Operations Manual Outline

SDOB (Student District Operating Board) Operations Manual Guidelines and Best Practices for Starting and Running an ASME Student District Operating Board Revision 1 June 7, 2008 SDOB Op Manual Rev. 1 June 7, 2008 Operations Guide Table of Contents Included Acronym List AM – Annual Meeting ASME – American Society of Mechanical Engineering ASP – Active Server Pages CGI – Computer Generated Images FEA – Finite Element Analysis IMECE – International Mechanical Engineering Conference and Exposition LA&C – Latin America and Caribbean (District I) LTC – Leadership Training Conference HPV – Human Powered Vehicle Challenge PHP – Hypertext Pre-Processor SDOB – Student District Operating Board SLS – Student Leadership Seminar SPDC – Student Professional Development Conference SSA – Student Section Advisor SSC – Student Section Committee VC – Vice Chair NOT Included in manual, but may be helpful CECD – Committee on Early Career Development CSD – Committee on Student Development BOG – Board of Governors DL – District Leader DNR – Dan Nathan-Roberts (SDOB mother) DOB – District Operating Board ECF – Early Career Forum (Formerly YEF: Young Engineers Forum) GC – Global Communities GSRIC – Graduate Student Research K&C – Knowledge and Communities SAM – Summer Annual Meeting (now: AM – Annual Meeting, summer conference) SDC – Student Design Competition YEC – Young Engineers Correspondence SDOB Op Manual Rev. 1 June 7, 2008 1.1 Intro/background 1.1.a What is an SDOB? i. The ASME SDOB stands for Student District Operating Board. This board, comprised solely of ASME student members, is established in each of ASME’s ten districts of the Knowledge and Community Sector. The board is chaired by the district Student Sections Committee representative, and serves as a liaison between all student members and the respective district’s District Operating Board. Functions of the board include the arrangement of student-only activities at the district level, the development of district-wide relationships with corporate and industry members and representatives, senior sections, and the promotion of ASME to the district’s student community at large. ii. An SDOB is a committee of organized student leaders dedicated to building connections and developing ASME student sections. The SDOB is committed to working with ASME Internationally to facilitate and foster integrity and growth throughout their districts.Formation of the SDOB is the next step in the evolution of student sections. It allows all student sections to perform better by cooperation between all sections in the district. It serves as a link between sections. It is a source of shared information on important topics vital to the district. It is a means of sharing the best practices within the district.A SDOB is an organization that works to increase the recruitment and retention of ASME members by providing a tangible student section support system, meeting goals which will improve ASME participation in the districts, increasing international involvment, and acting as a support structure for all student section. The Student District Operating Board is a group of ASME students who work together to make improvements within their district. The SDOB acts as a grass roots network between local sections and districts and offers leadership opportunities at the district level. 1.1.b Why is an SDOB needed? i. An SDOB is needed to organize, connect and guide student sections throughout the district and provide a central committee with which section leaders can communicate and work together. ii. SDOBs establish a means of communication between ASME and student members. Student members can use the SDOB framework for voicing their opinions to how their student programs or ASME is run. Corporations and industries can use the SDOB to promote themselves to ASME student members to establish their career profile amongst students. iii. ASME administration and executive teams, including those at the District level, can rely on the SDOBs to suggest changes to current structure and to provide student input to them so that changes made within ASME are in the best interest of all members. iv. Through an SDOB, student sections within the district can more readily plan events (tours, socials, meetings) together. It also helps encourage SDOB Op Manual Rev. 1 June 7, 2008 v. vi. vii. viii. ix. student section growth. If one student section is thriving, they can share their keys to success. An SDOB will encourage future involvement in ASME because it will let student sections see what ASME does after students graduate. SDOBs can provide each student section with more personal and tangible support systems. In doing so, SDOBs increase recruitment and retention of student sections along with reviving dormant sections, sustaining and strengthening weak sections, helping to maintain strong sections, and creating new sections. An SDOB will develop and implement activities and programs which benefit student members. An SDOB will strengthen the connections between the diverse student sections and the ASME headquarters. An SDOB will aid in the development of leadership skills. 1.1.c Sample SDOB roles and actions i. Improves relationships between student sections within the district, allowing a member of a student section to get in touch with members of different student sections. ii. Knows how a Successful student section works and helps all section to improve their actions to develop a better engineering community. iii. Answers student requests to improve student life & resources. iv. Informs all student sections within the district about news, contests, seminars, conferences and more events that members should attend. v. Encourages students to participate in contests and events within the district. vi. Promotes the creation of new student sections. 1.1.d Sample SDOB structure i. SSC Student representative:  Helps choose SDOB members.  Advises and supports the student sections concerning organization and development of activities, projects, events, etc.  Promotes cooperation, and the exchange of ideas and best practices between the student sections  Mentors and leads the SDOB.  Acts on the behalf of the district’s SDOB during SSC meetings. 1.1.e Member Responsibilities i. SDOB Chair: Current SSC Representative  Leads / focuses discussion and goals.  Helps choose SDOB members.  Communicates with all of the student sections.  Advises and supports the student sections concerning organization and development of activities, projects, events, etc.  Promotes cooperation, and the exchange of ideas and best practices between the student sections. SDOB Op Manual Rev. 1 June 7, 2008 ii. iii. Creates strategic plans with the other members of the SDOB to achieve goals and objectives  SSC Rep Elect: SSC Rep needs to communicate past experience and workings of SSC  Outgoing SSC Rep: Mentor  One year term, non-renewable. Vice Chairs: Elected by students within the district.  Works with Chair and others in developing district goals.  Leads students in SDOB  Action plans, Implementation, etc.  1 year term, renewable.  Elected by SSC student & senior reps, & student members of the SDOB.  Works with the chair on special projects, helps where needed.  Promotes the cooperation and exchange of ideas and experiences between student sections.  Acts as a catalyst in the development of activities with the support of District Leader.  Promotes the participation of student sections in different ASME contests and events in the District.  Collaborates in the development of special events. Members-At-Large: Interested ASME student volunteers within a district chosen by the chair, district leader and ASME staff.  All interested student voting members may participate.  Number of Members-At-Large determined by interest & need.  1 year term, renewable.  Voice own opinions and help make decisions.   1.1.f Sample Subcommittees i. Conferences Team:  Responsibilities  Coordinate Conferences.  Collaborate w/ ASME Units  Global Communities.  Committees.  Technical Divisions.  Institutes. ii. Communications Team:  Responsibilities  Manage Newsletter.  Distribute Relevant Information.  Web page. iii. Contest Team:  Responsibilities  Coordinate Competitions. SDOB Op Manual Rev. 1 June 7, 2008 iv. Collaborate w/ ASME Units. Collaborate with Conference Team Humanitarian Team:  Responsibilities  Community Service.  Implement initiatives to solve humanitarian problems.   2.1 Starting an SDOB (Simplified) 2.1.a Sample how to? i. Create a team of at least four ASME student members. Preferably students who have had an active role in their student sections. ii. Develop a database with the student members within individual districts. iii. Make contact with the student section chairs. iv. Define the specific tasks of each member. v. Determine the needs of student sections within the district (SPDC, SLS, HPV, student section events). vi. Create a list of goals to be achieved during the period establishing deadlines for each. 2.1.b Sample how SDOBs maintain & run i. Frequent communication among SOB’s members. ii. Frequent communication with Student Sections. iii. Create a schedule of SDOB events and activities for a period of time. SDOB Op Manual Rev. 1 June 7, 2008 iv. v. vi. vii. viii. ix. x. xi. xii. Be organized, use agendas and schedules. Continuously inform students within the district of the presence os the SDOB to increase awareness and participation. Delegate responsibilities between SDOB’s members. If a mistake is committed, make sure you learned from that experience so as not to commit the same mistake in the future. Report the results of your SDOB projects to both the District Operationg Board, and the the student sections within the district. Involve as many people from your District as you can. Develop projects related to the needs of your District. Listen suggestions and critics, and use them to improve your SDOB. Make the SDOB a benefit for its members. 2.2 Starting an SDOB (Detailed) 2.2.a How to start one i. The mission of the Student District Operating Board is to create, recommend, and enact changes to the benefits and programs within the District. The following lines gather the experiences in the development of the SDOB LA&C Dist I. ii. Example of possible structure on the SDOB:  Chair  Vice Chair  Program Chair  Membership Chair  Newsletter Manager  Web Master iii. Additional students can be included in the SDOB to contribute to the activities. The SDOB LA&C has correspondents in different countries. The correspondents have the mission to inform and aid in the communication between the SDOB members and the ASME units. iv. It is a responsibility of the SDOB board chair to inform (by e-mail or teleconference) each nominated student of the results from the SDOB selection process and the positions that each one obtained. v. Teleconferences will be programmed by the SDOB chair to discuss relevant topics. An agenda must be developed for the teleconferences. The agenda will contain the main topics that will be discussed in the teleconference. The SDOB members will prepare the main points and discuss them during the teleconference. 3.1 Timeline 3.1.a Example i. District B timeline before SPDC  Drafts new letters  Draft website  Finalize plans (Date and Venue) for SPDC  Connect Jessica Albert/ Judi Cobb SDOB Op Manual Rev. 1 June 7, 2008   ii. E-mail to district Teleconferences Before Annual Meeting  Officers coded  Finalize charter/ by-laws  Identify a list of inactive sections  Complete web page  E-mail to district again  Feedback about SPDC  Newsletter Before school year begins(end of summer beginning of fall)  E-mail to SSA’s, introducing ourselves, offering our services, encouraging participation in or SLS & Proposing funding solutions. After school starts  Same info in phone call to SSA’s and student section chairs Before IMECE (Fall conference)  Identify section to be recruited  Start up plans  iii. iv. v. 4.1 Website 4.1.a Setup i. Request the space in the ASME server ii. Read the Guidelines for Creating Section Web Site on ASME.ORG iii. http://volunteer.asme.org/unit/Guidelines_Creating_Section.cfm iv. Make a diagram of the Website and try to figure out how it will be the final work. Select a program to set up the website. ASME server does not support Microsoft FrontPage extensions or other CGI scripting tools, PHP, or ASP. v. It is always important to create a diagram of the website content. Information must be direct. Try to avoid ambiguous meaning. The use of the ASME's name or logo must abide by ASME 's Policy. Do not forget to include a contact information link. vi. Some technical tips:  All backgrounds should be white.  All graphics should be limited to the following file sizes.  Headers/Banners - 25K  Photos - 25K to 30K  Logos - 8K  Icons - 3K  Total page size should be limited between 50K and 60K. SDOB Op Manual Rev. 1 June 7, 2008    Suggested fonts - (Arial, Verdana) with text sizes as follows; Header/Headlines - Size 2 – 3 Copy/Text - Size 2 or 1 4.1.b Website Update i. The objective of a website is to inform the world about the activities, and therefore, it is important to keep the website updated. The best way is to change the information monthly. Try to keep a communication channel between the members in the SDOB. 4.1.c Web Marketing i. The more people access the website, the more powerful will be the information channel. A good idea is to send e-mails with the website link to the contacts in the district. Post pictures, graphics and information related to the previous activities. ii. Include a link to the SDOB website in the signature line of every email you send within your District. 5.1 Election of officers 5.1.a Work with district leaders i. District leaders are a great resource in starting and operating your SDOB. ii. Contact information for district leaders can be found on the ASME website at http://districts.asme.org/communities.htm. iii. District leaders should be invited to SDOB teleconferences, especially in the formative stages. iv. Contact with district leaders is essential in planning key district events such as the SLS and the SPDC. 5.1.b Email district’s students i. Access to the district mailing list is available to all SSC representatives.  This mailing list is obtained by contacting Jessica Albert AlbertJ@asme.org and faxing a signed Conflict of Interest and Use of Member Data form to attention: Jessica Albert at 212-591-7671.  The forms can be found here: http://volunteer.asme.org/unit/Unit_Forms_Instructions.cfm. Form names 6.1 Committee Tools 6.1.a To access, go here https://roster.asme.org/ and enter your: Last Name - List your last name in “CAPS.” Member ID - Enter your member ID, no extra zeros needed. i. Copies of “Conflict of Interest” and “Use of member data” agreements must be signed and submitted before access to member rosters will be granted. These files can be found at the above roster website below the login box (Society Policy P-15.8 and Society Policy P-12.14) SDOB Op Manual Rev. 1 June 7, 2008 If you need to send an email before you can get access to this list, contact Judith Cobb at cobbj1@asme.org with the email you wish to send. She can send it to your district. 6.1.b Set up a teleconference i. Contact Jessica Albert via e-mail with date and time of teleconference. ii. Sample Timeline a. Request call information two weeks in advance b. Send out agenda to SDOB with call information c. Send out reminders one or two days before the call d. Final reminder day of call – be sure to include call information each time ii. SDOB Op Manual Rev. 1 June 7, 2008 7.1 Programs and activities 7.1.a Examples i. District wide newsletter: Since newsletters very often go out from every level of ASME, this somehow needs to stand out to be visible. One example is every SDOB newsletter could start with a comic or a joke. ii. Tours and events across sections: The SDOB can be responsible for identifying local opportunities that multiple schools can participate in. A network for this can be set up using the e-mail list of student section chairs. iii. Activities among closely-located student sections: industry tours, industry networking banquet, competition, etc. iv. Library of distinguished speakers: a. First ask student sections what topics interest them then find out who has spoken at their events. b. Find other speakers; make a list available to student sections who might be a good speaker for certain topics. c. Provide lead times for speakers if known. v. Organize and setup workshops (i.e. welding, machining, Dreamweaver, pro-E, FEA) vi. Students teaching students, special guest, local professionals or alumni vii. Organizing section relationships between neighboring student sections. viii. Student development: a. Half-yearly congress hosted by ASME. b. Free exchange of ideas, experiences, publications, etc. between sections. c. Academic industrial visits (by industry sectors). d. Joint student section meetings/communication between universities e. Visit research centers. ix. School-Industry relationship a. Promote internal internships or part-time work during the semester. b. Increase the number of industrial visits nationwide, using sections support. c. Promote industrial scholarships. d. Job fair where the company profile for admission is given. e. Constant job profiles actualizations and planning. f. Courses of most used software in companies. x. Humanitarian: a. Courses given by section members to high school and other people. b. Collect toys and give them to underprivileged children during holiday seasons. c. Language courses. d. Recycling program. e. Energy conserving campaign. f. K-12 program implementation. SDOB Op Manual Rev. 1 June 7, 2008 g. Book donation. 8.1 Best Practices (from current experience and developed at LTC) 8.1.a Up-to-date list of section leaders and section status (current projects, events, issues) i. Active committee outreach to student section on yearly basis 8.1.b Open communication i. Share innovative programs, concept, outcomes, and method for the benefit of other SDOBs and student chapters. Open communication allows development of SDOB programs. 8.1.c Telecons i. Skype (another form of teleconferences) 8.1.d No members volunteer i. Check if you are correctly explaining the SDOB vision and mission and the benefits they can get as members and collaborator of this great Board. ii. Talk to ASME student section chairs if they can suggest/recommend a member(s) and have a little conversation with him privately and encourage him to be part of the Board. 8.1.e No communication between SDOB members i. Call for a meeting (teleconference is not recommended) and discuss the problem to get to a solution of this lack of communication. 8.1.f Complete action items i. Check with the chairs of the subcommittees as to why this is happening and get to a solution of the problem. 9.1 Problems SDOBs face & possible solutions 9.1.a Lack of follow through on someone’s part Solution: It’s crucial to keep in touch with them to follow up and see if you can lend them a hand, and if they are unable to carry through, re-delegate. It is important to make sure you don’t over-pressure them, since they are volunteering their time. Encourage them to volunteer again on another task when they have more time to devote to it. 9.1.b Lack of interest Solution: Leaders can have direct impact on the members through enthusiasm and motivation. It may be a good idea to set up a time to talk to each member to learn their interests and encourage them to carry out their interests and take charge. 9.1.c Lack of student officers registering Solution: We can’t coerce them into registering, but we can remind them about the connections they can make as well as the experience of being involved with a professional society of this scale. 9.1.d Ensuring SDOB members are committed to the mission. Solution: Involve members with specific tasks and make sure they are responsible to complete tasks by a certain date. 9.1.e With the large geographic areas that each District, and thereby each SDOB, manages, the establishment of meetings dates and locations can prove to SDOB Op Manual Rev. 1 June 7, 2008 be difficult. In addition, with the bulk of ASME business performed during the school year, SDOBs need to meet during these normally stressful and busy times for Student Members. Solution: i. Setting up telephone and web conference meetings whenever possible. ii. Establish a strong email and individual-to-individual communication system, such that if a member misses a group meeting, he or she can be updated on the meeting’s decisions and group progress at a time that is more feasible for them. (i.e meeting minutes) iii. Lack of students showing to section meetings is one problem. Solution: Offer some benefit for attendance. This could be as simple as a reward for coming to 5 meetings throughout the year or a discount on a fundraiser that they helped with. The student sections need to figure out what will work for them, but in general, incentives will get students there. A SDOB could help provide some bonuses for attendance. i. Finding a physical place to meet: since not all schools travel to the SPDC, it may be hard to get a meeting where all members can meet. It is important that all SDOB members go to district conferences so that they get face time with the students. Solution: Students that cannot attend because of funding could ask the SDOB for funding or help to get necessary funding. 10.1 Finding successors for the SDOB. 10.1.a In finding successors for the SDOB, the predecessors (current member) should use below procedure as guide for selection and appointment. i. Committee Nominates current members to fill positions as necessary ii. A nominating committee is set up to evaluate nominees  Commitment (time)  Participation (various activities)  Etc. iii. Those selected are called up by the committee for interview and questioning at a scheduled date and time, this can be done by the following means  Teleconference  E-mails  Online chat  Phone calls (This is to know their view and what they plan doing with their positions). iv. Nominees are presented at spring (chosen election meeting before Annual Meeting) SDOB meeting. v. If during the election process, a member vacates an elected position, the vacant position can be filled by appointment until an election can be held. Depending on circumstance the position may not need to be occupied. vi. Mentoring for Success: The first and foremost duty of mentors is to regularly check in with the successors. It is important to encourage them and help them as needed, as it can be hard for them to ask for SDOB Op Manual Rev. 1 June 7, 2008 help/support. You can give them an overview of your experience to get them started on the right path. SDOB Op Manual Rev. 1 June 7, 2008 Appendix SDOB Op Manual Rev. 1 June 7, 2008 Example E-mail: Invitation for SDOB volunteers Attention ASME District B student members: My name is _______________ and I am your ASME District B Student Sections Committee (SSC) Representative. Every district world wide is starting a Student District Operating Board, and sending representatives to a conference this spring in Atlanta. We are searching for talented leaders who want to make a big difference in ASME and how students interact. I am your District B representative (District B includes all schools in Michigan [except the UP], Ohio, West Virginia and Ontario, part of Canada, and some schools in the very western edge of Pennsylvania). SSC reps are elected every year at the Student Professional Development Conference which will be held in District B April 4-6 in Pittsburgh, PA, and we are responsible for representing you at the international level. As you can imagine, there is a great deal of responsibilities that fall under this title and since only 2 SSC members represent this district, we are only able to do a limited amount of work and we feel that many opportunities are being missed. As a result, all 10 ASME districts around the world are now hard at work creating a solution: Student District Operating Boards (SDOBs). These will be a committee of students meant to address any district-wide ASME student section issues. The SSC rep for a district (me) will be the chair of this committee and students from the district (you!) will be elected to the 3 vice-chair positions and several member-at-large positions. This committee will help plan inter-district events, help communicate important information from ASME at the international level down to the students and back, and help improve communications between ASME student sections by providing them connections to other student sections and senior sections. The three elected vice-chairs will be traveling to Atlanta, GA on March 7th - 9th for the ASME Leadership Training Conference. This is a great opportunity for leadership, networking, and low cost travel. Representatives from SDOBs from all ASME districts will be present. This will be the first training session for SDOBs worldwide (that's right, you will be trained with SDOB members from around the world!). This is a BIG change in the way ASME interacts with its student sections and a huge opportunity to empower and give a voice to student sections everywhere. This is also a great leadership experience for any motivated ASME member as well as an opportunity for free travel. If you think you may be interested in being part of this committee, please email me - romaninv2@asme.org (do not reply to this message) - with your name, school, year, and current level of involvement with ASME . We will be holding an informational session via teleconference to discuss our district B SDOB EARLY NEXT YEAR: probably January 4th or 5th. I realize this is very short notice given the holidays, and there will be opportunities to get involved after that date, but in order to prepare for Georgia in March we must move quickly. Thank you all for your time and involvement. Thanks and Happy Holidays, Vince Romanin ASME SSC District B Rep University of Dayton ASME Student Section Chair SDOB Op Manual Rev. 1 June 7, 2008 SDOB AM to IMECE Time Tables Immediately after AM Budget to Tom Website Newsletter 2 Weeks Out Finish LTC Action Items Pair SDOBs who are experiencing difficulties Contact SLS organizers Establish Status/Coding Metric for Student Sections Before IMECE Send out student section manual to student sections Website Updates Complete Status/Coding Activity Newsletter Release SDOB Op Manual Rev. 1 June 7, 2008