SWE K-12 Outreach SWE Counts Newsletter – May 2018

Welcome to the May Assessment Workgroup Newsletter! In our last newsletter, we shared on some parent/educator program highlights from the Invent It. Build It. (IIBI) outreach event that took place on October 28, 2017, at WE 17.  Don’t forget to volunteer for IIBI at WE 18 and for the Design Labs at the WE Locals.

In this newsletter, we will share some statistics and information about events entered into the OMT Survey that received program development grants (PDGs).  This newsletter is done with the assistance of Agnes Priyadharshini Antony Joseph who is a computer science master’s student at Texas Tech University who is helping us with a more in-depth analysis of the OMT data.  We also want to thank the SWE PDG committee, chaired by Stephanie Gillespie, and Holly Teig, PDG Chair-Elect and Outreach Committee Liason, for their hard work in making it possible to fund SWE-led outreach events.

OMT Survey Tool

The OMT Survey tool serves as a record of the outreach events conducted by SWE sections since 2014. Thus far, we have collected a total of 3184 events through the OMT Survey tool since 2014 and we know that represents only a fraction of how many outreach events our sections are doing! We have heard from only 136 out of 521 sections this fiscal year.  Even with only 136 sections reporting, we have touched 43,498 girls with information and activities about engineering who might not have considered an engineering career.  There is still time to enter your outreach events into the OMT Survey tool before this fiscal year closes on June 30, 2018.  We now have an Outreach Metric Tool Hall of Fame Section in our newsletter as a way of thanking those sections who are helping us show how much we are doing to encourage the next generation of engineers.  Congratulations to H009 Central Illinois with 31 events entered this year and an overall total of 106 events since 2014!  Not far behind them is F063 Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute with 20 events entered this year and an overall total of 56 events since 2014!

Program Development Grants

Back in our September 2017 edition of the SWE Counts Newsletter, we talked about program development grants and how they can help to make an event better with more funding. As with many grant programs, there is always more need than funding, but it is good to apply for funding since the minimum amount you may receive is $250 which can be helpful.  The types of events most likely to received PDG funding are hands-on workshop events, group mentoring, and hands-on presentation lectures as shown in the graph below.  In the FY2016 fiscal year, 71 OMT entries reported receiving PDG funding, in FY2017, 61 events, and so far in FY2018, 30 events.  Overall, 12,654 girls, 2,346 boys, and 4140 adults, were given information about engineering in outreach events funded by these grants.  Numerous SWE volunteers, 4,140, also participated at these outreach events that were funded by grants.  Please support this grant funding program which helps SWE sections to fund their outreach events!

We want to thank the ExxonMobil Foundation who has generously provided funding for the program development grants.  To date, $79,000 has been awarded for 68 out of 83 applications.  For the upcoming fiscal year, the amount of funding available for grants will be roughly half, making the grant application process even more competitive.  Applications will be evaluated based upon alignment to SWE strategic goals, innovation, and financial need.

If you would like to apply for a grant for this fiscal year, here is some information to help you.

• Small grants from $250 to $1000 are considered each month while larger grants up to $5000 are considered every other month from July to May.
• Events submitted for funding should be SWE or SWE-Affiliate led.
• Only SWE sections, members-at-large, Society committees, or affiliates may submit a grant and must be in good standing with the Society.
• Funded outreach events must occur within 45 days of the application deadline.
• The PDG committee examines the finances of the applying organization to determine need for funding.
• Post-event reporting is required along with an entry into the OMT survey tool.
• Application deadlines are at the first of the month while notification of funding is given at the end of the month.
• Items not usually funded are professional services, travel expenses, cash prizes, alcohol, capital equipment, professional photography, salaries, planning meetings, scholarship awards, television ads, items for future events, and SWE memberships.
• Events not usually funded are university recruitment or orientation events, non-SWE led events, events not specifically targeted at girls or adult influencers such as teachers, events without a significant hands-on or learning activity, purely social events, fundraising events, and conferences or summits.

More details and selection criteria are available on the PDG web page and FAQ.  The web page and FAQ will be updated soon for the upcoming fiscal year. 

Outreach by the Numbers

The Outreach Committee publishes the SWENextEd monthly e-newsletter as part of our efforts to increase exposure of and participation in SWE’s K-12 Educator membership and related programs. We currently have 345 SWENextEd subscribers. We also publish SWENext monthly e-newsletters that all our K-8 and 9-12 grade SWENext members receive.

We have increased to 139 registered SWENext Clubs worldwide. The Outreach Committee is developing tools and resources to support our growing SWENext Clubs program.

There are 4,367 current SWENext student members and 4,104 SWENext adult members. Our grand total is 6,093 SWENext student members since the beginning of the program. We recognize our amazing students through the SWENext Awards. In addition, we currently have 253 SWE K-12 Educator members.

From July 2017 to April 2018, members reported 575 outreach events using the Outreach Metric Tool. This brings our all-time total up to 3184 outreach events reported by SWE members.

Through April 2018, members reached 43,498 girls, bringing the all-time total up to 233,552 girls impacted by SWE members at outreach events.

4,868 SWE members volunteered for outreach events led by SWE members for FY18.  Sixty-nine of those events included a Parent Educator Program.

Outreach Metric Tool Hall of Fame

We would like to take this opportunity to give a shout out to the sections in this PDF and the charts below for all the hard work they are doing to impact girls, parents, and educators in K-12 outreach events during FY18 and for entering their K-12 outreach events into the Outreach Metric Tool (enter your K-12 outreach events at this link).  They are our best advertisement to let people know that SWE is actively reaching out to kids to help them understand what a great career choice engineering can be.  They help SWE attract more funding for our organization because many organizations and funding agencies want to partner with us as a result of our effective K-12 outreach work.  Please enter your K-12 outreach events where you or your section participated whether ones you led or ones in which you were a part of a larger team.  We need the actual K-12 outreach event information after it has occurred and we appreciate your extra care to avoid duplicate entries. Thank you for all that you do!

To find out more about the data analyzed by the Assessment Workgroup of the Outreach Committee, please see our monthly Assessment Report and Region/section Report. If you have any questions, please contact Susan Mengel or Darcy Andersen, SWE Outreach Coordinator, at outreach@swe.org.