1. How to deal with student branches
Dr. Kate (Jenkins) Mercado
Central Area Student Activities Coordinator
Region 6 Student Activities Coordinator
SFBAC Officer Training
Mountain View, CA
Jan 23, 2016

2. Outline for the morning
How do you feel your section is doing for its students?
Do you have a Section SAC or other POC?
Other resources: Area SAC, Region SAC, other?
Specific complaints / concerns?
Who are your student* branches?
What do they do and when do they do it
What can you (reasonably) expect from them
What can you not expect from them
What should they be able to expect from you
* Mostly undergrads, some grad students, but K-12 out of scope

3. Who are these people (do you know?)
SCV (active-ish): Stanford, UC Santa Cruz, Santa Clara University, San Jose State
SCV (inactive): US Naval Postgrad
OEB (active-ish): Fresno State, UC Berkeley, CSU East Bay, DeVry Fremont
OEB (inactive): Northwest Polytechnic
SF (inactive): CCSF, Sonoma State,
Sacramento (active-ish): UC Davis, Sac State, Chico State
* Semester system, quarter system, other/unknown

4. Idealized student calendar
September: Rush/recruiting events; IEEE Day
October: Central Area Meeting & SLT (vTools)
November/December: lecture or workshop
January: Rising Stars; apply for awards by 2/15
February/March: lecture or workshop
April: Central Area Meeting & competitions
May: Elections & STEP event; present awards
Which of these might need funding or help with planning?

5. What can you reasonably expect from them?
Attendance at a section ExComm meeting a month or so before they want something
A relatively detailed budget for that something
A public report for that something (blog post, FB post, .ppt with pics from the event…)

6. What can you not expect from them because it just won’t happen
Continuity reporting without SAC nagging — be the adult
Spring officers’ ability to discuss Fall events — just estimate SB funding in Section budget
Ability to understand acronyms: PACE, CBRS

7. What should they be able to expect from you?
Ability to find contact information for the current Section SAC & receive factual reply
Relatively prompt reimbursement for expenses incurred — a credit card cycle matters more to them
Know how/when to escalate to Region SAC vs when branch counselor is worth writing to
Resource for student-focused events (Rising Stars, SusTech, IEEExtreme, Future Leaders)

8. Facts to keep in mind RSAC is a resource (that none of you use)
SAC is not PACE
AY is not CY
Churn is high / institutional memory is low
Students are people & people have names
These are your future colleagues
Other concerns?

9. Thank you!
Dr. Kate Mercado
R6 RSAC