February 27, 2003

At the meeting of the Board of Directors on February 27, 2003, the following decisions and reports were made:

Report from the Chair
The Chair made a verbal report of activities since the last board meeting, including:

• the Chair's presentation to North Bay Engineers Day with a focus on clean energy
• the Chair's talk to engineering students at the University of Toronto
• working with PEO and CCPE
• Board involvement on the Pathways program
• Cindy Krenosky's presentation to the First Year Integration Conference of first year engineering students from across the province
• Danny Young's presentation to the Ontario Engineering Competition. It was noted that his speech received two ovations.

Report from the Staff
The Director-in-Charge reported that the Society is now focusing on the membership recruitment campaign, the membership processing backlog, the budget and the Pathways program. It was also noted that the Annual Meeting has been moved from Hamilton to Toronto and the student retreat has been cancelled.

Report from the Treasurer
The new accounting system is fully up and running. Once all 2002 financial information was entered it became apparent that at the end of 2002 the Society had a $265,000 deficit. This deficit is accounted for by the move from a cash-based to an accrual-based accounting system, the late start of some revenue producing programs and unanticipated legal costs (legal fees will be closely monitored in future). Many of the legal fees were one-time costs necessary to building the Society. Senior staff and the Board Executive have begun a review of the 2003 budget using conservative revenue and recruitment estimates.

BRRAG
Bill 124 requires a new insurance product for engineers working under the Building Code. There is concern that the insurance requirement is onerous and insurers will not provide it.

The Society and Consulting Engineers Ontario have sent a joint letter to David Young, Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing, with regard to the practical implementation of Bill 124. There may be a need to change the PEO Act and regulations to require all engineering firms practicing in areas covered by the Building Code to carry professional liability insurance. The Society has not been apprised of PEO's official position on this issue.

Report from the PEO/OSPE Negotiating Committee
The Chair expressed her regret at Peter DeVita's resignation from this committee. Ken McMartin, P.Eng., will join the committee in Mr. DeVita's place.

There was some discussion regarding the need to revise PEO bylaws to comply with the PEO/OSPE Agreement. The Board appointed R. Goodings, D. Young and W. Bilanski to work with PEO on the revision of their bylaws. Other items discussed included:

• WEAC: The Society has agreed to form a working group with WEAC to see how they could integrate into the Society.
• Advertising by Meloche Monnex:The Society is concerned that these ads are confusing members and undermining the Soicety's P&C insurance program

Report from the Tri-partite Working Group
At the February 13, 2003 meeting of the Tri-partite Working Group, members discussed methods for facilitating communication between the Society and CCPE. It was agreed that setting up a new 'Associate Member' category within CCPE might be a good way of giving the Society a voice at CCPE. The Board approved a resolution to seek associate membership status in CCPE with the provision that a re-assessment of this membership take place two years after it is attained.

Report from the Pathways Steering Committee
Efforts continue to place outstanding candidates from the first two pilot groups. It was noted that when we redesign the program, it will be important to match potential participants to existing job opportunities when considering applicants for the program while keeping track of the market for engineers. The Ministry continues to support the program and is working with the Society to streamline the process.

Report from the Toronto Regional Launch Committee
The Toronto Regional Launch has been pushed back to the fall and may be timed to coincide with the General Assembly. The organizing committee has been informed of this decision.

Report from the Membership Salary Survey Advisory Committee
The Society's first membership salary survey in March 2003 will be similar in format to previous surveys conducted by PEO. The questionnaire will be distributed with Engineering Dimensions and a sample of the results will be published in the fall issue of The Voice. Full results will be made available free of charge to Professional Members.

Report from the Province-wide Participation Working Group
The Province-wide Participation Working Group has drafted its recommendations and a final report will be distributed to the Society, PEO Council and the PEO Regional Councillors Committee.

Human Resources Committee Appointment
The purpose of the Human Resources Committee is to provide oversight to the Society's compensation structure and philosophy. The Board appointed C. Karakatsanis, C. Krenosky and W. Bilanski to this committee.

Safe Water Task Force Appointment
Dr. David Rudolph, P.Eng., Ph.D., is unavailable to continue as a member of the Safe Water Task Force and the Board appointed John St. Marseille, P.Eng. to the Task Force in his place.

CCPE 'From Consideration to Integration' Steering Committee - Appointment
CCPE, with HRDC, has developed the "From Consideration to Integration" project designed to improve recognition of foreign engineering credentials. Following CCPE's request that the Society appoint a representative to the steering committee for this project, the Board appointed
Lionel Laroche, P.Eng., to act as the Society's representative on this committee.

Nominations Committee - Slate of Candidates
Nominations for candidates to stand for election to the Society's board opened January 1 and closed February 10, 2003. The only nomination restriction arising from bylaw 6.5.1 is that no member from the Southwestern Region is eligible for nomination. There were no sector restrictions. The slate of 10 candidates presented by the Nominations Committee was approved by the Board.

Senior Designation
There was some concern that a Senior designation not connected to a fee reduction is a confusing concept that will be difficult to communicate to members. It was suggested that all members aged 65 years or older be eligible for a reduced membership fee. The Board approved amending Bylaw No. 1-B to include the wording, "A member of the Society or applicant who meets the criteria for membership who has reached the age of 65 at the time of renewal or application will be entitled to a reduction of fees, as set by the board from time to time."

Public Affairs Policies
In order to ensure that the Society's communication is of the highest quality and accuracy, Society staff, in cooperation with an external consultant and a committee of the board, developed policies for this area. The Board approved these policies and appointed Stephen Fischer, P.Eng. as the Board Monitor for Communications.

Termination Policy
A policy statement for termination of membership in the Society was presented and approved by the Board.

Membership Renewals
The Society sends out renewal invoices to members on a monthly basis (average of 625 to 800 invoices per month) and resources to manage the process effectively are limited. The Board approved outsourcing this process to AMW Direct. This is expected to increase the renewal response rate from 70-75% to 85%. Once the program is developed the Society may opt out at any time and manage it internally.

Travel Policy Update
The Board approved amending the Travel Policy so that the mileage allowance will follow Canada Customs and Revenue Agency guidelines (currently $0.41 per km for the first 5,000 km).