President's Message
NAEP Affiliation Agreement - 2010
I have addressed the subject of the Affiliation Agreement (AA) between AEP and NAEP in two previous President’s letters and I feel it is time for another Eblast of information on the subject. AEP’s current agreement with NAEP ends December 2010. A new AA has been prepared by NAEP and has requested its chapters renew their affiliation with NAEP by December 2010. NAEP has also prepared a “White Paper” titled “The Spirit of the Affiliation Agreement” (or, “Spirit Paper”) to give its chapters a better understanding of what the Affiliation Agreement means. The AA has been modified in response to my comments, and echoed by other NAEP chapters, offered at the NAEP Board Meeting in late April. The revised AA and the “Spirit Paper” are available for your review and comment on the AEP website (http://www.califaep.org/NAEPAffiliation).
Many AEP members still do not know what NAEP is or what it represents as an environmental professional organization. The National Association of Environmental Professionals (NAEP) is a multidisciplinary, professional association dedicated to the promotion of ethical practices, technical competency, and professional standards in the environmental fields. Its members reflect a diversity of employers, including government, industry, academia, consulting firms, and the private sector in the U.S. and abroad. They have access to the most recent developments in environmental practices, research, technology, law and policy. NAEP provides two significant publications to keep its members and affiliates informed of developments and trends in the practice of environmental planning: the NATIONAL eNEWS Newsletter is published bimonthly; and the ENVIRONMENTAL PRACTICE Journal is published quarterly by the Cambridge University Press in cooperation with DePaul University and offers a forum of research and commentary papers on environmental issues related to environmental science and policy. Similar to AEP, NAEP conducts much of its business through use of committees and they sponsor workshops and an annual conference for presentation of papers, panel discussions, and lectures on timely matters relevant to environmental planning.
My plan is to have a vote of the AEP membership to determine whether or not AEP should continue its affiliation with NAEP. This vote will occur in the late September timeframe. The AEP Board of Directors will make the final decision, based on the results of the voting and desires of respective chapters, at their November 2010 meeting. During the next four months there will be an active dialogue between AEP members and chapters on the AA and what being affiliated with NAEP represents in terms of cost to AEP members and benefits they will receive.
Two questions have already been asked by AEP members regarding the new agreement. What is the cost for affiliation? What do I get for the cost of affiliation with NAEP? Attached is a one-page paper that answers these two questions. In short, the annual cost will be $4,800 or about $3.00 per member. Note that this will not affect the AEP membership cost of $140 per year.
To facilitate the dialogue between AEP members and Chapter Boards a select group of AEP members familiar with the agreement will be meeting in June and July with each Chapter Board to discuss the Affiliation Agreement and answer questions. Your local chapter Board will have an ongoing dialogue with you on the AA to answer your questions. as will the. Each Chapter Board will communicate questions and issues received by their members to the AEP Board (using Lynne Bynder). All salient questions and issues will be answered and posted on the AEP Website.
I will be providing further updates on the Affiliation Agreement in my upcoming monthly messages to you. A new section has been developed on the AEP website to provide the latest information regarding the NAEP AA. I hope this will be an engaged and active dialogue so that all members hear and understand what this issue is about. Following the member vote and the Board decision on the matter, I will report the outcome to you.
If you have a question or require a direct contact to further discuss your questions please send it to Lynn Bynder at califaep@gmail.com. She will contact an AEP team member who will be in touch with you. All questions will be addressed.
Your AEP Board looks forward to your interest in this matter.
Best regards,
Gene Talmadge
AEP President