Employment Networks in your Section

Grant Funding Available to Sections that Start an Employment Network


As a part of a campaign to assist unemployed IEEE members to improve their job search efforts IEEE-USA is again offering up to 20 $500 PACE grants to any IEEE Section in Regions 1-6 that want to start an Employment Network.

In 2011, IEEE-USA awarded 8 grants to IEEE Sections in Regions 1-6 to start Employment Networks. These Sections took on the challenge to start these networks and used their grant award to pay for meeting space, speakers and refreshments to help facilitate networking and information sharing among unemployed IEEE members. If there are members in your Section that need additional help finding employment the Employment Network concept maybe of interest to you.

This effort is part of IEEE’s Region 1 – Region 6 initiative to increase its effort to assist unemployed members. This initiative is to support the establishment of volunteer “Employment Network” within Regions 1-6. These “Employment Networks” should consist of volunteers (mainly members who are either looking for work or seeking new employment) within the existing IEEE Section/Chapter structure for the purpose of enhancing delivery of employment assistance services.

The goal is to simply provide additional employment services to unemployed IEEE members. The network would draw upon IEEE-USA and other IEEE OUs for job search and employment assistance resources to support their job search effort. Participants of the Employment Network would also provide support and guidance to one another (e.g. reviewing resumes, mock interviews, etc.), networking and news of job opportunities. The vision for the Employment Network effort is to provide more intense service to unemployed members by networks meeting 2 to 3 times a month with the meetings designed to:

• Provide an opportunity for members to network with employers to learn about company hiring needs, employment trends and job opportunities.

• Promote and/or deliver IEEE employment-related projects and services (including IEEE-USA employment assistance services) to members in need.

Guidelines for Receiving Grant Funding

There are a few specific guidelines Sections must adhere to so they’re eligible to receive the grant award.

First, to submit the grant application; a Section/applicant must use a Employment Network Project Funding Request Form with the Project Title “Start an Employment Network.” A sample Employment Network Project Funding Request Form can be found in the Employment Network section of the IEEE-USA website. The application should be sent directly to the IEEE-USA Program Manager Daryll Griffin.

Second, the Section must provide initial mentorship of the Employment Network until the group is self functioning. This would include but not limited to initial participation by a Section designate (this person can be listed as a Project Manager in the Employment Network Project Funding Request Form) and follow-up with Employment Network leaders to ascertain the Network’s progress.

Third, the Section must be willing to provide oversight of the grant award.

Fourth, the Section must confirm by email to IEEE-USA Program Manager Daryll Griffin that the Section designate has read the Today’s Engineer story “Employment Networks Can Enhance Your Job Search” and viewed the IEEE-USA archived webinar “How Can Your Section Start an Employment Network?” We also recommend (not required) that Section designate view the webinar “Engineering Collaborative Job Search Strategies: Building a Support Group.”

Timeline

Grant submissions will be open from October 1, 2012 to October 31, 2012. Grant applications will be reviewed by IEEE-USA Employment Network Grant Review Committee. Awardees will be notified by email on or before November 30, 2012 and full awards will be processed to the Section.

Reporting

The Awardees through the Section designate will be required to submit 2 follow-up reports to the IEEE-USA Program Manager. A two month report status report will be required from the date of the grant award. Additionally, a six-month status report will be required from the date of grant award.

IEEE-USA Annual Meeting and Webinars

The annual meeting of IEEE-USA is coming up very quickly - May 3 - May 6, 2012 in Cincinnati, OH.  The final program is posted at http://ieeeusa.org/calendar/conferences/annualmeeting/2012/default.asp.  I am on the program to present on Saturday May 5 with Carole Carey tips for conducting successful PACE events.  If you have any suggestions or questions to bring up at this session, please drop me an email. 

I would also like to share the upcoming webinars from IEEE-USA.  At the next one on May 10, you can learn how to succeed with your LinkedIn connections.  The following three feature IEEE-USA's policy advocacy issues.  http://ieeeusa.org/careers/webinars/. 

I am also pleased to announce that Baltimore Section is the first in our region to qualify for the Member Professional Engagement Initiative!  I would like to see the remaining 19 section achieve this status this year!  All that you need to do is to reach 100 or more members in three or more events through professional meetings. 
Let me know if you have any questions.

IEEE-USA Member Professional Engagement (MPE) Program

The Professional Activities Committee (PACE) of IEEE-USA has just approved a special $200 incentive program for 2012. Any USA Section that completes and reports three or more PACE events during 2012 is eligible to receive a special $200 bonus payment. The incentive program runs during 2012 only and is limited to the first 100 Sections. All Section payments are made on a first-come, first-served basis. The incentive payment is intended to encourage all USA Sections to use IEEE vTools to report all professional activities. The MPE program is in addition to and does not replace the existing USA Regional PACE project funding program.
$200 Rebate Requirements:· A USA Section will receive a one-time direct payment $200 when they complete and report three (or more) successful local professional activity (PACE) events during 2012. · Total attendance (of all events) must exceed 100· It is highly recommended that the event be created and published using vTools.· Each PACE event must be reported using vTools and classified in the “professional” meeting category. https://meetings.vtools.ieee.org/main· Meetings may use the pre-packaged IEEE-USA modules or a topic of local interest.· Regional PACE Coordinators have the discretion to request Section payments in exceptional circumstances· When the PACE Committee determines that a Section has fulfilled the requirements, the $200 bonus is transferred to the Section’s Concentration Banking account and the Section Chair is notified by email. Sections without IEEE Concentration Banking accounts are strongly encouraged to open one.


The MPE program will be administered by the IEEE-USA Professional Activities Committee. The Committee will audit the vTools meeting database on a quarterly basis to determine which Sections have completed the requirements for the MPE rebate.

Questions regarding the MPE program should be directed to your Regional PACE Coordinator (http://www.ieeeusa.org/volunteers/pace/contacts.asp).

Region 2 Summary of PACE Projects for 2011

Eighteen of the twenty sections in Region 2 held and reported PACE activities in 2011 resulting in 90% participation against the aggressive objective of 100%. Financially, Region 2 exceeded the goal of utilizing 100% of the funding from IEEE-USA (with 8.5% additional allocation).


In total, there were 31 projects across the region. Of these, twelve were focused on helping our higher grade members and eight on student members. Seven projects addressed pre-college activities and four were about legislative and policy matters.

Four sections (Baltimore, Columbus, Northern Virginia and Philadelphia) accounted for more than half of the reported projects. All these sections reported three or more projects with Northern Virginia taking the lead at six. Susquehanna and Youngstown sections did not report any PACE projects.

In 2011, we have also established improved communications with section PACE Chairs by implementing channels that include LISTSERV, Facebook group, a Blog, a LinkedIn group and a Twitter feed.

Our objectives for 2012 are:

1. 100% participation of Sections

2. More efficient disbursement of funds to Sections

3. 10% growth in the number of projects

Start sending the 2012 project requests!  Southern New Jersey Section is the first one out of the starting gate.  First Come First Served...