Message from the Chair
Abstract
What can you do, as a contributing member of the division?
The ASEE’s Engineering Design Graphics Division’s 59th Annual Mid-year Meeting was held in Williamsburg, Virginia on November 21-23, 2004. Over one hundred members and friends attended the meeting and enjoyed the benefits of exchanging ideas on teaching graphics and design, networking with our colleagues, and interacting with software vendors and publishers. And of course, we also enjoyed the hospitality of the historic village of Williamsburg, dining with authentic colonial fare, and discussions of politics and household affairs with patriots and loyalists alike.
The opportunity to participate in these conferences is not the only benefit of membership in the EDG Division, but it is certainly one of the most often cited as reason for joining the Division. Our membership is drawn from engineering and technical universities and community/junior colleges throughout this country and from abroad. The Division promotes teaching, research, discussion, and communication in all forms and applications of technical graphics. Other benefits include our journal, which you are reading now. The EDG Journal provides a venue for refereed publication of your research. We sponsor the National Student Design Competition at the ASEE Annual Conference.
Not only does membership in our division provide benefits, but it also comes with some responsibilities. According to the dictionary, a member is “one that belongs to a group or organization”, and we think of our membership in the Division in that sense. However, we also refer to members as specific structural units or body parts. Structural units function to support and strengthen the unit to which they belong. Body parts likewise have a specific and useful function. Likewise, members in a strong and healthy organization are expected to contribute to the work and mission of the group. What can you do, as a contributing member of the division?
First, spread the word! Recruit! We need to include all graphics educators in our organization. If you are reading this message and enjoying our journal, but are not a member, I hope you will be encouraged to join. If you are already a member, encourage your colleagues to join. Plan now to bring a colleague to our next mid-year meeting in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, on December 3-6, 2005. If you have contacts at other universities or local community colleges, invite them to one of our meetings, or share a copy of our journal with them. Even if their budgets and teaching schedules limit their conference attendance, they can still benefit from the exchange of ideas through publications and our website.
Second, contribute! To the journal, to conferences, or to our zones pages (contact Alice Scales, Alice_Scales@ncsu.edu). I encourage all of you to submit papers to the journal, and incorporate the design competition into your freshman graphics course. See the contest website for more information about the Student Design Competition (http://www.rpi.edu/~baxted/glider/glider.htm).
And finally, be active in service to the division. If you are interested in participating in the work of any of the committees (Membership, Liaison, Professional and Technical, Publications, Programs, Zones), please contact the appropriate committee director, listed on our website (http://www.east.asu.edu/edgj/edgd/). We are also still looking for people to help with the upcoming conferences. Our next mid-year meeting will be held in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida. Wouldn’t you like to be involved? Ron Paré, Mike Stewart and Kathy Holliday-Darr would appreciate your help.
As American Express reminds us, “membership has its benefits," but also its responsibilities. I hope to see you all add your support to make ours a viable and healthy division.
