News

MSPE Members,

Governor Mike Parson has announced a statewide stay-at-home order that will go intoeffect at 12:01 am Monday April 6 and expire on April 24. The Governor’s Stay-at-Home order is similar to those issued in other states and reflects the essential businesses that are exempt may remain open. Those businesses are listed in the Department of Homeland Security’s list of Essential Businesses.  Below are links to the official order and DHS’s list of essential businesses. 

https://content.govdelivery.com/attachments/MOGOV/2020/04/03/file_attachments/1419322/Stay%20at%20Home%20Missouri%20Order.pdf

https://www.cisa.gov/sites/default/files/publications/CISA_Guidance_on_the_Essential_Critical_Infrastructure_Workforce_Version_2.0_Updated.pdf

The Missouri Society of Professional Engineers recently joined eleven related stakeholders in a joint letter submitted to Governor Mike Parson. Specifically, the letter urges Governor Parson to "consider engineering, design, construction, mining, and manufacturing essential services, so that individuals may continue to provide any services or perform any work necessary to the operations and maintenance of “essential infrastructure,” including, but not limited to, public works construction, the engineering, design, permitting, inspection, construction, transfer and recording of ownership, of housing and anything incidental thereto, water, sewer, gas, electrical, bridges, roads and highways.”

MSPE thanks the Missourians for Transportation Investment and the other stakeholders in this effort.

The MSPE Educational Foundation is forming its new Board of Directors. Effective on July 1, the new Board of Directors will feature eleven stakeholders charged to support the EF mission and objectives.

Several seats on the new EF Board of Directors are appointed by committees directly involved in the EF mission or interests. However, several seats are open and solicited by the Nominating & Tellers Committee. 

Nominating & Tellers Committee, chaired by Michael Purol, P.E., is seeking members interested in the following Board seats:

• Two at-large MSPE members interested in furthering MSPE EF objectives.
• A former president of MSPE.
• Two representatives from University faculty.

The Nominating & Tellers Committee is now accepting applications for candidates. Deadline for submission is April 30. 

Click this link for the application for the at-large representative to return to the MSPE office by April 30. If you are a former MSPE president or university faculty interested in serving, please contact Michael Purol via the MSPE office at info@mspe.org.

In addition to the seats listed above, the balance of the EF Board will be populated by the following: a MATHCOUNTS representative, representative of the Kimel Endowment Committee, representative of the Building Committee (EF owns the MSPE office building), the EF Treasurer is automatically the same person as the MSPE treasurer, representative from the MSPE Board of Directors (not including treasurer) and the MSPE Executive Director (ex-officio).

Once the new Board of Directors is formed, the EF Board will meet for the first time on June 15 in Columbia at the MSPE Convention and elect a President and Vice President among the members of the Board. 

Objectives of the MSPE Educational Foundation:

• To study and improve the practice of professional engineering and to promote the elevation of engineering standards.
• To promote the study of engineering and research therein, the diffusion of knowledge thereof, and the continuing education of engineers by only charitable, educational or literary means.
• To cause to be published and to distribute addresses, reports, treatises, and other works on engineering subjects.
• To improve relations between engineers and the public by only charitable, educational or literary means.
• To foster suitable standards of engineering education for the licensing of Professional Engineers.

Members,

The Board of Directors governing the MSPE’s Educational Foundation (EF) will have a new look this summer. The EF Board of Directors, which has historically featured the same members of the MSPE Board of Directors, will have its own eleven-member Board populated by stakeholders solely focused on the foundation mission.

MSPE EF is a 501(c)(3) foundation charged with seven objectives centered on engineering education and research.  It is linked to the Missouri Society of Professional Engineers, a 501(c)(6) organization that serves as a professional society representing the state’s Licensed Professional Engineers. For decades, the EF and MSPE have been governed by the same Board of Directors, handling their respective business in separate but usually consecutive meetings.

Over the last several months, the EF Board of Directors considered amending its bylaws to allow the EF to have its own directors that specifically cater to the needs of the foundation. In March, the Board voted to amend the bylaws to form an eleven-member Board of Directors to take place this summer with the inaugural meeting held in June during the MSPE Convention in Columbia. 

Once formed and activated, the new EF Board will meet throughout the year. EF Executive Director Travis Lowe and the team at Braden Heidner Lowe & Associates will continue to serve MSPE EF.

The new EF Board of Directors will feature representatives from functions that support the foundation’s mission and business, such as representatives from MATHCOUNTS, the Kimel Endowment, Building Committee, university representatives, a former MSPE president, a MSPE Board representative, along with at large positions from the membership. The MSPE Treasurer will also serve as the EF Treasurer, mimicking NSPE’s Treasurer with the national Educational Foundation.

The Nominating & Tellers Committee, chaired by Michael Purol, P.E., will provide dual roles for both the MSPE and EF Boards, and seek candidates for the new EF Board this spring.

MSPE Members,

MSPE recognizes the growing concern associated with the impact of COVID-19 (coronavirus) as federal, state and local governments work to minimize risk and prevent its spread. We are closely following the guidelines set by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and our public health officials.

To that end, we urge our society chapters to follow CDC recommendations regarding upcoming meetings this spring. No changes have been determined for future MSPE state events at this time.

MSPE staff remains committed to maintain membership services without interruption. We are equipped with technology services and solutions that allow us to continue serving you from our Jefferson City office or in the event staff must work from home.

MSPE has a dedicated conference call line available for committees and chapters to continue necessary business while avoiding in-person meetings. For assistance in this area, please contact our office at 573-636-4861 or info@mspe.org.

We will keep our membership abreast of updates as soon as it becomes available.  We urge our members to use caution and stay safe during the following weeks.

Kind regards,
MSPE Staff

Link to CDC: https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-nCoV/index.html

MSPE Membership Alert MSPE Approves Bylaws Amendment to Reduce Board Size From 30 to 24 JEFFERSON CITY- The MSPE Board of Directors composition is changing for the new fiscal year that begins on July 1. At the 2019 Annual Convention at the Lake of the Ozarks, MSPE members cast their votes on the proposed amendment that was provided to all members in April and May. The motion passed overwhelmingly and takes effect with the 2019-2020 Board of Directors. The amendment condensed the MSPE Board of Directors from 30 to 24 Directors by allowing each chapter to have a single board representative that has weighted voting. President Michael Purol and President-elect Bob Becnel previously asked the Bylaws Committee, chaired by Ross Kasmann, to consider the amendment. MSPE currently has the largest Board of Directors among the state societies across the nation. The “weighted voting” concept reduces the Board size while allowing each chapter to keep their respective voting power. For example, the Ozark Chapter will name one person as their Board representative who will attend Board meetings and carry three votes. With this change, the Board is smaller and more manageable but does not harm chapters by taking away any voting power. The amendment was modeled off of how the NSPE House of Delegates works. Each state/territory has one person in the HOD with different numbers of votes, based on their membership size. MSPE staff is reaching out to chapter leaders now to name their primary representative.   Facebook      Twitter      Instagram      LinkedIn This message was sent to you by The Missouri Society of Professional Engineers. If you no longer wish to receive these emails, you can unsubscribe at any time 200 E. McCarty St., Ste 200 Jefferson City, MO 65101 573-636-4861, mspe.org

This announcement serves as official notice of a proposed amendment to be considered by the membership during the annual convention at Lake Ozark on Monday, June 17 at 2:30 PM. The amendment proposes condensing the MSPE Board of Directors from 30 to 24 directors by allowing each chapter to have a single board representative that has weighted voting.

President Michael Purol and President-elect Bob Becnel asked the Bylaws Committee, chaired by Ross Kasmann, to consider the amendment. MSPE currently has the largest Board of Directors among the state societies across the nation.

The “weighted voting” concept reduces the Board size while allowing each chapter to keep their respective voting power. For example, the Ozark Chapter would name one person as their Board representative who will attend Board meetings and carry three votes. The Jefferson City Chapter would send one person and carry two votes. This way the Board is smaller and more manageable but chapters are not being harmed by taking away any voting power.

The amendment is modeled off of how the NSPE House of Delegates works. Each state/territory has one person in the HOD and they have different votes based on their membership size.

Pursuant to ARTICLE XVII, Section 3, the Bylaws Committee has brought this amendment forward. Because the proposed amendment is a “governance” change, the process to approve is to present the amendment to the membership in writing with 30 days’ notice (published in the Spring Missouri Engineer) and at the convention’s membership meeting members can vote to approve or disapprove. The changes must be approved by a 2/3 majority of members at the meeting to prevail.

Click here to see proposed changes to ARTICLE V- Board of Directors (Governance): MSPE Bylaws.pdf

ACTION ALERT!

MSPE is Requesting Members Contact Their State Senator to Oppose
Senate Bill 463 and Any Related Amendments That Would Require Companies with State Contracts to Use Computer Tracking Software

The Missouri Society of Professional Engineers strongly opposes SB 463, which requires companies with a state contract in excess of $100,000 for professional or technical services to purchase and use a computer software program to verify the hours billed for work done on a computer. Personal data from your computer must be stored for seven years.

This bill, known as the “Software Tracking Bill”, is being pushed by a single company nationwide. Though the bill has been rebuked in nearby states and across the nation, the bill is picking up momentum in Missouri and could possibly latch to another bill as an amendment.

Please contact your state senator and ask them to “vote no on SB 463 and any language that mandates companies to use tracking software”.  

Click the link below to look up your state senator.   

http://www.senate.mo.gov/LegisLookup/default.aspx/leg_lookup.aspx

Official Notice January 25, 2019 Special MSPE Membership Meeting Scheduled for March 2, 2019 at the MSPE Office to Vote on Proposed Bylaw Amendments JEFFERSON CITY - MSPE President Michael Purol has announced a special membership meeting will be held on March 2 for the sole purpose of considering proposed by-law amendments. This is the rescheduled meeting for the one postponed in January for inclement weather. Over the last several months, the MSPE Bylaws Committee, crafted amendments to the existing society bylaws to comply with revisions to the NSPE Bylaws in the Spring of 2018. The new membership model became effective on July 1, 2018. MSPE contractually became an integrated society at that time. Revisions in the bylaws are required to ensure consistent policy between the MSPE bylaws and the NSPE Bylaws. Per Article XVII of the bylaws, the MSPE Board of Directors can approve amendments to "administrative" sections of the bylaws. The MSPE Bylaws require the Membership approve Amendments to sections labeled "governance". On October 12, the MSPE Board of Directors approved the "administrative" changes. During the same meeting, the Board of Directors approved holding a special membership meeting for the purpose of the membership voting on the "governance" amendments. This action satisfies the MSPE Article IV, Section 2 Bylaw requirement to call a special membership meeting. Meeting details are as follows: Event: MSPE Special Membership Meeting Date: Saturday, March 2, 2019 Time: 9:30 AM Location: MSPE Office 200 E. McCarty Street Jefferson City, Missouri This notice is to comply with Article XVII, Section 2, providing thirty days-notice via electronic communication to the voting membership. During this meeting, the proposed amendments may be approved by a two-thirds vote of the voting members in attendance. A quorum is defined as being at least one voting member present from at least two-thirds of the chapters.  A vote in favor approves the proposed changes.  A vote against disapproves the proposed changes. Please click here for proposedbylaws.

Jefferson City - The Missouri Society of Professional Engineers is featuring a new logo. During the January Board of Directors meeting, directors voted to adopt the new logo that makes MSPE more consistent with counterpart societies. Different formats for the state logo and chapters have been provided by NSPE. Each chapter president has received files for their logo in blue, black and white versions with transparent backgrounds.

According to NSPE, 40 of the 48 state and territorial integrated societies have adopted the new NSPE state logo. MSPE now becomes the 41st.