How to Create A GradSWE Group

GradSWE groups are designed to address the needs of graduate students.  These sections can serve both collegiate and professional students.

Graduate Student Group Sample Structures

GradSWE Groups can be integrated and designed in several different ways within university SWE sections.  It should be noted a university can not have two SWE sections, but rather an integrated section serving all collegiate students -both undergraduates and graduate students. 

A few of these integrated approaches are presented below. 

• Integrated Graduate Student Officers

Graduate students are active in the university SWE sections and hold various positions.  Illinois Institute of Technology has integrated this approach in their collegiate section.

• Designated Graduate Student Officers

Graduate students are given specific officer positions in which graduate programming can be offered within SWE sections. Carnegie Mellon University has integrated this approach in their collegiate section.

• Integrated Graduate Committees 

Graduate students serve as specific officers and host committees for graduate programming.  University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign and University of Texas at Austin both have integrated this approach in their collegiate sections.

• Separate Registered Student Orgs w/ Liaison

At several universities, graduate SWE groups are separated registered student organizations.  However, these groups are active as sub-committees of SWE sections.  University of Michigan has integrated this approach in their collegiate section.

General notes on creating a GradSWE group includes:

• In creating the graduate group, it is suggested the group needs to have a couple devoted people to get your GradSWE group off of the ground and find ways to monetarily support your groups events and activities. 
• In creating awareness and promotion of the group, you can work with other graduate groups and women in science groups.  Be sure to seek opportunities to collaborate. 
• Draw on existing university resources such as an Office for Graduate Education or local companies/organizations. Build partnerships with them for financial resources and recruiting.
• Find a common ground, find interests or events that will keep members grounded. You can use resources in your town or at your university.  An outside perspective is very refreshing – if your university/company has visiting speakers, see if you can snag them for a presentation or panel.

Suggestions geared for Graduate Students as Collegiates

The collegiate section is a great place for graduate students to get involved. This is particularly true for graduate students who have never been involved in SWE as the collegiate section may be their first experience with SWE.  Therefore, it is very important all collegiate sections know that including graduate students should be one of their goals.

General steps for building this group are shown:

Step 1: Making Contact with Graduate Students

• Reach out to meet the graduate students needs.  You can ask for a list of incoming graduate female STEM students from your university or reach out to certain departments and send out inquiries to initiate contact as well as interest.  
• One of the best ways to attract graduate students is also to provide programming and services that they find valuable such as professional development and navigating career paths. 
  • Topic of interest for graduate students could include: tips for writing NSF proposals, getting a postdoc position, preparing a tenure package, or negotiating salary and benefits.
• Additional suggestions for events to attract graduate students could include brown bag lunches, happy or social hour gatherings.  This would be ideal for no or low cost options to meet with your GradSWE groups. 
• You can also coordinate with campus recruiters or career planning officials.  If you have a corporate recruiter coming to present, please make sure that they are prepared to answer questions about available positions for MS and PhD level candidates. Try to host companies that would sponsor your international graduate students as well so you are not excluding them.  
• Also, coordinating with other organizations geared toward Women in STEM could provide another way to reach students. You can work closely with the local collegiate SWE section to define your group’s role and place in the section structure, since there cannot be more than one section at a college or university.

Step 2: Getting Graduate Students Involved in Leadership

• Graduate students can be their own committee, the Graduate Committee, or act as Graduate Liaisons (if there isn’t quite enough participation for a whole committee) within the collegiate SWE section. The people in these positions would help plan events to be sure the needs of graduate students are being addressed. 
• The Collegiate Leadership Institute (CLI) provides student-specific sessions on career and leadership skills at the annual SWE conference.  Student participants not only learn from career and leadership experts, but also gain new skills in a networking environment. More on the CLI can be found here. 

Step 3: Establishing Graduate Group Structure

• There are several different approaches for graduate student community in SWE sections.  Four sample approaches are presented at the top of the page. 
• A few additional notes on establishing this graduate student structure are presented below: 
  • Many graduate groups work perfectly well as completely integrated parts of their collegiate section whether specific officers/liaisons are in place or it is simply a committee.
  • However, if there is great graduate student involvement and the Graduate Committee is holding a lot of events separated from the undergraduate students.  Graduate student groups should aim to maintain a strong connection within the collegiate sections and vice versa.
  • Furthermore, graduate students may be able to be a separate university recognized organization. They can go through the process to be recognized as a graduate specific organization in the eyes of the university only. This may be helpful to get graduate student specific funding from within the university.
  • In this regard, this group would still have to file the section report with the SWE collegiate section and all SWE correspondence would be through the official collegiate section.  You can add this into your sections' bylaws to ensure to ensure you are recognized.
    • Note that a university can not have two SWE sections.  The section is chartered to serve all students at the school. For more clarifications on graduate group structure, feel free to contact the GMC at grad-coordinator@swe.org.

​Suggestions geared for Graduate Students as Professionals
​

We understand that there are a lot of graduate students who have returned to full-time or part-time grad school after working and/or during their time in the workforce.  In addition, several graduate students may feel more comfortable being a part of a professional section than a collegiate section.  Good news!  Any graduate student can be a professional member of SWE.  

Similar steps highlighted above can be followed by professional members when reaching out and establishing a professional group.  Moreover, there is expectancy for more growth and expansion beyond the university setting.

So, what should professional members consider to engage more students when building a graduate group community?

• Contact us (grad-coordinator@swe.org) and we can tell you if we know of any grad students in your area or we can post your sections information for graduate students to find you.
• Similar to the collegiate suggestions, reach out to other students in the area and ensure there is graduate structure/leadership in place.  You can contact the local university to see if there are graduate students involved in SWE.
• If you are a professional member and going back to school you can earn a discounted SWE membership and obtain all the resources SWE has to offer its members.
• If there is a graduate student group, you can plan an event together. Be sure and let them know what you want and you want them to be apart.  Remember as graduate students, they may not be on a regular work schedule and they may not get the weekends off.  If they can’t make it to one event keep trying to schedule. 
• Hosting budget friendly events may be a great advantage for graduate students.  Unless the section is picking up the tab at the fancy restaurant, planning low or no cost events with food is usually a win.    
• Also know graduate students really want and appreciate mentors.  During the development of your graduate group remember to lift as you climb. 
  • As professional members, you are instilled with a social responsibility to give back to the local graduate/undergraduate students which can involve mentoring and hosting information sessions on graduate school or entering the workforce. 
  • Additional topics for meetings could simply provide networking opportunities to connect with professionals, learn about life in the workforce, and even the latest on job openings.

For more information on creating or locating a Graduate Group in your community, feel free to reach out to the GMC at grad-coordinator@swe.org.

Be sure to check out other ways to get involve with the Graduate Community group, volunteering opportunities and SWE!