Engineers Without Borders – USA

Project Kickoff

Guidelines, Deadlines and other Important Information

Congratulations!• You have a new EWB-USA Project – What do

you do now?

Congratulations!• You have a new EWB-USA Project – What do

you do now? • The first thing to do is to remember that the

work that you do will likely have an enormous effect on your partner community – either positive or negative.

Outline of This Presentation

• We will review several issues to help get you started.– Commitment to your Community

Outline of This Presentation

• We will review several issues to help get you started.– Commitment to your Community– Mentors

Outline of This Presentation

• We will review several issues to help get you started.– Commitment to your Community– Mentors– Travel Team Size

Outline of This Presentation

• We will review several issues to help get you started.– Commitment to your Community– Mentors– Travel Team Size– Project Process

Outline of This Presentation

• We will review several issues to help get you started.– Commitment to your Community– Mentors– Travel Team Size– Project Process– Pre-Assessment Documentation

Outline of This Presentation

• We will review several issues to help get you started.– Commitment to your Community– Mentors– Travel Team Size– Project Process– Pre-Assessment Document– Tips for Getting Travel Approval

Outline of This Presentation

• We will review several issues to help get you started.– Commitment to your Community– Mentors– Travel Team Size– Project Process– Pre-Assessment Document– Tips for Getting Travel Approval– Contacts

Commitment to your Community

• EWB-USA expects your chapter to have at least a five year commitment to your community.– If your chapter cannot continue with a project, you must

inform the EWB-USA National Office. You cannot just stop working on the project.

• You will be collaborating with your community and have an ongoing relationship. You should be in contact with your community on an ongoing basis and not just once or twice a year.

Commitment to your Community

• The five year commitment can take many different forms; here are a few examples:– Year 1 – assessment and design, Year 2 – implementation, Year 3 to 5

– education, monitoring and evaluation– Year 1 – assessment and design of project I, Year 2 – implement

project I, assessment and design of project II, Year 3 – implement project II, assess future projects, etc.

– Year 1 – assessment and design, Year 2 – implementation, Year 3 – education, monitoring and evaluation of initial project, assessment of neighboring community, Year 4 – implementation in neighboring community, monitoring in original community, etc.

Commitment to your Community

• How does this affect your chapter?– You may no longer be part of the program by the time that the

program ends so you must make the program sustainable at the chapter level

– Keep program and project continuity in mind when staffing trips– Make sure that all information that is gathered is documented so that

future projects do not have to reinvent the wheel– Keep a good file for the program– The project lead must pass along information to the next project lead

Mentors

• Your chapter must have a mentor for design, analysis, planning and travel.

Mentors

• Your chapter must have a mentor now and for travel.

• Mentor minimum 5 years experience.

Mentors

• Your chapter must have a mentor now and for travel.

• Mentor minimum 5 years experience.• Faculty member may not be adequate.

Mentors

• Your chapter must have a mentor now and for travel.

• Mentor minimum 5 years experience.• Faculty member may not be adequate.• EWB-USA must review mentor resume.

Mentors

• Your chapter must have a mentor now and for travel.

• Mentor minimum 5 years experience.• Faculty member may not be adequate.• EWB-USA must review mentor resume.• Find a traveling mentor now.

Mentors

• Your chapter must have a mentor now and for travel.

• Mentor minimum 5 years experience.• Faculty member may not be adequate.• EWB-USA must review mentor resume.• Find a traveling mentor now.• If you can not find a mentor contact us early

for help.

Travel Team Size

• Your travel team size should be based upon the requirements of the project – not the travel dreams of the chapter members.

• Travel teams that are too large stress the host community, make project coordination more difficult and take financial resources away from the project.

• The recommended maximum travel team size is eight. If you plan to take more than this, please provide the EWB-USA National Office with a compelling explanation why additional travel team members will benefit the community with which you are working.

Project Process

• The project process follows the normal engineering procedure – problem identification, assessment, project design and project implementation.

• The project process has been developed to ensure that quality projects are implemented.

• The project process is not just a set of hoops to jump through to get approval to travel on a trip.

• We expect all chapters to know and comply with the project process.

• Deadlines for the project process submittals can be found on the EWB-USA website at http://www.ewb-usa.org/TAC&Travel.php. NOTE: Deadlines are two to three months in advance of the proposed trip.

• Late submittals will not be reviewed until the next month – this may mean postponing travel.

Project Process - Documentation

• Pre-Assessment – planning for your assessment trip.

Project Process - Documentation

• Pre-Assessment• Post-Assessment – documenting what you

learned during your assessment trip.

Project Process - Documentation

• Pre-Assessment• Post-Assessment • Alternatives Analysis – presenting the

alternative design options and choosing a selected alternative (currently not required to submit this to EWB-USA National).

Project Process - Documentation

• Pre-Assessment• Post-Assessment • Alternatives Analysis• Preliminary (30%) Design – presenting your

preliminary design (currently not required to submit this to EWB-USA National).

Project Process - Documentation

• Pre-Assessment• Post-Assessment • Alternatives Analysis • Preliminary (30%) Design • Pre-Implementation – planning for your

implementation trip.

Project Process - Documentation

• Pre-Assessment • Post-Assessment• Alternatives Analysis• Preliminary (30%) Design• Pre-Implementation• Post-Implementation – documenting what was

constructed during your implementation trip.

Pre-Assessment Documentation

• 507A – Trip Administrative Information – You will include administrative information about your proposed trip on this document: chapter contacts, travel team, travel details, budget, etc.

• 507B – Trip Technical Information – This is the document where you describe the investigations and analyses that you have carried out to and the plans that you have for data collection during the site assessment trip.

• The blank format for the 507A and 507B can be found at http://www.ewb-usa.org/ProjectsDownloads.php

• The 507B will be changing in the near future to a different format. The new format is closer to professional engineering documents than the current format. For the time being you may use either format.

Requirements Prior to Travel

• Submit your pre-assessment report (507A and 507B) to projects@ewb-usa.org in accordance with the submission deadlines posted at http://ewb-usa.org/TAC&Travel.php.

• Form 505 (Site Assessment Checklist) may be helpful in planning your trip.• You must have two health point persons on the traveling team.• Submit the resume of the traveling mentor at the same time as the 507A

and 507B.• An EWB-USA Project Manager will contact you to discuss your project and

will make a decision regarding technical approval of the trip.• Submit your travel waivers (form 605) and proof of insurance (form 608)

to your Chapter Relations Manager (CRM).• Submit updated membership lists for your chapter and ensure that annual

dues have been paid.• Your CRM will contact you to address any deficiencies in your assessment

trip documentation. When all requirements have been met, the CRM will issue you a travel approval letter.

Tips for Getting Travel Approval

• Do not leave everything until the last minute. Plan ahead.• Make sure to have a traveling mentor on board early in the

process.• Do not miss any deadlines. If you have any questions about

the deadlines, contact your CRM to discuss it with them.• The EWB-USA website has many good resources to help you

plan your trip.• You will not receive a Travel Approval Letter until all

requirements have been met. You must have a Travel Approval Letter for your trip to be an official EWB-USA trip.

Contacts

• If you have questions during your project, don’t sit around fretting – contact the EWB-USA National Office– Technical Issues – Contact a Project Manager

• Peter Waugh, P.E., Tiffany Martindale, P.E., Kelly Latham, P.E.– Administrative Issues – Contact a Chapter Relations Manager (CRM)

• Tracy Beavers, Colleen O’Holleran, Rosemary Powers, Diana Underhill, Scott Hammond

– Document Submittals – Contact the Project Coordinator • Luke Pritchard

– Country Specific Issues – Contact your Country Liaison (if applicable)– If you do not know who to contact, just contact one of us and we will

route you to the correct person. Contact information can be found at http://ewb-usa.org/contact.php

CRM Assignments

• Tracy – South Central and South East: AR, LA, OK, TX, AL, FL, GA, MS, TN

• Colleen – Mountain: AZ, CO, ID, MT, NM, NV, UT, WY• Rosemary – North East and Great Lakes: CT, DE, MA,

ME, NH, NJ, NY, PA, RI, VT, OH• Diana – West Coast and Midwest: AK, CA, HI, OR,

WA, IA, KS, MN, MO, NE, ND, SD• Scott – Great Lakes and South East: IL, IN, KY, MI, WI,

WV, DC, MD, NC, SC, VA

Thank you for your commitment to Engineers Without Borders-USA.