John G. Tawresey, P.E., M.ASCE
Technical Region Director Nominee

Q&A Responses

What do you perceive as being the most significant near-term challenges and opportunities facing ASCE and the Institutes?

The Institutes provide our society with new opportunities to serve the profession and membership of ASCE. Through the initiatives and vision of the independent Institute Boards new programs are emerging that are important to our profession. Many would never have existed, without the efforts of the Institutes. ASCE’s near term (and long term) challenge is encouraging Institute independents while maintaining the commitment and loyalty of the Institute members. The Institutes near term (and long term) challenge is take advantage of independence, while supporting the more global society. This is a delicate balance to maintain. It is worth the effort.

What do you perceive as being the most significant responsibilities of a Technical Region Director?

The primary responsibility is to fairly and accurately communicate the desires, complaints, new programs or other matters of the Institutes to the ASCE Board of Direction. The responsibility is to advocate the positions of the Institute Boards to result in actions, inactions or reversal of actions by the ASCE Board of Direction to advance the support of the Institutes. Additionally, the responsibility is to communicate to the Institute Boards the actions or inactions of the ASCE Board of Direction that affect the Institutes and their members.

As a Technical Region Director, how would you improve the effectiveness of the Technical Region in serving ASCE and the Institutes?

More budgets! No, not really. Budget is not where it starts. More programs to serve the professions is where it starts. The Institutes will identify new initiatives and as a regional director I will encourage (challenge) the Institutes to do so. Organizations spend a lot of time planning, reorganizing and complaining without moving forward. They only run the engine. Planning, reorganizing and complaining are often easy substitutes for getting something done. I see part of my assignment is to challenge the Institutes to keep moving. Inaction is not an option.

As a Technical Region Director, how would you promote better understanding and cooperation between ASCE and the Institutes?

Communicate, communicate and yes again communicate. I believe that the Board of Direction, Staff and the Institutes all have the same objectives for the profession and the society. Conflicts between these groups often originate from inadequate communication of events, or attitudes behind the perceived behaviors. There is no fundamental reason for the Boards or staff to engage in the politics of conflict. My perception is that today this is much less of an issue than in the past. Let’s keep it that way.

As a Technical Region Director, how would you promote more effective working relationships between ASCE Sections/Branches and the Institutes?

A good friend and competitor, John Magnusson, once said, "all engineering is local." I believe this is true. Therefore, new initiatives and technology will likely originate in the Sections/Branches of ASCE. The Institutes must recognize this and reach out to partner with the Sections/Branches. The sections and branches expect to be independent decision makers, analogous to the Institutes. This makes for a complex organizational structure. For the business types in the audience, I am an organizational decentralist.

As a Technical Region Director, what would you do to increase the interaction of the Institutes with CEFI and EWB-USA?

The door is open for Institute participation in Engineers Without Borders, whose members are primarily students. I would encourage the Institutes to get involved. The younger members are very excited about this program.

The Civil Engineering Forum for Innovation, an outgrowth of the Civil Engineering Research Foundation is a more complex question. Today, nearly 50 percent of projects are delivered with a design-build process, and there are opportunities to advance technology through joint efforts. However, the construction and design industries live in different legal and ethical worlds. The Construction Institute is the most likely organization to increase interaction.

As a Technical Region Director, what would you do to increase the participation of the Institutes in ASCE’s ongoing strategic planning process?

Most institutes have or should have a strategic plan. I don’t expect I will be able to understand all of the Institute’s strategic plans. But, I will become familiar enough with each that, hopefully, I will recognize differences between them. Moreover, there are likely many parts of the Institutes plans that should have an impact on the ASCE plan. But, while recognizing that a plan is important, the process of planning is more important and I look forward to supporting the Institutes that ignore the plan and get something done.

As a Technical Region Director, what would you do to help ASCE achieve its vision for the profession of civil engineering in 2025?

The Vision for 2025 is interesting reading and recommended. We can attempt to perceive the future, spend hours enjoying the intellectual exercise; but to survive, the profession should continue to focus on the basics. Most of us are not politicians. Most of us are not authors. Most of us are not media savvy. Most of us are good civil engineers. Being apolitical adds credibility in a partisan political world. In my opinion, today’s society does recognize our contribution and will continue to do so.

 

The above responses appear as they were submitted to ASCE by the nominee. No revisions have been made to the responses by ASCE.