The IEEE New Hampshire Section is looking for volunteers to help. The local IEEE Section and Society Chapters are run by a group of dedicated volunteers.

Top Three Reasons Why Volunteering is Good For YOU!

Volunteering establishes strong relationships

Regardless of the social media connections, or email, or video conversations, it is easier to become disconnected from your friends and colleagues. Volunteering helps to improve your relationships from your social avatar to a real relationship.

Volunteering is great for your career and satisfaction

John Hopkins Sociologist Mark Granovetter described the role of ‘weak-ties’, those relationships outside of the close-knit relationships driven by the workplace and family. These relationships are important because they provide new information and opportunities that wouldn’t be available inside strong relationships. Volunteering is excellent at creating those ‘weak-ties’ relationships.

Volunteering is the best way to create a sense of purpose

Most organizations have a mission statement, but rarely does the mission include benefits to society as a goal. IEEE’s vision is Advancing Technology for Humanity. IEEE is volunteer-driven, with tens of thousands of volunteers worldwide.

There are many society chapters, standing committees and affinity groups inviting you to experience the rewards, challenges and networking benefits of volunteering for the IEEE New Hampshire Section. These volunteer opportunities allows for varying levels of volunteer participation based on your schedule.

If you are interested in becoming a volunteer, please contact our section Chair.

Section Chair

The Section Chair manages the operations of the Section to ensure that the best interests the local members are being met. The Section Chair provides leadership and guidance to other Section volunteers and ensures that the Section activities are focused on increasing member engagement and satisfaction.

The Section Chair represents the needs of Section members by providing feedback to the Region 1 Board of Governors and/or IEEE Organizational Units.

Section Chair responsibilities include:

  • Serve as the Chair of the IEEE Section Executive Committee (ExCom)
  • Preside at monthly meetings of the IEEE Section Executive Committee
    • Prepare slide presentation materials
  • Nominate members to fill Section Standing and Ad Hoc Committee Chair positions
  • Support Section special activities
    • Summer Outing
    • Awards Banquet
    • Engineering Week Banquet
  • Represent the Section at IEEE gatherings
  • Represent the Section at Regional Committee Meetings and vote on issues on the basis of the best interest of IEEE.

The Section Chair leads the Section Executive Committee to review/revise Section activities to ensure that they are in agreement with the MGA Mission, Vision, and Goals.

Section Vice Chair

The Section Vice Chair is responsible for working with the Section Secretary in selecting the topics that will be discussed at Section meetings. Additionally, this individual will work closely with the Chairs of the Technical Chapters and/or Affinity Groups to ensure that the programs offered by these subunits are focused on increasing member engagement and/or meeting the needs of the local member.

If the Section Chair is unable to perform their duties, the Vice Chair’s responsibility will include:

  • Preside at meetings of the Section and the Section Executive Committee
  • Represent the Section at IEEE gatherings (i.e., attend annual Regional Committee Meeting)

The Vice Chair may also be asked to provide support for section activities as needed.

Section Secretary

The Secretary is a steward of the Section’s history and future, bringing critical data to enable ExCom decision making and deliver real value to members who keep the Section engaged, relevant, and sustainable in the long term.

The secretary is the keeper of section documentation. Documentation could include a list of past meeting reports, past Section Officers, agreements/contracts with local organizations, past strategies and plans of the Section, and other important non-financial information (since the Section Treasurer handles the financial and accounting paperwork).

The NH Section Secretary responsibilities include:

  • Scheduling monthly ExCom meeting
  • Notifying ExCom members of meetings and upcoming events
  • Recording minutes of monthly ExCom meetings, document attendance
  • Distributing minutes to the ExCom

Section Treasurer

The Section Treasurer prepares, maintains and reports on all financial matters. The Treasurer is an important member of the Section leadership team. Responsibilities include:

  • Working with the Section Leadership in developing a budget and monitoring adherence to it
  • Keeping Treasurer records and financial data up-to-date
  • Complying with all applicable local laws and IEEE Guidelines
  • Advising Subunits (Technical Chapters/Affinity Groups) within the Section on the proper procedures for requesting and distrubuting Section funds
  • Tracking the accuracy of the amounts of all income and expenses
  • Submitting the annual financial report (L50)
  • Reporting financial status at the monthly Section ExCom meeting

Additionally, the Treasurer should present the Section/Chapter check register(s) to the Section Executive Committee at least two times during the year for review and approval.

Technical Chapter Chairs

Chapter Chairs are an important part of the grassroots of IEEE leadership. The Chapter Chair is the principal managing officer of his/her Technical Society Chapter. Chapter affairs are administered according to the IEEE Member and Geographic Activities Board Operations Manual 9.6, direction from the specific national Society and the Section Executive Committee. Chapter Chairs have voting representation, either individually, or collectively, with other Chapters and Affinity Groups, on the Section Executive Committee.

The Chapter Chair’s responsibilities include:

  • Contact committee members to set up a convenient time to meet
  • Plan for several technical meetings in advance
    • Minimum of two required to receive rebate to fund future years’ activities
  • Determine goals for the year
  • Delegate assignments to Chapter Committee Officers
  • Participate in monthly ExCom meetings as voting members

Affinity Group Chairs

Affinity Groups are non-technical Subunits of the Section to fulfill the purposes of IEEE. Affinity Group affairs are administered according to the IEEE MGA Operations Manual 9.9, direction from the parent organizational unit and the Section ExCom. Affinity Group Chairs have voting representation, either individually, or collectively, with other Chapters and Affinity Groups, on the Section ExCom.

The Affinity Group Chair’ responsibilities include:

  • Contact Affinity Group Committee to set up a convenient time to meet
  • Plan for several meetings in advance
    • Minimum of two required to receive rebate to fund future years’ activities
  • Determine goals for the year
  • Delegate assignments to Chapter Committee Officers
  • Participate in monthly ExCom meetings as voting members

Raj Vayyavur, Nominations Committee Chair

Officer positions for the NH Section include: Chair, Vice Chair, Secretary, Treasurer and Member At Large.
Officer positions for Society Chapters include: Chair, Vice Chair, Secretary and Treasurer. The following Societies have New Hampshire Chapters:

  • Computer (CS)
  • Engineering in Medicine and Biology (EMBS)
  • Joint Communications / Signal Processing (Joint Com/Sig)
  • Joint Microwave Theory and Techniques / Antennas and Propagation (Joint MTT/AP-S)
  • Power and Energy (PES)
  • Robotics & Automation (RAS)

Officer positions for Affinity Groups include; Chair, Vice Chair, Secretary and Treasurer. The NH Section has the following Affinity Groups:

  • Consultants Network
  • Joint Women in Engineering / Young Professionals (WIE/YP)
  • Life Members (LM)

Members are encouraged to consider running for an elected position either at the Section level, or an appropriate Society Chapter or Affinity Group. The vitality of any organization depends on volunteers willing to plan and execute activities. The reward is the camaraderie that comes from engaging with like-minded people and the satisfaction of helping our profession grow and serve its members, community and society. A brief job description is provided below, along with a partial list of roles and responsibilities.

The NH Section Nominations and Election process is carried out in three stages as specified in the Section Operating Manual and outlined below.

  1. Open nomination period will be open from June 21 thru August 15, 2023.
    • Members may nominate themselves or others
      • Self-Nomination
        • Provide office position being sought, email address, and IEEE membership number
      • Peer Nomination
        • Provide candidates name, office position, and email address
        • The Nominating Committee will contact the candidate to confirm willingness to run and pertinent information
    • Eligibility
      • All members who are graduate students or higher grade are eligible to run for an elected office position
      • Members who have served in the same position for two consecutive terms (the NH Section defines a term as one year) are not eligible to run for the same position for a third consecutive term.
    • Nominations must be submitted to the three members of the Nominations and Elections Committee by the close of the nomination period.
    • The nominating Committee will present a slate of officers to the ExCom following the close of the nomination period.
  2. Nomination by petition period will be open from August 16 thru October 17, 2023.
    • Petition nominations can be for yourself or for a peer
    • Petition nominations must be accompanied by signed endorsements from 1% of the membership of chapter or affiliate group
    • Nominee’s name, position, IEEE number, required signatures, and a brief bio and position statement must be submitted to the three members of the Nominations and Elections Committee by the close of the petition period
  3. Elections will take place from October 18 thru November 11, 2023.
    • IEEE’s electronic balloting tool will be used for voting, which also supports write-in candidates
    • Members at level of Graduate Student and above are eligible to vote

Election Results will be announced at November ExCom Meeting and members informed through eNotice

The term of office is from January 1, 2024 thru December 31, 2025. If an office is held for two consecutive terms by the same person, then preference will be given to new candidates. This is accomplished by having the office having no nominee (unless, or course, another person gets nominated). If the said office is still empty after the election, the Chair will appoint the existing officer to the position after the elections are closed. Such appointments will be confirmed at the November or December ExCom meeting.

Please direct any questions to Raj Vayyavur, Nominations and Election Committee Chair.