SWE - March Newsletter

• Article about Women's History Month - SWE Leaders we should know
• April Meeting - Building Your Personal Brand
• Volunteer Opportunities
• WE Locals 2024 - New information
• FY25 Leadership Elections
• SWE Calendar
• SWE Membership Renewal - 50% Discount

FACT: The Society of Women Engineers is the world’s largest advocate and catalyst for change for women in engineering and technology.

It is easy to overlook important work that is taking place around us, or the human-interest story unfolding in a colleague’s life. With this in mind, who are some of the women engineers we should know?

Article from SWE All Together March 2021

Women’s History Month: Who Are Some of the Women Engineers We Should Know? - All Together

BUILDING YOUR PERSONAL BRAND

Speaker Info: Jamie Kelly - Coach Jamie Kelly, LLC

Our April meeting will be held on Tuesday, April 30 at 5 p.m. at Olsson at 2111 S. 67th Street, Omaha.

Final details and registration information to come later this month. Mark your calendars now.

Completely Kids after-school Program

We are looking for volunteers to present STEM activities to a group of 9-12 young ladies in the 3-5th grade at some of our underrepresented schools in the Omaha area from 4:30 – 5:30 p.m. If you have never presented to this program don’t worry, we will pair you up with another seasoned volunteer. SWE will provide all of the materials and directions on how to present the activity and information on how this activity applies to the engineering world.

Some of our activities include balloon cars, making lipstick, paper towers, asphalt cookies, and many more fun activities.

Metro Science and Engineering Fair (MSEF) – JUDGES NEEDED

Friday, March 22 at the Henry Doorly Zoo

We are looking for volunteers to judge science projects from 8 - Noon on Friday, March 22.

SWE is presenting awards for this event, and we will be judging projects in the STEM field that are being presented by young women. It is a fun event and a great opportunity to see what great projects these ladies presenting. You will have free admission to the zoo, so after the judging is done, you are welcome to visit the zoo on your own. More information at msefomaha.com

Judges will have a chance to review abstracts prior to the fair which will be very helpful.

We already have 2 seasoned judges that will be there to guide any one who has not judged before.

Please contact Janis Pfingsten at janis.pfingsten@centurylink.net by March 14 if you are interested.

So far we have 2 members who will be attending WELocal in Wichita on March 15-16. Since it is so close, we will be driving. Contact Janis Pfingsten if you are interested in carpooling. janis.pfingsten@centurylink.net

Registration also included a one year SWE membership for July 1, 2024 - June 30, 2025. This is a great deal!

For more information go to: https://welocal.swe.org/

Las Vegas – February 23-23, 2024

Baltimore, MD – March 1-2, 2024

Wichita, KS – March 15-16, 2024

Bengaluru, India – April 18-19, 2024

Munich, Germany – April 25-26, 2024

Eastern Nebraska SWE is looking for FY25 Officer and Committee Chair nominations!

1. ​Are you looking for leadership experience? SWE is a great way to build your leadership skills. You do not need experience. We will train you!

2. Do you want to work with our youth?

3. Do you like to work with media and communication?

SWE is a wonderful organization to belong to, but we need your leadership skills to continue to make it thrive. ​We need to fill positions for President, Vice President, Treasurer and Secretary. We are also looking for people to serve on several committees also. These committees include outreach, program development, membership and communication.

To help members understand the commitment and responsibility of these leadership positions, we have put together a description of each position and their responsibility.

The new leaders will take their positions on July 1, 2024, and their term will be through June 30, 2026. If you would like to take one of these positions or have questions, contact Janis Pfingsten at janis.pfingsten@centurylink.net.

SECTION OFFICERS
President

• Responsible for communications to and from the Society
• Preside at meetings of the section and its executive council (monthly conference call)
• Authorize the disbursement of section funds
• Be an authorized signatory on all section accounts
• Coordinate activities and execute the business and policies of the section between meetings
• Review and approve the year-end section financial report
• Approve the appointment of all committee chairs
• Provide oversight and guidance to committee chairs
  Estimated monthly commitment is 10-15 hours.
  
  Vice-President

• Assume the duties of the president if the president is temporarily unable to serve
• Attend the monthly Section Board meetings and provides a brief Chair report
• Provide oversight and guidance to the committee chairs as assigned
• Perform such duties as may be assigned by the president, the executive council, or the governance documents
  Estimated monthly commitment is 4-6 hours.
  
  

Treasurer

• Be responsible for the collection, distribution, and safekeeping of section funds
• Attend the monthly Section Board meetings and provides a brief Chair report
• Prepare, maintain, and report as directed on the financial position of the section in relation to the approved budget
• Submit a financial report to the Society in accordance with established procedures
• Ensure forms are filed as necessary with the IRS
• Provide oversight and guidance to the committee chairs as assigned
• Perform other duties normally associated with the office of treasurer or as may be assigned by the president, the executive council, or the governance documents
  Estimated monthly commitment is 2-3 hours.
  
  Secretary

• Maintain the records of the section
• Record, prepare and distribute the agenda and minutes from all meetings
• Communicate pertinent information to members via email
• Attend the monthly Section Board meetings and provides a brief Chair report
• Provide oversight and guidance to the committee chairs as assigned
• Perform other duties normally associated with the office of secretary or as may be assigned by the president, the executive council, or the governance documents
  Estimated monthly commitment is 1-2 hours

COMMITTEE CHAIR POSITIONS

All committee chairs are part of the executive council. They are responsible will the coordination of the committee responsibilities with members of their committee.

Membership Chair

• Serves as the primary contact for the Section regarding membership coordination and support, including personal data file maintenance on Section members and on prospective members
• Attends the monthly Section Board meetings and provides a brief Chair report
• Contacts / assists prospective members in applying for membership in the Society.
• Welcomes new members and supplies membership packets to new and potential members
  Estimated monthly commitment is 3-6 hours.
  
  Outreach Chair

• Serves as the primary contact for the Section regarding outreach event coordination/support
• Informs the Section about outreach volunteer opportunities
• Works with local entities (i.e., Girl Scout Troops, schools, other professional organizations, etc.) to organize educational engineering and science related activities
• Attends the monthly Section Board meetings and provides a brief Chair report
• Submits information to the President for the monthly SWE-Blast to members, as applicable
  Estimated monthly commitment is 5-8 hours, with additional activity hours which vary from month to month
  
  

Program Development Chair

• Maintains an updated Calendar of Activities for the Section
• Organizes meeting activities (i.e., speaker coordination, food, location, marketing, sign-in roster, etc.), typically with support from other Board members
• Creates and distributes Evites for meetings, as necessary
• Maintains the newsletter distribution list, coordinating with the membership chair
• Provides details to the President, Membership Chair, and Webmanager (or a combination thereof) for activities promotion
• Maintains the Section Idea Bank for potential future meetings and past event details (# of members/non-members in attendance, etc.)
• Attends the monthly Section Board meetings and provides a brief Chair report
• Submits information to the President for the monthly SWE-Blast to members, as applicable
  Estimated monthly commitment is 5-8 hours.
  
  Collegiate Counselor – UNL or UNO

• Coaches the collegiate section by providing advice and resources on SWE, speakers, industry, etc.
• Works with faculty advisor to ensure section is in good standing with university
• Ensures the section is in good standing with SWE HQ
• Encourages award and scholarship applications and collegiate member participation at WELocals and society conferences
• Encourages graduating students to transition to professional SWE membership and stay involved
• Attends the monthly Section Board meetings and provides a brief Chair report
• Submits information to the President for the monthly SWE-Blast to members, to support the local student Section accordingly
  Estimated monthly commitment is 3-5 hours.
  
  Newsletter Editor

• Author/creates Section monthly E-Blast/newsletter in coordination with the Program Development Chair
• Coordinates with the Webmanager on posting to section website
• Attends the monthly Section Board meetings and provides a brief Chair report
  Estimated monthly commitment is 2-3 hours.

Webmanager

• Updates and adds information to the website
• Gathers useful information for the website from the officers and members
• Relays member feedback received from the website to the officers
• Attends the monthly Section Board meetings and provides a brief Chair report (Teleconference)
• Submits information to the President for the monthly SWE-Blast to members, as applicable
  Estimated monthly commitment is 2-3 hours.

March 14 - March Membership Madness, Cunningham's in Omaha

March 15 - 16, 2024 - WE Local in Wichita, KS

March 19-20 - Introduce a Girl to Engineering at UNO

March 22 - MSEF - Henry Doorly Zoo - Judges Needed

April 4 - Nebraska Women in STEM Conference - LaVista, NE

April Meeting - Tuesday, April 30 - Omaha - Building Your Own Brand

May Meeting - Lincoln - TBD

We may be half way through the membership fiscal year, but members can still join or renew and receive the ½ year rate! Use the coupon code FY2450OFF to new/renewing members to get 50% off. The coupon code expires March 31, 2024, but the membership will extend through the end of the fiscal year, expiring on June 30, 2024.

https://swe.org/membership/

Our SWE Nebraska website is temporarily down while we transfer it to another platform. If you have any questions, please contact our webmanager, Jeanne Stewart at jstewart2@hotmail.com

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