The benefits of membership

“I wasn’t interested in joining an engineering student organization during my freshman and sophomore years,” said Morrison, who received his degree in computer and information science in May. “Then I joined the Association for Computing Machinery as a junior and realized what I had been missing. They had recruiters from companies like Google, Compuware and Ford come to campus to talk with their members. Many of my friends got internships, co-ops and full-time jobs through those meetings. I wish I had joined a student org sooner.”

UM-Dearborn’s 18 student engineering organizations offer abundant learning and networking opportunities. Yet, many freshmen and sophomores are unaware of them. To help rectify this problem, Morrison and some of his peers created the Engineering Organization Council (EOC).

The council, formed during the winter 2013 semester, brings together representatives from each UM-Dearborn student engineering organization. The goal is to increase student organization recruitment of freshmen and sophomores, create an alliance among the individual student organizations, and help those organizations forge a stronger connection with CECS.

“Because UM-Dearborn is a commuter campus, many incoming students don’t know how to become more involved,” Morrison said. “The EOC will help show freshmen and sophomores the benefits of joining a student organization.”

The EOC officially launched in March when it met with CECS Dean Tony England. The meeting organizers formalized the council and discussed ways to increase awareness of individual organizations on campus.

“Dean England has been very supportive and has helped connect us with the CECS alumni affiliate board, which will help the student orgs maintain relationships with industry,” Morrison said.

Other EOC organizers include Molly Pohutski, president of Dearborn Campus Engineers, and Derelle Redmond, a 2013 computer engineering graduate.

“Once we got the student organization representatives together for the meeting and began sharing our experiences, it became evident that the EOC will benefit everyone,” said Redmond, who belonged to several student organizations, including the National Society of Black Engineers and the Association for Computing Machinery. “Dean England was especially excited about helping the student organizations connect with alumni. This will be much easier to do using the EOC as a central body.”

EOC organizers created a succession plan so the council can continue moving forward now that its organizers have graduated. Morrison is working as an associate developer at Urban Science, a software solutions company in Detroit. Redmond is a mobile application developer at TT Media Services in Novi.

“It’s very important for students to join an engineering organization,” Redmond says. “In our competitive job market, a 4.0 grade-point average alone isn’t enough to land a good job. Participating in student organizations shows a potential employer that you’re passionate about engineering beyond the classroom.”