Registrar & CEO's Message NEW FACES IN GOVERNANCE One great example of renewal is our annual Council nomination and election, which took a very brief pause after the spring PEG was posted and before our Annual General Meeting & Conference. At the AGM, our 99th President, Nima Dorjee, P.Eng., FEC, FGC (Hon.), was sworn in. I think his ideas and contributions to gover- nance will benefit APEGA’s development. You can read about Nima elsewhere in this edition, so I won’t go into a lot of detail. His life story is fascinating, and I think his approach and his goals will resonate with many of you. Working with Mr. Dorjee will be President-Elect George Eynon, P.Geo., FGC, FEC (Hon.), who members voted into the position in the most recent election, along with the rest of the executive and Council. Our system of annual elections guarantees governance renewal, mentoring, and diversity of ideas. At least four Council seats are filled, each election. Some of them are filled by re-elected Councillors, but many Councillors are brand new to the role. The Council executive includes a President-Elect and the immediate Past-President. As far as operations are concerned, we’re always in elections mode. The call for nominations, you’ll notice, is in this edition of The PEG . What you don’t see, however, is the work behind the scenes to improve your connection to the election process and the role Council plays in self-regulation. The election is an integral contact point with members, and staff are listening to voters and non-voters alike to improve your engagement. You’ve told us that you struggle to understand how the composition and role of Council affect you and your professions, and that you don’t always connect with the candidates and what they stand for. This, we think, is
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reflected in our turnout of 15.1 per cent of eligible profes- sional members. Comparatively speaking, it’s not a bad percentage of the vote. Other self-regulators struggle with voter turnout, and elections generally in Canada have seen declining participation. That said, we want to do better and are committed to continual improvement. INNOVATION IN EDUCATION AWARDS A new awards program is on the scene, to motivate teachers and schools to educate students about science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) in new, effective, and experiential ways. The APEGA Innovation in Education Awards will make available 10 grants of up to $5,000 each to support K-12 STEM initiatives in Alberta. Applications close in a few days, so act now if you know of a program that might qualify. A link appears with this column. STATUS OF WOMEN GRANT A link also appears to an article about a three-year, $350,000 Status of Women grant that APEGA has received to help us address root causes of economic insecurity for women in Canada. We’ll be studying workplace barriers for female engineering and geoscience professionals. AND THERE’S MORE We’ve expanded our mentoring program to branches beyond the cities of Calgary and Edmonton. We’re making advancements in business performance, including the early stages of a new quality management system and the standardization of our policies and procedures. We are advancing our IT strategy, learning more about how to effectively collect and utilize analytics, and doing our best to innovate APEGA in creative, meaningful ways. Just one more note: best wishes from the entire APEGA team for a fun, safe, and enjoyable summer!
LINKS Legislative Review APEGA Annual Report 2017 Experience Assessment System Goes Live APEGA Council Status of Women Grant APEGA Offers STEM Grants
Questions or comments? Registrar_CEO@apega.ca
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