January - February
Message
District 6 Members,
I hope you enjoyed the holidays and ready for a great new year in 2008! I am excited about continuing opportunities and setting visions and plans for the future. On January 25th, the Western District Board will be meeting in Denver, Colorado for the Midyear board meeting. At that time, we will be identifying actions and activities for the Western District. The District has a strategic plan which can be found on our website: http://www.westernite.org/about/plan.htm. The goals of the current strategic plan for the Western District follow:
Student Initiatives: Encourage, support and provide opportunities to attract retain and develop the most talented students into transportation professionals.
Career Development: Provide opportunities for professionals to advance their transportation career development by promoting the growth of mentoring and professional liaison programs in the District and engaging young professionals into Institute activities.
Technical Excellence: Generate opportunities and support for the development of technical excellence in the profession.
Social/Networking: Create a platform for the transportation professional to interact outside the work environment to share information and create relationships that are both profession and family friendly.
Promoting the Profession: Enhance the transportation profession by increasing awareness of accomplishments, recognizing professional achievement and developing better skills to communicate with the public frequently, effectively and proactively.
The District's Student Endowment Fund is growing (much thanks to the membership for your continuing support and donations), and we have an Endowment Fund workshop planned on January 24th . The future of the transportation profession depends on attracting and developing students who are excited and passionate about career opportunities in transportation.
Over the next year, I would like to focus on the Young Professional (professionals age 35 years and younger). It's my goal to attract young professionals to ITE and to our District Annual meeting activities. I plan to work with Craig Grandstrom , Career Guidance Chair, to develop new incentives for employers to support younger professionals in ITE. In addition, I plan to work with Craig to enhance the District's mentoring program and encourage young professionals to take advantage of ITE's professional development programs and training. It will be one of my top priorities to reach out to potential new members (young professionals) and encourage current members to bring young professionals to ITE meetings.
I want to thank the Border Section (San Diego) for hosting me in San Diego in December. The Border Section had a wonderful holiday party and I had an opportunity to install their new officers at the meeting. It was my pleasure to recognize Ahmed Aburahmah with a Presidential Proclamation for his distinguished service and contributions to ITE. Ahmed is a Past President of the Section, serves as Student Chapter Liaison, coordinates the Sections awards and annual reports, and committed to being actively involved ITE's events and meetings.
I would also like to thank the Washington Section for hosting me in December. I would like to thank the Washington Section for their generous donation $2500 to the Student Endowment Fund during the meeting. It was my pleasure to recognize Terry Gibson with a Presidential Proclamation for his distinguished service and contributions to ITE. Terry is a Past President of the Washington Section, chaired the Student Activities committee for several years, created their annual golf tournament, and is committed to enhancing the safety and operations of schools.
I would like to thank Jon Pascal for his time and commitment that he gave to the District as the District WesternITE Web Manager. Jon has accomplished a significant amount over the past six years for the District including bringing electronic registration/credit card for Annual meeting registration. I want to personally thank Jon for his time and energy that he gave to the position. At this time, the District is looking for a new WesternITE Web manager and taking applications which are due on April 30th. Please see the www.westernite.org for details if you interested.
Most of you are most likely aware that Federal Highway Administration has released the long awaited Notice of Proposed Amendment in the Federal Register. This contains comprehensive revisions that are proposed for incorporation into the next edition of the MUTCD. The comment period closes on July 31, 2008. The proposed MUTCD text, figures, and tables are also available for public review and comment at http://mutcd.fhwa.dot.gov/ . All ITE members are encouraged to review this document and provide comments to FHWA. ITE is having several webinars on the topic.
Please mark your calendars for the 2008 District Annual Meeting (joint with International) in Anaheim from August 17-20, 2008.
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