Commission Structure

To promote equity and inclusion throughout ASEE and to work toward the Strategic Plan goals, the Commission on Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion is organized into Committees. CDEI also has several participation options. Read below for more information or see the Commission’s full Operating Conditions document.

Committees

Awards

Communication

Conference Planning

Partnerships

Professional Development

Policy/Letters

Strategic Planning & Assessment

Descriptions of the committees can be found at the bottom of this page.

Membership Types

STANDING MEMBERS

ASEE CDEI consists of 13 voting members called Standing Members. Standing Members are appointed by the President of the ASEE Board of Directors with the advice of the ASEE Board, from candidates nominated by processes described for each type of member listed below. All Standing Members must maintain their ASEE membership and are expected to make meaningful contributions to the commission.

 (i)     3 ASEE CDEI Executive Officers

The ASEE CDEI is led by a three-person Leadership Team consisting of a Past-Chair, Chair, and Incoming Chair. The Incoming-Chair is appointed by the ASEE President for a three-year term. The first year of the appointment is as Incoming-Chair, the second year is as Chair, and third year is as Past-Chair. This appointment supersedes all prior appointment terms. CDEI’s Standing Members will provide an Incoming-Chair nomination to present to the ASEE President.

 (ii)     3 partnered council members

ASEE CDEI contains a Standing Member from 3 partnered councils: Corporate Member Council, Engineering Dean’s Council, and Engineering Technology Council. Each council shall have 1 council member representative who serves on the ASEE CDEI. This individual will be reviewed by the CDEI Leadership Team and presented to the ASEE President for affirmation to serve a 3-year term. Council representative members can serve up to 2 consecutive terms. Each council is encouraged to nominate multiple candidates for consideration. If a CDEI council member is removed from said council, their CDEI position becomes vacant.

(iii)     3 founding division members

ASEE CDEI includes 3 Standing Members from the Divisions that contributed to the creation of the original ASEE CDEI organization. Those Divisions are the Minorities in Engineering Division, Pre-College Engineering Education Division, and Women in Engineering Division. Each of these three Divisions shall have 1 Division member representative who serves on the ASEE CDEI. This individual will be reviewed by the CDEI Leadership Team and presented to the ASEE President for affirmation to serve a 3-year term. Founding Division representatives can serve up to 2 consecutive terms. Each Division is encouraged to nominate multiple candidates for consideration.

 (iv)     3 members-at-large

ASEE CDEI will contain 3 Standing Members that can be filled by any ASEE member, herein called members-at-large. These members are nominated by any ASEE Member, sent to and reviewed by the CDEI Leadership Team, and appointed by the ASEE President to a 3-year term.

(v)     1 external engineering diversity centric organization

One Standing Member will represent an engineering diversity centric organization, such as but not limited to: WEPAN, NAMEPA, Great Minds in STEM, NSBE, SHPE, SWE, NOGLSTP, or MentorNet. This individual will be appointed by the ASEE President and will serve a 3-year term. ASEE headquarters will work with the CDEI Leadership Team to nominate individuals strategically.

(vi)     ASEE Vice-President for Member Affairs

The ASEE Vice-President for Member Affairs will serve as a non-voting ex-officio member and will provide 2-way communication between CDEI and the ASEE Board of Directors. This person is ineligible to serve in a CDEI leadership position and maintains this CDEI position until said member is no longer the ASEE Vice-President for Member Affairs.

 (vii)     1 ASEE headquarters staff member

ASEE headquarters will select one ASEE staff member to serve on CDEI as a non-voting ex-officio member. This individual is appointed by the ASEE President and not eligible to serve in a CDEI leadership position. This person serves as CDEI’s connection to ASEE’s headquarters. This person serves in this capacity until ASEE headquarters nominates a new individual to the ASEE President.

DELEGATES

Delegates are nominated by ASEE divisions and appointed by the CDEI Leadership Team. All delegates must maintain their ASEE membership. Any ASEE Division can nominate any said Division member to be a Delegate. CDEI limits each ASEE Division to one Delegate. Terms are for two years and require re-nomination at the end of the term.

FRIENDS OF THE COMMISSION

The role of Friend of the Commission is an informal affiliation with the Commission.  Friends are included in communications and encouraged to contribute to the work of our subcommissions.  While Friends are frequently former Standing Members or Delegates, they can also be self-nominated by contacting the Commission chair. All Friends of the Commission should maintain their ASEE membership in order to receive formal communications from the Commission via our list-serv.  Participants can choose to leave the list-serv annually.
Committee Descriptions

(a) Standing Committees

CDEI consists of the following seven Standing Committees to ensure its Goals and Objectives are reached.

(i) Executive Committee

The Executive Committee serves as the organization’s leadership body and ensures CDEI’s goals are being accomplished by requiring accountability from all other committees. The Executive Committee is chaired by the CDIE Chair and consists of the CDEI ‘s Leadership Team (Incoming-Chair, Chair, and Past-Chair), the Other Officers outlined in Section 6.02, and all Committee Chairs.

(ii) Conference Planning Committee

The Conference Planning Committee oversees all non-paper program activities for the ASEE Annual Conference and other conferences where the CDEI chooses to have a presence.  This committee’s main initiatives are:

  1. CDEI Booth: coordinate all content including displays, materials, video displays, co-hosts, giveaways, and schedules within the booth; and
  2. Footsteps:  coordinate the collection, development, and vetting of thought-provoking messages, as well as the printing of footsteps to be placed around the conferences; and
  3. ASEE Mixer: Prepares materials and staffing for the conference mixer session.

(iii) Conference Program Committee

The Conference Program Committee oversees all conference programming activities at the ASEE Annual Conference (workshops, special sessions, and panels) and manages the ASEE Best Diversity Paper competition. All CDEI members and friends will be asked to be paper reviewers; and therefore, reviewing activity does not count towards Committee membership or participation. Paper reviewers are not considered members of the Paper Program Committee.

(iv) Communication Commission

The Communication Committee coordinates communication efforts for the CDEI. This includes the ASEE Diversity Newsletter and CDEI’s websites. This committee coordinates messaging and seeks new content.

(v) Strategic Plan Committee

The Strategic Plan Committee helps maintain and track the progress of the ASEE CDEI Strategic Plan with the guidance of the CDEI Leadership Team and in coordination with appropriate committees.  This committee shall request reports from all committees, review reports with respect to advancement of the strategic plan, and compile into a single report before the June ASEE Board meeting. This effort will be in conjunction with the CDEI Leadership Team. The official CDEI report must be submitted via the ASEE Vice-President for Member Affairs no later than 2 weeks prior to the ASEE Board of Directors meeting.

(vi) Partnerships Committee

The Partnerships Committee maintains relationships with partnering societies and helps other CDEI Committees leverage these relationships to achieve CDEI’s goals. Further, the committee will proactively seek out mutually beneficial partnerships and determine how to sustain them. This committee manages the ASEE Student Essay/Video Competition in conjunction with the ASEE Student Division.

(vii) Policy, Letters & Related Committee

The Policy, Letters, & Related Committee drafts responses to key events for timely advocacy or to encourage diversity, inclusion, and/or equity policies.

(b) Ad-Hoc Committees

Other committees shall be appointed and dissolved by the CDEI Chair as deemed appropriate to the work thereof. Ad-Hoc Committees will exist for one year unless extended by request of the CDEI Chair.