Elected Officer Position Descriptions
President
The President oversees and executes the business and policies of the Section and coordinates all activities. The president presides at all Executive Council (EC) meetings and attends monthly membership meetings whenever possible. The President is also responsible for appointing the chairperson of all committees, with the exception of the nominating committee chairperson, who is appointed by the nominating committee. As the liaison to the public, corporate personnel, collegiate sections and other professional societies the President serves as the primary contact for the Section.
Other important duties include providing guidance to executive council members and the membership as necessary, maintaining Section goals, bylaws, and procedures in line with the SWE mission, coordinating the preparation of the agenda for all board and membership meetings, soliciting help from the members and EC when necessary, and representing the Section at other society meetings and events. Time estimate: possible 5-6 hours per week, plus monthly conference calls, member meetings, and EC meetings as scheduled.
Below is a list of typical duties, tasks, etc. tailored to the Section President:
Annual Section Planning Meeting
A. Prior to Annual Section Planning Meeting
Monthly
As Needed
Section
Society Level
The President oversees and executes the business and policies of the Section and coordinates all activities. The president presides at all Executive Council (EC) meetings and attends monthly membership meetings whenever possible. The President is also responsible for appointing the chairperson of all committees, with the exception of the nominating committee chairperson, who is appointed by the nominating committee. As the liaison to the public, corporate personnel, collegiate sections and other professional societies the President serves as the primary contact for the Section.
Other important duties include providing guidance to executive council members and the membership as necessary, maintaining Section goals, bylaws, and procedures in line with the SWE mission, coordinating the preparation of the agenda for all board and membership meetings, soliciting help from the members and EC when necessary, and representing the Section at other society meetings and events. Time estimate: possible 5-6 hours per week, plus monthly conference calls, member meetings, and EC meetings as scheduled.
Below is a list of typical duties, tasks, etc. tailored to the Section President:
Annual Section Planning Meeting
A. Prior to Annual Section Planning Meeting
- Receive training/knowledge transfer from past Presidents, current/former Section officers as needed
- Develop agenda for the meeting
- Establish Section Goals and objectives
- Complete officer training as needed
- Review SWE Strategic Plan or other directives
- Provide input for the budget
- Outline year-long calendar of events
- Submit EC roster to Webmaster for publication on the website
Monthly
- Attend meetings, luncheons, tours, events, etc. to meet members
- If scheduled, prepare for the EC meetings. Develop and distribute the meeting agenda and any pertinent meeting information (i.e. conference call phone number and passcode, meeting address, etc.) prior to the meeting
- If officers cannot attend or call-in, check in with them as needed before the meeting to get their input
- Prepare for the membership meetings
- Email meeting coordinator a few days before to make sure all details are coordinated with the restaurant and speaker; check how many RSVPs have been received, etc.
- Request that EC members submit pertinent announcements to be made at the meeting and volunteer sign-up sheets. Prepare announcements slide deck as appropriate.
- Bring SWE Phila brochures, speaker’s gift, announcements, volunteer sign-up sheets, SWE business cards, camera to take photos for website/newsletter, etc. as needed
As Needed
- Update the Executive Council roster (contact information, etc.)
- Appoint committee chairs (however, EC must appoint nominating committee chair via vote)
- Hold monthly officer meetings/teleconferences to conduct business (suggested)
- Create and/or dissolve committees, based on Section interest and volunteer availability
- Lead effort to develop new leaders for the Section. Encourage potential new leaders to attend the Annual Planning Meeting or to speak with current leaders about their roles and responsibilities. Assist in matching candidates with open positions.
- Call officers and committee chairs if you have not heard from them for an extended period of time
- Read section email – delegate actions and follow up
- Pass corporate sponsorship and/or recruiter inquiries onto the corporate liaison
- Maintain officer descriptions and other Philadelphia SWE files
- Identify new opportunities for the Section
- Send the Treasurer your expense receipts in a timely fashion; the Treasurer should receive all receipts by June 1; be sure to include the line item on the budget the expense pertains to.
- Write a newsletter article, entitled “President’s Message” for each newsletter. Use this space to highlight section or Society news (including international topics), general engineering or women’s issues, thank volunteers and contributors, recognize any member with outstanding contributions that month. Send the article to newsletter editor and webmaster.
- Support SWE award nominations by writing and/or reviewing letters of recommendation (some award criteria require the section president to be one of the signatures on the letter)
Section
- Deliver Year-End Report/summary at the annual awards banquet in April/May
- Prepare certificates of appreciation and member gifts for the year-end awards dinner or Annual Section Planning Meeting
- Submit next year’s officer information/roster by June 30
Society Level
- Be sure awards committee submits Individual Award applications by the deadline(s)
- Be sure officers submit Section Award applications by deadline(s)
- Submit next year’s officer information/roster by June 30 via online form
- Along with Treasurer, Submit Section Financial Report by July 30
Vice President (VP)
There are a minimum of two Vice Presidents for the section. The Professional Development VP is designated as the Senior Vice President, who performs the duties of the President in her/his absence. Each VP performs any duties or responsibilities assigned by the President or normally associated with the office of the Vice President. Each Vice President shall act as an officer contact for those committees or coordinators put under her supervision by the President.
Other important duties include maintaining Section goals, bylaws, and procedures in line with the SWE mission, updating the officers on committee status and project progress for all executive council meetings, and soliciting help from the members and executive council when necessary. Time estimate: possible 3-4 hours per week, plus monthly conference calls, member meetings and EC meetings as scheduled.
Each Vice President will be in charge of one of the following committee groupings. The decision of grouping will be determined during the Annual Planning Meeting.
Below is a list of typical duties, tasks, etc. tailored to the Section Vice Presidents:
Annual Section Planning Meeting
A. Prior to Annual Section Planning Meeting
Monthly
As Needed
Below are specific duties pertaining to each Vice President based on her area of supervision (Professional Development or Outreach).
There are a minimum of two Vice Presidents for the section. The Professional Development VP is designated as the Senior Vice President, who performs the duties of the President in her/his absence. Each VP performs any duties or responsibilities assigned by the President or normally associated with the office of the Vice President. Each Vice President shall act as an officer contact for those committees or coordinators put under her supervision by the President.
Other important duties include maintaining Section goals, bylaws, and procedures in line with the SWE mission, updating the officers on committee status and project progress for all executive council meetings, and soliciting help from the members and executive council when necessary. Time estimate: possible 3-4 hours per week, plus monthly conference calls, member meetings and EC meetings as scheduled.
Each Vice President will be in charge of one of the following committee groupings. The decision of grouping will be determined during the Annual Planning Meeting.
- Professional Development
- Outreach
Below is a list of typical duties, tasks, etc. tailored to the Section Vice Presidents:
Annual Section Planning Meeting
A. Prior to Annual Section Planning Meeting
- Obtain knowledge transfer from outgoing Vice President
- Provide training to committee chairs
- Establish committee goals
- Discuss committees and goals/objectives
- Provide input for the budget and event calendar
- Provide feedback on last year’s activities and functions where possible
- Participate in one-on-one officer training for previous and new leadership role, as applicable.
Monthly
- Provide guidance and assistance to committee chairs and members
- Prepare for monthly EC meetings or conference calls
- Get status from each committee and submit agenda items to President
- Vice Presidents are expected to attend all monthly conference calls
- Provide updates to the president if you absolutely cannot attend the EC meeting
- Prepare for monthly membership meetings
As Needed
- Send the Treasurer your expense receipts in a timely fashion; the Treasurer should receive all receipts by June 1; be sure to include the line item on the budget the expense pertains to.
- Contact committee chairs periodically to provide guidance and solicit input
- Provide information for section reports (accomplishments, event highlights, best practices, etc.) to the section reps as requested
Below are specific duties pertaining to each Vice President based on her area of supervision (Professional Development or Outreach).
Professional Development VP (Considered Senior VP or 1st VP in Bylaws)
- Along with the meeting coordinator, organize monthly section meetings/events including all professional development meetings, technical tours, and the annual awards banquet.
- Confirm topics, identify and contact speakers.
- Discuss and agree upon division of duties with the Meeting Coordinator. For example, VP may focus on the actual programming (topic, speakers) while Meeting Coordinator may focus on booking a venue and making arrangements for meals and audiovisual needs as appropriate.
- Attend meetings/events whenever possible to introduce the speaker and/or deliver section announcements.
- Ensure that all events are planned well in advance so that the details (who, what, where, when) can be advertised to the section membership a minimum of 3-4 weeks prior to the event.
- Provide meeting summary write-up – topic outline or abstract, speaker info, etc – to Meeting Coordinator to be distributed to the section when requesting RSVPs
- Work with corporate liaison to solicit corporate and member donations to the annual scholarship program, outreach events, etc.
- Assist with updating and maintaining list of corporate contacts
- Collaborate with corporate partners to arrange section meetings or facility tours at their sites, etc. and encourage their sponsorship of SWE
Outreach VP
- Help identify and support Scholarship Chair to execute scholarship program (advertising, collecting, reviewing and judging applications, and communicating with award recipients)
- Support Collegiate Liaison in communicating with collegiate sections within our section boundaries, encourage their participation in Philadelphia section events and collaborating with Philly SWE
- Organize activities and solicit and coordinate volunteers for outreach events such as:
- Widener Engineering Girls Camp - provide support to Widener SWE as needed for event planning, solicit volunteers
- University of Pennsylvania GEARS Day - provide support to Penn SWE as needed for event planning, solicit volunteers
- Philadelphia Science Festival – lead the development or selection of a hands-on activity, complete event registration and submission of required documents, participate in conference calls leading up to the event, solicit/coordinate volunteers
- Science fair judging – provide guidance to science fair coordinator
- Certificate of Merit – provide guidance to coordinator
- Girl Scout events – provide guidance to chair - Develop and deliver training (via webinar or in person) for outreach volunteers on how to effectively encourage girls to pursue engineering
- Assist with preparing and submitting professional development grants (PDGs) for outreach event funding
Secretary
The Secretary records and distributes the minutes of each official Executive Council (EC) and Section membership meeting. The Secretary notifies the Section and EC of meetings and activities by communicating pertinent information to members via email. The Secretary also coordinates public relations efforts to ensure community knowledge of the Section, its purpose, and events. This includes duties that were formerly under the VP of Communications as well as sending news accounts of Section activities to SWE, other professional engineering organizations and external publications, if necessary.
Other important duties include contacting and assisting perspective members in applying for membership in the Society and maintaining Section goals, bylaws, and procedures in line with the SWE mission. Time estimate: possible 4 hours per month, plus monthly conference calls, member meetings and Board meetings as scheduled.
Below is a list of typical duties, tasks, etc. tailored to the Section Secretary:
The Secretary will be in charge of one of the Communications committee grouping. The decision of grouping will be determined during the Annual Planning Meeting.
Annual Section Planning Meeting
A. At Annual Section Planning Meeting
Monthly
As Needed
The Secretary records and distributes the minutes of each official Executive Council (EC) and Section membership meeting. The Secretary notifies the Section and EC of meetings and activities by communicating pertinent information to members via email. The Secretary also coordinates public relations efforts to ensure community knowledge of the Section, its purpose, and events. This includes duties that were formerly under the VP of Communications as well as sending news accounts of Section activities to SWE, other professional engineering organizations and external publications, if necessary.
Other important duties include contacting and assisting perspective members in applying for membership in the Society and maintaining Section goals, bylaws, and procedures in line with the SWE mission. Time estimate: possible 4 hours per month, plus monthly conference calls, member meetings and Board meetings as scheduled.
Below is a list of typical duties, tasks, etc. tailored to the Section Secretary:
The Secretary will be in charge of one of the Communications committee grouping. The decision of grouping will be determined during the Annual Planning Meeting.
Annual Section Planning Meeting
A. At Annual Section Planning Meeting
- Record the minutes of the Annual Section Planning Meeting
- Discuss Communications committee and goals
- Provide input for the budget
- Distribute minutes from the Annual Section Planning Meeting
- Submit Section Goals to the newsletter editor for inclusion in the September newsletter, if applicable
- Submit new fiscal year goals to website chair for publication on the website, if applicable
Monthly
- Provide guidance and assistance to committee members
- Send monthly emails to the section about upcoming events, opportunities for volunteers, and other happenings in the Philadelphia STEM community
- Send follow up reminders to RSVP to the section about upcoming events, opportunities for volunteers, and other happenings in the Philadelphia STEM community
- Prepare for monthly EC meetings. If unable to attend, solicit a member to take the meeting minutes on your behalf.
- Record, prepare, maintain, and distribute the minutes and action items of the previous EC meeting to the EC within 2 days of EC meeting
- Prepare for monthly membership meetings
- Send thank-you notes/e-mails to volunteers, donors, etc. acknowledging them for their efforts
- Send a thank you letter to meeting speaker(s)
- Pick up mail from PO Box and distribute to appropriate members, unless it is more convenient for another SWE member to do so
As Needed
- Provide input and proofreading for the section newsletter and revisions to the website
- Oversee any changes/revisions to the records of the section: section brochure, business cards, bylaws, yearly goals, newsletter and website
- Oversee the maintenance of the section’s social media accounts (Facebook, Twitter, etc)
- Oversee the awards committee submission of Individual Award and Mission Award applications. Review the nomination packages and provide comments. Ensure that nomination packages are submitted by the deadline(s).
- Amend Section Bylaws (if requested through EC and membership vote)
- Send the Treasurer your expense receipts in a timely fashion; the Treasurer should receive all receipts by June 1; be sure to include the line item on the budget the expense pertains to.
- Maintain section goals & procedures
- Provide updates/reminders on goal progress
- Clarify procedural questions following Roberts Rules of Order 101
- Record person who made a motion, seconded the motion, ensure quorum of elected officers (5 of 8)
- Update/order section business cards
Treasurer
The Treasurer manages all the Section financial (bank) accounts and is responsible for the collection, safekeeping, and distribution of the Society's funds. The Treasurer also prepares, maintains and coordinates the annual Section budget. The Treasurer keeps an exact account of all receipts and expenditures for submission to the Society Treasurer at the end of the fiscal year, and presents a financial budget report at meetings of the Executive Council and Section membership, as required.
Other important duties include maintaining Section goals, bylaws, and procedures in line with the SWE mission, filing necessary reports with Society headquarters and with state and federal agencies, answering inquiries on financial matters and making recommendations to the Executive Council on financial strategy, etc. Time estimate: possible 1-2 hours per week, plus monthly conference calls, member meetings and Board meetings as scheduled.
Below is a list of typical duties, tasks, etc. tailored to the Section Treasurer:
Annual Section Planning Meeting
A. Prior to Annual Section Planning Meeting
Monthly
September
December/January
July
As Needed
The Treasurer manages all the Section financial (bank) accounts and is responsible for the collection, safekeeping, and distribution of the Society's funds. The Treasurer also prepares, maintains and coordinates the annual Section budget. The Treasurer keeps an exact account of all receipts and expenditures for submission to the Society Treasurer at the end of the fiscal year, and presents a financial budget report at meetings of the Executive Council and Section membership, as required.
Other important duties include maintaining Section goals, bylaws, and procedures in line with the SWE mission, filing necessary reports with Society headquarters and with state and federal agencies, answering inquiries on financial matters and making recommendations to the Executive Council on financial strategy, etc. Time estimate: possible 1-2 hours per week, plus monthly conference calls, member meetings and Board meetings as scheduled.
Below is a list of typical duties, tasks, etc. tailored to the Section Treasurer:
Annual Section Planning Meeting
A. Prior to Annual Section Planning Meeting
- Discuss committees and goals
- Assist in preparing the annual budget for the Section
- Solicit input for the budget from officers, using previous budgets as reference
- Discuss committees and goals
- Submit budget to the Executive Council for approval
Monthly
- Keep an exact account of all receipts and expenditures
- Collect and distribute reimbursement forms.
- Collect, keep and distribute the funds of the Section
- Sign and write checks for the Section
- Provide guidance and assistance to committee members
- Prepare for monthly EC meetings
- Get financial status from each committee and prepare a financial report
- Answer inquires on financial matters
- Prepare for monthly membership and EC meetings
September
- Submit budget to the Executive Council for approval, if not approved at the planning Annual Section Planning Meeting
December/January
- Submit the previous fiscal year’s books to the audit committee for review (if necessary)
- Provide input to the audit committee regarding the previous fiscal year’s budget
July
- Close out books for the Fiscal Year, which ended on June 30.
- Prepare and sign the year-end Financial Report for the Section
- Submit the year-end Financial Report to the Society Treasurer
As Needed
- Submit your expense receipts in a timely fashion; all receipts should be submitted by June 1; be sure to include the line item on the budget the expense pertains to.
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