volunteer opportunity that NSPE has given me. I have had the honor of working with some of the most talented professional engineers in the country and look forward to working with you in the future.