Compiled by Saurabh Sinha, Student Branch Counsellor Coordinator, IEEE Region 8 SAC
1. An IEEE student branch (SB) is a registered organizational unit (OU) of IEEE, governed by an IEEE section. If an IEEE Section is absent, the governance is undertaken by an IEEE region (1-10) encompassing the particular IEEE SB.
2. The IEEE section engages with the SB, via a section student representative (SSR) and a section student activities chairperson (SSAC). The SSR may be a student member (StM) or a graduate student member (GSM) of the IEEE, where as the SSAC is a grade higher than a StM.
3. SBes aim to have a hierarchical governance structure similar to an IEEE section, where they may also constitute of sub-units: affinity groups and technical chapters. Such sub-units of the SB can be seen as having multiple parents, namely the section level and/or member and geographical activities (MGA) level affinity groups or technical activities board (TAB) associated technical societies.
4. The structure similarity to a section allows for continuity and promotion of IEEE SB leaders.
5. A SB endeavours to engage with IEEE StMs, including GSMs within a particular school, by planning and executing activities: business, professional, technical (speaker, tour, film) and social. Additionally, a SB also co-ordinates: paper contests/awards, branch projects, fund raising, member and membership promotion, joint section-branch activities, and elections.
6. An IEEE StM belonging to a school with a SB, is automatically a voting member of the particular SB.
7. During an election, the executive committee (ExCom) is phased in: chair, vice-chair (chair elect, where/if possible), secretary and treasurer. In smaller SBes, some of these positions are combined. The ExCom may appoint a number of other positions, such as webmaster, awards coordinator, etc. While ExCom members are StMs or GSMs, the SB also links to a faculty member, namely the IEEE SB counsellor. In the case of some SBes, an IEEE SB mentor also exists. SB mentors can be external to a given school, but in some schools are also past IEEE SB counsellors. In many other cases, SB mentors are recent graduates offering a connection to local industry.
8. All SBes of IEEE are obliged to report two times a year and receive annual rebates. The first report is an annual report (activities of the previous year, due: 1 May) and the second report (annual plan, activities for the following year, due: 1 Nov.), and the rebate is calculated as a function of number of StMs, including GSMs (as of 31 Dec.)
9. An IEEE SB may also interact with IEEE staff, via IEEE Student Services (IEEE Student Concourse ) and access to online IEEE student branch officer reporting as well as the database, SAMIEEE. A member portal is also available.
10. While the primary service of an IEEE SB is towards IEEE members and secondary service is provided to non-members, which is also a recruitment and marketing exercise (where applicable). An IEEE SB aims to serve individuals directly or indirectlyaffiliated to IEEE designated fields.
11. IEEE SB leaders unite with other SB leaders at a SB congress (SBC). A SBC can be held in a given section or even in a region. Most IEEE regions host a regional SBC every two years.
12. Several awards exist for IEEE SBes, as well as for their members. Examples include awards resulting from: student paper contests (SPC), webpage contests, regional exemplary SB performance, Darrel Chong student activities, IEEEXtreme 24 hour programming challenge. An award also exists for outstanding SB counsellors and advisors.
