Compiled by Saurabh Sinha, Student Branch Counsellor Coordinator, IEEE Region 8 SAC
1. An IEEE student branch (SB) is a registered organizational unit (OU) of IEEE, governed by an IEEE section. If an IEEE Section is absent, the
governance is undertaken by an IEEE
region (1-10) encompassing the particular IEEE SB.
2. The IEEE section
engages with the SB, via a section student
representative (SSR) and a section student
activities chairperson (SSAC). The SSR may be a student member (StM) or a
graduate student member (GSM) of the IEEE, where as the SSAC is a grade higher
than a StM.
3. SBes aim to have a hierarchical
governance structure similar to an IEEE section, where they may also constitute of sub-units: affinity groups and technical chapters. Such sub-units of
the SB can be seen as having multiple parents, namely the section level and/or member
and geographical activities (MGA) level affinity groups or technical activities
board (TAB) associated technical societies.
4. The structure similarity to a section allows for continuity and promotion of IEEE SB leaders.
5. A SB endeavours to
engage with IEEE StMs, including GSMs within a particular school, by planning and executing activities:
business, professional, technical (speaker, tour, film) and social.
Additionally, a SB also co-ordinates:
paper contests/awards, branch projects, fund raising, member and membership
promotion, joint section-branch activities, and elections.
6. An IEEE StM belonging to a school with a SB, is
automatically a voting member of the
particular SB.
7. During an election,
the executive committee (ExCom) is
phased in: chair, vice-chair (chair elect, where/if possible), secretary and
treasurer. In smaller SBes, some of these positions are combined. The ExCom may
appoint a number of other positions,
such as webmaster, awards coordinator, etc. While ExCom members are StMs or
GSMs, the SB also links to a faculty member, namely the IEEE SB counsellor. In the case of some SBes,
an IEEE SB mentor also exists. SB
mentors can be external to a given school, but in some schools are also past
IEEE SB counsellors. In many other cases, SB mentors are recent graduates
offering a connection to local industry.
8. All SBes of IEEE are obliged to report two times a year and receive
annual rebates. The first report is an annual report (activities of the
previous year, due: 1 May) and the second report (annual plan, activities for
the following year, due: 1 Nov.), and the rebate is calculated as a function of
number of StMs, including GSMs (as
of 31 Dec.)
9. An IEEE SB may also interact with IEEE staff, via IEEE Student
Services (IEEE Student Concourse ) and access to online IEEE student branch officer reporting as well as the database,
SAMIEEE. A member portal is also available.
10. While the primary
service of an IEEE SB is towards
IEEE members and secondary service is provided to non-members, which is also a recruitment and marketing exercise
(where applicable). An IEEE SB aims
to serve individuals directly or indirectly affiliated to IEEE designated fields.
11. IEEE SB leaders unite
with other SB leaders at a SB congress (SBC). A SBC can be held in
a given section or even in a region. Most IEEE regions host a regional SBC
every two years.
12. Several awards
exist for IEEE SBes, as well as for their members. Examples include awards
resulting from: student paper contests (SPC), webpage contests, regional
exemplary SB performance, Darrel Chong student activities, IEEEXtreme 24 hour
programming challenge. An award also exists for outstanding SB counsellors and
advisors.
Summary: An IEEE SB aims to implement the IEEE MGA mission and vision at the level of the SB, by engaging with IEEE StMs,
including GSMs. For StMs and GSMs,
the IEEE SB is their professional home.
