History and Background
A professional association is a body or organization that is responsible for furthering a specific profession, its interests or those who are professions in that field. A professional coed is the guides, rules, and conditions that guide the professional association and the professionals in them. This paper will analyze the American Society of Civil Engineers(ASCE) as a professional association. This association aims to ensure that there have been codes and standards that are set for civil engineers in the protection of the public, through using of conferences and training.
It was incorporated in 1877 in New York State by individuals who were civil engineers and the elite that had interests in civil engineering. They aimed to ensure that civil engineering was positively affecting the welfare from the behaviors of the members. From previous data is believed to be in more than 177 countries and have to have more than 152,000 active members. Professionalism is essential and to be able to embrace it for professionals through training (Jamal and Bowie, 2015). The development and support of each other by civil engineers makes the profession more result-oriented. The ASCE also provided issues that were important for its engineers. The welfare was discussed and introduced a certification body that was important in ensuring that the courses undertaken by civil engineers were top notch. It created the Council of Engineering and Scientific Specialty Boards(CESB) which provided that all buildings which were either owned by the state, municipal or federal government were certified as to have met the minimum requirements required. The CESB is therefore responsible for oversight of the codes that the ASCE stands for that include emphasizing on the professionalism of civil engineers. The body ensured that these processes were followed by creating the Committee on Critical Infrastructure (CCI) which is responsible for the oversight of the ASCE activities that include the planning, construction, observation and measurement, response and recovery, infrastructure resilience and event mitigation. The ASCE is working together with nations to ensure that the Federal and State government assist in coming up with legislation that enables for the improvement of the nation’s infrastructure and the enhancement of the engineering specialty (Newberry, 2014). It is done through lobbying on such legislation by the ASCE.
This advocacy has led to a few developments and achievements. They include the adoptions of federal programs that are highly dependent on civil engineering. These programs include the areas of research and development, environment, education, aviation, water resources. It assisted in ensuring that there was no division of roles when a project was to be undertaken. The advocacy also led to the funding of the Science Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) programs. It assisted in ensuring that those that chose these academic disciplines that are competitive had enough funding. Funding is done through the provision of adequate equipment for learning, sufficient and qualified teachers and the enabling of better curriculum practices. They ensured that there was an incentive act passed to address the building code. This act was to provide that there would be the provision of disaster relief to states that were abiding and implementing the strong building codes that had been set by the ASCE. There was a need to address natural hazards. Natural hazards include earthquakes, floods, and storms (Vee and Skitmore, 2013). This lobbying was significant for the enactment to ensure that in specific geographical locations specifically designed buildings that were disaster-resistant were built.
Advocacy of ASCE
Personally, the code of professionalism that the ASCE lays out to civil engineers is explicitly appropriate and above average. Civil engineers are responsible for a considerable percentage of the construction that is seen in every nation. From the building of houses, companies, roads, dams and other critical infrastructure that we use. The codes that are in place touch on critical aspects that are faced by the professionals in their workplace. If well administered, these codes protect the welfare of all citizens and the state. The civil engineers know that there is an oversight body that ensures that they professionally conduct themselves while meeting the standards expected of them. Using an example of a civil engineer constructing an apartment, the accepted rules and regulations of planning, designing, observations, and measurements have to be done. It ensures that at the end of the building process the final product which is the apartment is quality assured (Beckett, 2014). Regular and consistent implementation of the ASCE codes raises the bar for other engineers to follow the same.
From the research, observations made by the ASCE in one of its oversight role had its report overlapped with that of another engineering construction and management agency. It arose during the report of Hurricane Katrina that happened in August 2005. The hurricane which was categorized as category five destroyed and caused havoc from the central part of Florida to the eastern part of Texas. It is considered one of the natural disasters that outlaid the flaws in the engineering of the flood protection system. New Orleans experienced one of the worst damage and property loss in its history. This United States Army Corps Engineers (USACE) is a United States federal agency that operates under the Department of defense and contains both civilians and military staff. After the Katrina, it came up with a report that explained what had happened and what recommendations had to be taken for future avoidance. The ASCE also provided its report on the same and gave a brief press conference. The two reports were different and controversial as the ASCE pointed out that the army corps were not entirely helpful in its operations (Fixico, 2016). It meant that the ASCE was not able to recognize the efforts of other credible organizations. The overlapping of such roles is not helpful in the long run. From a professional perspective, this was unprofessional for the professional body. It should have consulted with the USACE before omitting requirements from its report and addressing the media. On this aspect, the press overemphasized on its roles that were not important in the review and reconstruction of the disaster from Hurricane Katrina.
Conclusion
Research has found that professional ethics are essential. In all professions, we should strive to ensure that the professional ethics that have been set are adhered to and followed. However, if the ethics are not assisting in the betterment and enhancement of any profession, we should not be involved in such activities. These activities may include the assistance in lobbying for acts that are for personal gain and not profession enhancement and the introduction of research and knowledge programs that are not wholesome in their activities for discipline growth and development. In the case of any chosen profession, any conflicts that arise and are directly related to the enhancement of any job, we should use conflict resolution mechanisms that will provide maximum positive results. It is important to note that professions have codes that are not morally upright. It is because most organizations are in business and their main aim is profit maximization (Newberry, 2014). Morality in most cases emanates from faith is the fundamental pillar in assessing the morality of a situation. Any professional undertaking that is within the ethical code of professionalism but is not moral is with no question a conflict. We shall ensure that we put our morality before the ethical aspects of any job. Finally, professional codes and ethics are essential in any profession. They are the foundation of many professionals in diverse fields.
References
Beckett, D. (2014). Doing things for the right reasons: Professional knowledge for adult educators. Australian Journal of Adult and Community Education, 34(2), 104.
Fixico, D. L. (2016). Ethics and responsibilities in writing American Indian history. American Indian Quarterly, 20(1), 29-39.
Jamal, K., & Bowie, N. E. (2015). Theoretical considerations for a meaningful code of professional ethics. Journal of Business Ethics, 14(9), 703-714.
Newberry, B. (2014). The dilemma of ethics in engineering education. Science and Engineering Ethics, 10(2), 343-351.
Vee, C., & Skitmore, C. (2013). Professional ethics in the construction industry. Engineering, Construction and Architectural Management, 10(2), 117-127.
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