BILOXI, MS — The Refrigeration Service Engineers Society (RSES) is doing a bit of an end-around in its relationship with the North American Technician Excellence (NATE) program.

“NATE has not progressed as quickly as we hoped it would,” then RSES president Robb Isaacs told delegates at RSES’ annual conference here.

So instead of relying primarily on NATE to do certification testing, Isaacs said RSES will put renewed emphasis on its own National Technician Certification (NTC), which is available to anyone in the industry, and its Certificate Member (CM) and Certificate Member Specialists (CMS) exams, available only to RSES members.

Isaacs said a public relations agency would be hired to promote NTC, CM, and CMS to end users of technician services.

“We are not pulling out of NATE,” Isaacs said. “NATE has a good future.” But he said RSES wants to re-emphasize programs RSES had in place before a number of trade associations, including RSES, went under the NATE certification umbrella two years ago.

Dropping Membership

In other developments at the conference, it was announced that paid membership as of Oct. 20 was 18,810. Isaacs told delegates that membership has dropped about 15,000 over the past three years; members need to help the society turn around that trend.

In that regard, he noted that RSES has joined with a coalition of 14 groups in trying to improve the image of the industry and reach students as young as 10 and 11 with the benefits of a career in hvacr.

“We are a very well-kept secret,” he said of the industry.

The society, he said, is also adding 72-hr courses of study in various aspects of hvacr to go along with its less-time-consuming units of study.

The society’s website is also undergoing upgrading. In addition to information for anyone surfing the web, RSES is creating a “members only” section with training programs and chat rooms. Another section for chapter officers will allow those officials to quickly obtain statistical and member information.

At the same time, the society will continue to provide extensive printed materials, Isaacs said. “We will not abandon people who do not work on the web.”

New Officers

Also at the convention, Jack Hasick of Calgary, AL, Canada, was elected president during the annual business meeting and sworn into office at the closing banquet.

In stepping down as president, Isaacs moved into the position of executive vice president, the chief paid position in the society. He had been serving as acting executive vice president during his tenure as president.

In other news, Vern Jones of Huntsville, AL, was named Refrigeration Service Engineers Society Member of the Year. Superior Valve Co. endows the Member of the Year award.

Publication date: 11/10/2000