ASAE MEMBERSHIP DEVELOPMENT COUNCIL

CONFERENCE CALL

May 14, 2002

Minutes

Present: Nolan Clark, Jim Steele, Michael Delwiche, Paul Heinemann, Russell Persyn, Zach Henry and Mark Crossley

The meeting was called to order at 2:35 p.m.

Agenda

1.                  Member Statistics

-                     Invoicing & Retention 2002

-                     General Member Statistics

2.                  Board of Directors Meeting Overview

3.                  Initiative Fund Proposals Status

-                     P-126 Quarter Scale Student Design Competition

-                     P-414 Engineering Registration

4.                  Retiree Dues

5.                  New Member Recognition & Follow-Up Program

6.                  MDC Sub Committees

7.                  Chicago MDC Meeting Schedule

- Sunday, July 28, 1:30 - 3:30 p.m., Columbus E & F

- Thursday, August 1, 8:00 - 10:00 a.m., Columbus E & F

- Written committee reports are due by June 30, 2002 for Annual Meeting

8. Other

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The meeting began with an overview of the agenda by Nolan Clark. It was noted that Larry Jacobson, Marilyn Dumolien, Dennis Buffington, Ken Lomax and Conley Hansen indicated prior to the meeting that they would be unable to attend.

Member Statistics

It was reported that as of 5/1/02, total ASAE membership was 7,897, which includes 6,378 regular members and 1,519 student/preprofessional members. As of this date, we have welcomed 306 new regular members and 265 new preprofessional/student members into the Society for 2002. By year's end, we have set goals of 800 new members (non-student) and a total ASAE membership of 9,300.

Of the 8,435 invoices that were mailed for dues year 2002 in October 2001, 6,986 members have paid their dues as of 5/1/02. Retention of regular members to date is 87% while the student/preprofessional retention rate is 63%. This compares to retention rates for 2001 of 88% and 56% respectively for the same period. Final retention figures for 2002 will be determined on 12/31/02.

Board of Trustees (BOT) Meeting Overview

The BOT recently met in St. Joseph over May 2 & 3. Nolan attended the meeting and reported that there were a few issues discussed of which the MDC should be aware.

The 2002 budget forecast through the rest of the year has shown an increase in the deficit from what was originally thought. It continues to be monitored closely and we will do all we can to make it close to balanced by year's end.

In 2001 - 2002, ASAE had one main strategic goal - that of growing the Society. The BOT has identified growth of the Society as its highest priority for 2002 - 2003 as well and has expanded this to a number of sub goals including:

-                     Promote and strengthen the profession of engineering in agricultural, food, and biological systems;

-                     Be a global resource for information and technology related to engineering in agricultural, food, and biological systems;

-                     Be a global center for engineering standards and practices for agricultural, food, and biological systems and associated industries;

-                     Ensure that the Society and its members are recognized worldwide as central to the profession of engineering in agricultural, food, and biological systems; and

-                     Develop and maintain a partnership with industry.

Each sub goal is further broken down into various approaches with the four ASAE Councils named as responsible parties for making sure the goals are ultimately met. This plan will be formalized by the BOT at their July meeting.

The integration of "biological" and "biosystems" into the engineering registration exam and ABET certification was also discussed. ASAE needs to take a strong position and be recognized as the leader of these emerging curricula or we stand to lose many of our existing members. This will be emphasized in all of the strategic goals as well.

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has indicated to the leadership of ASAE that they have taken issue with the way our code of ethics is currently written. They did a similar investigation of NSPE's code of ethics a number of years ago and as a result, NSPE changed their code of ethics. The BOT is cooperating fully with the FTC and is working to get this resolved. Since the Ethics Committee falls under the MDC, there is a good chance the MDC will need to deal with this in the near future. It is likely that ASAE will need to eventually make changes to the code of ethics sometime later this year to avoid further issues with the FTC.

Initiative Fund Proposals Status

The two proposals (from P-414 and P-126) that the MDC sent on to the Foundation last summer were not acted on by the ASAE Foundation at their December 2001 or April 2002 meetings. Because of timing, the proposal from P-414 Engineering Registration for cut score analysis was concluded in December 2001 and paid for out of the ASAE 2001 budget.

The proposal from P-126 Quarter Scale Tractor Student Design Competition for display materials has now gone to the Initiative Fund committee for consideration.

Retiree Dues

It was noted that the single largest number of complaints we here about the price of ASAE dues come from members over age 65 who have not yet reached sustaining member status. ASAE is compared to other engineering societies like SAE, which deeply discount retiree dues. Further, of the approximately 800 regular members we dropped for non-payment of dues in April, over 200 of them had 20 or more years of membership with ASAE. It is suspected that a large number of these members are of retirement age.

If the MDC were to propose a change in dues for senior members, it would need to come before the BOT for a vote at the annual meeting in 2003. If such a change were approved, written notification would need to go before the entire membership no later than 10/1/03 for implementation for dues year 2004. Nolan appointed a sub committee to do some research on this issue and report back to the MDC at their July/August 2002 meetings. The sub committee is comprised of Jim Steele, Paul Heinemann and Russell Persyn.

New Member Recognition and Follow-Up Program

For further information, please see Attachment A. The MDC was urged to make suggestions for improvement. All suggestions should be directed to Mark Crossley at crossley@asae.org.

MDC Sub Committees

Nolan overviewed the composition of the MDC sub committees, which were appointed last August. Please see Attachment B for further details. The Nomination Committee was charged with flushing out Vice Chair nominees for the July meeting. The other sub committees (Bylaws and Budget) were urged to begin conversations with their membership.

Chicago MDC Meeting Schedule

- Sunday, July 28, 1:30 - 3:30 p.m., Columbus E & F

- Thursday, August 1, 8:00 - 10:00 a.m., Columbus E & F

- Written committee reports are due by June 30, 2002 for Annual Meeting

Adjourned 3:25 p.m.