The number of SSCS chapters is growing steadily. There are currently ten chapters worldwide: Boston, Baltimore, Chicago, Estonia/Finland, Ottawa, Santa Clara, Seoul, Taipei, Tokyo and Yugoslavia. I would like to extend a warm welcome to the newest member, the Tokyo chapter. All of these chapters have been active in providing their membership with a range of professional and educational activities.
I am glad to report that the Ad Com approved the subsidy applications at the August meeting in San Francisco for a total of $12,638. Eight chapters applied for subsidies. These funds will be used to support a variety of activities including travel assistance for speakers, meetings and membership development, newsletter, library support, chapter’s web development, support of workshops and conferences. Ad Com approved an additional $6,000 in support of formation of new chapters through June 1999.
If any of you are interested in forming a chapter in your region, please let us know. We will send you a start-up-package that includes an overview of membership in your section, a list of Section’s Officers, a petition form and general guidelines on chapter formation. You can also check out our web page http://www.sscs.org/info/society/chapter.htm.
A highly successful Division I and IV Region 8 Chapter Meeting was held in Amsterdam, October 4, 1998. This was the third annual meeting with 78 attendees representing 9 societies and 50 chapters, from 30 countries in Region 8. The two SSCS chapters from Estonia (joint with SP/CAS) and Yugoslavia (joint with ED) were represented. Mr. Alexander Jaksic reported on the ED/SSC Yugoslavia Chapter’s activities.
Vello Kukk, chair of SSCS chapter in Estonia, attending the
1998 IEEE Divisions I & IV Region 8 Chapters Meeting.
Also in attendance among the 56 Region 8 chapter chairs in
the all-day workshop on growing program and membership
in their chapters, was Nonoslav Stojadinovic, chair of the
SSCS chapter in Yugoslavia
The meeting was co-chaired by Michael R. Lighter, Director of Division I, and William G. Duff, Director of Division IV. After brief introductions of the two Division Directors, the meeting featured a series of presentations by society presidents or representatives. The data presented by most societies confirmed that Region 8 was one of the fastest growing regions during the past year. The morning session concluded with a panel discussion on "The Globalization of IEEE" and was chaired by Mike Adler, the RAB/TAB Transnational Committee Chair.
During the afternoon session, Charles Turner moderated a workshop on membership development with a presentation by P. M. Larsen. It was pointed out that retention is critical in particular since there is about 10% attrition of IEEE membership every year. Also, the importance of recruiting student members and keeping them after graduation. was emphasized Finally, twenty chapter representatives reported on their best chapter practices. One of the major problems for the chapters of the former Soviet Union was the difficulty in receiving funds. The meeting concluded with a show of hands to continue the chapters meeting annually as a one-day event.
For information about chapter formation, contact Anne O’Neill, Executive Director, sscs@ieee.org.
Jan Van der Spiegel
Chapters Chair
Jan@ee.upenn.edu