Individual Awards Training
Maureen Masiulis
Chair FY15
Awards-chair@swe.org
Engineers Make a World of Difference
Agenda
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General Information
Awards
How To Complete a Nomination
Responsibilities of a Nominator
Notification & Feedback
Tips to Applying
FAQs
Questions
Individual/Collegiate Awards
INDIVIDUAL
•Achievement
Distinguished Eng. Educator
•Distinguished Service
Emerging Leader
•Entrepreneur
Fellow
•Global Leadership
Prism
•Resnik Challenger Medal
Rodney D. Chipp Memorial
•SWE Distinguished New Eng Work Life Integration
•Suzanne Jenniches Upward Mobility
Spark (NEW)
•Advocating Women In Engineering (NEW)
COLLEGIATE
•Outstanding Faculty Advisor
Outstanding SWE Counselor
•Outstanding Collegiate Member
Nominations Due – March 31st
http://societyofwomenengineers.swe.org/index.php/awards/individualawards#activePanels_
SWE Membership Required
Individual & Collegiate Award Changes
from 2014
• Introduces two new awards
• Advocating Women In Engineering
• Spark
• Update to Formal Statement Word Counts and
Resume/SWE Resume Page Counts
• READ THE REQUIREMENTS CAREFULLY
• Migration to Award Application Tool from
Survey Monkey Nomination Form and Package
submission via email
• General Cleanup of Awards Package for clarity
and consistency
Advocating Women in Engineering
Award
• Honors an individual who has demonstrated
professional excellence in their chosen STEM field
• Has proven to be an advocate of women in
engineering and SWE’s objectives.
• Must have an engineering or science degree with
work in STEM fields.
• Award Criteria: 75% Advocacy, 25% Career
Achievements.
• Maximum of five (5) awards may be presented
annually.
Spark Award
• Honors a person who has contributed to the
advancement of women by mentoring those around
them.
• Has made a difference in the lives of many by affecting
women at a variety of levels ranging from high school
through more senior levels in relation to their position.
• Award Criteria: 70% Impact on Women Engineers, 20%
Successes & Challenges, 10% Leadership &
Community Involvement.
• Maximum of five (5) awards may be presented
annually.
How To Complete a Nomination:
Process
• Use the ‘Award Guide’ to select the award that best
suits the candidate
• Verify the candidate meets the ‘Qualification’
requirements
• Collect all items listed in the ‘Nomination Checklist’ for
the award selected
• NEW FOR 2015: Fill out the ‘Application’ online at
https://app.smarterselect.com/programs/20842-SocietyOf-Women-Engineers
• NEW FOR 2015: Submit the application online by
March 31. Packages must be received by 11:59 PM,
Central Time. No exceptions will be made for late
packages.
NEW FOR 2015: Award Application Tool
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Preview the application
Start a new application
Revisit Existing Application
Nominate More Candidates
Email notifications such as
incomplete package reminders
Create User
Name &
Password
How To Complete a Nomination:
Reminders
• All packages are to be submitted electronically in a Microsoft Word
or PDF format
• Individuals are allowed to receive only ONE award per year.
• Incomplete nomination packages or nomination packages that do
not meet the award requirements will be disqualified.
• Several of our awards have requirements for years of experience.
It is the responsibility of the nominator to calculate this information
prior to submitting a nomination, and ensuring that your candidate
meets the requirement for the award.
• Packages must be submitted online through the application tool.
• All letters of recommendation require some form of authentication
from the author.
Responsibilities of a Nominator
• Submit a complete application by March 31
11:59pm CST.
• Accurately complete the nomination form.
• Submit all required artifacts.
• Inform the nominee of the result of their
nomination.
• Request feedback from the Awards Chair.
• Discuss feedback with the nominee.
THE NOMINATOR IS THE POINT OF CONTACT BETWEEN
SWE AND THE NOMINEE
Notifications & Feedback
• Recipients will be presented at the WE15 Annual Conference for
women engineers in Nashville, TN, October 22-24, 2015.
• Notifications will be made to nominators starting July 1.
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If notification is not received by July 15, nominators are asked to contact the
Awards Program Manager at awards@swe.org.
• All notifications will be completed by July 31.
• Feedback will be provided to nominators at their request after July
15 until December 31.
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To request feedback on a nomination packet, please send an email clearly
stating the nominee name and award applied for, to the Awards Chair at
awards-chair@swe.org.
• Nominators must confirm that the phone number and email
address provided on the nomination form is current and
correct for both the nominee and nominator or we will not be
able to reach you!!!
Tips to Applying
• Plan Ahead - Many of the nomination packages take time/effort to put
together
• Read the requirements
• Incomplete nomination packages or nomination packages that do
not meet the requirements will be disqualified
• Judges come from a variety of backgrounds, review MANY packages,
and ONLY score candidates by the material presented
• Clearly demonstrate that you meet the requirements
• Give Measureable information to demonstrate to the judges the
impact the candidate has made relative to the selection criteria
wherever possible
• Don’t assume they know things – what your programs are,
positions you’ve held
• Include applicable information but be concise; don’t add additional
language just to meet the word limit.
• If you have questions ask them
• Talk to people that have applied
• Email the awards chair
Frequently Asked Questions
• Does Co-op time count towards number of year’s experience?
• Co-op time will not be used to count towards years of experience.
• How do advanced degrees count towards experience?
• Years of experience are counted as full-time work experience as of
December 31. Periods of unemployment or part-time employment
are not counted toward years of experience. Each advanced
technical degree obtained while not working full-time counts as an
additional year of experience toward this calculation.
• An MBA does not count for an additional year of experience
Frequently Asked Questions
• Do the following count toward years of experience?
• Does the time I worked as an intern or co-op? My service record
counts it.
• What if I worked part-time and I got paid by my company while I
went to school? Can I count my part-time work for 2 years as 1 year
since I worked 20hrs/week for those 2 years?
No, experience for SWE Awards is counted as full-time, post-graduate
work only. We do not count part time work, internships or co-op
experience. Periods of unemployment are also not counted.
Frequently Asked Questions
Calculating Years of Experience Example
Scenario 1:
• Bachelors Degree
• Interned for 2 semesters for company
(company service time counts as 6 months)
• Worked 4 years full time
• Went back to school for Technical PhD
full time / worked part time for 4 years
• Worked 3 years full time afterwards
• Technical Masters Degree obtained
counts as 1 year
• Technical PhD only counts as 1 year
Scenario 2:
• Bachelors Degree
• Worked 4 years full time
• Went school part time for Masters in
Engineering and worked full time for 3
years
• Went to school part time for Masters in
Business Administration and worked full
time for 2 years
• Stay-at-home mom for 1 year
• Worked for 3 years after degrees
Total = 9 years of work experience
Total = 12 years of work experience
Frequently Asked Questions
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Is it necessary to obtain new Letters of Support each year if we
are resubmitting a candidate?
• If the nomination is more than one year old, we recommend
securing up-to-date letters of support, as we would like the
information to be as current as possible. We understand that
many of the same supporters may be asked to submit new letters,
however, this gives the nominator a good opportunity to solicit
additional and/or new sponsors for letters of support. If the
nomination was submitted in the previous awards cycle, the
existing letters of support may be resubmitted, if they are no more
than one year old.
Frequently Asked Questions
• Do we accept submissions from International candidates?
Do they have to work in the U.S to be considered?
• We will accept submissions from International candidates as long as they
meet the requirements stated within the award criteria.
• Why Signed Letters? What do you mean by Signed Letters
of Recommendation?
• All required letters need to be signed
• We need to ensure the letter of recommendation comes from the person
who is sending in their support for a candidate. Here are the acceptable
forms of a “signed” letter.
1.
2.
PDF/Word Document/Scanned .jpg with Recommender’s Signature
PDF or .jpg of email chain to nominator showing electronic letter came from recommender(s)
• Nominator will certify and maintain documentation should SWE request
Frequently Asked Questions
• Does the Nominator have to be a SWE member?
• In some instances yes, for example for the Outstanding Collegiate
Member Award the Nominator must be a SWE Collegiate Member,
Collegiate Section Faculty Advisor, or a SWE Member in good
standing. - Refer to the Collegiate Award Training presentation
• Can I Nominate myself?
• No, we prefer that you find someone to be your nominator to be
another point of contact. You can ask your local SWE organization
(Section, Member-At-Large Organization, Region) or someone at
your company to nominate you.
• Can a Nominee Request Feedback after they are
notified of the results?
• Yes, but it is preferred to work with the nominator as sometimes it is
the nominators who may need the feedback.
Frequently Asked Questions
• If an individual is employed by a corporation that is a
member, but that individual is not a member
themselves, are they eligible for the SWE membership
required awards?
• No, the individual is not considered a member. We verify that by
checking their membership number. Corporate Members of SWE
are allotted a certain number of memberships that they can be
assign to their employees. If the candidate was not given one of
those corporate memberships, she will need to sign up as a SWE
member prior to submitting her application.
Frequently Asked Questions
• Does the candidate have to have an engineering
degree?
• Review the awards packet for each award’s specific qualifications
• Here are answers to a few awards seeking more clarification
• Emerging Leader – No, as long as she has been working/actively
engaged in an engineering or technology profession
• Collegiate Member Awards – No, as long as she qualifies for SWE
membership and is a member, she can be nominated
Frequently Asked Questions
• Is There More Credit Given for More Recommendations?
• No, we are looking for quality vs. quantity for the letters. However, do
provide the required number of recommendations and from the outlined
criteria for the award.
• For example some awards require the person’s local SWE Section to
provide a letter, while others require one from a Team Member.
• More recommendations than the allotted also gets a candidate
removed from the competition
• For the Rodney D. Chipp Memorial Award, is it better to
submit an individual or
department/organization/company?
• Either meet the award requirements but Individual Candidates for the Award
have been traditionally stronger than submissions for
departments/organizations/companies.
Frequently Asked Questions
• What is a SWE Resume?
• A SWE Resume is a resume of all the activities, projects, leadership
positions your candidate may have done in SWE on the local,
regional, and society levels.
• The separate SWE resume is to provide the judges with more
information that the normal resume may not contain as not everyone
can fit all their SWE participation on their job resume. (Also helps to
reduce formal statement word count on SWE activities down and talk
more about other criteria for those awards which require a SWE
resume)
• SWE Resume not required for ALL of the awards, please see the
criteria for each award.
• Recommended for those awards that require SWE involvement
such as the Outstanding Faculty Advisor Award.
• Do not include if the criteria does not require it
Frequently Asked Questions
• Any recommendations for Universities, government
agencies, small engineering firms, etc. in making
submissions / nominations?
• Work with your local SWE section officers, members who work for your
company. They may understand the organization better than the
company designee to pull award packets together to find suitable
candidates
• www.swe.org , click on Local Sections and navigate down to find a local
section’s website or click on the Region and email the Region to help provide
you with a contact.
• Compare potential candidates to bios found of previous recipients
• Work with your potential candidate as you may need her/his help
gathering the right information
• Companies who may have had a previous recipient – compare the
format, content of the previous package and cross-check to the award’s
current criteria.
Questions
• The Training Presentation & Replay is available
• SWE Website:
• Awards -> Individual Awards
• By Emailing:
• awards-chair@swe.org