Taking the Reins for the ASCE Construction Institute in Strange Times
The first of this month marked the start of my term as President of the American Society of Civil Engineers’ (ASCE) Construction Institute (CI). In years past, the President would be preparing for a series of in-person events and networking opportunities like CI Student Days and our annual CI Summit, but COVID-19 has changed the world around us. Instead, I am making the best of our current situation and using web-based platforms to broadcast CI’s message to a significantly broader audience in new and exciting ways.
Through cross-chapter collaboration and virtual connections, I hope we can support and encourage each other as we navigate this crisis. If I can accomplish one thing in my term as President this coming year, it would be to promote unity without proximity or prejudice (particularly amidst a plague of social injustices), and togetherness in these times of physical and emotional separation. Zoom fatigue and reduction in morale of isolated staff members are real, and we all need to make conscious efforts to nourish the personal connections that are often a key source of our enjoyment in the daily grind.