Opportunity is knocking…

Have you thought about your next leadership role in SWE? Are you ready for the next level of challenge, development, responsibility, and reward? Do you want to make a difference in the Society and affect change?

The positions of Region Collegiate Representative (RCR) and Region Collegiate Communications Editor (RCCE) offer outstanding opportunities to interact with professional women, while developing leadership attributes. Both positions are great stepping stones for becoming actively involved in the society at the professional level. It is a also a great opportunity to learn how both the region and national levels work. The RCR is responsible to represent area collegiate members’ interests among national leaders, participate in strategic discussions with the other members of the Council of Representatives, and provide direction to the national Society. The RCCE is responsible for communicating important SWE events and best practices by publishing the region newsletter for collegiate members.

Some of the RCR duties include:

• Communicate to the region leadership as the collegiate member’s voice on the Region Council.
• Attend Regional & Annual Conference
• Facilitate Region Collegiate Meetings
• Maintain constant and consistent contact with Governor and RCR/RCCE Coordinator
• Serve on the Region Collegiate Team
• Provide input to region blog

 

RCCE duties include:

• Communicate to the region leadership as the collegiate member’s voice on the SWE.
• Attend Regional & Annual Conference
• Help facilitate Region Collegiate Meetings
• Maintain constant and consistent contact with Governor and RCR/RCCE Coordinator
• Serve on the Region Collegiate Team
• Maintain the region blog

 

FY10 Election Timeline:

• Call for Applicants: Tuesday, January 20
• Applications Due: Friday, February 8
• Candidates Presented: Monday, March 1
• Voting Begins: Monday, March 1
• Voting Ends: Monday, March 15
• Winners Announced: Monday, April 5

 

Questions? Email your friendly neighborhood RCR (rcr-f@swe.org) and RCCE (rcce-f@swe.org).

All About Bylaws

Ever taken a look at the Society’s Bylaws? Do you know SWE’s vision? SWE’s tagline? How would describe SWE to someone who has never heard of the organization?

Knowing the Society’s vision and goals can help you formulate goals for your section as well as help you understand how you fit into the bigger picture. If you’ve never looked at the Society’s bylaws, I encourage you to take a glance at them. Below I’ve listed some information about the Society and encourage you to read it over.

SWE’s TagLine: Aspire, Advance, Achieve

SWE’s Mission (Adopted in 1986)

• Stimulate women to achieve full potential in careers as engineers and leaders,
• Expand the image of the engineering profession as a positive force in improving the quality of life, and
• Demonstrate the value of diversity

SWE’s Objectives (Adopted in 1950)

• Inform young women, their parents, counselors and the general public of the qualifications and achievements of women engineers and the opportunities open to them
• Assist women in readying themselves for a return to active work after temporary retirement
• Serve as a center of information on women in engineering
• Encourage women engineers to attain high levels of education and professional achievement

SWE’s Strategic Priorities (The Society’s 3 –5 Year Planning Horizon Strategies)

• Growing the Profession (Outreach): There is an increase in women choosing to enter the engineering and technology profession.
• Professional Excellence: Women in engineering and technology excel professionally, and their achievements are showcased and valued.
• Industry Catalyst: SWE is a catalyst for changing the professional climate to enable women in engineering and technology to excel.
• Inclusive Global Community: Women in Engineering and Technology and SWE stakeholdersfind value in SWE as a diverse, inclusive, global community.

SWE’s Values

• Integrity: We aspire to the highest level of ethical behavior as evidenced by honesty and dignity in our personal and professional relationships and responsibilities.
• Inclusive Environment: We embrace diversityin its broadest interpretation and commit to creating an inclusive environment for all our members and stakeholders. We value the contributions of a diverse membership, which enables SWE to achieve its full potential.
• Mutual Support: We provide an organization that fosters mentoring, and the development of professional and personal networks.
• Professional Excellence: We conduct our activities in a professional manner, demonstrating and demanding the highest standards of business practices.
• Trust: We share a common definition of success, with open, transparent access to common information, building mutual respect and confidence in the competence of those with whom we lead, serve and partner with.

Section Bylaws

Following the revision of the Society’s bylaws a number of years ago, new templates for section (professional and collegiate) bylaws were developed. ALL sections are expected to adopt new bylaws based on the respective template.

Sections are expected to prepare a revision of their bylaws, by using the template and adjusting as appropriate for their section-specific issues within the guidelines of the template and submitting them for review. (A bylaws revision is a complete replacement of the existing bylaws with a new set, rather than processing amendments. The existing bylaws procedure for amendments must be followed in approving the revision.) Although this process appears cumbersome, it offers an opportunity for sections to review their bylaws and ensure that the bylaws really reflect how the section operates. See the powerpoint “Collegiate Section Bylaws Approval Status” for the latest status on approval of collegiate section bylaws.

You can also download a copy of the Collegiate Section Bylaws Template here: Collegiate Section Bylaws Template.

Get more involved! Run for a Regional Officer Position!

Sharon and I are your Region F RCR and RCNE this year. You should consider running for our positions, and for the new position of Senator. What the positions are and what they entail is all spelled out below, e-mail me ( rcne-f@swe.org ) with any questions!
SENATOR

At National Conference this year the Council of Representatives (COR) voted to create the position of collegiate Senator, one to serve in each of the ten regions. Senators will serve on the National Senate (the new body in FY10 replacing the current COR).

What does the Senator do?

· The Senator is a vital collegiate voice within the Region and to National leaders in SWE.

· Serve as the collegiate voice for the region on the National Senate. They will help set the direction for the society working with 2 Professional Senators from the 10 Region, 2 International Senators, and 2 Special Directors.

· Attend 2 face-to-face Senate meetings at National Conference and in the spring, as well as monthly conference calls.

· Trained with the other Senators

What does it take to be Senator?

· Member of SWE for at least 2 years and in good standing

· Be a collegiate member during term (graduate or undergraduate)

· Have been in a leadership role in their section, region or national SWE. Acceptable leadership roles:

o Officer at any level

o Committee chair at section level

o Committee member at regional and/or national level

· Have attended at least one regional or national conference

· Good Academic Standing

How/When Do Candidates Apply?

Elections for Senator are unique from those for RCR/RCNE and will follow the timeline outlined below.
Date Event
Dec 11th Call for nominations
Jan 21st 2nd call for nominations
Feb 1st All nominations due
Feb 13th Publish nominees to region and allow for petition process
Mar 1st Photos and bios of all nominees sent to SWE HQ
Apr 1st Electronic ballots sent to all collegiate members
Apr 30th Voting ends
May 15th Winners notified

Please click here to get started on your (online) Collegiate Senator application.

RCR

There will continue to be 1 RCR in Region F with more than 1,000 collegiate members by Dec 31st 2008.

So what do the RCRs do?

· Vital collegiate voice within the Region and to Region leaders in SWE.

· Serves on Region Council as the voting collegiate member for the region.

· Serves on the Region Collegiate Team working to make sure collegiate and section interest and concerns are discussed among the region leadership and plans are made to improve the region collegiate experience.

· Prepares the Collegiate Report to the Governor 3 times a year after collecting Collegiate Section Reports. In regions with 2 RCRs sections will be split between the 2.

· Leads the Collegiate sections of the Region meeting at the National and Regional Conferences.

· Works with other RCRs and RCNEs on yearly goals to improve the collegiate experience in SWE.

· Attends Collegiate Leadership Forum (CLF) in the summer to receive Leadership and SWE Training.

What does it take to be RCR?

· 2 Years in SWE

· Current Paid Member

· Collegiate Member in FY10 (Graduate or Undergraduate Member)

· Good Academic Standing

· Interest in getting involved in SWE at Regional and National Level

· Ability to Travel (CLF – paid, National – some help available in some regions, Region Conference – some help available in some regions) In Region F, this isn’t an issue, as funds are available for National Conference and Regional Conference if necessary.

Please click on this link to get started on your RCR or RCNE application.

RCNE

There is 1 RCNE in each region. They maintain the Region Collegiate Blogs and support the RCR(s).

So what does the RCNE do?

· Maintain the Region Collegiate Blog, by working with the Region Web Master, Region Governor, RCR and Collegiate Sections.

· Write and Post Monthly Hot Topics on the Blog – Topics could include Membership, Fund raising, Rewarding Members, Program Ideas, etc. You don’t have to know all the answers there will be resource to help write these.

· Work with Collegiate Sections to get 2 postings/articles a year from each section.

· Serves on the Region Collegiate Team working to make sure collegiate and section interest and concerns are discussed among the region leadership and plans are made to improve the region collegiate experience.

· Prepares Report to the Governor 3 times a year updating the Governor on the blog, region collegiate team and other happenings.

· Works with other RCRs and RCNEs on yearly goals to improve the collegiate experience in SWE.

· Attends Collegiate Leadership Forum (CLF) in the summer to receive Leadership and SWE Training.

What does it take to be RCNE?

· 2 Years in SWE

· Current Paid Member

· Collegiate Member in FY10 (Graduate or Undergraduate Member)

· Good Academic Standing

· Interest in getting involved in SWE at Regional and National Level

· Ability to Travel (CLF – paid, National – some help available in some regions, Region Conference – some help available in some Regions)

How/When Do Candidates Apply?

Please click on this link to get started on your RCR or RCNE application.