Uploaded May 20, 2002 to https://ewh.ieee.org/r2/capitalarea/UnitedWeStand/
By Jerry Gibbon
What are the discussions that we're hearing in the Washington and NoVa Sections? On the surface it might seem that
we may have reached a crisis in the IEEE National Capital Area Council. It is obvious that NoVa Section wants the
Council to be abolished; at least some of its officers do. The leading contention is that the Council may have
outlived it usefulness and therefore, we have to decide whether the Council should stay or go. But, wait a minute.
Wasn't the Council setup 17 years ago to serve as a steering committee to support joint activities of both NoVa
and the Washington Sections' members? Haven't the Sections identified more than 20 areas where joint Section support
is needed and where they have allowed the Council to take the lead, everything from the SCANNER and Business office
to Job Fairs and Officers' training? And aren't these areas continually supported? Then what is the problem?
At the Washington Section meeting on May 7, the issue was summed up this way by the NoVa representatives. The NoVa
Section believes that the Council concept is no longer workable, because their officers want to go on their own
and do not want the Council officers taking the lead in decision making. They propose to do away with the Council;
then the Sections' officers would make up their own minds and work together without outside influence. They contend
that this is not a monetary issue. A novel thought, since many of their issues today are directly or indirectly
related to income and spending in a period of limited budgets and increased costs.
This Council issue is confusing members, since most of us remember that the Council is nothing more than a group
of past section officers, two from each section, who were elected to represent the NoVa and Washington interest
in preserving the 20 plus joint areas; they annually agree to provide joint support activities. These section representatives
have obligations to their Sections' members to support member programs, with management and leadership guidance.
When necessary, they also need to roll up their sleeves and lend a helping hand. But, this in my opinion is probably
where the breakdown begins. We have fewer members and too many activities that need support.
The IEEE members may not always understand that it takes a lot of volunteers to substantiate the needs of the three
layers of IEEE organization that exist in the greater Washington-Virginia- Maryland areas. Of course this mean
the chapters, sections and council structure that we have here, and that has worked so well to bring the architecture
to full fruition, with lively activities and programs, including technical briefings, meetings and conferences.
To do all this requires over 600 volunteers each year out of the 15,000 members we have local. While the membership
has increased to almost double in the past 17 years, we still get only about half of the volunteers needed to support
the more than 100 activities featured each year.
While the benefits of a strong central organization are essential to preserving the local IEEE, it is important
that some structure remain intact to keep each of the three layers functioning, and able to interoperate and link
with the others, as well as operate with the Region 2 and the IEEE headquarters in Piscataway, NJ. This structure
has worked fairly well since its inception in 1986 because we were not concerned about political differences to
decide the future, but were concerned about the IEEE members that we support. It is true all members in the Council
belong to one of the two sections, and that most of these members are members of one or more society chapters in
which they have a technical interest. The local structure is simple: the chapters are funded by the sections and
their members comprise the sections' representatives; the sections fund their (separate as well as joint activities)
with the chapters and the council; and the council supports members of the sections and chapters with activities
that are joint across the sections. If we are to take one of these functions away by removing the council, we end
up with separation, a loss of shared activities, and less support to the general membership. This can only result
in greater duplication and redundancy, and obviously more costs for services.
Engineers usually complain when one of two things has gone wrong: they are either over-worked or under-paid. For
most of us these have been trying times; we work more hours and are lucky to find any time to get to one or two
meetings to stay abreast of our technology. We are on the scale of wage earners who don't get paid for overtime
and barely get the cost of living to stay up with inflation. Many workers are in areas that have been downsized
and may be actively looking for another job. If the IEEE has any value to its members, now is the time that we
need the most support, and the time for getting a little payback and the benefits of membership. Your local IEEE
organization has the networking resources to support our members and at the same time provide opportunities for
continued technical and professional development. Whether you work or reside in Virginia, Maryland or Washington,
you will continue as a winner with the joint activities sponsored by your Sections and the NCA Council.
Jerry Gibbon, Senior IEEE Member
Past Council Chairman
Past Washington Section Chairman
Past Communications Society Chairman