On Thursday, May 4th, OSPE will hold its 2017 Annual General Meeting (AGM) and General Assembly (GA) at the Chestnut Residence & Conference Centre. The AGM and GA are free for all members in good standing. Simply register by May 1, 2017 to attend.
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General Assembly (2:00 p.m. – 5:30 p.m.)
Bi-annually, OSPE hosts a General Assembly to bring together its stakeholders for informative networking and learning sessions.
Keynote [2:05 p.m.]
OSPE member David Carnegie, P.Eng., M.Sc., MBA, will discuss OSPE’s report Excess Soil Management: Ontario is Wasting a Precious Resource, the implications of these survey findings, and the reasons this research caught the attention of municipal and provincial government leaders.
Facilitated Breakout Sessions [2:30 p.m.]
Members will have the opportunity to choose between one of two interactive sessions.
Session 1: Classroom to Career: What Today’s Engineering Students Need to Succeed
To address the ‘engineering skills gap,’ a panel of representatives from government, industry, academia and the Engineering Student Societies’ Council of Ontario will discuss the changing nature of work, emerging jobs, and skills engineering students need to succeed, as well as the challenges engineering employers face in providing work integrated learning (WIL) opportunities.
Click here to view the panelists who will be participating in Session 1.
Session 2: Surging Forward: How Professional Engineers are Rebooting Energy Policy in Ontario
Members of OSPE’s Energy Task Force will provide a short presentation on the history of OSPE’s advocacy efforts in this space, highlighting where engineers have provided fruitful recommendations and shared accurate predications and warnings about issues that are just now starting to significantly impact hydro prices and system efficiency. Breakout groups will discuss OSPE’s current advocacy approach: how can outreach be improved? How can engineers better mobilize to impact change? etc.
Click here for more information about the breakout group activities.
Open Forum – OSPE Strategic Plan: How do we expand our reach? [4:15 p.m.]
Outgoing OSPE President and Chair Michael Monette, P.Eng., and incoming OSPE President and Chair Jonathan Hack, P.Eng., will facilitate a discussion about the strategic direction of the organization. The dialog will include an overview of the pillars of OSPE’s Strategic Plan and will solicit member insight regarding updated priorities and methods for expanding OSPE’s reach.
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Dinner and Networking (5:30 p.m. – 7:00 p.m.)
Dinner is included for all members who have registered to attend the Annual General Meeting.
The evening’s guest speaker will be the Honourable Reza Moridi, MPP (Richmond Hill), Minister of Research, Innovation and Science. MPP Moridi will discuss the role of Ontario’s first Chief Science Officer, which OSPE was instrumental in creating, as well as the importance of engineers as innovators, entrepreneurs and key contributors to Ontario’s economic growth and prosperity.
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Annual General Meeting (7:00 p.m. – 8:45 p.m.)
OSPE’s AGM is held to conduct business on behalf of the Society. This portion of the evening includes reports from the Chair, the CEO, the Treasurer and the Audit and Investments Committee and Appointment of Auditors. The report of the Nominations Committee will introduce the candidates who have been elected to OSPE’s 2017-2018 Board of Directors.
Motion to amend: Bylaw No. 2
As with any bylaw change, OSPE members will have the opportunity to vote on the motion to amend Bylaw No. 2. A presentation outlining the rationale behind the proposed bylaw changes will first be made by OSPE’s outgoing and incoming President & Chairs, Michael Monette, P.Eng., and Jonathan Hack, P.Eng.
OSPE’s Board Development and Strategic Planning Committee is proposing a change to OSPE’s bylaws so that Associate members can be eligible to serve alongside Professional members on OSPE’s Board of Directors starting in 2018. Having Associate members on OSPE’s Board would help ensure the organization is providing the right services to assist graduates and newcomers to Ontario in gaining engineering experience, obtaining their licence and enjoying successful careers in Ontario.
If the bylaw changes are passed, Associate members would have full voting rights, including the right to nominate members for election to the Board. OSPE’s Board would continue to be composed of 12 voting Directors, and a minimum of seven of those Directors would be Professional Engineers, instead of all 12. The OSPE Board will be enacting a policy so that the OSPE President, Past President and Vice Chair will remain as Board positions that can be filled by Professional members only. The Board Executive Committee will be presenting this policy at OSPE’s next Board meeting, fully expect it to be approved unanimously. OSPE will also be creating a Transition Task Force to record all input from members to review, discuss and report back within the year on any further changes that would be brought to OSPE’s next Annual General Meeting.
OSPE must continue to grow its membership in order to grow the profession’s influence in this province. This includes engaging more directly with those in Ontario who need support to understand the value of licensure and to fully integrate into the engineering profession by obtaining their P.Eng.
For more detailed information on the proposed bylaw change, OSPE members can refer to:
- Rationale for OSPE’s Proposed Bylaw Changes 2017
- OSPE Blog Post: What You Must Know About OSPE’s AGM & Proposed Bylaw Changes
Other important documents:
If you have specific questions or concerns that you would like addressed in advance of or at OSPE’s Annual General Meeting, please contact us at info@ospe.on.ca.
If you are unable to attend the AGM in person, you may view the meeting from 6:30pm – 9:00pm via the link to the webcast: http://postelvideo.com/webcast/single1/webcast.php and enter the password 0517.
