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Leadership FAQ
Where can I access ITE Leadership information
and background?
The ITE web site Elected
Leadership Tools provides a library of available resources.
How do you obtain mailing labels for your
section/chapters?
Printed mailing labels or an electronic mailing list of your
sections/chapters membership can be obtained from ITE Headquarters.
These lists are available only to the elected leadership of
the section/chapter for the purposes of official ITE activity
(newsletters, elections, ….). Contact Heather
Talbert.
Since we are not the first Section to elect
officers, what are some of the things I should know as a section
officer?
First, many thanks for volunteering to serve our profession.
You should go the Sections/Chapters page where you can find
the Elected
Leadership Manual and web pages from other Sections and
Chapters in District 6 that provide you a sample of their
activities. The Colorado-Wyoming Section provides a good description
of their committee activities on the web. The San Francisco
Bay Area and Oregon Section have roles and responsibilities
for their officers documented (not on the web) that may be
obtained by emailing section leadership. ITE provides a set
of seminars
you may want to consider in setting up your local technical
programs.
If we are planning to host an ITE District
6 Annual Meeting, what should we know?
Background organizing material regarding District 6 Annual
Meetings can be found in the Local Arrangements Committee
(LAC) Handbook.
Attendance at typical meeting can range from 250 to 500 (or
more) attendees depending upon location. The District 6 Board
reviews proposals to host the meeting from interested Sections/Chapters
at its Mid-Year Meeting at the end of January/early February
each year. The meeting is rotated between a California and
non-California sites within District 6 on alternating years.
Requests for proposals typically goes out in the fall of the
year preceding the Mid-Year District 6 Board meeting. Should
several proposals be received, a short listing process may
be utilized. At the Mid-Year Board meeting the District 6
board may invite sections to make presentation(s) at the Annual
Meeting. Selection is based upon the material provided and
the presentation information. The Board determines the site
deemed to best serve the District 6 ITE membership, considering
several factors including (but not limited to) costs, meeting/exhibit
space, proposed venue(s), possible hotel accommodation options,
travel connections/costs, regional attendance, date availability
(meeting typically held mid-July), organization/enthusiasm
of proposed LAC, rotation between various sections/chapters
within District 6 and other factors. Should you have any questions
regarding this process, schedule or requirements, please feel
free to contact the current District 6
President.
What do I need to know about hotel negotiations
for a District 6 Annual Meeting?
Any hotel contract for a District 6 Annual Meeting must be
signed by a District 6 Board member. Typically it is signed
by a board member that will still be on the board at the time
of the annual meeting. District 6 has had hotel contracts
reviewed by ITE headquarters staff (Tom Brahms) to assure
that the interests of the District are protected. District
6 has also prepared a hotel
negotiation checklist to help Local Arrangement Committees
with some of the difficult questions associated with hotel
contract negotiations.
Why does ITE ask for copyright waivers for
papers?
Papers prepared by members are their work. For ITE to publish
them or allow their presentation at annual meetings requires
ITE to seek a waiver of copyright to avoid the potential for
copyright infringement from the author. Works by others that
are published by any Section or Chapter should also follow
these laws. Therefore, if a photo, graphic, text or article
is copied for distribution to the membership, you should have
obtained copyright
transfer to protect yourselves and ITE. District 6 ITE
has its own copyright transfer for annual meetings, WesternITE
and other works which can be downloaded here.
Do we need to obtain non-profit status for
our section/chapter?
Federal tax law provides the details for non-profit requirements
and application. It is a time consuming and expensive undertaking
that requires extensive on-going filing/paperwork. Generally,
as long as sections/chapters receipts are not substantial
and do not pay for personnel or staff (salaries/stipends)
and avoid paying for scholarships directly, non-profit status
is not worth the effort. District 6 and ITE HQ do maintain
independent non-profit status. The ITE HQ non-profit status
can be utilized to manage section/chapter scholarships to
allow the sections to avoid requirements for filing and to
allow donors tax deductions.
If we want to have a scholarship, what is
the best way to administer it?
Based upon Federal tax law, it would probably be best to have
ITE HQ house the funds that would be used for the scholarship
since they have non-profit status and can best address any
tax filing consequences. Also by having ITE HQ handle the
funding, donors are able to obtain tax deductions for their
contributions. Local sections/chapters can retain the selection
activities and the fund raising organization tasks. Sections
that have followed this approach include Washington, SF Bay
Area and Southern California (feel free to contact these sections
for input and ideas). You can find information on some current
scholarships at http://www.ite.org/education/scholarships.asp
How can I get my Section out of the task
of collecting dues each year?
Several sections have found that partnering with ITE HQ on
due collection relieves them of a lot of needless administrative
work and they have increased their collections. ITE HQ will
bill your dues in October at the same time they invoice membership
for International and District dues. The local section/chapter
receives a check three times a year from ITE HQ at 100% of
the dues collected. Agency membership dues are returned at
80% of the agency dues collected.
How do I change my address for ITE Journal
and WesternITE mailings?
You can go to ITE's membership
site and enter your user name and password and update any
of your contact information. These changes are input every
week and become available to the membership on the web membership
directory immediately. When you make this change, it changes
the list that District 6 uses to update their mailing list
for WesternITE.
ITE has several new brochures for membership,
career development and public information - how do I get them?
Section and Chapter officers can contact Heather Talbert at
any time and request these materials for your Section and
Chapter meetings - they can be shipped within a week. Just
send Heather an email
and request what is currently available and she would be happy
to assist you.
Do I need insurance for our meetings?
Depending upon the venue of your meeting and their requirements,
you may be asked to provide liability insurance. For lunch
meetings, this is unlikely. However, when you begin to undertake
larger events - all day meetings with over 100 to 200 attendees
and/or host meetings where liquor is served as part of the
event, this may become requirement of your meeting site/hotel.
The insurance that HQ and District 6 have is not transferable
to sections - based upon industry standards (ie. your home
insurance would not cover a relatives house in another town).
Liability insurance can cost around $500 per year for the
type that District 6 carries (from The Hartford). You will
likely need to shop around for a local insurance broker. For
on this matter advice, feel free to contact Peter
Frentz at HQ.
I saw some new videos produced by ITE - how
can I get one to show to my local student chapter?
ITE will provide you a CD copy of the new Career in Transportation
video (produced in 2001) or the "It's Your Street"
video (produced in 2002). Single copies of the CD are available
to any member that will utilize them to promote the industry
to the public or students (email Tom Brahms at ITE HQ). If
you need multiple copies of the CD, you should contact ITE
HQ to get information on ordering them.
There are several awards which ITE sponsors
- what are the key deadlines for these awards?
There are six groups of awards
that ITE issues on an annual basis (refer to http://www.ite.org/awards/index.htm).
The key awards are noted below:
1. Section/Chapter
Activity Award - This award is issued annually at the
District 6 level and then the International level each year.
It goes to the section judged to have the highest quality
activities in the prior year. The deadline for this award
is April 1 of each year. More details regarding this award
can be found at http://www.ite.org/awards/SectionActivities.htm
including the Word template for the report submission. Prior
District 6 award winners are listed on the awards
page.
2. Technical Article/Paper Awards - District
6 issues four of these annually for the best article issued
by a District 6 author in ITE Journal (based upon calendar
year), for the best article issued in WesternITE (based upon
calendar year), for the Best District 6 Annual Meeting Paper
(call for papers typically due December each year), for the
Best Student Paper (call for papers due March of each year).
More detail on each of these awards and the past winners can
be found here.
3. Student
Chapter Award
4. Student Fellowship - This award goes annually
to a student that submits to HQ their interests in transportation.
Details of this award can be found at http://www.ite.org/education/scholarships.asp
and submissions are due March 1 of each year. Both District
6 and HQ select endowment winners from qualifying submissions.
Past District 6 winners can be found at the awards
page.
5. Technical Council Awards - ITE
Technical Councils issue awards for their best projects
of the year (based upon calendar year).
6. Outstanding Service to ITE Awards - There
are several awards for service. Many local Sections/Chapters
have these awards. There are three International and two District
6 awards issued each year that would be the most distinguished.
The Theodore
Matson Award and Burton
March Award are presented annually at the international
annual meeting. The District
6 awards are the Lifetime
Achievement Award and the Individual
Achievement Award. These awards do not have deadlines
and are issued by panels of distinguished ITE members.
Why does ITE ask for copyright waivers for
papers?
Papers prepared by members are their work. For ITE to publish
them or allow their presentation at annual meetings requires
ITE to seek a waiver of copyright to avoid the potential for
copyright infringement from the author. Works by others that
are published by any Section or Chapter should also follow
these laws. Therefore, if a photo, graphic, text or article
is copied for distribution to the membership, you should have
obtained copyright
waivers to protect yourselves and ITE.
We are planning a big (maybe the biggest
ever) local ITE meeting - what help can I get from ITE to
assist us?
Probably the number one area of assistance that ITE can provide
to Sections/Chapters is in negotiating with hotels for the
venue of our meeting. The larger meetings (over 100-200 attendees)
can sometimes require complicated contracts or agreements
that can be very costly if not properly reviewed (clauses
such as penalties). Since officers at local Sections/District
change over frequently, ITE HQ is a good source of assistance
for this help (contact Peter Frentz or Tom Brahms at ITE HQ).
ITE can help with name badges, tickets and registration programs
that avoid having local members have to create them uniquely
each year or meeting. The HQ assistance should be reserved
for large meetings.
Members ask me what are Councils or the Coordinating
Council and how can they become involved in their activities?
ITE
Technical Councils provide members an opportunity to explore
areas of technical development more actively. All ITE membership
can join a council by simply checking a box on their annual
dues form. The true value of council involvement is your participation.
The Coordinating Council oversees all the individual Technical
Councils, providing oversight, direction, resources (if needed)
and focus. Coordinating Council involvement is a "next
step" after Technical Council involvement.
How do Recommended Practice, Informational
Reports and handbooks vary within ITE?
These are various technical reports produced by ITE members
and technical committees that range from information to standards
of the profession. The best description of these documents
is provided on the ITE
web site along with the guidelines for preparation of
these documents (if you are contemplating forming a committee).
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