Robert Coulter, Vice-Chairman RICS-USA, with special responsibilities for faculties, Commercial Property Faculty Representative

About three years ago, as part of The Agenda for Change, the RICS was restructured and sixteen faculties were established. These faculties represent different areas of specialization. A member may belong in up to four faculties. In the Americas the most popular faculties are: construction, project management, commercial property and valuation. All of the faculties have an international remit and in addition to members from the U.K. there are representatives from the various RICS regions around the world – the Americas, Europe, Oceania, Asia and Africa.

Representatives are elected for a term of three years, and the first term will be expiring shortly. Earlier this year nominations were sought for representatives to serve on the faculty boards for the next term commencing June 28, 2004. Various nominations were received and for two faculties, construction and dispute resolution, there were duplicate candidates. Therefore there will be an election later this Spring in which members of the relevant faculty may vote for the candidate of their choice. Details about these candidates are contained in the next section of in this newsletter.

What is the purpose of the faculties? The byelaws list 17 different duties for the faculties, of which I think the following are most important to the members in the Americas:

• seek to maintain high standards of practice and competence within those professional and technical specialisms;

• provide networking opportunities for Members;

• represent the Institution's interests to other related bodies;

• provide and promote training and development opportunities for Members and Probationers; and

• work within the overall framework laid down by the Education and Membership Policy Committee to promote membership of the RICS through the “Expert” and “Experience” routes.

When I first became a faculty representative I did not know what it entailed. There was no job description. So I wrote to other faculty reps around the world and the chairman of the faculty board and received diverse and conflicting advice. There is still no job description. What I did discover was that it is difficult for a faculty rep to achieve much acting on his or her own. To be effective it is necessary to work as part of a team with the national associations and RICS staff to achieve agreed objectives. Since faculties operate on a regional basis, the board of RICS Americas has asked me to liase with the faculty reps and try to co-ordinate their activities.

Each representative has a twofold role: To represent the Americas to the faculty board, and to represent the faculty in the Americas. The first is important since it strengthens the internationalism of the RICS. Not only is it necessary to remind the members in England that there are chartered surveyors in 79 other countries, it can also increase business among members. Today offshore investors are one of the largest sectors of the investment market; American firms are building projects all around the world.

It is the second aspect of the job, representing the faculty in the Americas, that is likely to have the greatest day-to-day impact on members working in the Americas. In this regard, prospective faculty reps should develop their own job description/business plan to:

• build a network of faculty members through communication and the Internet;

• identify local organizations with whom the RICS can develop a working relationship, with a view to raising the profile of the RICS in the Americas, and which may lead to joint conferences or CPD opportunities for faculty members;

• consider ways to make the RICS qualification more relevant for doing business in the Americas; and

• identify and assist prospective members.

If you have not already done so, please register for your faculties. If you are a member of the construction or dispute resolution faculties, please vote. And if you have any comments on any of the above, please email me at Robert@thecoulters.us or send them to Renita Kalhorn at rkalhorn@rics.org for inclusion in a future newsletter.