January-February
Message
In my last message I discussed
some of the ways that the District has committed itself financially
to supporting Student Initiatives. This time I'd like to tell
you about the ways that our members are contributing their
time to this important effort as well as provide more information
about the programs that result from their hard work. Thanks
to Student Initiatives Chair Alyssa Reynolds and Career Guidance
Committee Chair Craig Grandstrom not only for providing input
on the content of this message, but for the tremendous jobs
they are doing in their respective positions.
Student Initiatives
The Student Initiatives program includes a number of different
awards and cash prizes. Among these are the prizes for the
Best Student Chapter Report, Best Student Paper, Best Student
Chapter Website, Outstanding Graduate Student, and Outstanding
Undergraduate Student. Additionally, contests held in conjunction
with the annual meeting include the Kell Competition Design,
where student chapters design a fun, real-world transportation-related
activity for the competition, with the winner administering
it at the meeting, as well as the Kell Competition itself
which pits groups of students against each other within the
format designed by their peers. The competition is usually
held on Sunday afternoon, ending about the time the opening
Get Acquainted Social starts, and is always fund to watch.
If you're going to be in Portland this summer, I urge you
to make time to come out and cheer the students on as they
apply their knowledge to a new and exciting challenge each
year.
While these annual activities
are wonderful for engaging students and bringing them back
to ITE after they've joined the professional ranks, there's
so much more that we can be doing. I know that my home section
has been working hard this year to establish liaisons for
each and every student chapter. These professionals are urged
to cultivate relationships with the members of one student
chapter, volunteering just a few hours a month to keep the
student chapter informed and involved. They attend their meetings,
make sure they're invited to the Section's meetings, and provide
contacts for speakers. Some other areas where these liaisons
can support student chapters include helping them with their
annual chapter reports, giving them ideas for research papers
or the Kell Competition, and assisting in the preparation
of scholarship applications. They can create special events
just for the students, such as a student traffic bowl, or
develop a labor pool for interested students that could be
available to collect data for budget-constrained local agencies.
Finally, they can help the students get involved in their
community by volunteering for events such as bike rodeos or
"Future Cities" competitions, and even by visiting
local high schools to generate interest in transportation
engineering as a career choice.
All of these things are hallmarks of successful
student chapters. The more activities a chapter participates
in, the more successful their annual report becomes and the
better their chance to win the Best Student Chapter Award.
Student chapters that win the award also win a trip to the
annual meeting, which is generally enough to get the students
hooked on ITE and the profession. They in turn become dedicated
professionals who can serve as ambassadors and recruit the
next generation of traffic engineers and transportation professionals.
To be successful, this process needs professionals who will
commit themselves to just one student chapter, being their
mentor and liaison. If this is a role that would suit and
appeals to you, I hope you'll contact your local Section or
Chapter, and ask about being a Student Chapter Liaison.
Career Guidance
In addition to efforts directed toward young professionals,
the Mentoring Program is designed to match up student chapter
members with a professional mentor. This program is only in
its second year, but to date over 50 people have signed up
for the 2007 program. Because our profession is made up of
so many caring people who want to help our industry grow,
it is our belief that this program will continue to be a success.
As with some of the other programs, the ability to get information
out to the student chapters is heavily dependent on the chapter's
faculty advisor, so while some chapters are well informed,
others do not always receive notification. Establishing Student
Chapter Liaisons with all student chapters will help us ensure
that important information, like the invitation to participate
in the mentoring program, gets out to the students.
Ultimately, for this program to have an optimal
impact, we need more professionals volunteering to be mentors
to help ensure that everyone who volunteers to be a mentee
can be readily matched with a mentor. Mentoring is an important
relationship that plays a critical role in the lives of both
students and young professionals. Those who have participated
in this and similar programs have found that there is tremendous
benefit for both the mentee and the mentor. If you're interested
in getting involved in this program, more information can
be found at: www.westernite.org/membership/mentoring.htm.
The bottom line is this: If you think you are
busy now - imagine how much busier we will be in the future
if we don't recruit even more talented individuals. It is
in everyone's interest to invest "an ounce of prevention"
to get that "pound of cure." If you're wondering
where we'll find the new talent needed to get all our important
work done, then you need to also think about what you can
do to reach out to youngsters of any and all ages to get them
excited about becoming a Civil Engineer/Transportation Professional!
ITE is, at its heart, a volunteer organization.
Some of us find our path in serving as officers or committee
chairs at the District, Section or Chapter level. There are
still so many other ways that each member can contribute.
You can take a few hours to meet with Scouts and other community
or religious youth groups, informally or as part of career
day events, to bring engineering and transportation to the
next generation. If every member of the Western District volunteered
just four hours a year, think how much of an impact that would
have, and how many more young professionals we might have
in the future.
I hope that every member can find an outlet
to volunteer that fits within the time you have available,
because this issue is so important to all of us. Thank you
to all of those whose generous contributions make ITE our
professional home.
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