The PEGG

March 2002

Help Us Help You
Membership Opinion Survey, Council Elections On Horizon

BY NEIL WINDSOR, P.ENG.
APEGGA Executive Director/Registrar

From March until May, APEGGA will ask members to participate in the 2002 Member Opinion Survey. This survey is extremely important to the Association and I personally appeal for your participation.

What makes it so important? Simply put, it will provide us with valuable information we need to help the Association chart its future.

Since the last survey in 1998, our association has experienced considerable change, as have the professions. The professions have grown and diversified to the point where Alberta engineers, geologists and geophysicists span a multitude of disciplines and cover the globe, thanks to recent mobility arrangements. No matter what their role in the workforce, APEGGA professionals are at the forefront of innovation that has helped create our province's health and wealth and contributed to the Alberta Advantage.

Knowing You Well
It's that evolution and growth that require vigilant monitoring. APEGGA needs to know its members well in order to plan effectively. We must have credible facts and statistics on current levels of awareness, understanding, knowledge, attitudes, perceptions and opinions of APEGGA, its role, mandate, operations and members' services.

Perhaps most importantly, APEGGA needs to be aware of members' vision: what could and should APEGGA be doing in the future to serve the changing face of our professions? This information is critical to APEGGA's recently created Advocacy Task Force. Through all this, the ultimate goal is to strengthen the association's ability to serve the members and to protect the safety and well being of the public.

With your help, the 2002 Member Opinion Survey will promote understanding of what's important to the professions and the association. By collecting accurate, current data and comparing it to the benchmarks established in 1993 and 1998, APEGGA will be able to appreciate the challenges ahead and plan for the future.

The 2002 Member Opinion Survey will be launched in March. I hope if you're contacted, you'll find the time to add your voice to the mix. There will be a mixed methodology, with focus groups, phone and face-to-face interviews and hard copy questionnaires in the mail.

With Internet technology now an integral part of most of our daily lives, we've also decided to put the survey on line. Our hope is that this method of delivery will be convenient and easy for you - and because on line delivery presents tremendous time and technical advantages, we're even offering a golf prize for on-line participation.

Please don't confuse this survey with a similar one being carried out by our national association, CCPE. Although similar in some ways, the information being sought will tell us much more about our professions nationally and how we can better respond to issues that are common to all provincial/territorial associations/ordre.

Election Time
And don't forget the greatest survey of all, the annual election of officers to APEGGA Council. In addition to the nominees brought forward by your nominating committee, we have four candidates who have used the write-in option to be nominated by their supporters. All these very credible candidates have agreed to allow their name to stand for election to Council.

That is a large commitment to APEGGA and one that deserves our equally strong support by voting for the candidates of our choice. That is the best way we can have our voices heard and make a positive impact on our association. Let's exercise the privilege of self-governance by having the largest vote for Council ever in our history.

A small amount of your time will have a big impact on APEGGA's future.