From galaxy@magicnet.net Thu Jan 27 10:05:13 2000 Date: Wed, 26 Jan 2000 17:02:15 -0500 From: George F. McClure To: r3-excom2000@ieee.org Subject: PACE Report Submittal Report to Region 3 Executive Committee January 29, 2000 George F. McClure, PACE Chair (g.mcclure@ieee.org) Suggested Region 3 Professional Activities for the Year 2000 1. Ensure that all Region 3 section PACE committee members are on the list server to receive Pender McCarter's weekly update e-mail for PACE volunteers. Go to IEEE-USA web site to sign up. 2. Add the PACE Leaders' Training Manual to the future Region 3 leadership training manual (in the web and/or CD-ROM version). This will make the material more accessible, simplify future updates, and reduce cost for the paper versions (which must be amended yearly to reflect changes in the organization). 3. Post on the web site the list of previously conducted/suggested section PACE projects together with e-mail addresses of contact persons who have had experience with doing the project, to aid sections looking for project cookbook recipes. 4. Post on the web site the list of previously conducted/suggested student branch PACE projects, together with e-mail addresses of branch counselors familiar with the projects, to stimulate student branch members looking for a PACE project to get involved with. 5. Set up a regional and/or section newsgroup(s) for interaction among members, student members, and employers, as a forum for exchanging views and commentary on: a. relevant professional topics ("Sound Off" - is image of the engineer or immigration a greater issue?) b. employer concerns - how to find skilled people, what characteristics they are looking for, member suggestions on retention aids c. advice to students who ask about career direction d. mentoring guidance unrelated to a specific company or work situation e. a subset for female students seeking advice about engineering careers (why are there so few women going into computer science?) from other female engineers further along in their careers f. how members can convey to employers the value of company support of their IEEE involvement g. new grad issues, such as whether it is better to pay down a student loan faster or use some of the money to make 401(k) contributions that qualify for employer matching 6. Student branches organize "Employers' Showcase" sessions that provide a venue for HR people from employers in the local section area to pitch the advantages of working for their company. Now that flexible benefit packages are widespread, it takes more time to describe them and have them understood. Education benefits (company support for graduate courses while working as well as support for in-house courses and outside training), health benefits for spouses or domestic partners, vacation credits, pension plans, salary reduction plan options, etc., all can be described. Word of mouth will aid employers, too, since students who did not attend will hear evaluations of employers from students who did. Important in a tight labor market. 7. Sections organize panels with engineering managers from local companies to talk about what they look for in their technical employees, how career progression works (dual ladder or not) at their company, the value of soft skills to engineers, how they deal with the competition for time between work and family. [Model this after the successful luncheon session held at the PDC in Dallas in 1999, organized by the Engineering Management Society. Note: the networking to put together such a session also aids in the section Corporate Relations effort.] 8. For Region 3 PACE training workshops, include some brainstorming time for attendees to divide into small groups and invent/refine PACE projects of interest to them. These projects, which may be based on previous initiatives and the experience gained, will be described at the end of the workshop and captured for additions to the project web site lists. 9. Review the paperback book, "Making Meetings Work," by Doyle & Straus; consider distributing copies to section officers including PACE. 10. Develop a Platinum Member database, of member volunteers. The primary focus would be members who are age 50 or more, who are retired or downsized or just interested in giving something back to their communities and profession. Features of the database will include information about the members' backgrounds, experience and interests, location and member grade. The database could serve several purposes, including: a. identifying members interested in part-time work (either volunteer or for pay) b. helping link members with skills with entities needing those skills (e.g,, advising others as members of SCORE (Service Corps of Retired Executives) do, for example, as retired executives advising start-up businesses) c. helping junior members with access to more experienced mentors who are not in their reporting channel at work and therefore avoid potential interest conflicts d. helping student members as mentors, sounding boards, advisors on student projects, etc. e. identifying members interested in working with math and science teachers in K-12, by tutoring students, providing computer expertise, developing descriptions of what engineers and scientists do at work to present in half-hour segments, with Q&A (tailored to the academic level of the students), or teaching the math and science teachers in weekend sessions to help them teach more effectively in cases where the teachers are not certified in those topics f. providing contact information enabling members to network with other members having similar interests. g. serving as a screening device to identify members who are qualified for upgrading to senior member but who have not done so. An article about this will appear shortly in the Suncoast Signal (Florida West Coast Section newsletter). 11. Support the initiative of the American Association of Engineering Societies on improving the image of engineers and engineering. This week, the AAES Board of Governors voted to establish a Council on Public Awareness of Engineering, with a budget next year of $391K, to work with the AAES Engineering Alliance and the media to communicate the value of engineering to the public, in improving their quality of life, and to honor the contributions of engineers. Outreach at the section/area/council/region level can be accomplished through including a Speakers' Bureau in the Platinum Member database consisting of those experienced members willing to talk to civic, fraternal, social, or school groups about some facet of engineering holding public interest, explaining the potential implications of technical developments on quality of life, or a similar topic.