PUG Corner
November 30, 2023What an amazing turn out for the 2023 PUG Conference in Idaho! For those who don’t know me, I am Amy Sullivan from the Minnesota DOT and your 2024 PUG Chair. I am the AASHTOWare Project Supervisor for MN and am responsible for the implementation and maintenance of the software. I am honored to be representing the user community and am excited for the things to come this year!
Last year, we kicked off a significant change to how the user community does business. On May 5, 2023, the Agency User Reps voted to dissolve TEA/PUG Inc. This resolution specifically requested that the financial responsibilities be handled by AASHTO. With this change in responsibility, AASHTO will also be utilizing a conference planner to assist both the PUG Board and the Host State in planning the PUG Conferences moving forward. This will bring consistency to the PUG Conferences and more importantly provide more support for the Host States.
Speaking of Host States, we hope to see you at the 2024 PUG Conference in Oklahoma City, OK from September 29, 2024 – October 3, 2024! You can find more information on next year’s PUG Conference on the AASHTOWare Project website under Community –> Project Users Group (PUG) –> PUG Conference tab. The PUG Board will be seeking volunteers to provide presentations at the 2024 PUG Conference. Look for an email asking for abstracts in the coming months! We will be asking for basic information about the session and presenter(s), plus an abstract between 100-400 words.
As the board works through the dissolution of the non-profit this year, we will also be reviewing the Constitution and Bylaws to ensure it matches the changes in responsibilities described above. The PUG Board has turned the focus to providing additional support to the Technical Advisory Groups (TAGs). Each PUG Board member has been assigned two TAGs to represent. We are also meeting quarterly with the TAG Coordinators to get feedback and recommendations for improvements to the processes. With this shift in focus, in close partnership with the Project Task Force (PTF), we are hoping to improve the user community experience.
Lastly, the 2023 PUG Ballot Results have been posted to the AASHTOWare Project website. Another resolution that passed in 2022 asked that the PTF provide details on the top 3 TMRs in each category. If you haven’t seen it yet, you can find the 2022 PUG Ballot PTF Selection here. Provided in this document are the TMR numbers, titles, PUG Categories, Category Rank and the PTF Selection / Estimate.
Please reach out to any of the PUG Board members with any questions or concerns!
Stay Awesome,
Amy Sullivan