president's message

Institute of Transportation Engineers. ITE Journal, Feb 2007 by Newman, Earl E

I HOPE YOU HAVE MADE YOUR PLANS TO ATTEND the ITE 2007 Technical Conference and Exhibit in San Diego, CA, USA, March 25-28, 2007. The theme for the Technical Conference is "Congestion Management-Can We Do Better?" This should be a well-attended conference dealing with one of the most important issues facing our communities and our profession. Transportation professionals must work together to address this issue with knowledge of practices being applied around the world. Visit www.ite.org for more information about the meeting.

NEW TRANSPORTATION PLANNER CERTIFICATION AND TRAINING

ITE Past President Steven Gayle (2001) has written a feature for this issue of ITE Journal about the new Professional Transportation Planner (PTP) certification offered by the Transportation Professional Certification Board Inc. The first testing for the PTP certification will be held in San Diego on March 24, 2007 in conjunction with the Technical Conference, and at several regional sites around the United States on that date. Please refer to the ITE Web site for more information.

REORGANIZATION AT ITE HEADQUARTERS

Recently, you may have noticed some job advertisements for positions at ITE Headquarters. Executive Director Thomas W. Brahms, with the encouragement of the International Board of Direction (IBOD), is adding muchneeded staffand realigning current staff members to better support the mega-issues and the work of the specialty councils.

Tom says, "The staffing additions and realignments should make significant strides toward providing our core membership and core disciplines with more timely technical content and value. Further, they will provide enriched opportunities for professional staff to gain Ownership' of a technical domain knowledge base and see the results of their efforts... a gratifying and rewarding opportunity."

These changes are being made to provide our members with timely and relevant services that will enhance the value of ITE membership and to establish the organizational structure needed for the future of ITE.

PUBLIC RELATIONS AND IMAGE MEGA-ISSUE

IBOD will be discussing the public relations and image megaissue at the board meeting in San Diego. This mega-issue continues to be very important to our membership as we are placed in a position of working with the public, media, policy-makers and other transportation partners. The issues to be addressed will include educating the public about what we do; serving as a resource for decision-makers; developing community trust; and positioning for working with partners to share the cost of priority projects.

Look for upcoming information regarding this mega-issue. A variety of resources will be made available to you and professional development tools will help you improve your own personal skill set in this area.

MEMBERSHIP RECRUITMENT, RETENTION AND REACTIVATION

The Membership Recruitment, Retention and Reactivation Task Force facilitated by Hibbett Neel met at ITE Headquarters December 4-5, 2006. A lot of ideas were generated regarding the growth of our membership. The ideas being considered include making the application process to join ITE simpler; reducing application and reinstatement fees; improving the membership recruitment package; and outreach to public sector leadership and faculty advisors at student chapters. It was agreed that one of the most effective methods for recruiting new members is face-to-face discussion of the benefits of membership. We need your help to encourage peers who are not currently members to join ITE.

To Hibbett and each member of the task force, thank you for your willingness to serve. Your service on this important committee is greatly appreciated.

RECOGNITION OF VOLUNTEERS

At the Annual Dinner Banquet held by the Illinois Section on January 12, 2007 in Chicago, IL, USA, outgoing President Dennis Del Santo recognized the work of volunteers with a special presentation of certificates of appreciation. Volunteers are vital to the success of ITE at all levels, through their contributions of time, talent and resources.

The Western District president has made a practice when traveling to sections to present a plaque to selected section members recognizing their contributions of time as volunteers. These individuals have served as chairs of numerous committees, helped mentor young professionals, contributed technical articles and made presentations, often without the opportunity to serve in elected positions.

I hope these examples of how others are recognizing volunteers will encourage other districts, sections and chapters to consider some form of recognition for these "unsung heroes." Volunteers who unselfishly give of their time and talent make ITE unique and great. An expression of appreciation goes a long way toward retaining the interest and commitment of our members.

BRINGING ITE IO YOU-NEW CHAPTERS

On March 30, 2007,1 will have the privilege of presenting a charter to the Central Missouri Chapter of ITE (CMITE). This will be the sixth chapter created in the Missouri Valley Section (MOVITE) area in the last five years. Chapters may be formed within a section area to provide a local ITE organization with a smaller geographical area, which could provide more opportunities for ITE members to actively participate and meet more frequently than may be possible as a section.