Engineering Alumni Society
Board of Directors
Planning Meeting
July 28, 2008
Agenda
• Incoming Board
• President’s Initiatives
• New Ideas
• Annual Events
• Board Awards
• Service Activities
• Internal Activities
Incoming Board
2008-2009 Board:
Harris Romanoff (President)
Nancy Harris (Vice President)
Russ Miller (Vice President)
Jim Brennan (Vice President)
Carl Clyde (Secretary)
Stan Warchaizer (Treasurer)
Directors
Farnia Fresnel
Alan Schultz
Robert Berkovits
Ernest Churchville
Matt Quale
Jocelyn Nelson
Dane Carswell
Hank Guckes
Eileen Feldman McCarthy
Harry Vartanian
Associates
Jason Bethala
Lauren Berryman-Neal
Jeannine Carr
Craig Schorr
Wayne Robbins
President’s Initiatives
Initiative: Add EAS Link to Alumni Page
Motivation:
The Penn Alumni groups page
(www.alumni.upenn.edu/groups)
provides quick links to many alumni
groups but not to any school alumni
groups. As such, the suggestion was
made to inquire if a section could be
added that provided links to school
alumni societies.
Status:
 Proposal presented to Elise Betz,
Director of Penn Alumni and Penn
Traditions in early June.
 Request forwarded to the ECommunications team
 Received approval on July 29, 2008
Initiative: Email 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:
 Obtained list of most active
engineering seniors from Elise
Betz.
 Wrote letter to graduating seniors,
sent to Janice on August 16th
 Letter will be sent out via email
blast during Labor Day week.
Initiative: Hold School Alumni Leaders Meeting
Motivation:
School alumni societies have a different set of challenges
relative to that of regional alumni groups. Proposal was
made to Elise Betz to hold a meeting of the leaders of all of
Penn’s School alumni societies.
Objectives are to: (1) Meet Lee Doty, the new Penn Alumni
President. (2) Share ideas & lessons learned. (3) Develop
set of best practices on leading successful School Alumni
societies – one that could not only benefit Penn internally
but if published to the web could be a template for other
universities.
Status:
 Obtained buy in from Elise Betz
 Emailed Lee Doty proposal, obtained by in
 Collaborated with Penn Alumni office to establish
date of Friday, Oct. 31st – Homecoming Weekend
 School Alumni Leaders Emailed
New Ideas Proposed
New Idea: Alumni Career Panel
Champion: Jason Bethala (Chair)
Committee: Farnia Fresnel, Wayne Robbins, Bob Berkovits, Sevile Mannickarottu
What: An alumni career panel composed of EAS members from different backgrounds (e.g. traditional
engineering career, business career, graduate school, start-up, etc.)
Who does it benefit? Engineering Students & current SEAS alumni in Philadelphia area
Why do it?
• Provides an opportunity for engineering students to ask questions relating to possible careers paths,
graduate schools, etc. The majority of career panels are not targeted specifically towards the general
body of engineering students
• Introduces EAS to current students – opportunity to promote the organization’s mission and potentially
meet new recruits
• Allows SEAS to promote the flexibility and numerous career opportunities associated with an
engineering degree, especially in a market where students may find it difficult to obtain jobs
Where: An engineering building on campus
When: Ideally the September – October timeframe since seniors/ graduate students would likely be applying
for jobs or graduate schools and interviewing during this time
How:
• Discuss with Career Services on most effective way to promote the panel and hold the event
• Gather interest, background information, and availability from current EAS members
• Draft email campaign, hang flyers, etc.
New Idea: Engineering Alumni Ambassadors
Champion: Harris Romanoff
Committee: Jim Brennan (Chair), Hank Guckes, Bob Berkovits, Stan Warchaiser
What: Connect EAS with engineering alumni who are active in Regional Clubs (e.g. Penn Club San Francisco)
Who does it benefit? Engineering Alumni & Development Office
Why do it?
1) Broaden the active alumni base of EAS
2) Empower engineering alumni at regional clubs to do engineering related events - e.g. "Dinner with a
Penn Dean: Eduardo Glandt, Dean of Penn Engineering"
3) Re-connect alumni with Engineering School
When: Throughout the year
How:
1) EAS forms an "Engineering Alumni Ambassadors" committee.
2) Reach out to several regional clubs and find out if there are any active engineering alumni graduates
3) Connect with those engineering alumni graduates – offer them to become “EAS Ambassadors”
4) Keep communication lines open:
We inform them of Penn engineering events of local interest (e.g. visit by Dean)
They inform of us of events of local interest involving engineering alumni (e.g. guest speaker)
New Idea: Establish EAS on LinkedIn
Champion: Bill Kane
Committee: Russ Miller (Chair), Farnia Fresnel, Alison Capponi, Stan Warchaizer
What: Establish and maintain a LinkedIn account
Who does it benefit? Current students, Alumni, Development
Why do it?
LinkedIn seems to be well established as a professional networking site, and several Penn groups have
already been created. The group could be used to announce and promote events, reconnect with other
alums and increase involvement in the Alumni Society
When: Ongoing
How:
Issues seem to revolve around licensing of the Penn name and logo. Once this issue is resolved the
creation of a group is trivial
Annual Events
Fall Annual Event
Event: Homecoming Weekend
Requirements:
1) Collaborate with Development office on planning events for homecoming
2) Promote event to EAS
Chair Person: Matt Quale
Spring Annual Event
Event: Alumni Weekend
Suggested Tasks:
1) Collaborate with Development office on planning events for alumni weekend
2) Promote event to EAS
Chair Person: Jocelyn Nelson
Spring Annual Event
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: Stan Warchaizer
Committee Members: Farnia Fresnel, Alison Capponi, Paul McLaughlin,
Dane Carswell, Ernest Churchville
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, work crowd
Chair Persons: Hank Guckes, Ernest Churchville, Stan Warchaizer
Bi-Annual Events
Event: Patent Presentation (2007, 2009)
Suggested Tasks:
1) Collaborate with Development office on planning Graduate Student BBQ
2) Sit at sign-in table, check IDs, work crowd
Chair Person: Harry Vartanian
Committee Members: Seville George, Bill Kane, Eileen Feldman, Peter Staffeld
Event: PE Presentation (2008, 2010)
Suggested Tasks:
1) Collaborate with Development office on planning Graduate Student BBQ
2) Sit at sign-in table, check IDs, work crowd
Co-Chair Person: ______________ Co-Chair Person: __________________
Committee Members: _________________, ___________________, __________________
Board Awards
Board Awards
Award: Yarnall
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: Stan Warchaizer Co-Chair Person: Tim Carlsen
Committee Members: Mickey Kaufman, Bob Berkovits, Jim Brennan,
Paul Staffeld, Farnia Fresnel
Outreach Activities
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: Nancy Harris
Committee Members: Jane Fried Sheinfeld, Alison Capponi
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: Eric Benshetler
Committee Members: Farnia Fresnel, Russ Miller
Internal Activities
Internal Activities
Activity: Website Updates
Suggested Tasks:
1) Continually review website content to ensure it’s up to date
2) Post pictures, board meeting dates, etc
Chair Person: Russ Miller
Internal Activities
Activity: Speaker Series
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: Ernest Churchville
Co-Chair Person: Hank Guckes