Section Vice Chair Quick Start Training

IEEE Center for Leadership Excellence

Welcome to the Section Vice Chair Quick Start Training. This training assumes you have been recently elected to the position of Section Vice Chair and want to quickly learn the basics of your position. You’ve found the right place.

The Section Vice Chair assists the Section Chair in managing the operations of the Section in the best interest of the local members and provides leadership, guidance, and a sense of purpose for other Section volunteers.

We’ve identified a number of topics that are important to address in the first 30 days. In this Quick Start Training Module you’ll learn about the following tasks:

1. Know Your Section/Chapter Officers

If you have not already done so, identify and contact the other elected volunteers in your Section. These should include a Chair, Secretary, and Treasurer (or combined Secretary-Treasurer). You should also become familiar with the Section Technical Chapter and Affinity Group Chairs. Some Sections choose to have other positions elected; check with any Section Bylaws or operations manual for a list of these. Your Section Secretary should have the complete list of volunteer positions within your Section.

The names of Section, Chapter, and Affinity Group Officers will be published in the IEEE Geographic Roster, so it is very important that your Section provide the names of Officers to IEEE MGA.

A personal contact by e-mail, phone, or even a face-to-face would help jump start building key relationships within the Section Executive Committee.

Most IEEE Sections have a number of Standing Committees, Technical Chapters, Affinity Groups, and/or Student Branches. The Section Operations Manual should contain a list of available positions to match with Officers.

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Key Points:

Who the Committee, Chapter, and Affinity Group Chairs in your Section are
The key IEEE Bylaws that apply to organizations you will be interacting with, including your own Section and Chapters
The requirements for serving as an IEEE Officer and/or Committee Chair within your Geographic Unit

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2. Understand Your Members

Working with the Section Secretary, you will play a key role in reaching out and understanding your Section members’ needs. You should review membership statistics in your Section to understand trends, demographics, and customer feedback. Section members are your customers – if they like what they can get from your Section, they will provide “repeat business.” You need to ensure you have an updated mailing list of your Section members so you can communicate with them as needed. You should use e-Notice to coordinate this communication.

Scan the demographics of your members – what is the geographic spread of where they live/work? By having meetings in a certain location, are some members significantly disadvantaged in their ability to attend? Are there ways to rotate meeting locations? These are all questions you can start thinking about and talking to members to get further insights.

Additionally, the Section Executive Committee should be using membership data to assist in the defining and development of recruitment and retention campaigns. This data can also be used to determine if membership recruitment and retention strategies are working.

If surveys have been done previously, get access to both the electronic and paper documentation to leverage what has already been done.

You should become familiar with SAMIEEE since it can serve as your source of information about your members. This is a member database that is available to Section Officers. An IEEE Account is required for access.

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Key Points:

Understanding your members needs will help you understand and meet their professional needs

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3. Review Your Job Description

As with any other job, it helps to know what your job duties are. In many Sections, the Section Vice Chair is responsible for working with the Section Secretary in selecting the topics that will be discussed at Section meetings. Additionally, this individual will work closely with the Chairs of the Technical Chapters and/or Affinity Groups to ensure that the programs offered by these subunits are focused on increasing member engagement and/or meeting the needs of the local member. In many cases, the Section Vice Chair will be elected to serve as the Section Chair.

If the Section Chair is unable to perform their duties, the Vice Chair will be responsible for ensuring that the tasks are completed. These tasks could include (1) preside at meetings of the Section and the Section Executive Committee (2) represent the Section at IEEE gatherings (i.e., attend annual Regional Committee Meeting).

As the Section Vice Chair, you may be asked to provide reports on the following activities:

Conference activities within the Section;
potential opportunities for increased member engagement in forming additional Technical Chapters or Affinity Groups within the Section;
Student Branches Activities - encourage Student member participation in Section events and/or provide support for local Student Branch activities**;
Educational Activities - encourage and promote IEEE Educational programs to the members and/or public**;
Awards and Recognition - encourage and promote the submission of nominations for the IEEE Awards at the Section, Region, and IEEE level (IEEE Awards Board, MGA, Educational Activities)**.

** Some Sections may appoint a specific individual to perform these duties.

Learn More:

Key Points:

The Section Vice Chair is a key member of the Section Executive Committee
The Section Vice Chair may perform a variety of duties depending on local volunteer resources

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4. Technical Chapter Activities

In many Sections, the Section Vice Chair is responsible for coordinating and reporting on the activities of the Technical Chapters within their Section.

A Technical Chapter is responsible for providing local programs related to the field of interest to the members in a related Technical Society(ies). These programs can be formal lectures, dinner or lunch meetings, or field trips.

There may be single Society Chapters, Joint Society Chapters, and Technical Council Chapters. A Technical Chapter, operating in consort with its parent Society(ies) and the Section, plays a major role in fulfilling the objectives of IEEE.

The minimum requirements for a Chapter:

Chapter must maintain a minimum of 10 Society Members;
Chapter must report Officers (Chapter Chair) annually to the administrative Section;
a minimum of two technical meetings per year is required to maintain viability;
Chapter must report all meetings annually to IEEE headquarters and your Section using the L-31 form;
Chapter Chair must fulfill the duties and responsibilities outlined in the Chapter Chair job description.

You should review the Quick Start Training for the Technical Chapter Chair and review the Chapter Chair job description.

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Key Points:

Chapters are Units within IEEE Sections formed to serve the specialized technical interest of Society members and to coordinate these with the local activities of the Section
Technical Chapters are integral parts of IEEE Section activities
The Section receives meeting credit for Chapter activities

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5. Affinity Group Activities

IEEE Affinity Groups are non-technical subunits of one or more Sections or a Council. They provide your Section with opportunities to maintain the engagement of your members throughout their life cycle.

As of October 2009, the Affinity Group parent organizations are the following:

Consultants' Network - Alliance of IEEE Consultants' Networks (AICN)
Graduates of the Last Decade - MGA Graduates of the Last Decade (GOLD) Committee
Life Members - IEE Life Members (LM) Committee
Women in Engineering - IEEE Women in Engineering (WIE) Committee

The Affinity Group is under the joint supervision of the Section and parent entity. Annual required reporting must be submitted to maintain viability.

An Affinity Group shall be required to maintain a membership of not fewer than six (6) members, and to hold not less than two group-interest meetings per year, or to maintain a level of activity acceptable to the Section/Council Chair and Region Director.

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Key Points:

Affinity Groups are non-technical units within IEEE Sections formed to serve the specialized interest of IEEE members and to coordinate these with the local activities of the Section
Affinity Groups are integral parts of IEEE Section activities
The Section receives meeting credit for Affinity Group activities

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6. Conference Activities within Your Section

Conferences offer your Section members a unique opportunity for developing a wide range of professional relationships by building networks with their peers. They are also a great opportunity for your Section to promote membership development activities. It is very important that your Section Executive Committee is aware of IEEE Conference activities in your Section's area. You should use the IEEE Conference database to learn about Conferences within your geographic area.

Conferences require varying degrees of planning, with attendance ranging from under 100 to a sizable number. This range in size, as well as the variety of styles and traditions developed by the established Conferences, precludes one set of guidelines from having universal applicability. If your Section is conducting a Conference, they should be aware of the steps that need to be taken when organizing a Conference.

IEEE supports three sponsorship models for Conferences. Sponsorship relates to the responsibilities and accountabilities of an IEEE Organizational Unit (OU), with respect to financial, technical, publicity, and administrative aspects of a Conference. IEEE OUs can provide sponsorship to Conferences that includes either financial involvement or non-financial involvement. Co-sponsorship and Technical co-sponsorship arrangements require a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU), outlining the roles and responsibilities of the sponsoring entities. Information on the types of sponsorship is detailed in the IEEE Conference Manual.

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Key Points:

Conferences within your Section can benefit your members and the public
All Conferences share the common objective of providing a forum for the communication of advancements in the field of the Conference, both through formal paper presentations and informal discussions
Many Conferences provide social programs and awards ceremonies within the Conference structure, and some include industrial exhibitions as an integral part of the Conference
All IEEE Geographic Units must adhere to IEEE Bylaws/Policies in regards to organizing and conducting IEEE Conferences

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7. Running an Effective Meeting

As the Section Vice Chair, you will be responsible for running the regular meetings of the Section Executive Committee if the Section Chair is unable to attend or run the meeting. Each Unit has established their own business process which is used when they conduct their meetings, and you should become familiar with this process. Additionally, you should become familiar with Robert’s Rules of Order and how they can facilitate the running of your Section meetings.

Learn More:

Key Points:

The Section Vice Chair is expected to chair the Section Executive Committee meetings if the Section Chair is unable to do so
Robert’s Rules of Order can be used when conducting administrative meetings
Sections meetings are categorized as Administrative, Technical, and Non-technical

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8. Concluding Thoughts

Congratulations - once you have kicked off your term as Section Vice Chair with the above Quick Start topics, you have the basic tools to hit the ground running in your role. Your role will evolve after the first 30 days as a critical part of the Section’s Executive Committee, and additional materials will be made available for you to examine additional tools after the first 30 days.

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