RSO Highlight: National Society of Black Engineers

October 27, 2010

The National Society of Black Engineers increases the number of culturally responsible black engineers who excel academically, succeed professionally and positively impact the community.

What is it?
One of the largest student-governed organizations in the country, the society offers leadership training, professional development, mentoring opportunities and career placement service, according to the NSBE website.

NSBE president of the UA Chapter, Ben Onukwube joined during his freshman year in August 2007. Even though he had little information about the RSO, he somehow knew it would be the right one.

“I joined because the name sounded really appealing. It sounded like an RSO that was designed for me,” he said.

In those few years, Onukwube reaped the academic and professional benefits of the society. But he found that his favorite thing was seeing other students do the same.

“I enjoy the opportunities given to our members, especially when (the opportunities) are taken advantage of,” he said. “Essentially NSBE has allowed me to see the world—well, at least the country.”

The UA Chapter of NSBE was established in September of 2004 and has 60 members. So far, the chapter has consistently attended regional and national conferences.

Who can join?
Members are not limited by year or experience: freshmen through seniors are all encouraged to join.

Mission
Onukwobe and his officers developed their own mission statement for the chapter: “To serve for the development of culturally aware engineers who pursue and exemplify excellence, strive for success, and continually contribute to the campus and the community.”

“It essentially represents our chapter’s reason for existence,” he said. “Essentially, we strive to provide our members with a feeling of home court advantage.”

Benefits
Partnerships and connections with Emerging Leaders, Center for Leadership and Community Engagement and Engineering Expo enables the society to provide extensive academic and professional training and development.

A current project for the group is a chapter résumé book that will be presented to company reps that speak at the regular NSBE meetings.

“Many of our members have no problems getting internships or full-time positions,” Onukwobe said. “Those who are looking for assistance with graduate school, the executive leadership is very well connected to employers, and…TC (Thomas Carter) does an incredible job of providing us with resources, research experience opportunities, and much more.”

What do I have to do?
NSBE officers expect excellence of members.

Members are expected to attend meetings regularly. The must be a part of volunteer initiatives, community service projects, must maintain a competitive GPA, help fellow members with challenging classes, and spread the word about NSBE.

Onukwobe stressed that the requirements are not only beneficial for the organization, but especially beneficial for the student.

“Members can lose out on a lot of perks of the organization by not actively participating,” he said. “Essentially you get out of this organization what you put into it, and if you participate actively, many, many advantageous doors can be opened for you.”

Events
Annual events include the Welcome Back” recruitment event, various community service events, NSBE regional conference (this year in New Orleans) and the NSBE national conference.

“This year we are making continual community service our main focus so we are working on developing a number of different initiatives: coat drive, can drive and a calculator drive,” Onukwobe said. “We are always thinking of different ways to increase our scope on campus and within the community.”

Officers
Each spring, NSBE members elect the basic officers of an RSO, as well as six additional chair positions that other RSOs might not have. The officers’ responsibilities last for a full year, instead of two semesters.

This year, Pedro Maltos assumes role as vice president; Triest Smart is Treasurer; Justin Wright is Chapter Secretary; Daisha Booth is Academic Chair; Rakiya Tasiu is Community Service Chair; Chase Truttling is Fundraising Chair; Danny Dixon is Pre-College Initiative Chair; Joshua King is Programming Chair and Pedro Maltos is also Public Relations Chair.

Advisors
The main NSBE advisor is Assistant Dean of Student Services and Student Affairs, Thomas Carter, III.

“He’s a big help to our chapter (in) getting things done, communicating with the college, providing available resources, and developing a connection with the students and much more,” Onukwube said.

Bryan Hill, Assistant Dean of the College of Engineering; Emily Williams, Assistant Director of Development Engineering; Evease Tucker, Development Assistant; and a number of other faculty members on campus are also advisors.

Why NSBE is different this year
“This is more of a transitional rebuilding year, so a lot of work is being done to improve our infrastructure, align our goals and programs in order to stably project our chapter into the future.”