Submitted by Mark Spencer and Neelam Dorman, Western District International Directors

The ITE International Board of Direction (IBOD) had its fourth meeting of the year on August 12, 2023, in conjunction with the ITE International and Western District Annual Meeting and Exhibit in Portland, Oregon.

The Board took two very significant actions:

• Steve Kuciemba was approved as the next ITE Executive Director and CEO effective November 1, 2023. After a national search the Search Committee, chaired by Past President Michael Sanderson and supported by Korn Ferry, unanimously recommended Steve.  The IBOD unanimously concurred with this recommendation and thanked the Search Committee for their efforts.
• A new Strategic Plan (2024-2026) was approved in principle by the IBOD pending final edits. This plan sets forth a revised vision, mission, and values for the organization and identifies three central pillars – Membership, Technical Knowledge, Organizational Excellence – and associated strategies.  The Plan will be published in the November ITE Journal.

The Board accepted final reports on two efforts:

• The Student Engagement at Meetings Committee completed its work identifying best practices for engaging students at the International, District and Section levels and making recommendations for each. The Board accepted their final report and thanked the Committee for its efforts.  The results will be distributed to District and Section leadership.
• The Traffic Bowl Reimagined Task Force completed its work recommending that ITE undertake an effort to develop a new student competition that is more focused on professional skills. They identified a framework for the competition that would introduce new elements while retaining certain aspects of the current Traffic Bowl competition.  The goal is to debut the new competition in 2026.  The Board approved this recommendation and directed staff to move forward with the development of this new competition.

Other significant items:

• ITE International President Rosana Correa briefed the IBOD on the results to-date of the younger member engagement sessions being held at the District Meetings. These sessions have been very productive identifying several opportunities to better engage and support younger members.  After the remainder of the sessions are completed in the fall an action plan will be prepared to advance the key actions identified.  The session with the Western District was conducted a few weeks prior to the Annual Meeting with about 15 younger members.
• The IBOD approved a dues increase for 2024. This is the first dues increase since 2022 and will be between 3%-5% depending on the membership category.
• The IBOD approved two new student chapters at the University of Oklahoma and Bangladesh University.

The joint 2023 ITE International and Western District Annual Meeting and Exhibition was the largest in more than a decade with nearly 1,650 participants.  The meeting included 3 plenaries, 42 technical sessions, 80 poster presentations, over 80 exhibitors, 8 workshops, 9 technical tours and numerous social events and networking opportunities. Many thanks to the Western District and Portland LAC for their support.