2011 AISES Leadership ConferenceP WER UP LEADERSHIPAISES 2011 Leadership ConferencePublic Summary Report

2011 Leadership Conference Highlights

66 total college students

27 colleges and universities represented

AISES’ annual leadership conference was three days of intensive focus on personal and professional leadership development, knowledge-sharing, networking, and even a little fun and games. After Thursday’s welcome reception and blessing by Elder Stan Lucero, Laguna Pueblo, student leaders from North Caro-lina to Alaska introduced themselves, alongside a dozen representatives from corporate sponsors.

Friday’s activities included an eye-opening session led by Marcus Huggans, Ph.D., of the National GEM Consortium. Dr. Huggan’s focus was to bring awareness of the vast potential that a graduate degree can bring to one’s career. He then presented a lively workshop on public speaking, using the concept of “the elevator speech” to help train students in introducing themselves with confidence.

Also on Friday, LaChelle Drayton from Cargil, Inc. presented a session on how to prepare for an interview. In addition to regional caucus meetings, Day One also included an exercise in proposal writing, led by AISES Program Officer Marisa Page. The students wrote proposals to help support their Regional Confer-ence. The corporate sponsor reps, all of whom participated actively in the sessions and enjoyed opportuni-ties to bond with students, were charged with judging. Region 5 was awarded a $200 stipend at the Closing Reception, with the winning proposal.

The 2010 AISES College Chapter of the Year, UCLA, started off Day Two with a presentation on the many ways they are working to engage students, local sponsors, and making a difference in their community as volunteers and mentors. The lively Q-and-A component of the session demonstrated that chapters are eager to learn from and with each other.

Young AISES Professionals Levi Bowman, Karen McDaniel, and Nathaniel Toddea, joined Senior National Student Representative Jenna Hall and Region 5 Student Representative Tyler Parisien in a panel discus-sion entitled at “Navigating College and Career Transitions.” Discussion topics ranged from dealing with homesickness at school, to staying focused and tenacious about study, to dealing with the realities of the workplace.

Commander Roy Harrison of the U.S. Navy provided inspiring remarks at the luncheon, after which Ray-theon Missle Systems presented a session on brand awareness where participants learned to explore ways they could apply these principles to building their own brand and making an impact at work and in life.

After a short evaluation session, participants changed into shorts and sweats for an energizing zumba dance/exercise session. AISES’ 2011 Leadership Conference wound down with the Closing Circle, where students spoke from the heart about their experience and growth opportunities over the past days.

2010 AISES Professional of the Year for Technical Excellence, Karen McDaniel, provided the keynote ad-dress at the closing banquet. After a good meal, raffle fun and games, and several impromptu photo ops arranged by region, the students, sponsors, and staff bid each other bon voyage, with a plan to reunite at the 2011 National Conference this November in Minneapolis.

Southwestern Indian Polytechnic InstituteStanford UniversityUniversity of Alaska AnchorageUniversity of Alaska: FairbanksUniversity of Alaska: SoutheastUniversity of California DavisUniversity of California Los AngelesUniversity of Minnesota: Twin CitiesUniversity of Nevada: RenoUniversity of New MexicoUniversity of New Mexico GallupUniversity of North Carolina PembrokeUniversity of North Dakota

males47%

females53%

1

2

3

4

5

6

freshman

sophomorejunior

senior

generalundergrad

mastersdegree

1

2STEM74%

Non-STEM26%

Student Demographic Snapshot

Nursing adminstration 1

Occupational therapy 1

Prelaw 1

Premedicine 1

Social sciences 1

Soil sciences 1

Sport and fitness administration 1

Undeclared 2

Accounting 2

Aerospace engineering 1

Anatomy 1

Biochemistry 1

Biological and physical sciences 1

Biology general 7

Business 1

Chemical engineering 2

Chemistry 2

Civil engineering 7

Clinical Lab Science 1

Computer science 2

Criminal justice studies 1

Type of Degree SoughtEcology 1

Electrical engineering 2

Engineering science 6

English Creative writing 2

Environmental Technology 4

Health Professions 2

Industrial manufacturing engineering 1

Interdisciplinary Sciences 1

Materials engineering 1

Mathematics 1

Mechanical Engineering 4

Nuclear Engineering 1

Nursing 4

Schools RepresentedCentral Michigan UniversityCentral New Mexico Community CollegeDine CollegeFargo Public SchoolsFort Lewis CollegeMichigan Technological UniversityNative American Community AcademyNorth Carolina State UniversityNortheastern State UniversityNorthern Arizona UniversityPortland State UniversityPurdue UniversitySan Juan CollegeSouth Dakota School of Mines and Technology

Conference Events EvaluationsSeven sessions, plus regional caucauses, a fun zumba dance class, luncheon banquet, opening and closing ceremonies, and ample time for networking. All sessions were evaluated on a scale of 1-5, as indicated below.

Session TitleYour perception of level of learn-ing gained from

this session (1-5)

How well this session's learn-ing objectivers were met (1-5)

GRAD (Getting Ready for Advanced Degree) Lab: Overview - Dr. Marcus Huggans, National GEM Consortium 4.82 4.89

Navigating College and Career Transitions - Panel discussion with AISES Senior Representative Jenna Hall, AISES Regional Representative Tyler Parsien, Karen McDaniel of Sandia Labs and AISES 2010 Professional of the Year in Technical Excellence, and Nathaniel Toddea of USDA/NRCS

4.72 4.84

Power Up You (Personal Branding) - Raytheon Corporation 4.65 4.72

Interview Skills - La Chelle Drayton, Cargill Inc. 4.62 4.67

Best Practices: Community Outreach and Professional Development - ACLU Chapter receipient of the 2010 Stelvio J. Zanin Chapter of the Year 4.7 4.64

Public Speaking - Dr. Marcus Huggans, National GEM Consortium 4.8 4.8

Proposal Writing - Marisa Page, AISES 3.93 3.53

Topaz Sponsor

Opal Sponsors

Aventurine Sponsor

Navajo Nation OIl and Gas, Local Council Sponsor

Malachite Sponsors

2011 Leadership Conference SponsorsTwelve corporate sponsors, with 16 representatives participating in conference activities