THE TRIMESTER CHALLENGE
The Impact of Student Professional Awareness Conferences
at DeVry University — Columbus, Ohio Student Branch

By Mark Barlow, President 2003-2004
Edited by Jim Watson, PE, IEEE Region 2 Support Coordinator

Creating and maintaining a successful student branch at a trimester, commuter university is a significant challenge. Students have very busy academic schedules and typically hold part or full-time jobs. Most classes are scheduled in the daytime but many students attend class at night. It is difficult to arrange IEEE activities to be convenient for all students.

For many years, activities for this student branch had been sporadic. However, this all changed when two Student Professional Awareness Conferences (S-PACs) were successfully held in 2000 and 2001. Before these conferences, activities were infrequent and often limited to a hosting a few local speakers on campus and attending the Columbus Section annual banquet.

When I arrived at the DeVry Institute of Technology in the summer of 2001, the impact of the S-PACs was a hidden treasure. By all appearances, the IEEE Student Chapter was no more than a website that needed to be updated. At the end of my first semester, one of my most energetic and inspirational professors had taken it upon himself to revitalize the IEEE Student Chapter. This man was John Golzy.

When the first IEEE meetings began, none of the students knew what we wanted, and weekly meetings were little more than a quarrel about how things should be done. It was at this point that I considered abandoning my student chapter and discontinuing my involvement with the IEEE.

Then I had a conversation with Professor Golzy that has changed my life and college career. During a passing chat in the hallway of DeVry, I expressed my discontent with the student branch to Professor Golzy and he said to me, “This is your organization just as much as it is anybody else’s. If things are not going the way you like, then get involved and change them.” With Professor Golzy’s words of encouragement I realized that just walking away would benefit no one and my decision to get involved proved to be one of the best I ever made.

In reviewing past activities, I discovered information about two S-PACs that had been successfully completed by a small group of dedicated students. Because these appeared to be challenging activities and many students were involved in planning and attending these conferences, this gave me an incentive to think big. Fortunately, the chair of both S-PACs, Joshua Civiello, was still in school. So, my first action plan was to talk to Joshua.

Joshua indicated that the S-PACs were the direct result of encouragement from Dr. Golzy and Jim Watson, the Region 2 Coordinator for S-PACs. As one of the national speakers at the first S-PAC at DeVry University in 1984, Jim discussed the momentum that followed that conference. He assured Joshua that the student branch at DeVry would benefit for several months or even a year or so from demonstrating the value of IEEE membership through the sponsorship of another conference. This was enough to convince me that we could bring new life into our student branch by planning events that were of interest to student members and potential members.

One of the first ways I sought to get involved with IEEE was to hold weekend workshops where students would study and use high voltage electronics, my personal field of interest but one that included a huge liability for DeVry. Initially the school opposed my workshops and projects that would use hazardous voltage potentials, but Professor Golzy realized how important it was for students to have the freedom to pursue such ambitions. Professor Golzy fought for my workshops and would not allow the students’ interest to be restrained, no matter what the cost. Professor Golzy put all of his trust in the abilities of his students, laying both his job and DeVry on the line.

In a trimester school, time to develop student leaders is brief and often challenging. To reach success, students need help from several sources. As president, I worked with the IEEE Columbus Section and found their support of financial and other resources to be very beneficial. With the interest and strong support of our advisor, the university, local industry and the IEEE section, we have been fortunate to enjoy many successful activities.

Our IEEE Student Chapter overcame its initial obstacles and has been blessed with talented, dedicated and empowered students. Some of our most successful recent activities include:

• Organizing a series of guest lectures and local industrial fieldtrips.

• Planning and hosting the first “Electronics Day” showcase of senior projects in cooperation with SWE and Tau Alpha Pi organizations.

• Being actively involved in the IEEE Columbus Section meetings and fieldtrips.

• Organizing our first S-PAVe with one outside speaker and a student branch Activity Planning Workshop

• Hosting Ohio-Western Pennsylvania regional IEEE Student Leadership Training Workshops for two years in a row (2002 and 2003). This was a direct outcome of the Activity Planning Workshop S-PAVe.

• Improving science and technology across our campus by holding workshops that have featured robotics, Java, Open GL, programmable logic controllers, and Tesla coils.

• Receiving first-place in the IEEE 2003 Region 2 Web Page Competition and runner up in the IEEE worldwide contest.

• Providing one of the largest groups to attend the 2003 IEEE Region 2 Student Activities Conference Held at Princess Ann, MD, 500+ miles from Columbus.

• Participating in the 2003 IEEE Region 2 Robotic Contest

• Taking first place in the 2003 IEEE Region 2 project showcase competition and second place in the student paper competition.

• Providing the largest attendance of all schools at recent IEEE Columbus Section Spring Banquets. In 2003, Professor Golzy was presented with the Outstanding IEEE Columbus Section Student Branch Advisor Award.

• Attending functions at other IEEE Student Branches within driving distance

In addition to providing students with technical information, our student branch has helped students develop and enhance leadership and other important career related skills. The branch has continued to grow and demonstrate an important impact on campus. In addition, the university administration has recognized our student branch as an important resource for the educational experience.

Dr. Rasoul Esfahani, Dean of Electronics Programs at DeVry University, provided the following comments about the DeVry IEEE Student Branch:

“As an educator, it has been my philosophy to support student activities in professional societies. These activities will help students to grow in their fields, to learn how to work in a team, and to practice their leadership skills.”

“I became Dean of Electronics Programs in DeVry University in Columbus in November 2001. There was hardly any student activity on campus. Professor Golzy and I had a meeting and he accepted the responsibility to become advisor for IEEE student branch in our campus. Since then, he has done an outstanding job. The Student Branch in our campus is one of the most active in this region. He has helped students to create excellent leadership skills and guided them to be an active student organization.”

So, how can a trimester school accomplish outstanding IEEE activities? In the case of DeVry University in Columbus, this has happened by lighting the fire of interest through the publicity and success of planning Student Professional Awareness Conferences. Our experience with the programs provided by SPAC has resulted in many successful activities called Student Professional Awareness Venture.

DeVry University is a good example of how a student branch can overcome specific difficulties associated with a commuter school. By building networks with the local IEEE Section and using programs provided by the region and national student committees, a few, dedicated leaders can implement many successful activities. This brings benefits for the student leaders, but more importantly, it provides an important plus to the educational experience for all students involved and strengthens individual resumes with excellent project experiences for discussion during job interviews.

Revised 11/18/04