1 IEEE Education Partners Strategic Program Assessment Chris Salicco and Douglas Gorham IEEE Educational Activities 21 June 2008 EAB meeting, Denver, CO

2 IEEE Education Partners Program l Program offers IEEE members a 10% discount on courses through partnerships with academia and industry l The program is offered as a Member benefit.

3 IEEE Education Partners Why are we doing this? l Aligns with the IEEE Core Value: Professional Growth l IEEE Education Partners Program contributes to the professional growth of engineers, scientists, and technologists l Aligns with the IEEE’s Long Range Plan Goal B l “The IEEE will improve professional competencies through shaping the education of students and professionals” l Expand and promote IEEE’s continuing education products (Objective # 1) l Increase the breadth and market penetration of IEEE products and services that use new education delivery methods (Objective # 7) l Addresses the IEEE Member Satisfaction Survey results identifying continuing education as an area of high interest l To promote the IEEE brand l To serve as a membership recruitment and development tool

4 Partners History

5 Number of Members who have taken Courses through the Partners Program l the Partners program was managed by the honor system so we do not have statistics for these years l In 2007 we implemented tracking procedures for the partners to follow to provide us feedback including how many members have taken courses

6 Number of Courses taken through the Partners Program l the Partners program was managed by the honor system so we do not have statistics for these years l In 2007 we implemented tracking procedures for the partners to follow to provide us feedback including how many members have taken courses

7 Partners that offered IEEE CEU’s l In 2007, we encouraged our current partners and required our new partners to offer IEEE CEU’s as a way to enhance their visibility to the IEEE members. l To date in 2008 the partners have generated $5K in revenue for the IEEE CEU program

8 Partners Program – Revenue & Expenses * 2008 revenue and expenses reflected through 1 June 2008

9 Partners Program – CPEC role l The Continuing Professional Education Committee (CPEC) is the committee that oversees the program as follows: l Vetting of all partner applications (3 members review 2 from academia and one from industry) l Sun setting of partners that are ineffective and do not serve the IEEE members needs l Act as an advisory body to identify how to expand the program, recruitment of partners, marketing of the program and development and oversight of the overall business plan

10 Partners Program Strategic Program Assessment l The assessment pointed out the follow areas of weakness: l The partners are US centric l The partners are US East Coast centric l The awareness of the program to the IEEE members is very low l Who is our competition l Market research was needed

11 Partners Program Strategic Program Assessment l The assessment pointed out the following positives: l The 10% discount to the members l 5 partners outside of the US l Members can earn Degrees and Certificates

12 Partners Program Market Research Findings l The partners are US centric and East Coast centric l The market research agrees that we need to add International partners, as well as Partners from the Central and Western US l The awareness of the program to the IEEE members is very low l The market research for both members who have taken courses and those who have not confirm that the program needs to be more visible to the membership

13 Partners Program Market Research Findings l Who is our competition l Our members have confirmed in the research that all other professional associations offer courses for continuing education in various forms of partnerships with academia and industry for their members. l Should we continue to have this program l According to the 50 members that participated in the market research who have taken courses and who have not taken courses they all feel that the program is a benefit worth having, but needs additional quality universities and industry partners both in the US and Internationally

14 Partners Program Market Research Findings l The 10% discount to the members l The market research shows various examples from our members that the 10% discount on continuing education courses is a valuable benefit and in some cases was the reason why they joined, renewed or are IEEE members l Members can earn Degrees and Certificates l This was confirmed by some of the members that this has helped them get Master degrees and certificates for licensure purposes

15 Partners Program – Plans Moving Forward l We have created a marketing plan to increase awareness l The Business plan will be updated based on the findings of the market research l A recruitment plan for partners will be created and implemented l A searchable database is being created to allow members to find courses more easily

16 Partners Program – Future Direction l Discussion

17 Thank You! Questions and Comments

18 Partners Program – Other information l The following Partners contacted the IEEE in order to join the program: l Rutgers University l University of Michigan l EnginZone (from Lima Peru) l EdistaLearning (from India) l General Electric (GE) l International University of Florida

19 IEEE Education Partners Program 2008 Program Highlights l Drexel University has renewed because it has seen increased IEEE registrations l Members have started to us directly asking for courses l To date 20 members have written in asking for courses which were forwarded to our partners and of the 20, 10 of them were converted into registrations l Partners such as Inquestra, Purdue University, Pace University, Practising Law Institute have begun to see registrations

20 IEEE Education Partners Program Marketing Plan l Tool Kit - in production l Sales Brochure - in production l Member Take One Postcard - in production l Banner and Button ads - in production (to place them throughout the IEEE website) l Virtual Trade Show - booked for October l Set up special partner rates for IEEE.tv productions and ads - to be used for negotiating contracts with prospective partners. l Collecting testimonials, articles and other blurbs for placement through IEEE news wire. l Articles will be placed in on-line vehicles mid summer. l New collateral pieces (tri-fold brochure) to be redesigned.