Daily Archives: 1 December 2021

Societies Resources for Students and Student Branch Chapters

 in Student Branch Cookbook

IEEE Power & Energy Society (PES)

Today’s students are tomorrow’s leaders. Students enjoy special IEEE and PES membership discounts. Graduate and undergraduate students are eligible. To join PES as a student member you must first be an IEEE student member. After you become an IEEE member, you can get your first year of PES membership for free (see link below). After your first year, PES membership dues are only US$18.00 per year. A lot of Opportunities are waiting for you at the links below.

 

 

IEEE Robotics & Automation Society (RAS)

Not an IEEE RAS member yet? – no problem, join NOW! Be part of a great experience: having fun while acquiring new knowledge and developing your career. The IEEE Robotics and Automation Society’s objectives are scientific, literary and educational in character. The Society strives for the advancement of the theory and practice of robotics and automation engineering and science and of the allied arts and sciences, and for the maintenance of high professional standards among its members.

 

 

More Societies will be added soon…

Formation of a new Student Branch

 in Student Branch Cookbook

An IEEE Student Branch provides opportunities to meet and learn from fellow IEEE Student and Graduate Student Members and engage with professional IEEE members locally. An active IEEE Student Branch can be one of the most positive elements of your academic career, offering programs, activities, and professional networking opportunities that build critical skills outside of the classroom. IEEE currently has Student Branches at thousands of universities and colleges in hundreds of countries throughout the world.

 

Benefits of forming an IEEE Student Branch

  • Opportunities to network on a local level
  • Obtain funding for events, projects, and activities
  • Develop projects and obtain sponsorship based on your IEEE affiliation
  • Receive support for hosting professional awareness programs
  • Connect with other like minded student groups to advance the IEEE mission

 

Petition Process

ORGANIZERS
  • The Organizer must be an active IEEE member of Student or Graduate Student Member grade and attend the school
  • The Organizer shall serve as the interim Student Branch Chair pending election at a later date
ENDORSERS Student Branch petitions must be endorsed by the following:

  • 1 Institutional Department Head (need not be an IEEE member, but must create an IEEE Web Account to Endorse.)
  • 1  Faculty Counselor, who must be an active IEEE member of Graduate Student Member grade or higher, teaching in the IEEE designated fields of interest
  • 2 Faculty Members, who must be an active IEEE member of Graduate Student Member grade or higher, teaching in the IEEE designated fields of interest

Endorsers will be invited to endorse the petition once the petition has been verified by IEEE Staff.
PETITIONERS Student Branch petitions must be signed by the following:

  • 12 active IEEE members of Student or Graduate Student Member grade who attend the school

Qualified members will be invited to sign the petition once the petition has been endorsed by all Endorsers.
APPROVERS Student Branch petitions must be approved by the following:

  • Region Director (or their designee)
  • Regional Student Activities Chair

Approvers will be invited to approve the petition once the petition has been signed by 12 Petitioners.

Formation of a new Student Branch Affinity Group

 in Student Branch Cookbook

Forming a Women in Engineering (WIE) Affinity Group is the best way to interact and share information with others at your school with similar interests. In order to form a Student Branch Affinity Group it is necessary to have (or form) an IEEE Student Branch.

 

 

Petition Process

ORGANIZERS
  • The Organizer must be an active IEEE member of Student or Graduate Student Member grade and attend the school
  • The Organizer shall serve as the interim Student Branch Affinity Group Chair pending election at a later date
ENDORSERS Student Branch Affinity Group petitions must be endorsed by the following:

  • Student Branch Affinity Group Advisor, who must be an active IEEE member of Graduate Student Member grade or higher and a Faculty Member of the school, teaching in the IEEE designated fields of interest

Endorsers will be invited to endorse the petition once the petition has been verified by IEEE Staff.
PETITIONERS Student Branch Affinity Group petitions must be signed by the following:

  • 6 active IEEE members of Student or Graduate Student Member grade who attend the school
  • The Petitioners must be active members of Women in Engineering

Qualified members will be invited to sign the petition once the petition has been endorsed by all Endorsers.
APPROVERS Student Branch Affinity Group petitions must be approved by the following:

  • Region Director (or their designee)
  • Regional Student Activities Chair
  • Chair of the Sponsoring Entity (or their designee)

Approvers will be invited to approve the petition once the petition has been signed by 6 Petitioners.

Formation of a new Student Branch Chapter

 in Student Branch Cookbook

Student Branches can form Technical Branch Chapters, which are related to an IEEE Society. So for example a Branch might form a Computer Society Chapter or a Robotics and Automation Society Chapter. This might provide some advantages in organizing your branch, for example if you want to expand branch activities to multiple faculties. Also, Societies may offer different kinds of support for student branch chapters. A branch chapter can be a good contact point with the IEEE societies – for technically oriented events, you might be able to get support from the societies easier if you are organized in a chapter. In order to form a Student Branch Chapter it is necessary to have (or form) an IEEE Student Branch.

 

Benefits of forming an IEEE Student Branch Chapter

  • Expanding Branch activities to multiple faculties at the University.
  • Connecting with the industry and experienced people worldwide.
  • Inviting outstanding speakers from the Distinguished Lecturer Program.
  • Getting Special Courses from specialized and experienced people in the society.
  • Getting the chance to participate in the Student Competitions related to society.
  • Having the chance to win Awards from IEEE societies.
  • Receiving Specialized magazines from the IEEE societies.
  • Having a special conferences discount for IEEE conferences around the world.
  • Competing other students to get Scholarships funded by IEEE societies.
  • Receiving more funds and money to facilitate your events and activities.
  • A SB Chapter can be a good contact point with the IEEE societies – for technically oriented events.
  • Professional Development tools and materials for your SB chapter.
  • Peer to Peer networking in your technical domain of interest and exclusive resources.

 

What about Joint Student Branch Chapters?

A Joint Student Branch Chapter is comprising the members of more than one Society. Submit your Student Branch Chapter petition selecting more than one (1) Societies in order to establish a Joint Student Branch Chapter. The petition shall contain at least six (6) signatures in total and each Society involved shall be represented by at least three (3) signatures. An example of a Joint Student Branch Chapter can be from sister societies like Power and Energy Society with Industry Applications Society, or/and Communications Society with Signal Processing Society.

 

Petition Process

ORGANIZERS
  • The Organizer must be an active IEEE member of Student or Graduate Student Member grade and attend the school
  • The Organizer must be an active member of the Society(ies) or Council(s) involved
  • The Organizer shall serve as the interim Student Branch Chapter Chair pending election at a later date
ENDORSERS Student Branch petitions must be endorsed by the following:

  • The current IEEE Student Branch Counselor, who will endorse the petition on behalf of the IEEE Student Branch Executive Committee
  • Student Branch Chapter Advisor, who must be an active IEEE member of Graduate Student Member grade or higher, Faculty Member of the school, and an active member of the Society(ies) or Council(s) involved

Endorsers will be invited to endorse the petition once the petition has been verified by IEEE Staff.
PETITIONERS Student Branch Chapter petitions must be signed by the following:

  • 6 active IEEE members of Student or Graduate Student Member grade who attend the school, and are members of the Society(ies) or Council(s) involved

Qualified members will be invited to sign the petition once the petition has been endorsed by all Endorsers.
APPROVERS Student Branch Chapter petitions must be approved by the following:

  • Region Director (or their designee)
  • Regional Student Activities Chair
  • Society/Council President, for each Society/Council involved

Approvers will be invited to approve the petition once the petition has been signed by 6 Petitioners.

 

 

List of the available Societies, and Councils for SB Chapters

Student Branch Required Reporting

 in Student Branch Vitality

Step 1. Officer Reporting

vTools Officer Reporting is an online officer reporting tool that enables authorized volunteers to make modifications to the officer roster. The tool provides automatic validation and updates the central IEEE database. Each time a new ExCom member or Branch Counselor is selected to serve at your Student Branch, the IEEE Operations Center must be notified.

 

Step 2. Annual Plan Reporting

vTools Student Branch Reporting helps you keep track of your yearly activities by submitting your Student Branch Annual Plan. It also serves as a valuable historical document to aid future executives in their planning and records financial statements so it is important that the Student Branch Treasurer is involved in the preparation of the report. The due date for filing your Annual Plan is on or before 1 February annually.

 

Step 3. Events Reporting

vTools Events is used for creating and managing local meetings. Completing the Student Branch Activity Report should help you evaluate the success of your program and to provide some continuity for future years. Officers can create meeting announcements by entering all relevant meeting information in one central place. Each created event is accessible at the vTools Events website and the events are automatically exported to various sites, including IEEE websites, Collabratec and IEEE Event Finder Mobile App.

How to maintain your Student Branch Chapter

 in Student Branch Vitality

Keep in mind

Work closely with your Student Branch and its sub-units
  • As a Chapter Chair of your Student Branch, you will work closely with your Student Branch Chair and other leaders in your Branch and Section in carrying out activities. 
  • There may be more than one Student Branch Chapter in your Student Branch, so try to interact and work with them to expand your activities.
Your Society is your second half
  • The Student Branch Chapter is also a subset of the related Technical Society or Council (e.g., the Communications Chapter relates to the IEEE Communications Society). So, take the advantage of this.
  • That Society is a source of financial support, programs, and other information to enhance your Student Branch Chapter activities.
Establish connections with your Section
  • Keep in touch with the SB chapters in other Universities and with the SSAC and SSR in your Section.
  • Keep in touch with the chapter committee in your Section.

 

Things not to miss from the MGA Operations Manual

Management
  • A Student Branch Chapter functions in a manner similar to a committee of the Student Branch.
  • The responsibility for Student Branch Chapter management rests with the Executive Committee (ExCom) of the Branch.
Officers
  • The Student Branch Chapter members shall elect a Student Branch Chapter Chair and any other officers deemed necessary for its successful operation in accordance with the Branch constitution.
  • Each Student Branch Chapter Chair shall serve as an ex-officio member of the Branch ExCom in coordinating and planning activities and programs.
Participation and Financials
  • All Student Branch members shall be advised of all meetings held under the auspices of the Branch including those organized by a Student Branch Chapter.
  • IEEE shall rebate to each such Branch, in good standing, US$2.00 per Student Branch member and an additional US$1.00 per Student Branch Chapter member based on membership count as of 31 December each year, this membership count shall include those students who joined and upgraded during the calendar year.

 

How to keep your SB Chapter status according to MGA

  1. Maintaining membership of not fewer than five (5) IEEE members of Student Member or Graduate Student Member grade.
  2. Holding not less than two (2) technical meetings per year.
    • These events/meetings must be reported on vTools Events.
  3. Maintaining a level of activity acceptable to the Society President, the Region Director, and the Region Student Activities Committee Chair.

 

Resources to support your SB Chapter

Available Tools for Student Branches

 in Student Branch Vitality

A. Request a Functional Email Alias for your SB

You can request a SB email alias that forwards to an individual using this registration form. For example, [email protected] is an example Student Branch alias that forwards to the respective Student Branch counselor.

Student Branch standard format is [email protected] or [email protected] for a Student Branch Chapter.  Include the school name, abbreviated as necessary, and the society code for chapters.  (There is a 15-character limit.)

 

B. Request Web Hosting for your SB website 

You can request hosting for a wordpress-based website for your Student Branch using this registration form. This service is intended to meet the needs of IEEE Organizational Units that want to develop, create and maintain their own websites on an IEEE host. The general philosophy is that posting Organizational Units will be responsible for their contents, their maintenance and their conformance to IEEE policy.

 

C. Send massive emails and newsletters to your SB members

vTools eNotice is an electronic newsletter subscription service that has been developed for IEEE organizational units to facilitate email distribution of newsletters, meeting notices, social events and IEEE conference materials. IEEE organizational units using this service are strongly encouraged to limit emailings to one per week. Please note that the emails are sent only to the registered IEEE members of your Student Branch.

 

D. Organize your elections with vTools Voting

vTools Voting enables online officer elections for sections/chapters/affinity groups. Electronic ballots give members an option to submit votes in their officer elections online.

 

E. Membership Validator

IEEE Membership Validator is an online utility that allows volunteers and staff to easily and securely check IEEE member status, grade, and society memberships and offer discounts available exclusively to IEEE members. Information can be looked up by either a member number or a member’s primary email address.

 

F. OU Analytics

IEEE OU Analytics is the visual business intelligence tool for volunteer access to member data. With this tool you can have access to the registered IEEE members list of your Student Branch.

 

G. Membership Development Materials

Various IEEE membership development materials are available to support your recruitment efforts. Materials include membership and program brochures, promotional posters, tabletop displays, information sheets, and limited amounts of giveaways. You can access the respective page for detailed information.

Notes: Account credentials for the ordering portal are provided to Student Branch Chairs upon request. Normally international orders require 4 weeks lead time. A minimum of 30 days is required prior to placing a new order.

 

* The most of the tools above are available only for the Student Branch Chairs.