PACE Officer Duties

The role of the section PACE chair is to promote professional activities within the IEEE section. The section PACE chair also plays a liaison role to facilitate communication between section members and the IEEE-USA.

Specific functions (tasks) of the section PACE chair include, but are not limited to:

1. Represent PACE as a standing member within the section structure, and, if feasible, work toward the establishment of a PACE Committee as a standing committee of the section structure (which may require a bylaw change). Each section PACE Chair should be assisted by a team of six program specialists who keep abreast of IEEE programs in their areas.

These six program coordinators should seek support from their counterparts on the Regional PACE Committee and, with their support, should be responsible for the following areas:

• State Government Activities

• Career Enhancement Activities

• Precollege Education Activities

• Student Professional Awareness Activities

• Technical Policy Activities

• Employment Assistance Activities

The program coordinators are appointed by the section chair with recommendations from the section PACE chair. They may serve in the same capacity on the section chair's committee, when the position exists.

2. Design, develop, and implement projects to enhance professional activities within the section. Projects suitable for section meetings or conferences include IEEE-USA information exhibits, professional activities sessions, mini-symposia and workshops, Member Professional Awareness Conferences (M-PACs), and support of IEEE Student Branch Student Professional Awareness Conferences (S-PACs).

3. Establish a two-way communication network to facilitate local and national response to critical IEEE-USA and Technology Policy Council issues.

4. Participate in precollege education efforts, National Engineers Week activities, and allied activities within the section that could benefit from PACE collaboration.

5. Prepare and submit funding request forms for projects to the Regional PACE Coordinator to obtain financing from Regional Professional Activities Support Funds.

6. Identify allied activities in the section that could benefit from PACE collaboration.

7. Work through the section chair, chapter chairs, and chapter PACE chairs (if there are any) or directly with chapters to encourage them to establish the position of PACE representative and keep the position filled.

8. Encourage chapter PACE representatives to collaborate with the section PACE chair on local precollege education efforts, National Engineers Week activities, and other PACE projects. If possible, the chapter PACE representative should serve on the section's PACE Committee.

9. Encourage chapter PACE representatives to develop projects that will enhance public awareness of engineers as professionals and of the socio-technical issues affecting American society.

10. Attend the PACE leadership training at the annual IEEE-USA Professional Activities Conference over Labor Day weekend.

11. Prepare a plan of all professional activities projects planned for the following year. Provide copies of the plan to the section chair, the section newsletter or magazine editor, and the regional PACE Coordinator (by December 1 each year).

12. Report results of all professional activities projects to the section, the section newsletter or magazine editor, and the regional PACE coordinator (by December 1 each year).

13. Identify an individual within the section, council, chapter, or student branch that has demonstrated exemplary service to advancement of the goals of IEEE and IEEE-USA and nominate him or her for an IEEE, IEEE-USA, IEEE-RAB, region, or section award.

14. Contact section chairs during November each year to remind them to appoint section PACE chairs and PACE Committee members for the coming year. Confirm these appointments by December 15 and report the results to the regional PACE coordinator by January 1.

1. Works closely with the Regional State Government Activities Coordinator.

2. Works closely with the IEEE-USA State Government Activities Committee as a corresponding member.

3. Fosters, nurtures, coordinates, and encourages the establishment of section state government activities and intersociety SILAs:

a. Spearheads efforts to set up IEEE State Legislative Committees along state government boundaries.

b. Assists in solving problems caused by differences in state boundaries and IEEE regional boundaries.

c Provides existing literature, guidelines, and examples to State Legislative Committees.

d. Identifies leaders (champions) for state government activities.

e. Assists state leaders in obtaining start-up funding from region and PACE for state activities.

 

1. Works closely with the Regional Career Enhancement Activities Coordinator.

2. Works closely with the IEEE-USA Career Maintenance and Development Committee as a corresponding member.

3. Fosters, nurtures, coordinates, and encourages career enhancement activities in the section.

a. Encourages sections to devote at least one meeting each year to career issues.

b Takes facilitator training to conduct workshops developed by the Career Maintenance and Development Committee and encourages sections to offer the workshops.

c. Provides section members with existing guidelines, literature, and information about successful career-related and employment-related programs.

 

1. Works closely with the Regional Precollege Education Activities Coordinator.

2. Works closely with the IEEE-USA Precollege Education Committee as a corresponding member.

3. Fosters, nurtures, coordinates, and encourages precollege education activities in the section.

a. Promotes the participation of section members in the Discover"E" classroom visit program during National Engineers Week.

b. Provides existing guidelines, literature, and examples to section members.

c. Promotes the Young Scientists and Engineers program in sections.

d. Promotes workshops for science and mathematics teachers on state-of-the-art technology, requirements for becoming and engineer, etc.

e. Promotes a good image for engineers among the K-12 school population.

4. Works with business, education, and other engineering/scientific societies to promote technical literacy.

a. Supports the formation of local alliances and partnerships between IEEE and other business, education, and engineering/scientific entities.

b. Supports appropriate legislation designed to promote technical literacy.

c. Represents IEEE on local and state committees whose mission supports the IEEE position on improving technical literacy at the K-12 level.

5. Encourages local IEEE volunteer involvement with teachers and school administrators through:

a. Serving as a technical resource person for a teacher.

b. Being a guest lecturer.

c. Serving as a club sponsor.

d. Hosting field trips.

e. Providing industry internships.

f. Judging contests.

g. Establishing or supporting other local teacher or school-based programs.

 

1. Serves as the section Student Professional Awareness Conference (S-PAC) Coordinator.

2. Works closely with the Regional Student Activities Committee chair (R-SAC).

3. Promotes student professional awareness activities to the schools in the section by:

a. Establishing contact with IEEE student branches

b. Encouraging schools to conduct S-PACs on a two-year cycle

c. Coordinating efforts with the section PACE chair and the regional

 

4. Promotes S-PACs by:

a. Attending student meetings and making presentations on S-PACs (15 minutes minimum)

b. Targeting large schools, medium-to-large schools that have never held an S-PAC, and schools that held an S-PAC two or more years earlier; calling student branch officers and student branch counselors directly.

c. Writing form letters to selected schools encouraging them to plan S-PACs (addressed to student branch counselor and student branch chair)

d. Maintaining contact with the Regional PACE Coordinator and other sources of funding for S-PACs

e. Maintaining contact with Regional S-PAC Support Coordinator.

f. Contacting RAB/SAC/SPAA chair for branch-related or RAB funding issues.

5. Assists student organizers in S-PAC planning and preparation.

a. S-PAC format

b Locating speaker from the section, region and or national-level speaker roster.

c. Selection of conference date, avoiding conflict with exams and major campus events.

d. IEEE interfaces at the section, area, and region level (requesting/obtaining funds/support, local speakers, general participation, local engineering/industry support)

e. Publicity techniques

f. Ticket sales

g. Interface with Department Chair or Engineering School Dean

h. Answers questions about:

- Size of committee and delegation of tasks

- Faculty reception: participation, classes held at S-PAC or canceled

- Ticket sales: when started, number sold (check this three weeks prior to conference)

- Funding: contacts, problems, expenses

6. Works with the section PACE chair to ensure that high-quality S-PAC speakers are available locally and within the region.

7. Reports on S-PAC activities as required for the following:

a. Annual report to the regional S-PAC coordinator (calendar year)

b. Section PACE report (from one Professional Activities Conference to the next)

c. Newsletter support for Student Members

 

1. Maintains an awareness of the on-going activities of the Technology Policy Council (TPC) and its various committees and subcommittees by:

a. Interacting with the Regional Technical Policy Issues Coordinator and the administrator of TPC professional programs to receive and maintain a file of TPC committee position papers, symposium/conference announcements, and information on other significant TPC activities;

b. Working closely with counterparts on the PACE Divisional Activities Committee to coordinate awareness and advocacy of TPC activities; and

c. Working closely with appropriate regional members of TPC committees or subcommittees and/or serving as a corresponding member of one or more TPC committees.

2. Works closely with Regional Chapter Relations Coordinators and Section Chapter Relations Coordinators to coordinate awareness and advocacy of TPC activities including current position papers, testimonies, seminars/workshops/conferences, and other significant TPC action.

3. Fosters, nurtures, coordinates, and encourages technology policy activities in the section via:

a. Presentations at section meetings;

b. Maintaining and distributing current TPC activity material such as position statements, testimonies, etc., and,

c. Coordinating requests for further information by members through the IEEE-USA office.

 

1. Works closely with the Regional Career Enhancement Activities Coordinator.

2. Works closely with the IEEE-USA Employment Assistance Committee as a corresponding member.

3. Fosters, nurtures, coordinates, and encourages employment assistance activities in the section.

a. Provides employment assistance to job-seeking members.

b. Provides section members with existing literature and information about successful employment assistance programs.

c. Acts as a section resource for members seeking employment assistance.

d. Provides the Employment Assistance Committee with information about local employment conditions and local IEEE efforts to respond to employment problems.