2008 Issue

www.utahengineerscouncil.org 8 Affecting Change Within the UEC Trent Hunt Utah Engineers Council Vice Chair 2007-2008 Vice Chair’s Message A S VICE-CHAIRMAN FOR THE UTAH ENGINEERS COUNCIL, I AM PROUD TO REPRESENT ALL OF YOUAND TOSERVE THEUTAHENGINEERINGCOMMUNITY. I have been involved with the Utah Engineers Council through my home society of the American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE) for almost four years now. Over this time, I have seen many changes within the council. One of these changes has been the board’s willingness to look for ways to im- prove. The result is a higher value in services to our member societies. An example is the council calendar that is currently in devel- opment. When complete, this calendar will combine the activities and events for all of our member societies into one concise pub- lication. With the changes that have taken place in the Utah Division of Occupational &Professional Licensing [DOPL] over the last few years, the COUNCIL Calendar will be a great tool to assist all members in locating Continuing Education opportunities as well as earning professional development hours for continued licensing. Another change is the constant influx every year of new faces at council board meetings. While it is exciting to have new representatives on the board, it can create issues as new society representatives tend to be less involved at meetings until they gain a sense that they belong. Since the council cannot function without these important volunteers, our goal as a board was to find a way to get more individuals involved earlier. For this reason, council Chairman Michael While it is exciting to have new representatives on the board, it can create issues as new society representatives tend to be less involved at meetings until they gain a sense that they belong. Norrie and I have requested this year that all 14 council member societies provide a limited number of volunteers to serve on various committees. These volunteers would serve for two years on a committee and would assist in functions such as scholarship selec- tion, fundraising, journal publication, mem- bership, legislation, and Engineers’ Week banquet planning. Most of these committee positions take only a few hours of effort once or twice a year and would open the door for an individual to serve in the future as a possible society representative who could start with all cylinders running. In conclusion, I would like to note that volunteering to serve on the council has been both a challenging and rewarding posi- tion. Serving has also opened doors to new contacts with members from other societies and engineering professions. I can assure you that my time with the council has blessed me with many new friends and contacts that I would have been unable to make otherwise. Furthermore, the opportunity to serve on the board with our current Chairman, Michael Norrie, and our First Past Chair- man, Dale Bennett, has shown me what it really means to serve others selflessly. It is with their examples in mind that I prepare myself to lead the council into the Fall of 2008 and the Spring of 2009. For this op- portunity and the future opportunities that will surely come, I thank each and every one of you. Mr. Hunt is associated with Trane, Commercial Systems