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Last updated 1st September, 2010

The Society of Women Engineers is (SWE) is a non-profit educational service organization whose goal is to encourage women to achieve their full potential in careers as engineers and leaders. The Sonora Region, also known as Region B, includes Arizona, New Mexico, Southern California, Southern Nevada, and Utah.

The Society of Women Engineers Mission is to stimulate women to achieve full potential in careers as engineers and leaders, expand the image of the engineering profession as a positive force in improving the quality of life, and demonstrate the value of diversity.

For more information on SWE visit www.swe.org

Governor’s Monthly Newsletter

August 2010 Edition

Welcome to the August 2010 edition of the Governor’s Monthly Newsletter!  In this exciting newsletter I’ll be sharing some wonderful tidbits with the Region, including:

1. Region and Society Goals – 2 new goals!

2. ABJ Meeting – September 17-19, 2010 (Reno, NV)

3. WE10 Annual Conference – November 4-6, 2010 (Orlando, FL)

4. Region B Conference – March 3-6, 2011 (Palm Springs, CA)

5. Region Committees – Volunteers needed!

6. SWEeter Futures Outreach Program – Society support!

7. Region B Website and Blogs

8. Section Reports – No. 1 due October 5, 2010

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1.  Goals

In addition to achieving the Region B goals:

· 95% of sections turn in section reports on time

· 75% of professional sections host a joint meeting with a collegiate section

· 65% member retention from FY10

· Leadership Pipeline – foster 15 mentor/mentee relationships, minimum 2 mentoring interactions per match

…we have a few MORE goals to help the Society!

· Membership increase – The Society is striving to stretch membership numbers to 21,000+, which is an increase of nearly 3,000. Each member is tasked with recruiting ONE new member this year (…in addition to reminding your fellow SWE pals to renew their membership each year) to help achieve this goal.

· Alternative media communications – Before the WE10 Conference, the Society would like each section (professional and collegiate) to use an alternative media outlet (Facebook, local newspaper, etc.) to communicate SWE activities. Each section should advertise a meeting/activity using one of the alternate media outlets prior to November 2010.

2.  ABJ Meeting – September 17-19, 2010 (Reno, NV)

Our first region meeting will be held on Sunday, September 19 in Reno, Nevada, as part of the “2010 Regions ABJ Meeting,” which takes place over the entire weekend (September 17-19, 2010).  Just what is the Regions ABJ Meeting? The Regions ABJ Meeting was started as a venue to discuss Society strategy and direction at a grassroots level. Past region meetings included training for section representatives and section officers, bylaws changes, mega issues, and other Society issues of mutual interest. The SWE Board of Directors members regularly attend this meeting and while the section representatives are required to attend, any SWE member can attend this meeting!  Additional information, including travel details, can be found here: http://swe-goldenwest.org/Region/RegionMtg2010_ABJ.html.

At the meeting we will be voting on region business, including the proposal for the 2012 Region B Conference location and the acceptance of the Region B bylaws.  If you have any edits, comments, issues, or questions regarding the bylaws, please do not hesitate to contact me.

3.  WE10 Annual Conference – November 4-6, 2010 (Orlando, FL)

Our second region meeting will be held in sunny Orlando, Florida on Thursday, November 4, as part of the “WE10 Annual Conference.”  I encourage EVERYONE to attend the Conference, as it never fails to be the experience of a lifetime! The Conference is a tremendous opportunity for learning, networking, job-hunting, and spending quality time with your fellow SWE members, leaders, and supporters!  Registration is open and hotels fill up fast, so please consider signing up today!  More information here: http://we10.swe.org/.

4.  Sonora Region Conference and Career Fair – March 3-6, 2011 (Palm Springs, CA)

Our final face-to-face region meeting will be held in beautiful Palm Springs, CA on March 6, as part of the “Sonora Region Conference and Career Fair.” While I’ve been dusting off my golf clubs, the conference planning team has been busy and you’ll be seeing a lot more information from them in the days to come.  We hope to have another stellar career fair – feel free to contact Jenn Harris (Jennifer.Harris@swe.org) if you/your company would like to have a booth and/or sponsor the conference – and I’m sure with a fun destination like Palm Springs, we’ll break attendance records again!  If you have any questions about the Region Conference, please do not hesitate to contact the planning team chair, Deb Willems (Deb.Willems@swe.org).

5.  Region Committees / SWEeter Futures Outreach Program

It is with EXTREME pleasure that I announce that the Region B outreach program, the “SWEeter Futures Outreach Program,” is being adopted by the Society!  Let’s just say that SWE was so impressed with our ideas, our commitment, and our performance, that they’re going to roll out the program to ALL of SWE!  I have been working directly with HQ on the logistics of the program, but please expect to see more press about our beloved outreach program in the near future!

I am also happy to report that Jeannette Lindemann (Jeannette.Lindemann@swe.org) and Stephanie Loete (Stephanie.Loete@swe.org) have volunteered to chair the region Outreach Committee, so I’m guessing even more good news will be coming out of Region B this year! If you are passionate about outreach, the future of the science, technology, engineering and math (STEM), or would just like to become more involved with this committee, please contact me.

The region committees will officially kick off at the ABJ Meeting next month, but we’re looking for more volunteers!  If you are interested in participating in any of the following region committees, please contact me:

· Outreach Committee

· Conference Planning Committee

· Finance and Audit Committee

· Procedures Committee

· Awards Committee

· Communications Committee*

· Leadership Coaching/Mentoring/Leadership Pipeline**

*You may have noticed a snazzy postcard in your mailbox this week…  Kudos to the Communications Committee (especially Amy Jo Bowdidge) for preparing a great new communication tool to reach our members!  Feel free to pass the postcard along to a potential new member and promote the benefits of SWE!

**A new committee was added this year and the focus will be leadership development for SWE members in Region B.  Please consider joining this new region committee focused on leadership coaching, mentoring, and the SWE leadership pipeline. One of the first tasks is coming up with a “name” for the committee (my choice of “LCMLP” just didn’t wow the council…)! Please contact the committee chair, Justina Mikals (Justina.Mikals@swe.org), if you are interested.

6.  Region Website and Blogs

I hope that you visit the Sonora Region website as frequently as I do and catch up on region activities!  It’s open 24/7, so click here anytime: http://sweregionb.org/.  We will post periodic updates on our goals, committee progress, conference news, and even some fun region photos! If you have anything to share, please do not hesitate to contact me!  I also encourage you to visit the Sonora Senate Blog (http://sonorasenate.wordpress.com/senators/) and the Sonora Collegiate Team Blog (http://regionb.wordpress.com/) too!

7.  Section Reports – No. 1 due October 5, 2010

Just a friendly reminder to the Section Representatives – the first Section Report is due October 5, 2010.  If you have any questions about completing the report, please do not hesitate to ask me.

Finally, I thank you for reading the August 2010 edition of the Governor’s Monthly Newsletter and if you have any ideas for future content, please let me know!

Best wishes to everyone for a safe and relaxing Labor Day!

Kerrie Greenfelder

Region B Governor – FY11/12

SWEeter Futures Outreach Program

The “SWEeter Futures Outreach Program” is a unique program to the Sonora Region, which tracks the impact we have on the future of engineering by sharing engineering, math, and science with K-12 students during FY10. Our goal is impact to 10,000 students!!!

We need every professional and collegiate SWE section in the region to get involved and make an impact on the future of  engineering science, and math with students in K-12! Every outreach event your section hosts will count toward the impact-to-15,000  goal!

~under construction~

TRACKING AND PROGRAM INFORMATION FOR FY11 COMING SOON! KEEP RECORDS OF YOUR DATA PLEASE!

If you have any questions, please contact Kerrie Greenfelder, Region B Governor at Kerrie.Greenfelder@swe.org.

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And the winners are…

WINNERS WILL BE ANNOUNCED SOON!

BUT….we did it!

We made an impact to  11,227 K-12 students – surpassing our goal of 10,000!

Kudos to everyone that participated and keep up the great work, Sonorans!

Kerrie Greenfelder

Congrats!!!!

At Celebrate SWE at WE09, the following individuals and sections were recognized for outstanding programs, projects, and efforts.

Individuals

• Samia Subrina- University of California Riverside- 3rd Place Technical Paper Competition

Collegiate Sections

• California State University, Long Beach- Outstanding Outreach Event for Small Section
• Cal Poly San Luis Obispo- Gold Level Outstanding Collegiate Section
• Cal Poly San Luis Obispo- 1st Place Team Tech for Team #1 & Team #2
• Cal Poly San Luis Obispo- Best Outreach Event
• New Mexico Institute of Mining & Technology- Bronze Level Outstanding Collegiate Section
• UCLA- Silver Level Outstanding Collegiate Section
• UCLA- 2nd Place Best Collegiate Section Newsletter
• USC- Silver Level Outstanding Collegiate Section

Professional Sections

• Central New Mexico- Medium Section History Award
• Central New Mexico- 2nd Place Best Professional Section Newsletter
• Orange County- Best Outreach Event “Connecting Educators”
• Orange County- Large Section Member Retention Award