The PEGG

September 2001

APEGGA Education Foundation Needs Volunteers Click here for more information.

Just Say E: APEGGA Education Foundation is On-Line

This is the most recent installment of a regular PEGG column on the APEGGA Education Foundation.

BY DENNIS BROOKS, P.ENG., P.GEOPH.
President
APEGGA Education Foundation

It is not surprising that APEGGA members are very computer literate and make great use of this technology, including the Internet. Still, it may surprise you to know just how much APEGGA's website, www.apegga.org, does get used.

In the month of July alone there were over a million hits on this site! And within the site, the Education Foundation page has notched nearly 600 hits since recording began on May 5 of this year. This usage of our site is very gratifying and it will be interesting to follow its growth in the months ahead.

You may not know that APEGGA's site has about 3,000 pages. And that with that kind of volume, it needs its own Web developer, in the person of Barbara Jensen. I have visited quite a few sites and I personally feel she has done a fine job creating a site that is easily navigated and contains a lot of information sought by members.

Foundation's Features
The site has some special features for our Foundation. In addition to listing the basics, such as our mission, objectives and director membership, it contains news items. Most of these are reprints from The PEGG, but other items will be appearing which are of current interest.
The APEGGA Education Foundation Board has approved publication of the highlights of its meetings. In this regard, note that the board has agreed to revise the Millennium Scholarship Terms of Reference, to be ratified at the September meeting.

A key change will be the increase of the scholarship to $1,500. Its terms of reference and application form are now on the website, under the scholarships tab. You will see there that for this first offering, the application deadline is extended to Sept. 30, 2001.

Donate On Line
A major reason for this article is to get the message out to life members. Because they don't pay membership dues anymore, they don't see the message seeking donations on the annual invoice.

But they can still make a donation to the Foundation -- through the wonders of electronic mail. Regular members can use it too, rather than wait for an invoice.

Simply enter the APEGGA website, and click the "On-Line Payment" selection on the right-hand side. You will be presented with a logon screen with instructions 1-2-3. Following these gets you to the Member Self Service Centre Menu where, down the list, you will see "make a donation." Clicking there brings up the screen for credit card payment. Note that this is a secure site.

Finally, I bring to your attention our "Opinions Wanted" survey under the Education Foundation button. This survey is NOT accurate 19 times out of 20 since it fails all tests for sampling -- not random and not adequate sample size! It is in somewhat the same category as the early computer predictions of the Presidential race held in Florida -- close but uncertain.
It is intended to give us some feeling for member views on somewhat controversial subjects. For instance, the one on publishing amount category of donations indicates that members are quite divided on this subject. The next step will be more detailed study through focus groups or larger surveys.

The computer has given us a powerful tool to get information and to do business. So, see you on the Web.