NSBE Magazine - Fall 2011 - (Page 20)

chApTEr news making the meetings as exciting as possible by including videos, making the presentations interactive and serving food. By the end of the first semester, the chapter had 20 members. The chapter had no budget to begin CoNTINUED fRoM PAGE 19 and secretary, respectively. Then the group began recruiting new members. Their strategy called for some creativity, Dukes says, because Fort Valley does not have an engineer- top: FvsU chapter leaders honor sodexo, inc. for sponsoring the NsBe study-a-thon above: chapter President Maurice Dukes (right) with NsBe executive Director carl B. Mack at NsBe’s 2011 annual convention at left: Members of the FvsU chapter executive Board ing program. The new Chapter Executive Board leaders were all members of Fort Valley’s Cooperative Development Energy Program (CDEP), a dual-degree program that allows students to matriculate at Fort Valley for three years, get a bachelor’s degree, then transfer to a larger institution for two more years and get an engineering degree. So the revived NSBE chapter focused its recruitment efforts on other CDEP students. Their tactics included intense promotion of chapter meetings on campus for two weeks leading up to the event, then 20 • nsbe magazine • fall 2011 with, so the board also made fundraising a priority. NSBE – Fort Valley was able to raise $7,000 to attend the 2009 NSBE Annual Convention in Las Vegas, Nev., “probably the largest amount of money that one organization had raised on our campus by itself,” Dukes says. “So we became famous for raising large amounts of money in a short amount of time.” The group then leveraged its good reputation to bring in more members. By April 2011, when we interviewed Dukes, Fort Valley had 60 dues-paid NSBE members and 80 overall. Dukes is now in the bachelor’s degree program in petroleum engineering at the University of Oklahoma. He says Fort Valley students have benefited greatly from the chapter’s Retention Program, which features group events called Study-A-Thons. He reports that 14 of the 20 CDEP students in his class graduated in 2011, and six more are on track to finish next year. The chapter has also focused on internships, and Dukes reports that 75 percent of the group’s active members have secured one. NSBE – Fort Valley has also forged a programmatic partnership with NSBE’s Middle Georgia Alumni Chapter. Darren Williams, another CDEP member in Dukes’ class, was also a major player in the growth of Fort Valley NSBE, using his communication and networking skills to help the chapter raise money and stay organized, Dukes says. Williams — like Dukes, Battle, McGregor and Peets — had a NSBE seed planted in his mind when he was a student in high school. “I went to Thomas Edison High School in Alexandria, Va…. And I remember when I was in high school, my mother drove me past the NSBE headquarters…. So that when I heard about the organization at Fort Valley and the chances to get involved and network, I couldn’t turn that down.” Williams is now at Georgia Tech, working toward his bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering and continuing his involvement with NSBE. He hopes to serve on the Region II Executive Board next year. When we interviewed him in April, he talked about keeping the NSBE ball rolling at Fort Valley. “I feel like we have a diamond in the rough here that we’ve been able to cultivate and shine,” he says. “Although I won’t be here, I’m going to still do my best to impart some wisdom to the individuals who are coming behind me about some of the things that we did before they got there to help get the chapter started. Without stepping on any toes, I’ll try to be that alum from our chapter to help make sure it continues to grow on the steep path that it’s taken in the three years that I’ve been here.” ■ www.nsbe.org http://www.nsbe.org

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of NSBE Magazine - Fall 2011

NSBE Magazine - Fall 2011
Contents
The Next Level
Achievement Finds an Ally
Leadership, Your Way
The Programs Zone
Dr. Philicity Williams of the National Security Agency
Chapter News
Membership News
International News
NSBE Advisor Makes History
Pack Out Pittsburgh!
Empowered by Vision
Top Officers
St. Lucian Students Thrive at IIT
Goldman Sachs Group, Inc.
SEEKing Excitement for STEM
What’s New?
NSBE Calendar
The Professional’s Perspective
Shifting to Renewables for Electric Power
Alumni Officers
The Japan Effect
AE Members on the Move
Golden Torch Honoree
‘Brother Founder’ Donates $100K to NSBE
XL’ent!
Building Successful AE Chapters
Advertisers Index

NSBE Magazine - Fall 2011