By Jamie Tylicki, FY18 Senate Communications Sub-Team Lead and Region G Senator

The #SWESenate has voted at #WE17 in Austin and ALL of the bylaws motions have PASSED!

S-1803 Senate and Regions: Passed
S-1804 Collegiate Member Voting Rights: Passed
S-1805 Competency Model for Nominations and Elections: Passed
S-1806 Standing Committees: Passed
S-1807 MAL President: Passed

The changes allow SWE to move forward with implementing changes to help the Society become more flexible, more inclusive, and better suited to fulfill our mission of advocating for women in engineering.

Details on the specific language of the motions can be found at senate.swe.org. Further information will be provided in the coming weeks and any questions can be directed to governance@swe.org.

The Senate is proud to welcome Dhanu Thiyagarajan, Region E Colllegiate Senator, to share her perspective on the proposed bylaws motions and how they will specifically impact collegiates, which will be voted on at the Senate meeting on Saturday, October 28, 2017. 

Did you know that SWE is currently undergoing several governance changes? How does this mainly affect collegiate members?

1. There is a motion for the Senate to vote on at WE17 for all collegiate members to become voting members of SWE. This means that we will now have a say regarding SWE elections and our leaders. This will come into effect immediately, so you may be voting as soon as this spring. More information will be conveyed from headquarters [HQ] about the election candidates and process as it approaches if the motion is passed through the Senate.

2. If passed at WE17, Regions will be dissolved at the end of this fiscal year. This means you will no longer have Region Collegiate Representatives, Regional Senators, or Governors. Your Section President's main form of communication with SWE will be HQ and the Leadership Coaching Committee [LCC]. Your day to day communication will not be changed and will remain with your specific collegiate section. There are still adjustments being made to this process, but more detailed information will be sent out later in the year with specific changes of HQ vs. LCC taking over specific responsibilities to cover section support exactly the same, if not more than currently existing. You can already contact them for support at HQ@SWE.org. This will also change the leadership pipeline, since region leadership will not be a gateway that collegiates can use to become more involved with societal SWE. SWE's nominating committee will take into account collegiate experience to ensure all voices are heard within each committee. More information will also be conveyed regarding further leadership opportunities within SWE as a Senator, part of a committee, etc. This will allow you get involved with societal SWE in a more direct manner and learn about the organization past your specific section. Region conferences will no longer exist and will be replaced by WE Locals.

If interested, please check out more information about the governance changes at http://governance.swe.org.


About Dhanu:

Dhanu Thiyagarajan is a collegiate senator for Region E. She is currently a M.D. candidate for 2019 from Temple University and graduated as a biomedical engineer from University of Pittsburgh. Although in a slightly different career path, many of the issues relate among the fields, so she continues to be involved with SWE.

​About Stephanie:
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I am currently a Quality Engineer for GLOBALFOUNDRIES in Essex Junction, Vermont, and have held various positions in process engineering and quality at the Vermont 200 mm Semiconductor fab for the past 6 years. Before that I was a graduate of the University of Maine, and received a B.S. in Chemical Engineering. It was at the University of Maine that I started my journey with SWE, and have maintained that passion since. I’m proud to say that this is my 10th year of involvement with SWE! In those 10 years, I’ve held a number of positions at the section level from Section Treasurer, Vice President and President between the UMaine Section and the North Country Section in Region F. Moving to Vermont, my first course of action was to find my local SWE section. “SWE is Your Constant” from WE16 was a theme that rang true for me, and still does today. During my time in Vermont, I became more involved with my Region, and ultimately becoming one of the Region F Professional senators. I am currently in my 2nd year of my Senate term at a time when SWE as a whole is going through its most expansive changes and growth. What a time to be involved in SWE!
 
 
Is there a particular motion that you’re passionate about proposed to the Senate for WE17?
 
There’s been A TON of activity in the Senate, with some really major motions being passed. In January, for instance, we officially passed a motion to support moving forward with the governance overhaul as a whole. Like many of my constituents, these motions that have come out leave me with a range of feelings, excitement, concern, hope. It’s such a mixed bag, and I cannot wait to see where this journey takes us. As far as a motion I feel passionately about, it’ll have to be hands down the upcoming vote on collegiate voting rights. Motion S-1804: Collegiate Member Voting Rights will be a landmark update for collegiates, giving them the right to vote in SWE elections and giving them an official voice in our society. This is something in particular I have felt strongly about since my involvement in college. A large percentage of our SWE population are collegiates. They’re part of the leadership pipeline, both in the workforce and in SWE. While there’s a very small percentage of members that currently actively vote, my hope is that by passing this motion, we’re sending the message to collegiates that they matter, and we want them involved. In my experience with my region, it’s been some of the collegiate sections that have come up with some of the most creative ways to improve engagement in their SWE sections. We vote on this motion at the senate meeting in WE17.
 
What are you looking forward to next?
 
Well, I’m also involved in the Leadership Summit Task Force this year. Being on this task force is giving me a tactical role that is a counterbalance to the strategic work that I am doing in the Senate. It is giving me the opportunity to interface with our membership and really hear their concerns and then work on taking that information and putting towards a real life proposal for how our society is going to function moving forward. This helps with my Senator role, as it gives me an expanded view of what our constituents really care about. Both roles are fulfilling in different ways. We hope to have a proposal for the leadership summits completed by the end of FY18, so stay tuned! 

The FY18 Senate will meet face-to-face at WE17 Conference in Austin, Texas on October 28, 2017 beginning at 11:30 AM.  The proposed bylaws amendments will be discussed and voted on by the Senate during this meeting.  Please see below for the published agenda.  If you would like to review any of the motions, the agenda, or attend the Senate meeting at WE17, please contact your Senators or Olivia LeBlanc, Senate Secretary for more information.