STEVEN M. TUPPER, E.I.T –
CANDIDATE FOR JUNIOR DIRECTOR POSITION
First of all, it is a privilege to be nominated for this position, particularly in
the company of Jason DeGray and Sam Gregorio. For those of you who I
haven't met yet, I am a former UMass ITE Student Chapter President and
current NEITE Student Chapter Liaison who would welcome this
opportunity to continue to make contributions to NEITE. I believe that the
NEITE should be built upon a strong foundation of membership,
leadership, and vision and, in this position, would seek to strengthen this
foundation.
EDUCATION
M.S., Civil Engineering, University of Massachusetts Amherst, 2011
B.S., Civil Engineering, University of Massachusetts Amherst, 2009
PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE
Technical Services Planner, Cape Cod Commission – Barnstable, MA (2011-present)
National Park Foundation Transportation Scholar – New Bedford, MA (2011)
Graduate Research Assistant, UMass Amherst – Amherst, MA (2009-2011)
LEADERSHIP POSITIONS HELD
New England ITE Student Chapter Liaison (2012-present)
UMass Amherst ITE Student Chapter President (2009-2011)
UMass Amherst ITE Student Chapter Webmaster (2008-2009)
Chi Epsilon Civil Engineering Honors Society, UMass Amherst Chapter President (2008-2009)
AWARDS RECEIVED
New England ITE Emerging Professional Award (2012)
New England ITE Thomas E. Desjardins Memorial Scholarship Recipient (2010)
New England ITE Traffic Bowl Championship Team (Co-Captain) (2010)
UMass Amherst ITE Student Service Award (2010)
ITE International Outstanding Chapter Award (Chapter President) (2009-2010)
New England ITE Student Paper Competition Award Winner (2009)
PERSONAL STATEMENT
Through my leadership experience with UMass ITE I learned that a strong organization requires active
members, strong leaders, and a unifying vision. Through this position I would strive to increase active
membership, work to nurture future leaders, and reinforce and develop our vision as an organization. I
consider recent NEITE leaders some of the “greats” in our profession and would look to build on their
recent successes and help to take our Section to new heights. As a Junior Director I would work to
strengthen NEITE through membership, leadership, and vision with the following these key
initiatives:
STEVEN M. TUPPER, E.I.T –
CANDIDATE FOR JUNIOR DIRECTOR
PERSONAL STATEMENT (CONT.)
Re-gain membership lost during the recession
We must proactively reach out and reengage former members by showing the value in our
organization and making sure that we adapt to meet their needs. As we climb out of the recession we
want to be the organization transportation professionals return to.
Increase public sector membership and presence
Both our organization and professionals in the public sector would benefit from addressing what has
been an historic under representation of this sector. From my perspective as a public sector employee I
would work to support recent financial initiatives that have shown success in getting public sector
employees to event and introduce other changes such as more advanced meeting notices that can help
with common public sector paperwork and approval issues.
Strengthen our Student Chapters as a pathway to membership
The Students Chapters in our Section are one of our strengths and, as we continue to support them, I
would look to grow the Section's connection to them. I would put more emphasis aiding in the
transition from Student Member to Professional Member were I feel some great individuals get “lost.”
This will be a multi-pronged effort including publicizing existing ITE discount programs, reaching out
to the individuals as they begin their profession lives through alumni networking, and supporting
Emerging Professional Events.
Reach “the next generation of engineers” earlier
I would like more children to say: I want to be a transportation engineer when I grow up. More
precisely, I want middle and high school students to understand what the profession of transportation
engineering is and be able to consider it as career path. Providing Section Members with the tools,
support, and encouragement needed to get them into career fairs and classrooms where a few minutes
with these young minds could literally shape our future as a profession.
Increase awareness and respect for our profession
The transportation system is an integral part of everyone's life, but the average citizen does not
understand the role transportation engineers plays in making it function. They see the traffic jams
caused by “pointless bridge work” and make it known when we propose the “wrong” solution to a
problem in their neighbor. We need to do a better job of explaining our goals as a profession and how
our profession, at its core, is about improving quality of life through transportation.
If elected I would look forward to bringing my unique background, perspective, and enthusiasm to
NEITE and help grow our Section and our organization. Thank for your consideration and please
remember to vote.