Meet the staff: chapter relations/membership/career services.

• Position: News

Editor's note: This is the first in a series of profiles of FEI National staff departments that will be running in issues through next June. The intent is to familiarize members with the services the staff provides and the people that are performing them.

Chapter Relations/Membership is the one department that every FEI member has contact with. Whether or not he or she belongs to a chapter (and most members do), everyone needs to work with membership to become a member or update personal information as needed in FEI's database.

Chapter Relations has continued to evolve in recent years as chapters themselves have grown and become more sophisticated. Web-based tools have also been added in recent years, with the Chapter Toolkit offering support to chapter officers and allowing chapters to share best practices. "The tools we've built for chapters are meant to minimize the time they spend on administrative functions," says Andrej Suskavcevic, Director of Chapter Relations/Membership.

"We're here to provide guidance and help to members and chapter leaders, to enhance their experience and get the most out of the organization," says Suskavcevic, who joined FEI in 1999 in the technical activities area. "We're here because of the members--they are our shareholders.

"I look at chapter relations and membership together as a kind of conduit for providing services, both local and national, to the individual member," he adds. "We're trying to communicate the value proposition of belonging to FEI, and let them know about the technical committees, the advocacy efforts and other services."

Chapter Relations has been putting on best-practices teleconferences to share knowledge among chapters, and offers advice on everything from how to promote the chapter locally to outreach to strategic...