R8 SAC Programs for Student Branches

Introduction

The IEEE Region 8 Student Activities Committee is announcing the Collaborative Student Initiatives Booster Program. This program calls for section student activities leaders (Section Chairs, SSACs, SSRs) and student branch leaders (Student Branch Chairs and Counselors, Chapter Chairs and Advisors, WIE Chairs and Advisors) to submit proposals for collaborative initiatives or project ideas in the area of Student Activities.

Goals

The program aims to:

• Giving incentives to IEEE Region 8 Sections and Student Branches for collaborations on Student Activities and support them;
• Provide an opportunity to IEEE Region 8 Sections and Student Branches to initiate collaborative programs in Student Activities;
• Showcase the innovation and drive of IEEE Region 8 Sections and Student Branches to an international student audience;
• Find, promote and establish creative programs which provide value to IEEE students.

Rules

The program rules are the following:

• The initiatives or project ideas shall be new and not from the existing pool of IEEE Students Programs;
• Applicants to this program can be only Sections and Student Branches:
  • For Student Branches, they must have submitted their annual report;
  • In case of Student Branch Chapters or Women in Engineering, their parent Student Branch is considered as the applicant on behalf of them.
• One applicant only is considered as the Financial Responsible (FR) OU;
  • The FR OU receives the funding from the program;
  • If the FR OU is a Student Branch, an endorsement from its Section Chair or Treasurer should be included.
• There should be at least 2 applicant OUs of the same level (Section / Student Branch);
• Each OU can submit only 1 entry as the FR one and up to 2 entries in total;
• Applicants that were funded in previous R8 SAC Programs and haven’t delivered the reports requested are not qualified to apply;
• The application should include an endorsement from all applicant OUs:
  • For Sections, only Section Chair, SSAC or SSR can provide an endorsement;
  • For Student Branches, only Student Branch Chair or Counselor can provide an endorsement.
    • For Student Branch Chapters or Women in Engineering, the respective Advisor can also provide an endorsement.

Judging

Proposals will be judged from R8 SAC in the following areas:

• Innovation and Originality;
• Solid content and Planning;
• Usability and Benefits to students;
• Scalability and Sustainability;
• Alignment with MGA SAC goals.

Submissions

The proposal shall contain the following information:

• Summary of the proposal (max. 250 words)
• Description of the proposed cross-sectional initiative or project idea
• Goals and KPIs
  • Provide a short timeframe with milestones
  • The idea should be completed within the year of approval
• How does the idea align with MGA Student Activities goals?
  • Link to MGA Student Activities Committee Goals
  • The idea doesn’t have to align with all goals.
• What are the benefits for the students?
• Provide a detailed projected budget
• Additional information (optional)

The submission shall:

• be a maximum of 6 pages (without endorsement letters);
• be in Times new roman font and 11 font size;
• be submitted in pdf format;
• include all the applicant OUs name;
• include as attachments all endorsement letters.

Tracks

There are different tracks that you can apply for your initiative:

• Section Student Initiatives Track;
  • Only Sections can apply on this track.
• Student Branch Initiatives Track;
  • Only Student Branches can apply on this track.
• Student Branch Technical Chapters Initiatives Track;
  • Only SB Technical Chapters can apply on this track.
• Student Branch Women in Engineering Initiatives Track;
  • Only SB WIE AGs can apply on this track.
• New Engineers Track.
  • Both Sections and Student Branches can apply on this track.
  • The New Engineers Track focuses on encouraging collaborations with pre-university students and teachers to establish educational activities that promotes the benefits of being an Engineer.
  • This track aims to help Student Branches and Sections to organize educational programs with schools and encourage students using different and more interactive teaching methods.

Funding

The best entries which exceed the minimum standards can receive up to 1,800$ per initiative to be used as secured funding for piloting their proposals. The funding will be sent in the (parent) Section’s bank account after the submission and evaluation of the final report. The funding does not cover virtual platforms costs. Funding Eligibility Criteria and Outcome Reporting Rules are applied on this program.

The final funding depends on the Student Branches involved (in case of Sections the number of their Student Branches that have submitted their annual report is considered) and on the affected sections. In case of collaboration with local Young Professionals (endorsement letter from local YP Chair is required) a bonus of +100 $ is considered on the base funding. The maximum funding is calculated as <base funding> x <funding multiplier>, according to the following table:

Apply Now!

Final Deadline: October 20th

Application From: Submit your Application NOW

Important Dates

1. Proposals Submission: April 20th, May 20th, June 20th, July 20th, August 20th, September 20th, October 20th
2. Winners Announcement: 14 days after proposal submission deadline
3. Initiatives Implementation: by late November 2022
4. Reporting Submission: by November 30th, 2022
5. Funding Release: December 2022

Funding Eligibility Criteria

• No funding is provided for virtual platforms, COVID tests, and Visa applications;
• Travel funding is only accepted for domestic travels;
• If no deadline is set for the program, the funding request should be submitted at least 4 weeks before the event is scheduled to take place;
• Should your funding be initially approved, you will have to submit the outcome report after the event takes place;
  • Please be aware that funding is issued only after the event takes place and the required outcome reporting are received, initial approval does not necessarily mean that you will get the funds requested.
• Outcome report must be submitted within thirty days (30) after the conclusion of the activity with all requested details including the use of funds;
• Be aware that the committee issue funding at their next scheduled meeting usually once per month;
• Approved amount of funds may be lower/different from the requested amount due to content of application or outcome report;
• The committee reserves the right to request documentation to prove the costs of events before approving for funding;
• Initial funding per program may be provided only once per OU per year;
• Please itemize all expenses in US dollars only (please do not use local currency in the proposal);
• If an outcome report is not received, future requests for one year will not be reviewed and/or awarded;
• The outcome report may be published in R8 channels.

Outcome Reports

If your event funding has been approved, you should submit the necessary outcome reporting. These materials should be submitted within 30 days after the event takes place. OUs that fail to submit the required outcome report within 30 days after the event took place will not receive any event funding. An outcome reporting submission can lead to future requests for one year not be reviewed and/or awarded.

The required materials include:

• Detailed report of the event:
  • Description of the event and its outcomes;
  • Number of attendees (divided according to IEEE and non-IEEE members);
  • Impact of the event (presence of any significant participants/speakers, partnerships or collaborations with other IEEE organizational units or Industry, and reach on social media – including posts, amount of views and number of unique engagements).
• Final budget:
  • Please include both the tentative budget and the actual spendings, either on separate spreadsheets, or side by side, for comparison purposes.
• Attendance report:
  • Full name of participants (first name, last name);
  • Email;
  • Section and Student Branch (if applicable);
  • If they are an IEEE member or not;
  • This information is covered by the IEEE Privacy Policy.
• Photos or videos from the event:
  • Remember to get approval in advance from the pictured participants;
  • It is strongly recommended to include IEEE logo and IEEE R8 SAC logo in the photos;
  • It is recommended to include a group photo with all the participants and photos with promotional materials of the event (flags, roll-up banners, posters, etc);
  • It is recommended to submit an event poster with all information of the event as well as photos and all the supporting units logos.
• Copies of all advertising materials used (flyers, posters, email invitations etc.);
• Link to the vTools event report for this event.