Get Involved

Participate with Your AWWA Section Research Committee

 A critical component of the drinking water community is a research program – one that provides practical and timely information for improving drinking water quality, water utility operations efficiency, and service reliability. These are the goals of the Water Research Foundation.

AWWA Sections work at bringing the latest information to their sections. One of the ways this can be accomplished is for the sections to be informed about the most up-to-date research findings available, and for them to present it to their members.

The Foundation would like to work in conjunction with AWWA sections to accomplish these goals. Each section has unique areas of concern. Section research committees can help their sections by bringing these issues to the attention of the Foundation so that they can be considered during the development of research programs.

The following information is a guide to help you establish and successfully operate an AWWA Section research program which will support both the section and the Water Research Foundation.

 Establish a Section Research Committee

 The first step in setting up a section research program is to establish a committee to coordinate the section’s research-related activities. Committee members should represent the various interest groups of the water community, including water utility managers, consultants, researchers, water supply professionals, manufacturers, and contractors. The chair of your research committee can keep the committee fully informed about Foundation activities, such as current and future research agendas and publications of interest to the section, and generally be a point of contact between the section and the Foundation. This person can be responsible for being the both aware of items of interest to the section from the Foundation and be in charge of submitting research ideas to Water Research Foundation. The section's board of trustees should establish the overall mission and objectives for the research committee. The committee should review the mission and objectives and ask for clarification if it is needed.

Possible activities for the committee include:

• Establish an agenda for each year’s research committee meetings;
• Identify section research needs;
• Encourage section members to be involved in Water Research Foundation activities;
• Encourage new utilities to subscribe to Water Research Foundation;
• Sponsor research presentations at section meetings;
• Host topical research seminars;
• Coordinate section financial support for Water Research Foundation;
• Keep records of section research committee members;
• Inform section members of Water Research Foundation programs and events.

Once your committee is established, develop an action plan to accomplish these goals. After the action plan is established, be sure to prepare a budget and present it to the board of trustees. The following information provides detailed guidance for developing your action plan.

Develop Action Plan

1. Establish an annual agenda for research committee meetings.
   Research committees typically meet four times a year. One meeting should be devoted to evaluating the past year’s accomplishments and planning the coming year’s activities. Other meetings could be held for planning seminars, reviewing the section’s research needs and establishing priorities, and planning the presentation for your section’s annual conference.
2. Identify research needs for your section.
   Each year the Foundation's Research Advisory Council (RAC) establishes research project priorities from suggestions that are submitted from the drinking water community. Research ideas are submitted to the RAC from various sources such as subscribers to the Foundation, the Association of Metropolitan Water Agencies, the National Association of Water Companies, various AWWA councils and divisions, Technical Advisory Workgroups, AWWA members, and AWWA sections.
   
   The section research committee solicits, receives, and evaluates the ideas and suggestions proposed by section sources. The following are some of the ways the committee can solicit research suggestions:
   • Write an article for your section newsletter. Briefly mention past research projects initiated by your section and the results of the projects. List the benefits of research; these can be found in Water Research Foundation's information packet (referred to below under "Resources"). Be sure to provide names, phone and fax numbers, and e-mail and mailing addresses of the research committee members who should be contacted. Water Research Foundation asks that new research ideas be submitted by March 1 every year to be included in the list of ideas that the Research Advisory Committee will consider.
   • Run an ad in your section newsletter. Work with your newsletter editor to develop an interest-catching ad. Include information on who to contact and the deadline for submitting suggestions.
   • Make announcements at meetings. Ask for time to speak at your section meetings, other committee meetings, or even non-AWWA meetings, such as those of utility councils or other associations (e.g., American Society of Civil Engineers).
   • Make personal contact with individuals involved in the drinking water community. If the contact does have suggestions, submit the ideas to Water Research Foundation on the form provided on the website.
   • Provide information on how to write an effective research suggestion. Water Research Foundation needs a succinct paragraph describing the issue and a point of contact to request clarification, if needed. The Foundation website provides brief project profiles on the existing knowledge base of Water Research Foundation projects. The Foundation appreciates understanding how the described issue differs from existing work. Once developed, the suggestion(s) should be forwarded to Water Research Foundation, Attention: Director, Research Management. The ideas will then be referred to the Research Advisory Council (RAC) for consideration.
   The Water Research Foundation RAC will then define the Foundation ’s research agenda by setting priorities and defining the research approach for all the issues submitted to them by various sources.
3. Involve section utilities, consultants, researchers, and other members in Water Research Foundation activities.
   • Encourage Foundation subscribing utilities in the section to participate in the Tailored Collaboration (TC) Program. The TC Program is designed to meet regional or other special needs of Water Research Foundation subscribers by assisting them in conducting research. Guidelines for submitting a proposal to the TC program. If an idea is too regionally focused, the RAC may not select the idea for the solicited agenda; and so the TC program may be an effective way to get the research accomplished.
   • Encourage the section members, including regional university researchers, to submit proposals for research studies to the unsolicited research program. Unsolicited pre-proposals may be submitted by both Water Research Foundation subscribers and non-subscribers are due on February 1 each year. Unsolicited proposal guidelines.
   • Ask utilities to volunteer as research sites for projects. Utilities are not required to be a Water Research Foundation subscriber to participate in Foundation research. If a utility is interested in participating as a volunteer site, they should complete the online volunteer form.
   • Encourage section members to serve on Water Research Foundation Project Advisory Committees (PACs). Each project is overseen by a PAC whose members are experts in the project’s research area. The responsibilities of a PAC are to decide who will be the contractor for a project and to monitor the progress of the study. Recruit section members to serve on a PAC through the section newsletter, by making an announcement at a section meeting, or by personally contacting members with expertise regarding upcoming projects. Project Advisory Committee volunteer forms.
4. Recruit new utilities and consultants to participate in Water Research Foundation's subscription program.
   The strength of the Water Research Foundation lies with its member subscribers. The more supporters the Foundation has, the stronger the research program will be. While Foundation has staff dedicated to recruitment, they can visit only a limited number of utilities and sections each year. Your section research committee can help recruit new subscribers as well as retain current subscribers in the following ways:
   • Retain current subscribers by keeping them involved in section and Water Research Foundation activities.
   • Keep your section research committee activities and Water Research Foundation activities well publicized. Have an article in each section newsletter. Have an information booth at the section annual meeting with names of Foundation subscribers displayed, along with the latest Water Research Foundation reports, books, subscription information, and information on conferences. The Foundation can assist with such activities.
5. Sponsor Water Research Foundation presentations at section conferences.
   Foundation staff welcomes the opportunity to present Water Research Foundation research work at section meetings. The section research committee should contact Water Research Foundation early, preferably a year in advance, to discuss participation at the annual meeting. Water Research Foundation generally pays for travel; the sections are asked to provide one or two nights’ lodging and, at a minimum, waive registration and exhibit costs.
6. Host research seminars or educational programs of interest to the membership.
   Host a seminar or program focusing on the results of recent research projects. To find out which topics are of highest interest your section members, do a quick survey at a section meeting. List several topics on a note card with a scale of answers from “not interested” to “very interested.” Leave room for respondents to write in suggestions. Compile the results and have your research committee decide which topics to present, and suggest possible speakers. Foundation staff can be contacted for help on determining which Water Research Foundation projects and/or researchers would best address the topics identified by the section.
7. Coordinate section financial support for the critical research needs of the drinking water community .
   Many AWWA sections are voluntary contributors to Water Research Foundation. Consider participating as a section in the drinking water community’s centralized research program. Ways to supply funds include direct contributions from section members, section funds, or proceeds from seminars and other special events.
8. Welcome new section research committee members.
   Announce new committee members in section meetings and in the newsletter. Thank members leaving the committee for their valuable service.
9. Keep records of section research activities.
   Good records allow future committees to know what has been successful in the past . Maintain a record of utilities and other organizations that have been contacted and the outcome. Keep track of how many people attend your research seminars, and ask the attendees to evaluate the program.
10. Keep section members aware of Water Research Foundation programs and events.
    The Foundation will send information to section research committee chairs, including:
    • Bimonthly newsletter Drinking Water Research.This bi-monthly print newsletter for Water Research Foundation subscribers features in-depth articles on current research topics, information about applying research findings, updates on projects in progress, and summaries of recently published reports
    • Research Direct, a monthly e-mail newsletter gives subscribers and others in the water community the latest news on the research programs, new services to subscribers, reports recently-released, collaboration with other research organizations, and new tools and information on the Water Research Foundation Web site.
    • Water Research Foundation’s monthly activity report is posted on the website (subscriber login required)

Resources

• AWater Research Foundation information packet is available to every research committee member that includes detailed information about programs, promotional material, and much more. The committee chair will also receive a list of Foundation subscribers and volunteers who are section members. If you have not received a packet, please contact Subscriber Services at Water Research Foundation, (303) 347-6128.
• The Foundation Website www.waterresearchfoundation.org is an excellent resource for information on programs, schedules, and other interesting information.
• AWWA's “how-to” guide for sections, Committee Management, is available from your AWWA Section Services Representative.
• Contact AWWA’s Education Department for tips on how to set up seminars for your section, found in AWWA's guide for sections, Seminars and Workshops, available from your Section Services Group, (303) 347-6202.