(521b) A Workshop to Help Students Build a Great Student Chapter Using an Entrepreneurial Mindset

Being involved with larger organizations can help us grow as students, professors, or working engineers. Professional engineering organizations, specifically AIChE here, offer opportunities to engage and lead during undergraduate study (student chapters) as well as throughout a person’s career (local sections, divisions, forums, etc.). Here, several iterations of a goal-setting and leadership-development workshop focused on student chapters will be profiled. The overarching objective of the workshop is to lead participants through exercises to help build great student chapters. Specifically, AIChE students at a regional conference, STEM students and advisors on the author’s home campus, and student chapter advisors at the AIChE Annual Conference participated in different activities centered upon an entrepreneurial mindset framework. This entrepreneurial mindset framework is summarized by the 3C’s, namely Curiosity, Connections, and Creating value. By applying an entrepreneurial mindset, participants identify characteristics desired in their student chapter, officers, and members. Additional workshop prompts explore actions of student members and leaders and help participants develop an action plan for the coming semester and year. The logistics and delivery of the workshop will be detailed. In addition, surveying participants at both the beginning and end of the workshops found high engagement, i.e., significant evidence of brainstorming and goal setting. Workshop resources, such as slides and worksheets, will be provided, so other faculty or chapter advisors can deliver this workshop in other settings. This contribution will build upon a recent ASEE conference paper on this topic.