SFPE Strategic Plan
2015-17
Milosh Puchovsky, PE, FSFPE
Strategic Planning Committee Co-Chair
Professor of Practice
WPI, Dept. of Fire Protection Engineering
Agenda
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Background
Environmental Scan & Situation Analysis
Future Direction
Strategic Goals & Pictures of Success
Next Steps
Background
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Worked with a strategic planning consultant
Informed by an environmental scan
Included full Board participation
Involved multiple strategy sessions and a
series of conference calls
Environmental Scan
• Interviews with SFPE members including
chapter leaders
• Survey of recent graduates of FPE programs
• Examination of peer organizations
• Interviews with all board and staff members,
and a board self-assessment
• Internal document review
Environmental Scan Results
• Praise for SFPE’s content leadership and body of
knowledge
• Strong on professional networks & education
• PE designation for FPE treasured in the U.S.;
high demand for credentialing elsewhere
• Membership and revenues flat for five years;
increase in global members offset a U.S. decline
Environmental Scan Results (cont.)
• Substantial global interest
• Relationship with and among Chapters less than
optimal
• Rely heavily on volunteers and membership
dues
Situation Analysis
• Opportunities and needs for the profession are
global
• Opportunity and need to make further policy
impacts, and elevate the visibility and
importance of the profession
• Uniquely positioned to recruit future engineers
into the profession
• SFPE is uniquely positioned to develop a
credentialing program
Situation Analysis (Cont.)
• Opportunity and need to strengthen the role
and sustainability of SFPE chapters
• Need to align the governance and committee
structure to serve the global nature of the
society and meet future goals and challenges
• Opportunity and need to expand collaborations
with other organizations
• Market competition
MOVING FORWARD
What Will Drive SFPE’s Future?
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Living our vision
Staying true to our mission
Setting and capturing trends
Advancing and supporting the global demand
for the profession
• Establishing and achieving ambitious goals
New Vision
The leaders in engineering
a fire safe world.
Revised Mission
To define, develop, and advance the use of
engineering best practices; to expand the
scientific and technical knowledge base; to
educate the global fire safety community,
in order to minimize fire risk.
Scope of Practice
The application of science and
engineering principles to protect
people, property, and the environment
from the harmful and destructive
effects of fire.
Membership Definition
As a global organization, SFPE
members include fire protection
engineers, fire safety engineers, fire
engineers, and allied professionals.
Value Proposition
Benefit from engagement with SFPE:
1. SFPE facilitates and promotes the development,
advancement and application of scientific and
engineering principles to safeguarding people,
property, mission, heritage and the environment from
the negative impacts of unwanted fire.
2. SFPE is the leading advocate for the profession.
Value Proposition (Cont.)
3. SFPE establishes the core competencies (education,
skills, knowledge, etc.), and the roles and
responsibilities for the profession
4. SFPE is the source for related technical knowledge
and information.
5. SFPE provides the tools to aid our members’
continued growth throughout their careers.
6. We provide forums for networking and information
exchange, locally and globally.
STRATEGIC GOALS & PICTURES OF
SUCCESS
Strategic Goals
• Meant to be “evergreen”
–span multiple plan cycles
• Tied to the value proposition
• Achieved through three-year objectives
Strategic Goal 1
Promote the development, advancement and
application of scientific and engineering principles to
safeguard people, property, mission, heritage and the
environment from the negative impacts of unwanted
fire.
Strategic Goal 1
Objective 1. Promote engineering solutions for
addressing existing and emerging fire safety issues.
Picture of Success in 2017: We will have increased
global awareness that FPE/FSEs make a difference;
set an agenda for key issues; and demonstrated that
FPE/FSE input is of critical importance through
public awareness campaigns, position statements,
policies, media campaigns & speaking engagements.
Strategic Goal 1
Objective 2. Broaden SFPE’s reach globally
Picture of Success in 2017: We will have a strong
SFPE brand globally; increased chapter, corporate
and membership growth with functional
relationships; a wider distribution and use of guides
and standards; more global participation on SFPE
committees and formal representation on industry
committees and groups; clearer points of contact in
regions; and have formalized the regional groups to
ensure strong impact.
Strategic Goal 1
Objective 3. Expand reference to SFPE standards and
guides in regulatory documents.
Picture of Success in 2017: We will have developed a
strategy for outlining FPEs’ roles and responsibilities and
use of associated reference documents; obtained
greater references in relevant regulations and standards,
including commentaries and handbooks; included SFPE’s
Performance-based Design Guide referenced in building
and fire regulations as a process to follow for alternative
design; reviewed standards and guides that could be
adopted for other countries; and celebrated the 32
NFPA references to SFPE documents and encourage
more
Strategic Goal 2
Advocate for the profession.
Strategic Goals 2
Objective 1. Expand initiatives to recruit
students and faculty into undergraduate and
graduate FPE/FSE engineering programs and
actively encourage the creation of additional
university degree programs and partnerships
that support the profession.
Strategic Goals 2
Objective 1
Picture of Success in 2017: We will have obtained greater
exposure and circulation of SFPE’s materials on Chemistry
in Fire and Careers in Fire Protection Engineering to
attract more students into undergraduate and graduate
programs; developed a recruitment program in the form
of a public awareness campaign that targets
undergraduate engineering schools and highlights the
opportunities for pursuing a graduate degree in FPE/FSE;
and identified and supported universities and colleges as
candidates for creating new FPE/FSE graduate and
undergraduate programs.
Strategic Goals 2
Objective 2. Promote and advocate for the
licensure and credentialing of FPE/FSEs.
Picture of Success in 2017: We will have maintained
the FPE exam in the U.S.; succeeded in having all 50
U.S. states recognize the FPE designation;
implemented a dashboard to track status with
formalized criteria and measures; and encouraged
chapters to identify what would be required to get
formal accreditation in their regions.
Strategic Goals 2
Objective 3. Collaborate with other
organizations on licensure requirements outside
of the U.S.
Picture of Success in 2017: We will have
obtained global accreditation with licensing
bodies as needed; worked with NCEES on their
global expansion plans; and explored other
options in regions where NCEES doesn’t have a
presence.
Strategic Goals 3
Continue to enhance the capacity of SFPE and its
chapters to provide high-quality services to
members and the profession.
Strategic Goals 3
Objective 1. Restructure SFPE’s governance and
resources to align with the strategic plan.
Picture of Success in 2017: We will have
restructured governance of SFPE to achieve the
goals and objectives of the strategic plan.
Strategic Goals 3
Objective 2. Support the development, growth,
and stability of chapters.
Picture of Success in 2017: SFPE and its chapters
are aligned in advancing the mission of the
organization through strong partnering
relationships based on clear communications
and mutual support. Additionally, there will be
demonstrated growth globally of the number of
chapters and their associated members.
Strategic Goals 3
Objective 3. Re-evaluate and develop specific
roles and responsibilities for our chapters to
benefit our profession.
Picture of Success in 2017: SFPE and its
chapters are aligned and have clear and
reasonable roles and responsibilities outlined
that differentiate between the two.
Strategic Goal 4
Establish the core competencies (education,
skills, knowledge, etc.) and roles and
responsibilities for the profession.
Strategic Goal 4
Objective 1. Identify and take ownership of areas
of competency and associated criteria.
Picture of Success in 2017: We will have defined
the areas of competency globally, including the PE
exam and other credentialing processes.
Strategic Goal 4
Objective 2. Define the educational criteria for the
profession.
Picture of Success in 2017: We will have identified
and documented the globally agreed upon
educational background of FPEs/FSEs.
Strategic Goal 5
Develop, expand and promulgate technical
knowledge and information.
Strategic Goal 5
• Objective 1. Facilitate the development and
implementation of a research agenda for fire
protection engineering and fire safety.
• Picture of Success in 2017: We will have
created a research agenda; assembled a team
to structure the agenda, process and
proposals; and identified potential industry
collaborators.
Strategic Goal 5
• Objective 2: Develop additional technical
standards and guides that define the practice
of fire protection engineering and fire safety.
• Picture of Success in 2017: We will have
assessed and prioritized the development of
new standards and guides; delivered the next
edition of the Handbook; begun work on the
subsequent edition; and developed at least
two new standards/guides by 2017.
Strategic Goal 5
• Objective 3. Develop core curriculum to guide
SFPE’s educational activities and publications.
• Picture of Success in 2017: We will have
completed and published a core curriculum that
includes a comprehensive list of offerings
including new courses; publicized the framework
from the ECCG White Paper; published an article
in FPE magazine to give the curriculum more
exposure; and created a catalog of educational
courses.
Strategic Goal 6
Provide the means to aid members’ continued
growth throughout their careers.
Strategic Goal 6
Objective 1. Improve electronic platform for
24/7 course and publication delivery.
Picture of Success in 2017: We will have
implemented a learning management system
with 2 to 3 courses/publications a year with PDH
tracking and launched a new web site and
member only area.
Strategic Goal 6
• Objective 2. Develop and deliver a spectrum of
continuing education products to meet members’
needs locally.
• Picture of Success in 2017: We will have created
and implemented a “SFPE University” concept
that meets global members’ needs, including
presentations, publications, webinars, and
courses. We will have assessed and, if viable,
developed and delivered a global certification
program.
Next Steps
• Implement action items
• Board to vote on related Bylaws changes
• Ballot membership on needed changes
to the Constitution
Closing Remarks