Board Meeting Reports

June 22, 2006

At the meeting of the Board of Directors on June 22, 2006 the following decisions and reports were made:  

Report from the Chair
The Chair gave a verbal update report on the progress of the Society’s strategic goals.

Report from the CEO
The CEO gave a verbal update report on operational activities involving advocacy, member services, professional development and the business plan.

Report from the Treasurer
The financial report for January to May 2006 was received. C. Baran discussed each item of the report. Discussion commenced.

Report from the Finance Committee
Verbal report given by C. Baran.

Report from the Membership Advisory Committee
S. Agnew presented a membership overview via powerpoint. Discussion ensued with respect to ideas on how to engage membership to make them want to renew. It was asked that a database of reasons why members do not renew be created. It was agreed that the future of OSPE is in the university campuses. OSPE needs to have representatives on campus via the engineering societies.

Appointment: Audit and Investments Committee
The Society’s bylaws state that the Audit and Investments Committee shall “be an audit committee, consisting of the Treasurer of the Society, who shall be chairperson, and two other Board members, to review the results of the external audit of the Society’s finances, monitor the Society’s internal financial control procedures, and report to the Board. The further duties of the audit committee shall be established from time to time by the Board.”

The Terms of Reference for this committee were established by the Board and include establishing investment policies for Society funds and providing direction to the Society’s investment counsel.

Michael Santaluce and David Steeves were appointed members of the Audit and Investments Committee and Cindy Akyuz, as the Society’s Treasurer, shall be the Chair of this committee.

Appointment: Human Resources Committee
The Society’s bylaws state that there “shall be a Human Resources Committee, consisting of the Chairperson, who shall be the chair of this Committee, and two (2) other directors appointed by the Board. This Committee shall monitor the compensation structure, including benefits, for employees of the Society and the compensation of the Chief Executive Officer. The further duties of the Human Resources Committee shall be established from time to time by the Board.”

Michael Monette and Chris Cragg were appointed members of the Human Resources Committee and Danny Young, as the Society’s President and Chair, shall be the Chair of this Committee.

A. Bergeron was appointed Chair of the Nominations Committee.

Appointment: Finance Committee
At the Executive Committee meeting of May 15, 2003, it was recommended that the Board consider creating a Finance Committee as a sub-committee of the Audit and Investments Committee.

The Finance Committee shall consist of the Treasurer (Chairperson of the Audit and Investments Committee), and two (2) other directors appointed by the Board. The purpose of the Finance Committee is primarily to monitor the financial status of the Society on a regular basis. The Finance Committee is accountable to and reports directly to the Society’s Board.

Michael Santaluce, Steven Rose and Clare Morris were appointed members of the Finance Committee and Cindy Akyuz, as the Society’s Treasurer, shall be the Chair of this Committee.

The Chair explained that two directors were insufficient to run the Finance committee and has therefore appointed three members. It was noted that the terms of reference should be amended.

The Chair reviewed the list of OSPE committees and noted that all committees would welcome additional members. A. Sully volunteered to be a member of the Membership Advisory Committee.

Mobility Task Force: Approval of Terms of Reference
A. Bergeron reviewed the terms of reference for the Mobility Task Force. It was noted that the word permanent be taken out of the document. The first and second paragraph under roles and responsibilities were taken out and the second paragraph was changed.

Research and Innovation Task Force: Approval of Terms of Reference
The approval for the Research and Innovation Task Force terms of reference was tabled so that the Chair of the committee, David Steeves, would be able to have time to review the document.

Chapter Liaison Committee: Approval of Terms of Reference
J. Schindler reviewed the PEO Chapter system. J. Clayton noted that he wished to sit on this committee. It was asked that presentation packages be provided to Board members attending PEO Chapter events. There was also a discussion regarding sponsorship of chapter events and how involved OSPE should be.

Board Member Involvement
A list of PEO Chapter Chairs was received by the Board. It was noted that the list was out of date and that Sharon Gillam of PEO would be able to provide OSPE with an updated list.

PEO Council/OSPE Board Communication
In order to improve communications with PEO Councillors, and ensure that Councillors are aware of the many OSPE activities, Board members will begin contacting PEO Councillors on a regular basis. The CEO will provide the Board with current OSPE information on a monthly basis that they may share with PEO Council members.

Mentoring Program
The CEO explained that there are a number of services that OSPE would like to offer its members that are not currently offered. OSPE would like to group these services on the website under a heading called “mentoring” for members to take advantage of. The five services that could immediately be added are: advice on the PEO Experience Requirements Committee (ERC) - interview for foreign trained engineers, advice on what to do if you receive a notice from PEO that someone has filed a complaint against you, advice for potential whistle blowers, tutorial assistance for PEO exams and advice for students. Discussion ensued. M. Monette suggested that the University of Western Ontario website be reviewed as the university has a similar mentoring program.

Policy Ranking
The CEO explained that the Board had asked for the OSPE policy ranking and how the staff arrived at the ranking. The Board was provided with the policy rankings as well as a summary sheet which outlined the issues. Discussion ensued. It was noted that it would be worthwhile to run the list past OSPE membership by way of a survey. It was asked that a column be added to include the government ranking.

Fee Schedule Guide
The Chair explained that the Fee Schedule Committee of OSPE is currently updating the 2001 PEO Fee Schedule. It has been determined that outside consulting expertise is needed to assist with the project, and two consulting partners (one is the former registrar of APEGBC and the other is a municipal engineer with over 30 years experience) have been chosen to do the work. The Chair mentioned that OSPE would like to recover its costs and there was discussion about this issue.

Report from the Joint Relations Committee
Item received by the Board.

Report from Audit and Investments Committee
Item received by the Board.

Report from the Executive Committee
Item received by the Board.

Report from CODE
A. Bergeron gave an update from the last meeting of CODE. It was noted that there should be a representative from PEO Council participating in the meetings of CODE

Staff Reports
Item received by the Board.

Report from NEWOSC
Item received by the Board. C. Morris explained that J. Saurette has passed away and the committee has currently put out an RFP to replace her role in sponsorship.

Report from the Chapter Liaison
Item received by the Board.

Report from WEAC
Item received by the Board.

Report from Ontario Professional Engineers Awards
Item received by the Board. C. Morris noted that the OSPE Executive Committee had reservations about approving the slate of candidates presented by the Ontario Professional Engineers Awards Committee. The OSPE Executive felt that there were too many academic candidates, not enough women, one candidate was not a Canadian resident and two of the candidates were not OSPE members. It was noted that in the future OSPE should be putting forward their candidates for consideration.

Report from OSPE 2006 Golf Tournament
Item received by the Board.

Report from Employer Salary Survey Advisory Committee
Item received by the Board.

Report from the Safe Water Task Force
Item received by the Board.

Report from the P.Eng. Working Group
Item received by the Board.

Report from Brownfields Task Force
Item received by the Board.

Report from the Energy Working Group
Item received by the Board.

Report from the Bill 124 Working Group
Item received by the Board.

Report from the Government Relations Committee
Item received by the Board. As the new Chair of the Government Relations Committee, A. Bergeron requested to review the terms of reference for this committee.

Report from the Fee Schedule Committee
Item received by the Board.

Report from the Land Drainage Committee
Item received by the Board.

Report from the Solid Waste Management Committee
Item received by the Board.

Report from Qualifications-Based Selection
Item received by the Board. It was requested that the Board receive names of attendees from the May 16, 2006 QBS Information Session.

Other Items
It was requested that the staff find a way to condense the Board packages in order to reduce the amount of paper being used.

It was asked if a gift was sent to Cindy Akyuz for the birth of her baby girl. The staff noted that a gift basket had been sent on behalf of the Board and staff and thanks to all had been received.

Directors’ Questions
It was asked if the meeting between the Board members of OSPE and Serviq was moving forward. The CEO is working on this with the staff of Serviq.

In Camera
The Directors held an in-camera session. The meeting was terminated immediately following this session.

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