ITE of Transportation Engineers
Western District
CAREER GUIDANCE CHAIRPERSON
GUIDELINES
Purpose
The purpose of the Career Guidance Chairperson Position is to promote the advancement of the
transportation planning and engineering profession by fostering the close association of senior
professionals with civil and transportation planning, ITE, and young professionals.
Young engineers are valuable assets and the future leaders of ITE and the goals and objectives
related to young engineers outlined herein can only be achieved by encouraging young
professionals to be more active within the profession and ITE.
A. General Responsibilities
The Career Guidance Chair is responsible for assisting professional members in the Western
District with career guidance and providing opportunities to enhance career growth. This can
include development of a mentoring program that provides an opportunity for a young ITE
associate member to form a relationship between a junior (mentee) with a senior transportation
professional (mentor). The Career Guidance Chair will promote an outreach to the younger
associate members (new) of ITE Western District. The Career Guidance Chair is responsible for
promoting and supporting opportunities for training and continuing education for Western
District members.
B. Initial Tasks
Upon appointment as the Career Guidance Chair, the designate shall notify ITE International, the
editor of the WesternITE, and the website manager. The new Chair should verify that the contact
information under the “student services” link on the WesternITE website has been changed to
reflect the Chair’s current data. The Career Guidance Chair should have the contact information
updated if it changes during the Chair’s term.
C. Board Reports
The Western District Board of Direction holds two formal meetings each year. The mid-year
meeting is typically held in late January or early February. The second meeting is traditionally
held on the first day (Sunday) of the Western District Annual Meetings that take place in June or
July (or in August for joint International meetings). The Western District Career Guidance
Chairperson shall provide a report to the Board prior to each meeting. The report should, at a
minimum, detail the activities of the Chair and includes information on the young professional
awards and progress of that year’s initiatives. The Chair is invited to attend these Board
meetings to present the report.
Revised on 09-17-2013 by NDS
ITE of Transportation Engineers
Western District
D. Annual Awards
The Career Guidance Chairperson is responsible for the three young professional awards that are
presented at the Annual Meeting:
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Young Professional Achievement Award
Employer Recognition Award
Best Annual Meeting Paper By A Young Professional
Detailed guidelines and rules have been written for each award and are included below as
guidelines for the Career Guidance Chairperson.
Young Professional Award
The Western District Young Professional Achievement Award recognizes young professional
who have shown exceptional dedication to the transportation profession through ITE service,
have significant accomplishments that benefit the profession of transportation
engineering/planning, and/or have participated in mentoring transportation professionals. To be
eligible for the Western District Young Professional Achievement Award, the young
professional must be 35 years old or younger and be a member of ITE Western District. The
award was established in 2005. The recipient of the award will be presented with a plaque at the
Western District Annual Meeting and is selected from a group of nominees by a committee
chaired by the Western District Career Guidance Chair.
Young Professional Award
The Employer Recognition Award of the Western District of the ITE of Transportation
Engineering (ITE) is an effort to recognize employers for supporting young professionals
(professionals 35 years or younger) in ITE activities, technical training and professional
development/mentorship. This award was created to recognize admired employers who
acknowledge that young professionals are today’s leaders in the profession and set goals for their
personal development.
Growing the young professionals into seasoned professionals are keys to ITE’s future. As a
means of fostering individual young professional participation in ITE activities, ITE Western
District has developed a program to help Sections and Chapters recognize those employers who
encourage their young professionals to get involved. Special recognition will go to those
organizations that exhibit exemplary support evidenced by efforts such as:
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Encouraging young professionals to participate in local, district and international ITE
activities. This can include attending meetings, web seminars, preparing articles or
publications for presentation at ITE conferences and technical journals.
Provide opportunities and supporting advanced training/technical development for young
professionals.
Revised on 09-17-2013 by NDS
ITE of Transportation Engineers
Western District
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Providing a model
development/mentoring.
and
support
young
professionals
in
professional
Applications for the award are provided on the Western District website.
Best Annual Meeting Paper by a Young Professional
This award recognizes the author of a paper judged to be the best technical paper presented at the
ITE Western District Annual Meeting by a Young Professional (35 years old or younger). The
paper would be judged based on its value to transportation engineering. Papers are screened by
the local arrangements technical committee and judged by a panel of section technical chairs.
Key criteria include: Originality; Significance and Applicability to Transportation; Research and
Technical Content; and Ability to clearly communicate information (presentation and format).
Papers should be submitted to the Western District Career Guidance Chair after acceptance by
the Annual Meeting Local Arrangements Committee. The award was established in 2005 and the
winning author receives a plaque at the Western District Annual Meeting.
E. Career Guidance Activities
The Career Guidance Chair should assist professional members in the Western District with
career guidance and providing opportunities to enhance career growth.
A survey for the development of a mentoring program that provides an opportunity for a young
ITE associate member to form a relationship between a junior (mentee) with a senior
transportation professional (mentor) should be conducted. The intent of the program would be to
enhance the mentees career satisfaction and growth by providing a setting for guidance and
assistance in achieving career goals within a one-to-one relationship.
The Career Guidance Chair will promote an outreach to the younger associate members (new) of
the ITE Western District. This focus on younger members can include younger member mixers
at Western District annual meetings, training and educational opportunities, promotion of the
benefits and support of ITE, and fostering employers to encourage junior members to attend
meetings such as “take a junior” to an ITE meeting.
The Career Guidance Chair is responsible for promoting and supporting opportunities for
training and continuing education for the Western District members. Activities can include
promoting training and education at annual meetings, working with ITE headquarters to bring
technical resources to Sections, promoting ITE on-line learning center, and identifying and
promoting training areas of interest to the Western District members.
Revised on 09-17-2013 by NDS
ITE of Transportation Engineers
Western District
Board Reports to Western
District President
Achievement Award
(Deadline)
Employer Award (Deadline)
Best Paper (Deadline)
Revised on 09-17-2013 by NDS
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June
May
April
March
February
January
December
November
October
September
August
Western District Career
Guidance Chair Task
Schedule
July
L. Schedule
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(4/1)
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(4/1)
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(4/1)