Understanding the Role of NCSEA in Supporting SEAU
By David Marshall, SEAU NCSEA Delegate
As a member of the SEAU board my responsibility is to act as the NCSEA delegate. That is just a fancy way of saying that I make sure our local SEAU is in communication with NCSEA and that all information and resources are passed between NCSEA and SEAU.
If you are reading this, you are of course familiar with SEAU, but what is NCSEA and what is its purpose? Straight from NCSEA.com:
“NCSEA is dedicated to advancing the structural engineering profession through education, advocacy, career development, and community”
and
“NCSEA, in partnership with its Member Organizations, supports practicing structural engineers to be high qualified professionals and successful leaders.”
Hopefully this sounds familiar! The purpose of SEAU:
- Promote acquaintance and understanding among structural engineers.
- Promote technical expertise.
- Promote legislation and codes relating to structural engineering.
- Increase public awareness of structural engineering.
- Discourage unethical and detrimental practice.
- Promote high standards of structural engineering in the best interests of clients, community, public and the profession.
NCSEAs purpose is to support SEAU in accomplishing its purpose! How great is that? As members of SEAU, each and every one of you is automatically enrolled as a member of NCSEA. I invite you to visit NCSEA.com, create a log in, and start to take advantages of the resources NCSEA provides.
Some of the various resources available include:
- Webinars to earn PDH. (Additional fees may apply)
- SE GPT – “A powerful, free tool that delivers expert structural engineering insights from trusted sources”
- SE3 Survey – “Explores the full workplace experience to identify what’s helping and what’s getting in the way of a health, rewarding career in structural engineer.”
- Compensation & Benefits Study – “A comprehensive look at salaries, bonuses, PTO, and benefits across the structural engineering profession” (Additional fees may apply)
- Committee Leadership – Many of the national level committees parallel those of SEAU. These national level committees are open and available for guidance, to answer questions, and to provide additional resources to our SEAU committees.
- Publications, white papers, technical books, and much more!
In October I attended the annual NCSEA Summit in New York City, NY. At this summit engineering leaders, engineers, and vendors met together to communicate, share ideas, and learn from one another. Not unlike the SEAU conference, we attended lectures, participated in site visits, celebrated engineering achievements, and enjoyed social time with fellow engineers from around the country.
At the summit I learned that one of the newest ways NCSEA is attempting to help local SEAs is by creating SEA Regional Coalitions. SEAU has been grouped into the Southwest Region with SEAs from Arizona, Arkansas, Colorado, Louisiana, New Mexico, Oklahoma, and Texas.
This coalition is a work in progress, but the purpose of the coalition is to encourage the SEA leadership of these groups to engage with one another on a continual basis. During the summit we discussed the challenges we face with membership growth, membership retention, financial concerns, and bringing continued value to our member organizations This continual conversation will aid our SEAs in becoming better, stronger, and more worthwhile.
As a new member of the SEAU board I can tell you firsthand that we are working hard to make sure SEAU provides the value its members deserve. The conversation with NCSEA and other SEAs is generating new ideas and new possibilities. I am excited for SEAUs future and hope that all of you will continue to support SEAU and take advantage of the resources that both SEAU and NCSEA provide.
