The Section Executive Council transacts the business of the Section, ensuring that the objectives and purposes of the Society and the Section are pursued. This includes providing programming for the Section members, providing outreach to students within the community, formulating and changing Section policy and procedures, and approving the Section budget. Officers of the Executive Council include the President, two Vice Presidents, Secretary, Treasurer, and Section Representative(s). The offices of the two Vice Presidents can be combined as needed. The office of Secretary can be split into internal and external communications as needed. The number of Section Representatives is determined by the size of the Section, and is between 1 and 4; in Fiscal Year 2012 BWS has four Section Representatives. Voting members of the Executive Council include the officers listed. The Executive Council votes to appoint the nominating committee members, and approves the appointment of the other committee chairpersons, as recommended by the President.
The President coordinates all activities and executes the business and policies of the Section. The President is the face of the Section in public, and executes the business and policies of the Section. The President is also responsible for appointing the chairperson of all committees, with the exception of the nominating committee members, who are appointed via a vote by the Executive Council.
The Vice Presidents act as officer contacts for those committees put under her supervision by the President, as well as perform the duties of the President in her absence or at her request. One Vice President focuses on the furtherance of the professional development of Section members, as approved by the membership. This includes providing activities and programs to encourage and assist members to establish goals for and to attain high levels of education and professional achievement, as well as readying themselves to return to active work after an extended absence. The second Vice President focuses on the Section’s career guidance and outreach goals, including providing information and counseling on engineering careers for students in grade K-12, providing counseling and possible financial assistance to women engineering students, and to maintain and disseminate information on available engineering scholarships.
The Treasurer collects, safely keeps and distributes the funds of the Section. The Treasurer keeps and exact account of all receipts and expenditures for submission to the Society Treasurer at the end of the fiscal year, and presents a financial report at meetings of the Executive Council and Section membership, as required. The Treasurer also answers inquiries on financial matters and makes recommendations to the Executive Council on financial strategy.
The Secretary records, prepares, maintains and distributes minutes of each official meeting of the Section or Executive Council and coordinates public relations efforts to ensure community knowledge of the Section, its purpose, and events. The approved minutes are then submitted into the Section archives.
The Secretary notifies the Section and Executive Council of meetings and activities, and sends out ballots for elections and for amendments to the Bylaws. The Secretary maintains the current official membership records of the Section, and also contacts and assists prospective members in applying for membership in the Society. This include providing publicity to advance the Society’s objectives and Section goals, as well as to send news accounts of Section activities to SWE, other professional engineering organizations or affinity groups, and external publications. This role can be separated into two separate officer positions, Internal Communications Secretary and External Communications Secretary, as needed.
