Membership Guidelines

MEMBERSHIP SCREENING BOARD
Resolution No. 01 Series of 1998

WHEREAS, the Membership in the Association shall consist of the following grades: (1) FELLOWS, (2) REGULAR MEMBERS, (3) ASSOCIATE MEMBERS, and (4) AFFILIATE MEMBERS,

WHEREAS, Section 1, Article II of the Association By-Laws provides that there shall be no direct admission to the grade of FELLOW,

WHEREAS, Section 1, Article II, Ibid, states that admission to FELLOW shall only by transfer from the grade of REGULAR MEMBER,

WHEREAS, Section 1, Article II, Ibid, provides the requirements to be eligible for transfer to the grade of FELLOW, as follows:

1. a REGULAR MEMBER shall be at least forty (40) years of age and have had responsible charge for not less than ten (10) years, in the grade of REGULAR MEMBER, of important work in structural engineering and be qualified to direct, conceive, plan or design structural engineering works; or lieu of such experience, shall have had responsible charge for not less than ten (10) years, in the grade of REGULAR MEMBER, of important industrial business, construction, educational, editorial, research, or engineering society activity, engineering training and experience;
   
   
2. the Membership Screening Board shall make the nominations to the grade of FELLOW to the Board of Directors of the Association;
   
   
3. the affirmative votes of at least eight (8) directors shall be required to transfer a REGULAR MEMBER to the grade of FELLOW;

WHEREAS, Section 1, Article II, Ibid, further provides that in addition to the privileges of a REGULAR MEMBER, a FELLOW shall have the privilege of using the title "FELLOW, Association of Structural Engineers of the Philippines" or "F.ASEP" in connection with his professional practice,

WHEREAS, Section 2, Article II, Ibid, provides the minimum requirements to be eligible for admission to the grade of REGULAR MEMBER, as follows:

1. a REGULAR MEMBER at the time of his admission to the Association shall be a Registered Civil Engineer regularly and extensively engaged in the practice of structural engineering for at least five (5) years, two of which shall be continuous, full time, and immediately prior to his application for admission to the Association and who in the opinion of the Membership Screening Board and the Board of Directors possesses the knowledge and had shown proof of competence as a structural engineer;
   
   
2. a Degree of Master of Science in Engineering, major in Structures, shall be equivalent to two (2) years of active practice and a Doctorate Degree in Civil Engineering with Structures as one of the specializations shall be equivalent to three (3) years of active practice;

WHEREAS, Section 3, Article II, Ibid, provides the minimum requirement to be eligible for admission to the grade of ASSOCIATE MEMBER, as follows:

1. an ASSOCIATE MEMBER at the time of his admission to the Association shall be a Registered Civil Engineer and have a full time continuous active practice in structural engineering for at least two (2) years immediately prior to this application for admission to the Association;

WHEREAS, Section 4, Article II, Ibid, provides the minimum requirement to be eligible for admission to the grade of AFFILIATE MEMBER, as follows:

1. an AFFILIATE MEMBER at the time of his admission to the Association shall be a graduate Civil Engineer with at least five (5) years experience in structural engineering and analysis but who has not passed the Philippine Board Examination for Civil Engineers.

WHEREAS, Section 1, Article III, Ibid, further provides that the admission to the Association as REGULAR MEMBER, ASSOCIATE MEMBER or AFFILIATE MEMBER shall be in accordance with the following procedure:

1. the application of the prospective member shall be endorsed by at least three (3) Regular Members, in good standing, of the Association;
   
   
2. the application shall be submitted to the Membership Screening Board for evaluation;
   
   
3. a unanimous vote of the Membership Screening Board is required for an application to be favorably endorsed to the Board of Directors of the Association who shall review the findings of the Membership Screening Board;
   
   
4. the application shall be considered duly approved upon receipt of at least six (6) favorable votes of the Board of Directors;

WHEREAS, Section 7, Article VIII, empowers the Membership Screening Board to set and issue further rules and regulations to implement the Association's policies on membership with the concurrence of the Board of Directors,

NOW, THEREFORE, the Board resolved, as it so hereby resolves,

1. To prescribe, promulgate and issue the revised implementing rules and regulations for guidelines in the screening and evaluation of application of new members and upgrade of membership status;
   
   
2. To prescribe, promulgate and issue the revised Membership Application format, the Permanent Professional Record of Member format, and the Membership Screening Board Evaluation Sheet;

SECTION 1. Types of Experience. The type of experience falls into one of the classes below. For any given period, an applicant may only receive credit for one of the following categories. For example, an applicant may not receive credit for Structural Design Experience and Design Management Experience, for the same given period of time.

1. Structural Design Experience: Consists of the time spent actively practicing Structural Engineering in professional practice. This means performing the structural design of buildings, bridges, towers, and the like. The applicant must have gained significant experience to have a basic understanding of design criteria, analysis, and design of members.
   
   
2. Design Management Experience: Consists of time spent supervising the preparation of designs, plans, and specifications prepared by others. This may be in a supervisory capacity where the applicant does not necessarily do the actual calculating for a design, but wherein he or she maintains responsibility for the concept of the design and the general adequacy of the final design or quality control.
   
   
3. Construction Experience: Consists of time spent supervising or managing construction activities in the field. The evaluator shall pay careful attention to the actual work of the applicant and verify that he or she was actually engaged in the practice of structural engineering construction, and not as a scheduler or manager.
   
   
4. Teaching Experience: Consists of time spent either teaching or researching structural engineering design subjects. Statics or engineering math does not qualify under these criteria. Teaching and practicing simultaneously qualifies the applicant for double credit. (For example, the applicant engaged in professional practice for one year while teaching night classes. In this case, the applicant gets one-year credit for his professional practice and another year for his teaching experience. Simultaneous teaching and research do not qualify for double credit).
   
   
5. Community or Civic Action Experience: Time spent in community or civic action works where expertise as a structural engineer was used for the benefit of the community. Similar to item (d), community services while practicing qualifies the applicant for double credit. Community leaders or authorities must authenticate services as rendered by the applicant. Example: Disaster assistance or volunteer work during earthquake, structural collapse or accidents, etc., community project design or purely voluntary basis without receiving compensation.
   
   
6. Master's or Doctorate Degree: This category is considered an "all or nothing" credit. Only applicants who actually obtained their degrees are qualified for credit. Partial credit (units) is not considered as a degree. Two (2) years active practice is granted for holders of a Master's degree and three (3) years active practice credit for holders of Doctorate degree.
   
   
7. Credits for Fellows: Fellows are rated on the basis of:
   
   
   1. Service to ASEP
   2. PRC recognition as a Structural Engineer
   3. Experience as Principal of a structural firm with at least fifty (50) engineers.

SECTION 2. Percentage Rating. The percentage rating ranges from 0% to 100% and is applied to the number of years of experience. The product is the point credit of the applicant. The Percent Rating is based on:

1. Quality of Projects: The quality of a project is not necessarily related to the number of stories or the cost of the project. What should be considered is the degree to which the project requires the Structural Engineer to have a good grasp of Structural Engineering principles and use the knowledge and tools at his or her disposal. The project should be rated in terms of complexity, challenge and innovativeness.
   
   
2. Responsibility of Applicant: The evaluator should also evaluate the degree of participation of the applicant and his or her actual contribution to the project. The evaluator should consider what elements of the structure the applicant was actually responsible for designing.

SECTION 3. Submission of Application Forms and other Requirements / Supporting Documents. The Membership Screening Board may require the submission of other supporting documents, papers or records, as they may find necessary and relevant to properly evaluate and assess the qualifications of the applicant. Such documents may include comprehensive curriculum vitae, PRC board certificate, master's or doctorate degree certificate of completion. All applicants should be required to submit Letters of Endorsement from at least three (3) Regular Members of the Association in good standing who are listed as their references and who are familiar with their qualification to membership.

SECTION 4. Application for Membership. All complete applications should be submitted to the Secretariat office at least two (2) weeks before the deadline of submission, which shall be set and announced by the Membership Screening Board.

One member of the Membership Screening Board or his/her designated representative should pre-screen the submitted applications to check the completeness of the application. He/she reserves the right to outrightly reject and return the incomplete application documents and requirements to the applicant.

It shall be incumbent upon the Membership Screening Board to process and evaluate application for membership for at least two (2) separate occasions within the fiscal year:

1. one on March or April prior to the May or June General Election of the new ASEP Board and;
   
   
2. other on September or October prior to the November or December General Membership meeting.

The Membership Screening Board, as it deems necessary, may schedule and announce intermittent date for the processing and evaluation of application for membership in addition to the above-mentioned months.

On the course of the Membership Screening Board's evaluation process for the application to Regular Membership, the Board reserves the right to change the application status of the applicant to Associate Member as it may find appropriate.

SECTION 5. Application Forms. The revised application forms shall be made available at the Secretariat office at Unit T-10 New Manila Condo. 21 N. Domingo Street, New Manila Quezon City. Likewise, the forms can be downloaded from the ASEP Official Webpage at URL address: http://www.aseponline.org. The following is the revised format of the membership application form.

1. ASEP-MSB Form Page 1 - Membership Application
2. ASEP-MSB Form Page 2 - Responsible Charge Sheet
3. ASEP-MSB Form Page 3 - Reference Forms
4. ASEP-MSB Form Page 4 - Evaluation Sheet

The herein Resolution shall, after approval by the Board of Directors of the Association of Structural Engineers of the Philippines, be effective on the second semester of the fiscal year 1998-1999.

Done in the City of Makati, this 16th day of September 1998.

ADAM C. ABINALES
Chairman

Approved by the Board of Directors of the Association of Structural Engineers of the Philippines as part of the Implementing Rules and Regulations of the Membership Screening Board:

BENITO M. PACHECO
President