Engineering Alumni Society Board of Directors Planning Meeting July 27, 2009

Agenda Incoming Board President’s Initiatives New Ideas Annual Events Board Awards Service Activities Internal Activities

Incoming Board

Board: Harris Romanoff (President) Jim Brennan (Vice President) Nancy Harris (Vice President) Russ Miller (Vice President) Farnia Fresnel (Secretary) Stan Warchaizer (Treasurer) Directors Robert Berkovits Dane Carswell Ernest Churchville Carl Clyde Hank Guckes Matt Quale Eileen McCarthy Feldman Jocelyn Nelson Alan Schultz Harry Vartanian Associates Jason Bethala Alison Capponi Jeannine Carr Richard Cisek Bill Kane Sevile Mannickarottu Wayne Robbins Craig Schorr Jane Fried Sheinfeld

President’s Initiatives

Initiative: Graduating Seniors Motivation: Reach out to engineering undergraduates the summer after their graduation. Welcome letter from EAS about our group and how to stay connected. Status: Sent letter last year to graduates Will send letter to this year’s graduates Recommend future EAS presidents continue in tradition

Initiative: Establish Penn Alumni School Committee Motivation: School alumni societies (like the EAS) have a different set of challenges relative to that of regional alumni groups. As such an ongoing exchange of ideas and best practices between Penn’s School Alumni Societies would be beneficial to such groups. In the past year, several meetings have taken place among leaders of Penn’s School Alumni Societies and those in attendance found the meetings to be productive and educational. A proposal has been made to establish a more formal standing committee for School Alumni Societies under the umbrella of Penn Alumni. Status: Obtained verbal approval for the proposal from Hoopes Wampler, Assistant Vice President of Alumni Relations Writing up formal proposal for review by Hoopes in August If approved, will be presented to Penn Alumni for consideration at the Fall Planning Meeting

New Ideas Proposed

New Idea: Improve Social Networking Presence Champion: Russ Miller Committee: What are you proposing? I am proposing an improvement to the initiative that established an EAS presence on LinkedIn and Facebook. While this establishment initiative was successfully completed, both the LinkedIn and Facebook groups are largely inactive. There is a need to improve the quality and quantity of the content of both of these websites. The Board should appoint members to a committee that is focused on making recommendations to the Board that improves the content at these two websites. Why should we do this? There are more that 380 Penn Engineering alums on LinkedIn and 38 Penn Engineering Alums on Facebook who have indicated their interest in Penn Engineering by joining these groups. The EAS can directly reach these alums and push Penn Engineering information to these interested alums by providing additional content to these groups. Doing so has the potential of increasing alumni involvement in Penn Engineering and the EAS. When (time of year) should we do it? This should be a continuing effort with an immediate start date.

New Idea: Day in Life Biotechnology Presentation Champion: Jason Rifkin Committee: What are you proposing? My proposal is a “Day in the Life of a Biotechnology Company” presentation. It seems that there is not enough focus on the biotech/bioengineering component of SEAS in terms of career opportunities, and this would be a way for students and members of the board to get a feel for what goes on in a biotech company, particularly a developmental stage company. I envision a panel made up of people filling the regulatory role, clinical operations role, business development role, intellectual property role, and finance role. Each would give a presentation on what they do on a day-to-day basis, and how it is unique in the current economic/medical/political atmosphere. My goal is to make this question/answer heavy. Why should we do this? I experienced a lack of biotech company presence while doing my masters program, and students need to at least know that great opportunities in industry are out there for science savvy people. There are a number of different roles within a biotech company that need to be filled, and much of what is required to perform these tasks is not taught or discussed in class. I’d rather not have people miss out on the opportunity to meet with hiring biotech companies at career fairs because they don’t know what their day-to-day duties would be. When (time of year) should we do it? This should be done in the fall so that students can incorporate what they hear into their current job hunt.

New Idea: Champion: Committee: What are you proposing? Why should we do this? When (time of year) should we do it?

Annual Events

Bi-Annual Events Event: Patent Presentation (2007, 2009) Suggested Tasks: 1) Collaborate with Career services on planning the date 2) Format: Presentations by a small panel comprised of at least 1 Patent Attorney and a representative from Penn’s Technology Transfer dept. Co-Chair Person: ______________ Co-Chair Person: __________________ Committee Members: _________________, ___________________, __________________ Event: PE Presentation Suggested Tasks: 1) Schedule a panel presentation for students of at least 3 engineers who have a PE 2) Collaborate with Career services on planning the date Co-Chair Person: Committee Members:

Fall Annual Event Event: Homecoming Weekend Requirements: 1) Collaborate with Development office on planning events for homecoming 2) Promote event to EAS Chair Person:

Spring Annual Events Event: Senior Design Competition Suggested Tasks: 1) Review rules & edit materials for design competition 2) Facilitate event day of 3) Serve as judge and/or score enterer Co-Chair Person: Walter Korn Co-Chair Person: Committee Members:

Spring Annual Events Event: Alumni Weekend Suggested Tasks: 1) Collaborate with Development office on planning events for alumni weekend 2) Promote event to EAS Chair Person:

Summer Annual Event Event: Graduate Student BBQ Suggested Tasks: 1) Collaborate with Development office on planning Graduate Student BBQ 2) Sit at sign-in table, check IDs, welcome crowd Co-Chair Person:

Board Awards

Award: D. Robert Yarnall Award Suggested Tasks: 1) Collaborate with Development office on obtaining recommendations 2) Tele-conference to review candidate bios 3) Make recommendation to board 4) Reach out to nominees Co-Chair Person: Committee Members:

Outreach Activities

Activity: Student Mentoring Suggested Tasks: 1) Collaborate with Career Planning on facilitating freshman mentoring program 2) Help Career Planning in finding needed alumni 3) Promote mentoring program to students and alumni Co-Chair Person: Committee Members:

Outreach Activities Activity: Increasing Participation in Alumni Activities Suggested Tasks: 1) In January, identify board members who are members of undergraduate classes with reunions the following year. 2) Find out who the assigned staff person is at Penn Alumni Relations for that class. 3) Encourage the board members to contact these staff people 4) Check on status in April or May. Co-Chair Person: Committee Members:

Internal Activities

Activity: Maintain EAS Website Suggested Tasks: 1) Continually review website content to ensure it’s up to date 2) Post pictures, board meeting dates, etc Chair Person:

Internal Activities Activity: Schedule Guest Speakers for Board Meetings Suggested Tasks: 1) Shake engineering alumni tree for potential speakers 2) Contact potential speakers 3) Present Bio to board 4) Coordinate times that work for EAS & Speaker Co-Chair Person: Speaker Suggestions Penn Museum

Internal Activities Activity: Update SEAS Wiki Updates Suggested Tasks: 1) Continually review SEAS Wiki content to ensure it’s up to date 2) Post new content Chair Person: