June 2006 ISSUE
President’s Notebook
It’s All About Strategy
BY DAVID CHALCROFT, P.ENG.
APEGGA President
Your Council and senior APEGGA staff recently completed the Annual Strategic Planning Retreat. This year’s retreat, held over three days at the Village Creek Inn near Pigeon Lake, had three objectives: orientation of new councillors about APEGGA’s governance and operating procedures; team-building between Council and staff; and renewing the long-range Strategic Plan.
Allow me to update you on progress on the Strategic Plan. Last year, we adopted a Strategic Plan covering the period 2006-15. From a long list of key issues affecting the professions we organized four main themes: Regulate the Professions, Lead the Professions, Uphold Members, and Communicate and Consult Effectively. Recognizing that all issues couldn’t be tackled simultaneously, we zeroed in on those that had top priority and adopted five action items in the 2006 Business Plan and budget.
The following sections will tell you where we are on these five priorities,
mid-way through 2006.
Consult Members regularly and incorporate input. Two member forums were held
in March to seek feedback on the Strategic Plan. Attendance at the Annual General
Meeting was expanded through videoconferencing and a web presence.
The Practice Review Board conducted a survey of some 260 members on outsourcing and the Permit to Practice Seminars provided feedback from 1,728 Responsible Members on the issues contained in the Strategic Plan.
Before the end of 2006, we expect to complete a formal member survey, which will canvass all members for feedback on issues of the day.
On top of this, the annual President’s Visits were conducted during February and March to all 10 branches around the province, by Larry Staples, P.Eng., at that time your President, and myself. These provided invaluable feedback from members in all sectors of our professions.
Personalize Professionalism. This initiative aims to build a strong culture
of professionalism among members. We are in the process of developing an advertising
strategy to promote this concept.
Understand and Address Member Needs related to their practice as professionals.
This refers to the creation of practice standards and other tools members find
valuable in their day-to-day practices.
Guideline for Professional Responsibilities in Developing Software was completed and approved at the February Council meeting. The Guideline for the Management of Risk in Professional Practice and the Guideline for Selecting a Consultant are in progress.
In addition, a seminar for CEOs was held as part of the Annual Conference. Overall attendance at the professional development sessions held in conjunction with the conference continued to reach new heights, with over 720 registrants in 2006.
Outsourcing. We are working to ensure that engineering and geoscience done outside Alberta and Canada for implementation in Alberta meets our standards and is regulated. The Practice Review Board carried out an independent survey of members on this and other forms of outsourcing, and is in the process of preparing a report.
Enhance Society’s Understanding of Issues. When ASET petitioned government for independent legislation and the right for technologists to practice independently, we brought an alternative vision to government. This vision will go a long way to fulfilling the aspirations of technologists but will continue to provide the same level of protection the Alberta public has received under the EGGP Act for the past 86 years.
Meetings were held with a large number of MLAs and provincial ministers,
and we made a formal presentation to the Standing Policy Committee on Education
and Employment
In addition to the five priority items identified at the 2005 Strategic Retreat,
we are working on a number of other initiatives, which have been reported on
in recent PEGGs, such as:
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Labour Market Assessment — we are working with the Alberta Chamber of Resources, the Pacific NorthWest Economic Region and the Alberta Alaska Bilateral Council on labour force requirements and what APEGGA can do to expedite licensure of, in particular, internationally educated graduates.
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Canada-U.S. Mobility — a mobility forum at the Annual Conference attracted 80 officials from U.S. state boards, the National Council of Examiners for Engineering and Surveying, and Canada. A target of 2009 was agreed on to enact some degree of reciprocity on making P.Eng. = P.E.
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Aboriginal Affairs — we are in the early stages of a long-term outreach project, starting with PEGG articles and a workshop chaired by Eric Newell, P.Eng., at the Annual Conference.
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Reducing Application/Registration Time — the Board of Examiners is being expanded and a task force is looking at ways to improve the registration process.
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Enhancing Compliance — vis-à-vis unlicensed practitioners. Additional staff are being recruited.
So this is where we are on the priorities set at last year’s retreat. Stay tuned for what came out of this year’s retreat at Pigeon Lake.
Letter to the PM
Those of you who have provided APEGGA with a valid e-mail address will have received
a special e-PEGG with a letter sent to the Prime Minister regarding the appointment
of APEGGA member Gwyn Morgan, P.Eng., to the proposed Public Appointments Committee.
I have received a number of responses from members, some thanking me for sending
the letter and others questioning why the letter was sent.
The decision to send the letter was not taken lightly and your elected representatives on Council were consulted. As most of you will know, the issue was widely commented upon in the media and our response was predicated upon a number of important points.
First, APEGGA actively encourages member participation in public affairs. We support leadership in society and volunteer contributions to the community by members — this is even reflected in the compulsory Continuing Professional Development program.
Second, 1,100 members and guests attended the Summit Awards Gala in April when Mr. Morgan received APEGGA’s Centennial Leadership Award. The award recognizes significant leadership and recipients are held out as models for other members.
These two points, and the widespread media reporting of the parliamentary committee’s negative comments discrediting Mr. Morgan and calling him “unsuitable” for this leadership role, led us to conclude that our support of professional members needed to be on the record. The message to the Prime Minister, and to the three other party leaders to whom this letter was copied, is simple — citizens need to be treated with respect when they come before parliamentary committees.
Our intentions had no political motivation. As per the Association’s mission statement and strategic plan, we acted in a leadership capacity to uphold our members as professionals. In spite of these events, we will continue to encourage Mr. Morgan and all other members to volunteer and to be leaders in society.
For those of you who have not read the letter, it is reprinted on page 4 and is available at www.apegga.org. A representative sample of the comments that we received, both in support of the letter and criticizing it, appears on the same page.
I continue to welcome your comments at president@apegga.org.