Proposed Dues Changes for ISA

Going home is always good. Last night I had the opportunity to return to my home town of Bakersfield, California, to attend the 25th Anniversary of the Southern San Joaquin Valley Section of ISA. The SSJV group is always a lot of fun to be around…You know you’re with a good group of people when they have board position titles like “Head Chef”!

Congratulations to the SSJV Section on 25 years! As with any Section, it waxes and wanes depending on the local economy (largely oil production), but the leaders always seem to keep the Section moving in a positive direction, even through downturns. Really a remarkable group!

The meeting was held at a favorite local restaurant, Luigi’s—famous for their wonderful Basque food, AND the many photos of local “celebrities.” I almost lost my appetite when I sat down to eat and staring me in the face was a rather large photo of my high school algebra teacher, Turk Eliades. Not-so-pleasant memories of mastering quadratic equations came back to me causing the hair on the back of my neck to rise! You see, Coach Eliades is legendary in Bakersfield for his sideline antics at Friday night football games. He had such a passion for the sport and coaching that he simply couldn’t contain himself. But if Turk had passion on the field, he had even more in the classroom. Eliades was (he’s retired now) one of those teachers that you hate at the time but come to realize the positive impact they have later in life. Turk never blamed a student for unwillingness or inability to learn—he blamed himself for an inability to teach and get through. I recall more than one instance of Mr. Eliades breaking down in tears of despair at not being able to get kids to understand the finer points of Trigonometry. I owe Mr. Eliades for teaching me algebra, but more importantly I owe him big time for teaching me the importance of passion.

Society Section Delegates have received their packets of information on all the agenda items which, in addition to the name change, include a dues increase and a reduction in the percentage of dues that is rebated to the Sections.

The dues increase is long overdue. The Society uses a formula (basically factoring in the cost of member benefits weighed with the CPI) to calculate when we should pull the trigger on a dues increase. According to the formula it should have been done several years ago, but the leadership of the Society was in the midst of adding some very worthwhile benefits (free standards downloads, access to all Expo and Symposia papers, etc.) and wanted the value to be present before raising dues. That was over two years ago. In addition to access to standards and papers, Division membership in two divisions will be included in the standard membership (an $18 value). By modifying our dues from $85.00 to $100.00 and including two Division memberships, many of our Members will actually pay less in the form of dues.

Currently 20% of member dues are rebated to the local Section of a Member. One quarter of this rebate is re-directed to the District a Member resides in to support regional activities and the District Vice-Presidential duties. The District funding is by choice and participation may be declined. There is a motion to reduce the percentage of the dues rebate to Sections from 20% to 15% and to eliminate the District “tax.” Please note that if the dues increase is passed, and a Section is no longer paying a quarter of that 20% to cover District funding, the actual funds that go to the section will increase:

($85 dues X 20%) – ($85 x 20%)(25%) =
$17 dues rebate - $4.25 district tax = $12.75 current dues rebate

vs.

$100 dues X 15% = $15.00 propsed dues rebate.

Districts will be funded by a standard Society budgeting process rather than having a separate pool of money. The reason for making this change is two-fold: First, we want to have our Sections (geographical entities) and Divisions (Technical/Industry Interest groups) on equal footing—both financially and with Members. Second, we want to be compliant with some of the rules and regulations that have resulted from Sarbanes-Oxley.

There has been a lot of e-mail traffic and discussion regarding the initiatives coming before the Council of Society Delegates. This is good. Even if I don’t agree with everything that is being said, I see it as a good omen for our Society that the discussions are taking place; however, I do feel the same despair as Turk Eliades when I see messages that indicate the Society has not provided leaders with adequate time to digest these issues. The information has been available since at least early June, and in most cases it dates back to January.

We may not all agree on the best path for ISA, but I do believe that we all have a passion for the success of the organization. So once again, your feedback is valued and I hope each and every member that reads this will throw in their two cents and not the proverbial towel!

Contact your Section delegate—or email me at isapresident@isa.org and I will forward your message to your delegate—to tell them your stance on the dues increase and Section rebate proposals.

For additional information about the proposed agenda items being brought before the Council of Society Delegates at EXPO this October, visit www.isa.org/mem/CSDFAQ.

Proposed ISA Name Change

Silence can be deafening.

To put it in automation “techy” terms: If you provide an input signal and get no output, something is wrong. This was brought to mind this week when I observed (thanks to many friends) an electronic dialogue regarding the proposed name change for ISA that is going to be brought before the Council of Society Delegates this October, as well as a few other key agenda items.

What really distressed me was the number of people who indicated that they have seen no effort by the Society leadership to promote the name change or any of the other agenda items. Huh?

I know that I and many of my Executive Board colleagues have been out promoting, informing, discussing, and dialoguing all year…How do we miss so many of our Members?

Well…I’ll take one more stab at it here and hope that the word gets out.

First: The name change.

I realize that changing the name of our organization is highly emotional for Members, especially those who have been around for a lot of years. The name and their membership is part of their identity; however, we need to recognize the massive changes that have taken place and reshaped our Society since its inception. We are no longer just instruments. Yes, instruments are an important part of any automation scheme or operation of plants, but we are more. Aren’t we?

We are no longer just Instruments and Systems. These are also part of a grand scheme to automate a process…right? The current name is all inclusive and specific, but what happens when technology changes? What happens when science and technology advances beyond our wildest imagination? When “instruments and systems” no longer describes what we are doing? We need a name that is timeless and not tied to any specific technology or job function. Although many do not feel that automation describes what they do, does any other single term do a better job of embracing all of the members that make up our Society?

These questions are the real motivation behind changing the name. As an added bonus, the name becomes easier to explain to people “outside the inner circle” and we match up with our positioning as the voice of the automation profession and setting the standard in automation.

It is my fervent hope that when this name change is passed, ISA will not need to modify the name again until we colonize the galaxy and have to change it to the Inter-galactic Society of Automation.

Below is a FAQ sheet regarding the name change that offers even more information. I hope that everyone will take the time to read the information and make an informed decision about the future direction of the Society and its name.

PROPOSED BYLAWS CHANGE
RESOLVED: that Article I, Section 1, be amended to strikeout the words “ISA – The Instrumentation, Systems, and Automation Society” and insert the words “International Society of Automation” and that the officers of the Society be authorized and directed to execute any and all necessary documents to affect the change of the Society name legally.

The amended bylaws would read (eliminations; new wording):

ARTICLE I - Name

1. The name of this organization is ISA – The Instrumentation, Systems, and Automation Society International Society of Automation. The organization is a North Carolina nonprofit corporation and is hereafter referred to as the “SOCIETY” or “ISA.”


ISA PROPOSED NAME CHANGE FAQs

Q. Why is this Society name change being recommended?
This name change is being recommended to more accurately position the Society as the “Voice of the Automation Profession” worldwide. The definition of automation, as developed by the Society Leadership (see FAQ 3#), is much broader than just instrumentation and control systems.

Q. Why is the Society recommending this change after it was rejected in 2007?
The name change resolution was narrowly rejected at the 2007 Council of Society Delegates meeting. This was primarily due to an inadequate definition of the term automation and a lack of communication about the desire and need to make this name change. Since then, a major effort has been placed on creating an all-encompassing, mutually-agreed-to definition for the term automation (see FAQ #3). In addition, a further effort by the Society Executive Committee has endeavored to reach out to the Membership. Discussions on this topic were held during all District Leadership Conferences, Kim Miller Dunn has covered the name change in her BLOG, and references to the name change have been included in the summer issue of the Section Leaders Brief that is mailed to all identified Section leaders.

Q. What does the term automation mean in this context?
The Society Leadership has been focusing on defining this term since the 2007 CSD meeting. Their goal was to craft a definition that would be all-encompassing and would serve to expand the horizons of the Society. The following definition for automation is the final result that was vetted through multiple Member peer-review groups:

“Automation is the creation and application of technology to monitor and control the production of goods and services.”

Q. What does this name change mean to me as a Member of ISA?
All of the activities, services, and product offerings of the Society will continue to serve ISA Members as before, but in an expanded capacity. In addition to providing Member value, the Society will be advancing the profession of automation and providing recognition for all who serve in this field. By representing the profession to the world at large, ISA will play a critical role in leading the profession into the future, and ISA Members will be at the forefront of this effort.

Q. Will this name change have any impact on Sections?
Possibly. As separate legal corporations, a Section determines its own legal name. An ISA Section is not required to change its legal name; however, the Society recommends Sections change their legal name to “International Society of Automation – xxxx Section.”

Q. Will the Society provide funds to help with Section expenses incurred with the name change?
Yes. Society funds of $250 will be made available, upon request, to Sections to help pay for any legal name change fees. All requests should be submitted to headquarters within six months following the announcement of a formal decision by the Council of Society Delegates.

Q. How will this name change be implemented?
The Society currently uses only the logo, letters “ISA,” and tagline, “Setting the Standard for Automation,” in published material; consequently, no major changes will be made as a result of this name change. Future campaigns will establish the Society as the voice of the automation profession on a worldwide basis.

Watch my blog for further information on other important agenda items coming before the Council of Society Delegates in October.