News Detail

Join an ACI Committee—National, Local, or Both

8/1/1997

One of the most important and personally satisfying activities available to you is to get involved in ACI committee work. This memo is written to help stimulate you, the readers of Concrete International, to actively pursue ACI committee work at either the national or local chapter level. I'll begin by describing the many opportunities open to you and then give a brief description of the mechanics of joining and participating. While this month's comments are directed primarily at individuals not already active in Institute committee work, I do have a special message for those other "active" readers—we very much need your help in taking the time to personally invite your colleagues to "take the step" to get into ACI committee activities, and then to help mentor and nurture new committee members, particularly if they are attending their first and second ACI conventions.

Committees at the ACI International level are concentrated in four areas—technical, educational, certification, and Board of Direction committees. Two of the nearly 20 standing Board committees—Technical Activities (better known as TAC) and Educational Activities (EAC)—coordinate the more than 100 technical and educational committees currently active within ACI. A full listing of the Institute's committees is given on this website, and is also available from ACI headquarters by requesting "ACI Committees." Institute committees span a very broad spectrum of topics, ranging from cracking to specifications to student activities to certification to fiber reinforced plastic reinforcement. Many committees also have a highly structured subcommittee organization, with numerous opportunities for membership on the subcommittees.

What do ACI committees do? Their most important activity, by far, is the preparation of documents—guidelines, recommendations, state-of-the-art reviews, specifications, and standards. ACI's Manual of Concrete Practice, five thick volumes (or one CD-ROM) of information on designing, building, and maintaining concrete structures and facilities, is made up entirely of ACI committee documents. These committees also organize convention sessions and develop seminars, educational sessions, and certification programs. And they work with ACI's staff to produce special publications, many based on convention sessions.

ACI International committees normally meet twice a year, usually early in the week of the Institute's conventions held in March-April and October-November time frames. These meetings are OPEN, except for occasional executive sessions where personnel issues are being discussed. When you register for an Institute convention, you are entitled to go to any ACI committee meeting, whether or not you are a member; this includes the smallest specialty technical or educational committee meeting to the deliberations of the so-called "heavyweight" committees which include EAC, TAC, CPC, ACI 318, and the ACI Board of Direction.

There are several membership categories for committees—regular, associate, and consulting. Regular membership (called membership) provides you with the opportunity (and the obligation) to vote on documents prepared by the committee; it also requires that you regularly attend committee meetings at ACI conventions. Qualified persons interested in membership on a particular ACI committee may submit their names and qualifications to ACI headquarters for consideration, using the committee applicant form on this website. Consulting membership is special and will not be described here.

Associate membership is a somewhat less demanding category in that you do not have to attend committee meetings. But you are expected to participate in committee activities, including document preparation, discussions, etc. Any ACI member can request associate membership in up to three committees (excluding those committees preparing standards, such as 318 and 530) by completing the committee applicant form and mailing it to Institute headquarters. Associate members receive copies of committee correspondence, including agendas and minutes of committee meetings, and committee documents being sent out for ballots. While associate members do not have document voting privileges, they can express negative viewpoints on ballot items, which in turn must be considered by the committee. An associate member of a committee often moves on to full membership after a few years. Each of our nearly 90 local chapters of the Institute sets up its own committee structure. The larger local chapters will have a full complement of committees, including finance, program, seminars, certification, awards, publicity, student activities, etc. Please check with your local chapter to determine the existing committees open to you. There are many great opportunities for making a meaningful contribution to the success of your area's chapter.

To summarize this month's coverage, the thousands of volunteers who make up the ACI committees provide a great service to the concrete industry and to society in general by working to improve the quality of constructed facilities. You can have a definite impact on our profession by active participation in one or more ACI committees at either the national or local level. Don't be shy in volunteering. And remember that, as a member of any other group, be it social, fraternal, religious, or technical, your own personal benefits will be in direct proportion to your degree of involvement and participation. ACI committee membership represents professional commitment at its very highest level, and I truly treasure my own intensive committee involvement over the past 35 years.

Address: Hollister Hall, Cornell University, Ithaca, N. Y., 14853; e-mail: RNW3@Cornell.edu; FAX: (607) 255-4828; telephone: (607) 255-6497.

Richard N. White
President
American Concrete Institute

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