Annual Report 2002

• Introduction to the FEMA Coastal Construction Manual
• Coastal Management for Practitioners
• Water Wave Modeling

American Society of Civil Engineers

Coasts, Oceans, Ports, and Rivers Institute

Information Report to the Board of Direction

August 1, 2002

The Board of Governors met on October 11, 2001, and April 15, 2002.  The next meeting is scheduled for fall 2002.

1.0       RESOLUTIONS

1.1       No resolutions are awaiting committee action.

2.0       ACTIVITES RELATIVE TO ACCOMPLISHMENT OF THE ANNUAL ELEMENT OF THE STRATEGIC PLAN

2.1       Objective 2.4:  Be the primary source of technical information

Launch a Construction Institute and a Coasts, Oceans, Ports and Rivers Institute to serve as the principle sources of technical information for engineers and related professionals practicing in those areas of specialty. Continue to support existing institutes.

 

• The Coasts, Oceans, Ports and Rivers began operating on October 1, 2000.

• COPRI prepared the following publications for printing/sale by ASCE:
• Waves ’01 Proceedings
• Wetlands Engineering and River Restoration ‘01 Proceedings
• Solutions to Coastal Disasters Proceedings
• Breakwaters ‘99 Proceedings
• Estuarine and Coastal Modeling Proceedings
• Coastal Engineering 2000 Proceedings
• Dredging ’02 Proceedings

2.2       Objective:  Enhance the understanding, delivery and exchange of technical information

Provide relevant, timely technical information through specialty conferences offered by the Institutes.

 

• COPRI prepared the technical program for the following conferences that were managed by ASCE:
• Waves’ 01
• Wetlands Engineering and River Restoration
• Solutions to Coastal Disasters
• Dredging ‘02

COPRI cosponsored the following conferences:

• ICCE ’02, Cardiff, Wales with the Institution of Civil Engineers
• Offshore Technology Conference (OTC), Houston, TX
• Oceans ’01, Honolulu, HI

• COPRI committees helped to develop the technical program for the Offshore Technology Conference (OTC).  OTC had approximately 50,000 attendees in May, 2002.

• COPRI is in the process of developing the following conferences with ASCE and others:
• Scour of Foundations, College Station, TX
• Coastal Structures ’03, Portland, OR
• Asian and Pacific Coasts ’03, Chiba, Japan
• Long Wave Symposium ’03, Thessaloniki, Greece
• Ports ’04, Houston, TX
• ICCE ’04, Portugal
• Waves ’05, Madrid, Spain
• ICCE ’06, San Diego, CA

 

• Objective:  All Institutes will introduce a series of new products and services

• Local Groups: The Deepwater Infrastructure Forum (DIF) was established within COPRI.  The purpose of DIF is to serve the offshore industry in the Houston area.  The first meeting was held in September and drew 75 attendees.  The Houston Branch President, Chris Cotter, attended as well as ASCE Past-President John Focht.  Both Cotter and Focht applauded COPRI for the meeting the needs of an audience that was not currently drawn to the local ASCE community.  DIF will serve as the clearinghouse for all local offshore activities and will coordinate closely with other organizations in the Houston area.  Subsequent meetings have been held quarterly and are drawing 30 to 75 people showing the strength of the group.

• Newsletter (Waterways): The newsletter has been highly acclaimed.  It serves as a promotional piece for COPRI products and services and a reporting of the past events.  Numerous pictures give the newsletter a community feeling.  The newsletter is being sent to high-level individuals at USACE and high level congressional staff to keep the COPRI name out front.

• Global Warming:  Last fall, the Council of Past Presidents asked COPRI to address the timely topic of global warming.  This topic had already been incorporated into the conference “Solutions to Coastal Disasters,” held in February 2002.  This is but one example of COPRI’s role as a provider of timely information.

 

• COPRI designed a new booth for OTC and provided manpower for exhibiting.

 

• Objective:  Existing Institute will grow Institute-only members by five percent.

Membership Statistics:

COPRI began Oct. 1, 2000 with approximately 1100 ASCE members

Membership in July 2002 

            ASCE Members:                  2276

            COPRI Only Members:         84

Total Membership:             2360

Membership has grown over 100% in less than 2 years.

COPRI Only Members have grown from 18 to 84 in just one year.

• Membership drives have been concentrated on capturing attendees from COPRI conferences.  These efforts have been highly successful at low cost.

• The retention rate of COPRI only members from the first year was 41 percent.   This rate is considered to be extremely strong because most were offered a free membership for attending a COPRI conference.  To be retained, they had to choose to become a paying member after the free period.  It signifies that COPRI is offering a product worth paying for. 

Comparatively, the Architectural Engineering Institute (AEI) of ASCE had a retention rate of 87 percent this year; the Environmental & Water Resources Institute (EWRI) of ASCE had a 26 percent retention rate. ASCE’s retention rate for this year was 91 percent.  The American Society of Association Executives (ASAE) reported that the average retention rate for associations is 87 percent. 

• Objective:  Advocate Lifelong Learning. 

• COPRI has had success in holding short courses prior to conferences.  These short courses include:
• Coastal Engineering Manual:  A Highlight of Changes in the Shore Protection Manual

• Objective: Expand the Society’s global network through partnership and coalitions

2.6.1   COPRI is actively partnering with PIANC, IAHR, the Marine Technology Society, numerous universities, and government agencies on its numerous conferences.  Formal MOUs were signed this year with both PIANC and IAHR. 

Respectfully submitted,

 

Coasts, Oceans, Ports, and Rivers Institute

James E. Dailey, President

E. Doug Sethness, Past President

Michael J. Briggs, Secretary

Charles C. Calhoun, Jr.

Robert A. Dalrymple, Vice President

            William M. Hall, Treasurer

            Louise A. Wallendorf, ASCE Appointed Governor

            Brian K Parsons, Executive Director

Patricia S. Brown, Staff Contact

Report prepared by:             Patricia S. Brown, P.E.