Model Collaboration Within Minority Engineering Student Societies

The Arizona State University (ASU) Office of Minority Engineering Programs (OMEP) was established in 1993. In the fall of 1993, the OMEP, in conjunction with the three minority student organizations, developed a formal collaborative relationship. The result was the creation of the Coalition of Engineering Minority Societies CEMS, which is comprised of the three minority engineering student organizations: the American Indian Science and Engineering Society – AISES, the National Society of Black Engineers – NSBE, and the Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers SHPE. In the decade prior to this, the three student organizations had collaborated during their annual awards banquet. This coalition strengthened their cooperation in other areas, including the organization and structure of the new minority engineering student center that debuted in October 1993, appropriately named the "CEMS Student Center". The Coalition was defined mostly by the MEP Awards Banquet and the CEMS Leadership Retreat which were held annually in April and May. The banquet had been traditionally hosted by the three organizations and was the only event that had been a collaborative effort prior to the creation of CEMS. The retreat served as the transition point for each organization from the outgoing leadership to the incoming executive board. The collaboration and continuity from MEP provided the vehicle to provide the retreat each year. In 1997, in conjunction with WISE, OMEP and CEMS received funding for the retreat and an outreach project through the Campus Environment Team (CET) at ASU. At this point, a written definition of the Coalition was developed. Up to this point, the Coalition worked together, transitioned from leadership to leadership, and grew in strength as it continued. Today, CEMS is not only an organization of three groups, but has now expanded to include the Society of Women Engineers. At the beginning of 1999, the four groups struggled with their desire to collaborate, formalize a “new” coalition, and what to call themselves. Realizing the strength and accomplishments of CEMS, they felt it was important to maintain that portion of the name and not “redefine” it to include SWE. Yet they felt that using CEMS/SWE was too much of an “add on” and did not truly reflect their feelings of complete collaboration. After considerable debate and reflection, they agreed to CEMSWE. What made this name appropriate was that they “shared” the “S” in the middle and it ends with “WE”. The collaborative events P ge 558.1 now include the CEMSWE Awards Banquet, CEMSWE Leadership Retreat and the Diversity Evening With Industry (DEWI) hosted by CEMSWE. This paper will discuss the workings of the Coalition and the collaborative events. It will also discuss industry perception of such collaboration.