Standardization News

Need more information about a committee role or the standards process? If you have a specific question (or a few), contact your staff manager. To help increase your understanding of the standards process, technical contact/officer responsibilities, and more, ASTM International offers training.

Virtual Training Sept 16-19

Technical contacts, task group chairs, subcommittee and main committee officers, and those who want to learn about or fill one of these roles: Consider attending this year’s Virtual Officers’ Training Workshop. The program will be held Sept. 16-19, and it includes more than a dozen online modules to help you with your ASTM responsibilities. From “Balloting and Handling Negative Votes” and “Member Website Tools” to “Robert’s Rules” and the responsibilities of technical contacts and officers, the modules will be offered more than once to accommodate your schedules.

Committee Week Training

At each committee week, staff members lead interactive programs at noon, and attendees are welcome to ask questions at anytime. For the October and November committee weeks, on Monday through Wednesday, the programs include:

• Orientation;
• Balloting and Handling Negative Votes; and
• Developing and Revising a Standard.

The December committee week includes just the first two. For the spring committee weeks, the sessions, held on Monday and Wednesday, include orientation and a combined session on balloting and negative votes plus standards development and revisions.

For more information about committee week training sessions, contact Kelly Paul (tel +1.610.832.9745; kpaul@astm.org).

Member Training

The member training webpage lists information and links to both materials and virtual sessions. The “Member Training Materials” section links to:

• ASTM 101;
• ASTM Self-Led Training Course;
• New Member;
• Committee Operations; and
• Meetings.

You’ll find infographics, charts, checklists, presentation slides, and more. For questions, including about what might be most useful for you, contact your staff manager.

The training page also lists virtual training information with sessions, descriptions, upcoming dates/times, and (often) links to related slides or information. Questions? Contact Kristy Straiton (tel +1.610.832.9640; kstraiton@astm.org).

New: Self-Led Training Course

The new online course, “Introduction to ASTM Standards,” provides a comprehensive understanding of both ASTM standards and the process. Always available, the course introduces standards and proceeds with four lessons covering everything related to the topic. Through the overall menu for the lesson subjects, you can pursue one or more topics.

Among other topics, Lesson 1 includes fundamentals, use, and types of standards; Lesson 2 explains how to read a standard and interpret its title; Lesson 3 discusses determining needs, tools, and drafts; and Lesson 4 highlights the benefits and uses of standards, plus frequently asked questions. Go to “ASTM 101 Self-Led Training Course."

Virtual Officers’ Training Workshop

Register HERE. 
Sessions: Officer and Contact Responsibilities, Balloting/ Negative Votes, Certification, (and more)
Contact: Mary Mikolajewski (tel +1.610.832.9678; mmikolajewski@astm.org)

REGS CORNER

Form and Style for ASTM Standards is more than a helpful manual. The Regulations Governing ASTM Technical Committees mandates the use of the Form and Style manual in “the writing of new standards, revisions, and reapprovals.”

Form and Style is, as noted in its introduction, “the basic textbook for anyone writing an ASTM standard.” The manual covers how to write each section — from its title to any appendixes — in great detail.
You’ll find both Form and Style and the Regulations online. Review the Regulations in Arabic, Chinese, Japanese, Korean, or Spanish HERE (click on preferred language).