Time: 10:00 am, May 24, 1999
Place: USACE Headquarters
20 Massachusetts Ave
Washington, DC
Attendees: Charles Chesnutt, Leslie Ewing, Fredric Raichlen, Billy Edge, Robert Dalrymple, Ram Mohan, Robert Dean, John Fisher
The meeting was called to order by John Fisher.
1. A motion to accept the minutes of the last meeting was approved. (The Secretary will email the minutes of the last meeting to the present attendees for record keeping.)
2. Committee Reports
a. ACE Mission Statement: A hand-out of a proposed mission statement developed by John Fisher was discussed. Billy Edge moved to adopt the mission statement. Seconded by Dalrymple. Navigation changed to navigational. It was decided to accept as is, but that in the future the plan should be revisited.
b. Marine Board Report: The soon-to-be issued report on education and research in coastal engineering was discussed by Dalrymple, who chaired the Marine Board Committee. Ideas for promulgating the recommendations of the report were discussed. A presentation to the Coastal States Organization was suggested.
Personal contacts with the following people were also suggested: Amy Maron of Senator Lautenberg's staff of the Senate Coastal Coalition; on the House side: Pamela Landee, Congressman Clay Shaw of the Coastal Caucus. ACE would be a pitchman for the report. A synopsis report would be made by the Marine Board Committee for WPCOE or Shore and Beach.
The Marine Board bought 150 copies of the report, the Corps is being given 200 copies and 300 are going to the Marine Board itself. Charlie Chesnutt knows the appropriate people in the Congress to provide copies and to make personal contact, for example, Senators Graham, Hutchison and Boxer are involved in these issues.
Tony, Charlie and Billy will coordinate distribution of copies. Charlie and Tony to coordinate meetings with legislators. Howard Marlowe of the American Coastal Coalition would be very helpful for contacts.
c. Interaction with other societies: Dalrymple reported no obvious conflicts with the proposed ASCE Coasts, Oceans, Ports, and Rivers Institute (COPRI) based on his talks with Nobu Kobayashi, of the WPCOE Executive Committee. . Discussions about the coordination with other organizations ensued. ASCE doesn't provide a mechanism for licensing coastal engineers, but ACE will be working towards this goal. The Coastal Engineering Research Council would provide a collaboration with ASCE.
d. Coastal Engineering Qualifications: Dean pointed out that in Florida,
there is a list of qualified companies used by the State. Yet,
the qualification for coastal engineers is not clear. Bob's preliminary
ideas are: 3 years experience, degree from recognized engineering program,
course list. The issue of continuing professional education was raised
but not resolved.
e. Membership. ; Who should
be included in the organization? The debate centered around how exclusive
or inclusive it should be. Should a coastal geologist, for example, be
eligible?. It was decided that they would not, since professional licensing
of coastal engineers was one of the goals of the organization.
f. Tax status: It was suggested that a 501 (3)c not-for-profit organization be created. This will be addressed by Fisher.
g. Coastal Sediments presentation: Bob Dean solicited ideas for the
June presentation at a special session during the Coastal Sediments meeting
on Long Island. It was recommended that he would present the Marine Board
report summary and the goals/advantages of ACE.
III. Membership. There was considerable debate about the nature
of the membership requirements. The following were proposed.
Member:
graduate of an accredited
engineering program or
hold a professional
engineering license
and
five years of training
and/or experience in coastal engineering approved by ACE
Associate Member:
graduate of an accredited
engineering program with an interest in coastal engineering
Student:
enrolled in an accredited
engineering program with an interest in coastal engineering.
It was proposed that the annual fees be $40, 30, and
10
respectively. A Membership Committee will develop the rules
about training and experience. All decisions of the membership committee
will be automatically reviewed by the Executive Committee.
IV. Governing Board memberships: The current 13 members of the organizing committee were recommended and approved for the Board of Directors. Fifteen members are required in the bylaws. Therefore, we will vote in the remaining members.
V. Election of Officers:
Nominations were taken from the floor and the following were elected officers of ACE:
John Fisher --president
Billy Edge --vice president
Robert Dalrymple --secretary
Charlie Chesnutt --treasurer
VI. Corporate Sponsorships. For corporate affiliates, the affiliated
corporation would have two qualified engineers to be given free membership
in ACE. Dues were recommended to be
$500 per
year. It was also recommended that instead of corporate affiliates, we
could have corporate donors; this way firms wouldn't be just buying the
affiliation for public relations purposes..
VII. Tasks for ACE:
Model criteria for state based certification in 12 months
Web-based continuing education/short course
In long term develop a National program in Professional Development Hours for certification.
Support implementation of Marine Board report
Support national labs/educational labs.
VIII. Committees
Bylaws
Leslie Ewing, Chair, Charlie Chesnutt
Membership
Ram Mohan, chair, Bob Dean, Fred Raichlen
Publicity
John Fisher
Coordination
Billy Edge, plus executive committee
Professional Qualification/Certification
Bob Dean, Billy Edge, Jim Houston, Ram Mohan
IX. Membership committee should look at the idea of issuing corporate certification.
We would certify that the firm has qualified engineers.
Next meeting: 9 am 23 September at the Sand Rights Conference at the
Holiday Inn, Ventura, CA. Future meeting tentatively scheduled for FSBPA
January, 2000, St Petersburg, FL.
Adjourned at 1:40 pm.
Respectfully submitted,
Robert A. Dalrymple
Secretary