SWE Region E RCNE Blog

January 2008

LETTER BY RCR

Dear SWE Collegiate Members, 

Hope you’ve had good semesters so far in 2007, and that 2008 continues to be successful and fulfilling!

 

SWE07 – National Conference

It was a pleasure to meet those of you who came to SWE07. Region E’s student sections continued to garner awards (see below). Congratulations to all our winners!

. Kimberly Clark Corporation Outreach Event/Series Award- Collegiate - Medium Section - University of Virginia

. Outstanding Collegiate Section Award – 1st place – Cornell University

. Outstanding Collegiate Certification of Merit Award – Rutgers University

. SME Bowl – 3rd Place – Region E (team members from RIT)

 

Unfortunately, the joint regional meeting did not leave much opportunity for me to get feedback from SWE’s collegiate members, although speaking with your section presidents did provide some insight as to what collegiate sections were doing and allowed section presidents to share best practices and advice. I’ve summarised some of the areas we covered below: 

• Membership – Most schools see a consistent membership number. Hosting the regional conference has helped increase interest on campus and pull in members. Some campuses, which are commuter, find it difficult to pull in members and find that residents are easier to attract.
• Increasing membership – Some ideas discussed included collaboration with other engineering organizations (SHPE, NSBE)—which would be a successful strategy due to the new offering of joint membership in these organizations. Some schools mentioned that existing programs (for freshmen, organized by the Engineering office, etc.) took away from SWE’s membership. On the other hand, collaboration with the Diversity office has helped to introduce students to the opportunities available in affiliating with a professional organization.
• Attracting corporate support – Hosting a professional networking dinner has been successful, as this allows companies and students to interact one-on-one and establish relationships, making the student more memorable at the time of the career fair. Hosting career fairs is also useful in attracting corporate sponsorship.
• Outreach – Some schools find it more difficult than others, based on location, but collaborating with the local professional section helps to strengthen efforts.
• Region E – Some presidents mentioned that they wanted more education on regional/national SWE and to understand better the structure of the regional collegiate team. Involvement from leadership coaching would be helpful in this area. The region meeting did not allow for collegiate interests to be adequately represented.
  

Additionally, the by-law amendment to increase collegiate representation on COR (council of representatives), the voting body of SWE, was passed. Due to region E’s membership, this means that starting FY09, Region E will have two RCRs. Details of the duties of the two RCRs will be forthcoming. 

If you have any questions about Region E or other discussion at the conference, please let me know.

 

Call for Nominations

 
You may have already received the call for nominations. I urge each of you to consider applying for the RCR, RCNE, RCMC (membership coordinator) and RCW (webmaster), as the opportunity to be involved with SWE at a national level is a terrific one. As an RCR, you will also have voting rights on COR, which will allow you to have a voice on SWE’s legislative processes and other activities.

 

Section Presidents only – VERY IMPORTANT

1) If you have not emailed your section details for FY08, please do so immediately. Email Ramona Hopkins at Ramona.hopkins@swe.org to provide her with contact information for your section executive board as well as your SWE counselor. This is important, as I will be sending several throughout the course of the year, which will require up-to-date information.

2) In order to be a member of your local SWE section, you MUST be a paid member with National SWE. Please encourage all your members to register with national SWE - membership is only $20 and provides several benefits.

3) If you have not yet submitted a section report so far, please do so. I understand that not all of you may have received the request for section reports, as I do not have complete contact details for all section presidents in Region E, but any feedback about your section's activities will be helpful. I will accept both section reports 1 and 2 (1 refers to activities up to Sep. 2007 (mostly goals for the upcoming year and information on membership) and 2 should include a summary of events/activities/programs up until this date.).  Please refer to http://www.swe.org/regionE/documents.htm for a Section Report template, and be sure to include section goals, best practices, and recommendations for the region.

4) If you are section president, please email me with your name, school and email  address. Just these details will help me to keep your contact information current.

5) I would like the opportunity to speak with section presidents in order to get verbal updates and feedback on your section so far, and to help the collegiate team draft out its strategic plan for the region in the upcoming years. Please fill out this brief survey at http://www.surveymonkey.com/s.aspx?sm=_2bAmwTpiyUsdnX4nRzFHylw_3d_3d to let me know which dates would work best for you. 

Hope you all have a wonderful 2008!

 

Best, 

Kavita Baba

Region E RCR                      

Cornell University ‘09

rcr-e@swe.org