Maria Cristina Baltazar, PSP running for Director - Region 2
To view Maria's bio, click here. |
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| 1. In order to possibly promote increased attendance, would you be supportive of a more affordable Annual Meeting registration fee scheme for the members? |
| I would need to know the costs of the Annual Meeting before supporting a reduced registration fee. |
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| 2. How would you propose membership be increased in North America and internationally? |
I would concentrate on targeting young people to increase membership. This would include reaching out to engineering and management students and young professionals who have just started their career. I would offer incentives or discounts to get them in the door so they could see the value of AACE, begin to make connections, and get involved.
Also, I would target professionals who are receiving the benefits of AACE without paying membership dues. This includes those who have AACE certifications, are scheduled to take the exams, or those who are taking advantage of our mentoring program. Lastly, I would take a look at the professional organizations competing with us, and develop additional strategies to increase our exposure. |
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| 3. What do you see as the two most significant challenges facing your position and how would you address these two challenges |
One challenge is to provide consistency and the sharing of information among the sections. I have worked with both the Baltimore Metro and the National Capital Sections, and I found that we can be stronger by sharing our resources and information. To do this, I would propose additional meeting/networking within the region.
Another challenge is to increase participation in the monthly section meetings and to increase the amount of volunteerism within each section. To do this, I would propose approaching corporate heads and section managers to explain the value of having AACE certified employees and AACE board members. In addition to providing corporate exposure, corporations who have AACE certified professionals have an advantage when writing proposals and submitting resumes. If the corporate heads and section managers support AACE, then the employees will have more incentive to participate. |
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| 4. What are your thoughts on the AACE International membership category of “Emeritus”? |
| I support the membership category of “Emeritus”. |
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| 5. What do you see is working right with the association today; in general or specifically? |
| I think the best thing about the association is the excitement and energy about our profession that I see at section meetings, the annual meeting, and various networking events. I’ve enjoyed listening in on debates and discussions, which is possible because our organization is filled with people who are passionate about their work. |
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| 6. What do you see as needing improvement with the association today; in general or specifically? |
| I think we need to increase membership participation and involvement. Only a small percentage of members actually attend monthly meetings, volunteer for board positions, or attend the annual meeting. |
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| 7. For the areas where you see the association needs improvement, how should they be addressed? |
| To increase membership participation, I would propose offering discounts or incentives for those who regularly participate in monthly meetings. I would also target corporate heads, section managers, and students to increase AACE exposure and value. |
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| 8. What value to the association does the Approved Education Provider (AEP) program provide? |
| I think the AEP program helps establish the AACE as a valuable resource for cost engineering professionals. Cost engineers can turn to AACE for technical support and feel confident that our organization is identifying quality education providers. |
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| 9. How would you propose the value of the AEP program to AACE members be increased? |
| The value would be increased by exposing more members to the program. This would include promoting AEP courses at the monthly section meetings and on the section websites. |
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| 10. What are your thoughts relative to the association expanding internationally, including into China? |
| I would support international expansion, simply to increase the diversity of our organization. |
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