March 2007
Virginia Council Report to Region 3

I can sympathize with George Washington after the Battle of Trenton. 
While he had decisively defeated the Prussians, he still faced a long,
cold winter in Valley Forge.

We have all indications that SoutheastCon 2007 will be tremendously
successful.  Our efforts have created bonds with members across the
state that will serve us through the hard times ahead.  However, we have
serious problems in the Council itself that will not be solved
immediately.

The Council had their first meeting of 2007 in January.  While we only
have two of the four officers confirmed, we proceeded to identify the
issues affecting our sections and developed strategies to attack them.

We have initiated an Online Community for the Virginia Council.  We are
using it to coordinate both section and Council activities.  Procedures
and organization are still under development.  We hope to streamline
activities and maintain better communications through online
collaboration.  We have begun with an exchange of newsletters and use of
online community discussions to address issues.

We recognize our Council and section bylaws need conversion to
operations manuals.  We need to address issues ranging from quorum
definition to elections of Council officers; addressing practical
problems we have encountered and insuring alignment with RAB bylaws.

We must train section leaders on an annual basis.  This years' training
got lost in the shuffle and we are working with Charles Lord to develop
a training schedule.

The Code of Virginia now requires Professional Engineers to engage in
continuing education.  The Virginia Engineering Licensing Board is a
long way from developing their procedures and guidelines.  The Council
hopes to work together make sure their technical meetings earn CEU
credits.

We need help in building our volunteer base.  Our Council's problems are
not unique.  The world is changing and we would like to understand the
needs of our members and volunteers better.  The IEEE web site indicates
they have information on this subject, but attempts to withdraw it have
been futile.  Likewise, we need SAMIEE to include the corporate ties of
IEEE members so we can better exploit corporate partnerships.  We are
engineers and we expect courses of action supported by facts.  We need
membership initiatives based on their demonstrated effectiveness and
strategic potential.

At SoutheastCon, we hope to have at least one more officer identified. 
We will also look for opportunities to advance our Council goals.  The
good news is that we have had tremendous support from our sections and I
am sure we will work through our difficulties.

Respectfully Submitted,

Bill Clayton
w.clayton @ ieee.org
2007-2008 Chair

Current Officers
Bill Clayton, Chair
Vacant, Vice Chair
Jan Helge Bohn Secretary
Vacant, Treasurer
Adeeb Hamzey, Past Chair