Tips for Your Committee Involvement
By Julie Costa
Jun 29, 2017
To those of you new to ASTM International, thank you for sharing your expertise. Here are some tips for becoming more familiar with ASTM’s processes and getting the most out of your membership.
When you start at www.astm.org/member_training, you’ll find our online training modules are an excellent resource to help you be a productive committee member. ASTM offers free, one-hour virtual training sessions; we also recommend that all new members participate in “New Member Orientation and Training” and “Training on ASTM Online Tools.”
Other sessions will introduce you to how standards are developed and the ASTM balloting process. The editorial training, “Developing and Revising a New Standard,” follows the arc of new and revised standards from initiation to publication, plus the roles of the technical contact and the staff editor. The “Balloting and Handling Negative Votes” module covers the process from submitting an item for ballot to voting, commenting, and handling negatives.
If you haven’t already, introduce yourself to your staff managers — they are here to help and answer your questions. You can find their contact information on your committee home pages on the ASTM website. Or,
log into your ASTM account and click on the committee title name or on the roster link under the committee heading.
Like staff managers, mentors are also available to answer questions and help you understand ASTM processes. On the ASTM leadership web page, you can find a mentor by submitting a short form. For further questions about ASTM’s mentoring and leadership work, email Daniel Smith.
You can also learn more about the rules governing the ASTM standards development process: The Regulations Governing ASTM Technical Committees can be viewed and downloaded here.
Want to stay up to date on ASTM standards, books, and journals? You can do that through ASTM’s three free email trackers:
- Standards Tracker
- Book Tracker
- Journal Tracker
When signing up, remember to narrow your searches to specific standards, committees, or subcommittees that are of interest to you.
Finally, stay connected with committee updates and new standards by following ASTM on our social media platforms:
If you have any questions, or if you have suggestions for orienting new members, please email Katerina Koperna.
Julie Costa is the ASTM corporate communications intern for 2017.
July / August 2017
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