MGA News for Geographic Unit and MGA Volunteers

(posted 15 May 2013)

MGA places a high level of importance on the role of the volunteer at all levels of geographic units. In 2013, the MGA Board selected modernizing the volunteer experience as one of its top three goals. Support for this goal is starting with a pilot program to be offered to volunteers who may be considered potential future leaders in their geographic units.

The pilot program is targeted at current volunteers who have not previously held officer positions in their geographic units. The pilot will run over a period of six months, and participants will be asked to invest four to eight hours a month. Those volunteers selected to participate in the pilot will be exposed to a more in-depth learning experience regarding the broader IEEE structure and organizational units outside of MGA. In addition, they will acquire practical leadership experience that can be applied in their professional environment. Success with this pilot will set the stage for an ongoing broader program to develop and prepare future leaders.

Review the selection criteria in the application form (DOC, 103 KB)

Please share this information with volunteers in your unit whom you think may be interested or would benefit from this pilot experience. The application deadline is 24 May.

E-mail completed forms and questions to Maria Schneider, MGA Program Manager

(posted 15 May 2013)

The IEEE Conference Member Recruitment Program (CMR) offers an incentive to those who join IEEE at the conference. Each higher-grade, full-dues-paying IEEE membership applicant is given one year of membership to one of IEEE's 38 Technical Societies. The program runs parallel with the IEEE membership year (16 August–15 August) and is one of the most successful membership development tools available.

The most successful conferences set up a highly visible, staffed membership recruitment desk and recruit a minimum of 25 new members. Supplies for the table may be ordered online through the membership development supply form using your IEEE Account.

E-mail Denise Maestri with questions about the CMR program

(posted 15 May 2013)

Registration for the 8th annual Panel of Conference Organizers (POCO) has opened. 2013 POCO will be held 25–27 July 2013 in Portland, OR, USA.

POCO offers conference organizers and organizational unit leadership excellent opportunities to increase knowledge about organizing high-quality conferences, meet colleagues, and learn more about IEEE and industry conference practices. Content and topics will be of interest for attendees of all experience levels.

Registration will be open through 15 June 2013 on a space-available basis.

Register now

(posted 15 May 2013)

In response to feedback from contributors regarding their experience with the IEEE conference application process, IEEE Meetings, Conferences & Events (MCE) has undertaken a priority effort to make it more efficient and user-friendly.

MCE has established a phased approach to make changes to the ICX conference application form and system along with the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) template. The changes represent the first phase in evolution of the ICX conference application and MOU template.

Get more information from the full version of this article in the April edition of the IEEE Conference Organizers’ newsletter

(posted 25 April 2013)

MGA would like to thank everyone for submitting their officer, meeting, and financial reports to IEEE in a timely manner. The reports are being reviewed, and rebates will start to be distributed to the geographic units by the end of April 2013 to those Sections whose officer, financial, and meeting activity reporting was received complete and subsequently approved.

As a reminder, the rebate is paid to the Section. The funds provided are intended for the support of not only the Section’s activities but also the activities of its subunits, including Subsections, Chapters, Affinity Groups, and IEEE Student organizations. Section officers are encouraged to use rebate funds to support the activities of existing units and to form new units.

E-mail MGA staff with questions regarding officer reporting

(posted 25 April 2013)

IEEE Member Discounts has new programs for IEEE members. Members in Regions 1-10 are eligible for two new benefits we launched in 2013: Rosetta Stone TOTALe ® discount and IEEE Vacation Center. The recently launched international term life insurance program continues to thrive as well.

Rosetta Stone TOTALe can help you learn a language with its totally online and mobile subscription, which includes sessions with native speakers over the Internet. Choose from 24 languages. You can seek other IEEE members who are enrolled in the same language module and schedule training sessions together as well. Members pay only US$219 for a full-year subscription to a language program of their choice. This price is guaranteed to be the lowest for TOTALe.

Link to this Rosetta Stone TOTALe offer from the IEEE Member Discounts page

IEEE Vacation Center is a portal for several different travel providers, including CruisesOnly, VBT Bicycling and Walking Vacations, TNT Vacations, and theme park discounts. This new member benefit program provides exclusive member travel discounts, which are not available to the general public. Members can select from hundreds of different last-minute deals or plan future travel either by booking online or speaking with one of IEEE's partners' travel specialists. You do need to check each provider for terms and conditions and availability from your location; however, most vacation providers serve the global audience.

International term life insurance, through Clements Worldwide, is now available in 67 countries spanning Europe, the Caribbean, and parts of Africa, Asia, and Latin America. Buying this insurance is very simple because there are no health questions to answer. Eligible members who enroll in this insurance will get the first 60 days of coverage at no cost. Follow Clements for more products coming to more countries later in 2013.

Link to Clements' site from the IEEE Insurance Services page

(posted 25 April 2013)

You may now sign up for automatic renewal of your IEEE membership. The option, available for the 2014 membership year, includes automatic renewal of your Society memberships and subscriptions to products and services.

If you sign up for it, benefits such as IEEE Spectrum and The Institute, any subscription to the IEEE Xplore digital library, access to the IEEE.org e-mail alias, life insurance coverage, and other member services won’t be interrupted.

Visit the Payment Options section of My Account to enroll in the program

Then simply sign in to your IEEE account and click on Edit in the Automatic Renewal Preference section at the bottom of the page.

If you choose to renew your membership automatically, a reminder that you’ve done so will be e-mailed in September, and the primary credit card on file will be charged in October. Members may have more than one card on file, but only the primary will be used.

Student and Graduate Student members are not eligible, and automatic renewal is not available for discounted memberships based on special circumstances such as low income, unemployment, and permanent disability.

Visit the IEEE Support Center for more information

(posted 25 April 2013)

Online live discussions

In 2013, IEEE Women in Engineering (WIE) will hold ten (10) online live discussions on the WIE Facebook page that connect IEEE female engineers with the larger engineering community.

View the WIE events page for dates and more information

Join the chat on the Women in Engineering Facebook page
IEEE Women in Engineering Affinity Group of the Year Award

The deadline to submit a nomination for the IEEE Women in Engineering Affinity Group of the Year Award is 1 July 2013. The Chair of the winning group will be appointed and shall serve a one-year term on the IEEE Women in Engineering Committee. The term on the committee will be 1 January–31 December 2014. In addition to this appointment, the group will receive a certificate and US$250.

Visit the WIE Affinity Group of the Year Award page for more information

(updated May 15 2013)

The IEEE-USA Nominations and Appointments (N&A) Committee asks for your help in identifying US IEEE members who may be interested in, and well qualified for, service on IEEE-USA committees and/or IEEE-USA board positions. Volunteers in IEEE leadership positions are in an outstanding position to identify members who are interested in improving IEEE-USA for the future, have strong leadership skills, and have exhibited a willingness to invest the time required. IEEE-USA greatly appreciates your help in identifying and nominating them. Nominations are due no later than Monday, 20 May 2013.

Visit the 2013 Call for Nominations page for more information, including a list of available positions and information on how to nominate

(updated 15 May 2013)

The IEEE Admission and Advancement (A&A) Senior Member Review Panel meeting, held 27 April 2013 in Durham, NC, USA, welcomed 364 new Senior members. The next IEEE Senior Member Review Panel Meeting will be held 1 June 2013 in Vancouver, Canada.

View the list of members elevated to Senior member status

View 2013 Review Panel proposed dates and locations

View the benefits of being a Senior member

Review the list of requirements

Nominate an IEEE member for Senior member grade

Apply directly for Senior member grade (IEEE account and password required)

All applicants are encouraged to submit a resume or curriculum vitae (CV) with their application, which should include dates and details clearly documenting the applicant's 10 years of professional experience (education and work experience) and five years of significant performance. Significant performance need not be consecutive years.

Applicants can check the status of their application close of business (COB) every Friday

(updated 1 May 2013)

As a special benefit to IEEE members for the month of May, IEEE-USA is offering a free e-book, "Launching Your Career-Book 4: Lifelong Learning – Your Key to an Enjoyable and Rewarding Career," written by John Meredith, former IEEE-USA President. This e-book is a guide for engineering students who are about to begin their careers, or the engineers just their careers. A number of practical ideas and thoughts are suggested that can help make lifelong learning a priority in pursuing an exciting and rewarding career.

"Perspectives on the Management of Technology" was written by Gerard H. (Gus) Gaynor, retired 3M Director of Engineering and IEEE Senior member. In this e-book, Gaynor provides an overview of the discipline of Management of Technology (MOT) and some general background information, and he reports on the current status of MOT. He also shares the steps needed to develop MOT as a recognized academic discipline and provide a positive impact on industry operations.

Download now (PDF, 2.2 MB; free to IEEE members; US$7.99 for non-members)

For the month of June, IEEE-USA E-Books will offer "The Best of Today’s Engineer: On Career Transitions." This collection of articles from Today's Engineer can help you handle situations you might face in your career, whether you're changing projects, employers, or career paths.

To purchase IEEE members-only products and to receive the member discount on eligible products, members must log in with their IEEE Accounts.

IEEE-USA E-Books seeks authors to write an e-book, or a series of e-books, on career guidance and development topics. If you have an idea for an e-book that will educate other IEEE members on a particular topic of expertise, e-mail your e-book proposal to IEEE-USA E-Book Chair Gus Gaynor or IEEE-USA Publishing Manager Georgia C. Stelluto.

(posted 15 May 2013)

Follow the links on the right side of this page to view more news around IEEE.

This month's featured IEEE News source is the IEEE Smart Grid Newsletter.

The IEEE Smart Grid Newsletter, a monthly publication, features practical and timely technical information and forward-looking commentary on smart grid developments and deployments around the world. Designed to foster greater understanding and collaboration between diverse stakeholders, the newsletter brings together experts, thought-leaders, and decision-makers to exchange information and discuss issues affecting the evolution of the smart grid.