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Save the Date!!! | |
March 30, 2014 - April 2, 2014: 2014 SDITE Annual Meeting
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| 2013 Executive Board | |
Martin Bretherton
Kirsten Tynch
Secretary / Treasurer
Bill Seymour
International Director
Rick Day
Past-President
Becky White
District Administrator
Craig Hanchey
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| Social Media | |
Check us out on Social Media!
Twitter
Facebook
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Archive(s) |
(October 2013 and November 2013 only)
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Newsletter Staff | |
Scott Walker
Reviewers
Becky Malenke
Radha Swayampakala
Social Media
Jeff Stephenson
Add Your Name Here Next Edition! |
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Greetings!
Hello all!
- Merry Christmas!
- Happy Holidays! - Ho Ho Ho! - Have a Cool Yule! - Jingle All the Way! - Let it Snow! - Season's Greetings! - Christmas Greetings! - Greetings of the Season! - Holiday Greetings! - Happy Festivus!
We hope this newsletter finds you well. As with last month, this newsletter is full of ITE, SDITE and other transportation related content. It's a bit long, but please take time to read it through.
But first, a holiday greeting from your 2013 officers:
 | | SDITE Officer Holiday Greetings |
Have a great holiday season and we'll talk to you next year!
- SDITE Newsletter Committee
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Officer Update
President: Martin Bretherton
(Editor's Note: This is an abbreviated version of Martin's report. I fully suggest that you take the time to read the full document which can be found here. It is a great read about the success of the District in 2013.)
I am truly honored to have been your 2013 President. I have enjoyed the challenge of leading this all volunteer organization. We have had a very busy year.
Go the extra MILE
M -Membership:
Most of the Membership improvements in the District were handled by the Membership Committee chaired by Vice-President Tynch. Her committee had one member from each section.
Many Sections have reported an increase in membership but we will not know the final tally until ITE publishes the end of year report. The membership committee strategy was to increase agency membership & involvement, regain old members and improve communications with members. To meet this goal, it will take hard work over many years.
I - Involvement:
The goal was to get our members active in developing technical programs for Annual meetings, getting involved with technical projects and growing our Strategic Plan, writing articles for the Newsletter and the ITE Journal and providing feedback to Board members. My theme for this was "You get out of ITE what you put in! Get Involved". I appreciate the members' efforts to get involved. The ones that have, are reaping the benefits for all to see.
- The Charlotte Annual Meeting was a huge success thanks to the LAC Co-Chaired by Danny Pleasant and Scott Putnam. The meeting broke all SDITE Attendance records as well as being a financial success.
- All committees should be fully staffed by a member from each section. Most committee chairs have added members to get their committees fully involved.
- I visited each state and section this year, as well as, attended all the ITE and SDITE meetings. I worked with all the section presidents to plan on attending one meeting in each state this year. I really enjoyed meeting old friends, making new friends and getting a chance to bring SDITE to the section level.
- Past Presidents Committee (Karen Mohammadi, chair) was tasked with reviewing items not assigned to any other committee.
- The Board discussed the results of the Past Presidents Committee and will work to make changes to the Operations Manual and Annual Meeting Manual based on the findings from the Past Presidents. I would like to thank the following SDITE Past Presidents for helping SDITE again and staying "Involved": Karen Mohammadi, John Edwards, Darrell Skipper, Ken Voorhies, Ed Watt, Rick Day, Bob Stammer, Bob Murphy and Tom Flynn.
L - Leadership:
Your Board strives to continue the strong leadership of past Boards with our goal of being the best District in ITE. Your 2013 Leadership Team completed the following:
- Leaving the SDITE Budget in good shape - we have been able to build up strong reserves to so we can meet the challenges of the future.
- Improve sponsorship for Annual Meeting & SDITE. This is a challenge I made to the Charlotte LAC and the Past Presidents Committee. We continue to work to find ways to enhance our sponsorship support for SDITE. The Charlotte meeting raised over $34,000 in sponsorships.
- SDITE provided a $3000 scholarship to Leadership ITE for the inaugural class of 30 ITE members. SDITE was fortunate enough to place 5 SDITE members in the first class.
E - Education:
ITE should be focusing on the long-term growth of our profession. We need to encourage students to become civil engineers/ traffic engineers/planners. We should focus on professional development with more technical training programs.
- Develop Scholarship Program for SDITE (younger?) members. Becky White developed the silent auction in Lexington and the Charlotte LAC enhanced her idea. The Board has asked the Georgia LAC to continue this program. The funds will be set aside for the Education Fund Committee to suggest ideas for Board approval of the funds that will benefit our young members. I hope you start seeing the fruits of these labors in 2014. Carla Holmes is leading this effort.
- Professional Development/Mentoring- the Work Force Development Committee is working to enhance your membership in ITE by providing opportunities for training that improve your career. This will be an ongoing initiative that Jeff Ingham is leading.
- Continue support for the Traffic Bowl and the student scholarships (we have committed about 33% ($12,450/$37,850) of our 2013 budget to supporting students).
Our committees accomplished many of these 2013 goals. I wish to thank all of these dedicated professionals for helping our profession in 2013. All these committees work to make SDITE a better organization for you. The 2013 committee chairs can be found in the full report.
There is still so much work to do in the future and I pledge my support in helping to get SDITE to go the extra "MILE" in future years.
Now it is time to thank people for helping me this year. Thanks so much for all of your support. I appreciate the opportunity to represent you on the Executive Committee. I especially want to thank my wife, Barbara, for allowing me to be away from home so many days and for allowing me be so active in ITE. As most of you know, it is not possible to do all this volunteer work without the support from your family.
Special Recognition
There are several Board members that have completed their term of office and I would like to recognize them for their support for SDITE and all the time and effort they have made to our profession. (This list is found in the full report).
Let me know if there is any way I can enhance your membership experience or have any questions about ITE.
I hope you have a safe and healthy holiday season and I look forward to seeing everybody in Greensboro, Georgia in 2014.
Martin
2013 SDITE President
W. Martin Bretherton Jr., P.E.
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Reminder: SDITE 2014 Call for Abstracts
By: SDITE 2014 LAC
Come join us for an awesome SDITE Annual Meeting at Reynolds Plantation in Greensboro, Georgia. We suggest that you make your reservations now! We are having this year's meeting at a world class facility that you will not want to miss. The event will be held March 30-April 2, 2014. Please visit www.sdite2014.org for more information.
CALL FOR ABSTRACTS!!!
The Georgia Section of ITE is currently accepting abstracts for the 2014 Southern District ITE Annual Meeting to be held March 30 - April 2, 2014 at Reynolds Plantation in Lake Oconee, GA. Presenting at the 2014 SDITE Annual Meeting is a great opportunity to share your ideas, knowledge, expertise, and innovations with your peers.
We are working to develop an interesting, relevant technical program that is diverse in content and delivery style. We will consider presentations addressing topics of interest to our members. Some suggested topics are listed below:
- Congestion Pricing
- Managed Lanes - HOV/HOT Lanes
- Transportation and Land Use Policies
- Safety
- Pedestrian/Bicycle Planning and Design
- Transit Planning, Design, and Operations
- Parking Operations and Management
- Managing Transportation in Challenging Economic Times
- Traffic Signals, Traffic Operations and Management
- Travel Models and Microsimulation
- Training and Mentoring the Next Generation
- Sustainability
Student Paper Presentations are highly encouraged.
Abstracts should contain the following information:
- Title of presentation
- Brief abstract/summary explaining the presentation (250 words or less)
- Preferred presentation format (e.g., presentation, poster, workshop, etc.)
- Name and contact information of presenter.
Click Here for the Call for Abstracts PDF.
Please submit your abstract in PDF format via email by January 15, 2014 to SDITE2014@gmail.com.
Should you have any questions, you may reach Bayne E. Smith, P.E., Technical Committee Chair at bsmith@dot.ga.gov or (770) 532-5526.
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SDITE Awards Committee
From: Tim White (Past President)
The Southern District of ITE is looking to award the following 5 prestigious awards at the Annual Banquet on April 1, 2014, and the Awards Committee is looking for your help.
- Herman J. Hoose Distinguished Service Award
- Marble J. Hensley Outstanding Individual Activity Award
- Joseph M. Thomas Young Member Award
- John F. Exnicios Public Employee Service Award
- Excellence in Transportation Engineering Education Award
A request for nominations for each of these awards will be sent to the section presidents by the end of this month. If you know a great candidate or two for one of these awards, please contact your section President. The Awards Committee will also be evaluating 2013 annual reports prepared by the sections to determine the most deserving Section in Group 1 (Alabama, Deep South, Kentucky, and South Carolina) and Group 2 (Georgia, North Carolina, Tennessee, and Virginia).
If you have questions about any of these awards, please contact the Awards Committee Chairman (Tim White at (804) 673-4705 or via email at tim.white@kimley-horn.com).
The Awards Committee thanks you in advance for your help in identifying deserving candidates for these important awards.
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Strategic Plan Update - Leadership
From: Richard Atkins / Richard Caudle
ALSITE/ALDOT Leadership Development
In October-November, 2013, the Alabama Section of the Institute of Transportation Engineers undertook a service project for the Alabama Department of Transportation to provide leadership training for ALDOT managers. The service project was a followup to a similar effort by ALSITE for ALDOT in 2010, but significantly expanded in scope.
A team of ALSITE members Dan Turner, Jim Meads, Becky White, Darrell Skipper and Richard Caudle was assigned to develop and administer the training by ALSITE President Becky Malenke. This group began working on July 26, 2013 in planning the project. Significant interaction between the coordination team and Lamar Woodham, ALDOT Deputy Director for Administration and Maxine Wheeler, ALDOT Training Bureau Chief was required during the initial phase of project development.
ALDOT requested that four sessions of training be conducted. Sites selected for training were the ALDOT Division offices in Mobile, Birmingham, and two different classes in Montgomery. A target of fourteen ALDOT employees per site was established and the actual enrollment in the four sessions was 54. Each class received one-half of the training in October and the second half of the training a month later in November.
The training was conducted with the Southern District ITE Leadership Development Program. At the request of ALDOT attendees, special modules on Transitioning to Supervision (prepared by Darrell Skipper) and Professional Ethics (prepared by Jim Meads) were also used. During the course of the training, two "mini-modules" were also developed and presented: Saying No Gracefully (prepared by Becky White) and How to Make a Presentation (prepared by Dan Turner).
A unique team of instructors facilitated the training. Presenters included ALSITE Members, ALDOT "alumni" from the 2010 class, and senior level managers from ALDOT. Specific presenters were:
ALSITE Members
Richard Caudle
Becky Malenke
Jim Meads
Scott Rumble
Chris Sellers
Darrell Skipper
Dan Turner
Becky White
Previous ALDOT Students
Kaye Chancellor-Davis
Wade Henry
Josh Kervin
ALDOT Senior Level Managers
Don Arkle, Deputy Director
Vince Calametti, Southwest Region Manager
The service project was made financially possible by the Alabama Department of Transportation, which provided a "registration fees" of $280 per student to cover reimbursement of expenses, including printing, ALSITE member travel, one breakfast and one lunch for the entire class each session, break items, and miscellaneous supplies.
Evaluation forms for the training were completed by each participant for every module. Feedback was overwhelmingly positive. The most common comment was "This has been the best training I have had in my 20 (or 30 or 35) years with ALDOT."
Future plans for cooperation between ALSITE and ALDOT in the area of Leadership Development include meeting with senior management of ALDOT to assist them in making leadership training an integral part of their training for all ALDOT managers and enabling ALDOT to administer the program in-house.
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LeadershipITE Update
The first class of the LeadershipITE met for the first time in Washington DC in early November. Here are some thoughts from four of the five attendees from the Southern District.
Sean Coleman: The first session of the inaugural Leadership ITE program could not have been any better! The setting in Washington DC was perfect, the sessions were engaging and informative, and most of all, the people in the program and the networking opportunities were outstanding. I really enjoyed meeting and getting to know my classmates from across the country (and Canada!), and each person brought a unique perspective that enhanced the group atmosphere. I can't wait to see everyone again in Miami in March!
Jonathan Kiser: I think one of the major benefits was the interaction with the Executive Board and introduction to the technical presentations that were typically just presented to the ITE Board. The class helped me connect with more Districts and people beyond the Southern District, and will ultimately provide more resources for me (and Deep South ITE) through the connection with International ITE.
Becky Malenke: I am excited to be part of the first LeadershipITE class and am honored to be selected for such a unique program. I really enjoyed our kickoff workshop in November where we interacted with ITE leadership, broadened our understanding of ITE and the transportation profession at the national level, and networked with transportation professionals from across the US and Canada. I look forward to this opportunity to help shape the future of ITE!
Scott Walker: I too really enjoyed the first session of Leadership ITE. The opportunity to meet so many peers who are active and excited about ITE really set the stage for a great meeting. In addition, I was appreciative of the opportunity to interface with the ITE International Board.
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Alabama Roadway Safety Award
Submitted by: James Foster
MOBILE COUNTY, AL ROADS PROJECT RECEIVES NATIONAL HONORS
At an awards ceremony on Capitol Hill, the Roadway Safety Foundation (RSF) and the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) today recognized the Mobile County (AL) Public Works Engineering Department for its efforts to decrease "run-off-the-road" crashes on 10 roadways with high rates of these types of crashes.
A simple, low-cost solution would prove to save lives in Mobile County. Traffic Manager James Foster with the Mobile County Engineer's Office implemented a plan to install one-directional white raised pavement markers (RPMs) adjacent to the white edge-line stripe, vastly improving sight recognition and guidance along the risky stretches of roadway. Based on 2009-2012 crash data, this led the same 10 roadways from 224 crashes to 33, from 7 fatalities to 0, and from 152 injuries to 10. The average crash reduction for all 10 roadways was lowered by 85.3%.
"The Mobile County Public Works Engineering Department proved it does not need to cost a fortune to save lives," said Gregory M. Cohen, P.E., Executive Director of the Roadway Safety Foundation. "Raised pavement marker materials are relatively low cost and require far less manpower and machinery to install than other crash countermeasures such as rumble strips. Other jurisdictions will surely want to replicate this cost effective, life-saving solution to their own risky stretches of roadway."
Congratulations to the Mobile County Public Works Engineering Department!
(Editors Note: This information was provided as part of a press release from the Roadway Safety Foundation.)
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From the Sections...
This month, we feature happenings in the Bluegrass State.
Kentucky
The 2013 KYSITE Annual Meeting and Silent Auction was held on Thursday, November 14, 2013 at Woodford Reserve Distillery. There were 32 members and guests in attendance, most of whom arrived early to enjoy the tour of the facility. Everyone learned about the steps for making bourbon and the history of the distillery from a very informative tour guide. The banquet room was warm and cozy and there was a nice selection of auction items to bid on.
In all $600 was raised for the KYSITE scholarship fund. The business portion of the meeting included some notes from our outgoing president, Ashley Sells, and a brief re-cap of the year. Awards were presented and the new officers inducted by one of our most senior ranking members, Lonnie Yates.
Pictures from the meeting can be found here.
2014 Officers:
President: Vanessa Fritsch
Vice-President: Stuart Sparks
Treasurer: Tony Fields
Secretary: Anne Warnick
Section Representative: Steve Cummins
Directors: Eric Green / Brad Johnson / Paul Slone
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SDITE Apparel
Have you heard about the recent upward trends in fashion within the transportation industry? That i anything with the SDITE logo.
That's right, you can order shirts, jackets, caps, at Land's End.
If you want to order anything, you just have to pick out the item and as you go through the screens, you will come a page with logo options. The Southern District logo is one of the choices. Please click here to check it out.
So, yes, you can become the most stylish attendee to the 2014 SDITE Annual Meeting this Spring.
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RSS Feeds
By: Jeff Stephenson
You may already have this setup, but with the Section websites that are Wordpress (or similar) type "blogger" style sites, you can get their updates with an RSS feed. You can set up RSS subscriptions in Outlook, and any time a new post goes up on AL, GA, KY, or TN, it shows up in Outlook.
All you have to do is add /feed to the end of the website address (e.g. http://alsite.org/feed), and that is what it pulls from.
It's a great way to keep up with things in the District. |
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Officer/Member Profile
Each month, we will feature an officer or member of SDITE. For this third profle, we'll meet Bill Seymour, 2013 Secretary / Treasurer of SDITE as well as the 2014 Vice-President.
Make sure to check out Question 11!
- Name - Bill Seymour
- City / State - Louisville, KY
- Place of Work - HDR Engineering, Inc.
- Title - Senior Transportation Engineer
- Degrees / Year - BSCE (1969) / MSCE (1972) from University of Kentucky
- Certification(s) - PE in Kentucky
- Place of Birth - Glendale, KY
- A Little More About Bill:
- What are your technical interests? Transportation Engineering
- What are your hobbies? Golf, Travel, and Yard Work
- Favorite Color? Blue
- Favorite Movie? Action / Adventure
- Favorite Music? All Kinds
- In what capacity have you served SDITE in the past?
- Sec-Treasurer
- Strategic Planning Chair
- District Representative from Kentucky
- Five Quick Questions:
- Coke or Pepsi? Coke
- Dogs or Cats? Dogs
- Telephone or Email? Telephone
- Pen or Pencil? Pen
- Cats / Cards: Cats!
- Four Interesting Facts About You (How many of these are true?):
- Made my first hole-in-one this year after playing golf for 50 years.
- Going on my second mission trip to Guatemala late this year.
- Once played piano in a concert with Liberace.
- Hold record for most dropped/reconnected cell calls during an SDITE conference call.
Please email Scott your answer to which facts are true in Question 11 to be eliglble for a prize from the SDITE prize vault! |
Feeling Social?
 Don't forget: |
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Have You Seen This?
Please be nice to snowman, even if they are a little scary.
(Warning: this is slightly violent but not too bad).
 | | Snowman Prank Gone Wrong - Knock Out |
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Want to Help Out?
We are always looking for extra help in SDITE, especially for spreading communication, information, etc. The following is a wish list of items for which help is needed.
- Newsletter
- Outreach
- Social Media
- Website
Please contact Scott Walker with any interest in helping out. |
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We hope you enjoyed this edition. Stay tuned for another edition in mid-January.
Sincerely,
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Scott Walker, Editor
Southern District ITE |
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