by Islin Moy
Region Collegiate Newsletter Editor, Region i
A variety of national opportunities are available for any collegiate (or professional) in the Society of Women Engineers–to go wherever your interests lies. This does not matter if you are a member or president of your section.
National Committees
A good place to start is as a member of a national committee. All you need to do is email the committee chair that you are interested in seeing what the committee does, and if you are interested, see what your role can be. If you are going to a National Conference, there are committee meetings earlier in the week, but you can also schedule a brief (20 minute) meeting with the committee chair if you arrive later. To see last year’s WE08 National Conference schedule of committee meetings, please click on this link. The degree of involvement is completely up to you, as well as the hours each month you wish to dedicate. You can also have exposure to SWE leadership, and see if that may be a path you wish to take.
A list of committees, their descriptions, and chairs are available to view on the committees list of the Society of Women Engineers Leadership page. You can contact these SWE members any time of the year via email.
Regional Committees and Leadership
Another way is to bring the Region Conference to your school. As Region Conference Chair, you will be leading your own team to make the conference not only possible–but a memorable event that everyone will remember. Kristi Tanouye was this year’s Region Conference Chair, and the conference was hosted at Washington University in St. Louis.
You can also become Region Collegiate Representative, and the time commitment is approximately two to four hours a week (with significantly more time leading up to National and Regional conferences). Your duties would include:
- 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.
If you are more into writing, you can become a Region Collegiate Newsletter Editor! The time commitment is approximately two to four hours a week (with significantly more time leading up to National and Regional conferences, same as with Region Collegiate Representative). Your duties would include:
- 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.
The regional collegiate representative and newsletter editor positions are elected at the Region Conference, with applications available in December and due in January, depending on when the Region Conference is.
Regional and National Leadership
The Regional Collegiate Senator role is uniquely positioned. You will act a link between your region and national issues. You would:
- 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
This position is elected, and details for future years’ elections will become available.
Islin (islinmoy at gmail dot com) also serves as FY09 COR MEGA Issues Task Force Chair.
