Our Director, Mary Kinsella, sent out the following message
regarding training for section presidents and potential
section presidents.  Please consider where you'd like the
professional section to go, and what you'd like your role to
be in it, and that much of this training can also be useful in
your profession.

I'm sending this to the student sections for your future in
SWE as professional members.

I would like to provide Mary with several names.  Please
contact me by February 5 with your interest.

Alison Haskins
President
South Ohio Section
[log in to unmask]
513-868-5975 (w)
513-756-1959 (h)


Subject: SWE Section Presidents' Training

TO: Section Presidents
CC: Region G Council
FR: Mary Kinsella  [log in to unmask]
RE: Section Presidents' Training and Future Section Leadership
ACTION: Provide candidates for Section Presidents' Training by 8 Feb
99

During my term as Director, the topic of "succession planning"
has often been raised.  At BOD#3 we discussed this topic in
terms of Section leadership.  In the past there has been some
training available at the national convention for Section
Reps, but nothing specifically for Section Presidents.  So
this year the Board hopes to have a training session for
Section Presidents on the agenda for the national convention
in Arizona.

As I see it, there are several benefits to this.  First of
all, Section Presidents and potential Section Presidents will
have a relevant training session to attend at Convention,
which may help them get employer sponsorship to attend.
Second, the training will provide a forum for sharing of
Section ideas across the countr y (and there are some GREAT
ideas out there).  Third, it will speed the learning curve for
new Section Presidents.  Fourth, it will help the succession
process (changeover from one president to the next) run
smoother. Fifth, it will provide some commonality in how SWE
sections are run. And there are probably more benefits...

The SWE President, Roberta Gleiter, has asked the Directors to
provide her with a list of candidates for this training.  So I
am forwarding this ACTION to SECTION PRESIDENTS to provide me
a list of members who have potential for Section Leadership BY
8 FEB 99.  We will put these people on an invitation list and
send them information about the training ahead of time.  Note
that this does not commit anyone to anything - it's just a
mechanism for getting the word out to the right people.  Small
Sections will probably only have one or two names, whereas
larger Section (Pittsburgh and So Ohio) should have at least
three.  You may also want to include a preferred mailing
address, since I don't trust that all the glitches have been
worked out of the membership database.

The specific training agenda has not been developed yet, but
I'm sure Director's will have plenty of input.  So, if you
have ideas, forward them to me and I'll pass them along.  The
training is estimated to be 1 to 1.5 hours and will be open to
anyone interested in how a section works from the Section
President's point of view.  I think it's a great idea, and I
expect there to be very good response.

Thanks in advance for your prompt response to this action!
--Mary

P.S. This particular training focuses on professional
sections. However, students who want to be professional
section leaders in the future would be welcome to attend.