PURPOSE & SCOPE
The purposes of the ASME Student Sections Committee (SSC) are:
- To act as the single focal point for interaction between student members, student section advisors, senior members and staff of ASME
- To promote and actively assist in the coordination and operation of activities for student members
- To advance the professional development of student members as engineers and servant leaders in ASME and society as a whole
- To be a resource center and information disseminator for students and student section advisors
- To promote active undergraduate and graduate student involvement within technical divisions
- To present the student’s view to and interact with other ASME entities
- To promote upgrading from student membership to corporate membership after graduation
The Membership of the SSC consists of a senior and two student representatives from each of the districts, and a Chair (who may also be a senior member). The student representatives are student members of ASME elected each spring by students from their district, or if necessary, chosen by the District Leader. Each district also selects an alternate representative. The senior representatives are corporate members of ASME chosen by the District Leader of the district they represent.
The term of office is 3 years for each senior rep and 2 years for each student rep, with the terms of office starting at the Annual Meeting following selection. Senior members of the SSC may have consecutive terms. Student members of the SSC may be elected to consecutive terms if they remain students in their district through the following spring. To provide continuity of committee programs and procedures, the student reps from each district serve two year terms that overlap by one year.
The SSC meets as a whole semiannually, at the ASME Annual Meeting in June and at the International Mechanical Engineering Congress and Exposition (IMECE, also known as the Congress) in late October/early November. SSC officers include a Chair, a Vice-Chair, and a Secretary who are elected from the voting membership. The terms of office are 1 year for the Chair and 1/2 year for the Vice-chair and Secretary. Senior and student representatives act as liaisons between the SSC and other ASME entities; liaisons are selected at any time by the chair.
The SSC currently conducts its business by means of a subcommittee structure. The focus of the subcommittees are voted upon at the SSC meeting in the fall. Common examples of subcommittees are listed below:
- Communications Subcommittee which deals with issues concerning electronic communication and SSC-related Web Page development and maintenance.
- Membership Subcommittee which deals with student interests and development, membership to the society, and the high school liaison program.
- Program Subcommittee which deals with student matters outside the scope of the normal student section operations, such as the National Engineer's Week awareness, and special seminars and conferences of interest to students.
- Competitions Subcommittee which addresses the contests available to students to participate in, such as the Student Design Competition and Student Sections Competition.
Each member of the SSC, except the Chair, selects or is appointed to 1 of these subcommittees, which meets separately during the course of the Annual Meeting and Congress. The subcommittees also carry on business, generally by e-mail, throughout the year, and make recommendations to the full SSC at the Annual Meeting and Congress meetings. Each subcommittee elects a Chair who holds office for 1 year.
The SSC is governed by ASME policies as well as its own set of By-Laws, which provide detailed information on the committee organization and operation.