Other - Region D Best Practices

Service- Canned Food Drive (D052, University of Alabama at Huntsville): We co-hosted an Engineering Club Canned Food Drive just before Thanksgiving. We teamed up with two other engineering clubs on our campus, which included the National Society of Black Engineers (NSBE) and the Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers (IEEE). The objective our canned food drive was to provide non perishable items to Crisis Services of North Alabama. We posted flyers around campus to notify our fellow students about our canned food drive. Surrounding restaurants supported our event by donating coupons. The coupons were given to people who donated five items or more to our drive. Our canned food drive was held in two areas that are frequented by students. We also set up boxes in additional locations around campus in case those who wanted to participate could not come to a manned booth. The support from our student body was overwhelming, inevitably making the event a success.

Professional Development -Company Night (D067, University of Puerto Rico): Company Night is an activity that all the student organizations of our college plan with the Placements Department of the campus. It was celebrated in October as part of the Career Fair Week. The purpose of the activity is to present the students associations to all the companies that come to visit us for our annual Career Fair. This allows us to expose ourselves to them and reach out for sponsorship and collaboration opportunities that these companies may have for us. As a student organization we helped several companies placing their booths at the Fair area. We also prepared a SWE table where we had informational material (SWE’s brochures, National Conference promotion, our section’s proposals, etc.) and we prepared a presentation of SWE’s evolution in our campus. We consider this activity successful because we received many sponsorship proposals based upon our performance that night and our students met many company representatives that they can consider as future employers. It is also very important the fact that we worked together with other associations to be successful at this activity, opening the doors for networking with students from other fields and acquiring experience that can help us grow as leaders.

Networking - Female Faculty Appreciation Luncheon (D074, Vanderbilt University): The goal of the event was to allow further networking between SWE students and faculty outside of the academic arena. We sponsor a female faculty luncheon where the members and the female faculty are invited for a nice catered lunch in the engineering building. We make sure to schedule it during our normal meetings to ensure the most participation of our students. We also try to send out paper invitations in advance to faculty. This makes the event seem more special and is further motivation for their attendance. The activity was a success. Although we had SEVERAL issues, they were all with our caterer. Even though it was held in a busy week, there was a great deal of attendance between both student members and female faculty.

Section Operations- Newsletter (D083, University of North Florida): SWE UNF published our first newsletter, which has been a boon for recruiting and eliciting sponsorship monies. Our potential members and corporate sponsors can now have a snapshot of our past accomplishments, current events, and future activities and needs.

Section Operations - Officer Meetings (D054, University of Central Florida): UCF SWE’s officer structure has developed to meet the utmost communication and performance needs of the section among our thirteen officers. The four executive board members each chair a small officer committee that meets every other week or as needed to discuss and coordinate events together designated to their responsibilities. Our structure consists of committees for: Professional Development, Membership Initiatives, Education and Outreach, and Diversion and Inclusion. Creating teams within our group of officers allows effective support as compared to an individual approach to performing duties for the section. Groups are able to contribute ideas in an environment that allows for constructive analysis of planning efforts. Point of contact confusion is eliminated and checks and balances are maintained through this practice.

Event Planning - Work with Local SWE Sections (D081, Southern Polytechnic State University): A best practice for our section so far has been working with the two sections close by that are well developed by working with them in their activities. One of the strategic goals is to provide the opportunities for women to attain, enhance, and demonstrate leadership, professional, and technical excellence that results in career achievement, advancement, and satisfaction. This best practice helps promote this strategic goal. It gives a place for the new participating members and leadership from SPSU to be active and enjoy a variety of opportunities while building a section at SPSU.