The Society of Naval Architects and Marine Engineers (SNAME) have always recognized that the future of the Society lies in its younger members, the students. Unfortunately, the late 1990’s saw a decrease in student participation and retention in the Society. Fortunately, this trend was recognized two years ago and SNAME formed the Student Steering Committee (SSC). This group is made up of students from around the country who are committed to increasing student involvement and visibility by bringing them back into the mainstream of the Society. As stated in our Bylaws, the purpose of the SSC is:

The Student Steering Committee (SSC) has the responsibility, authority and accountability to represent the interests of students and recent graduates of all maritime engineering disciplines, including; but not limited to, Marine Engineering, Naval Architecture, and Ocean Engineering. The SSC will act as the voice of student members in the Society of Naval Architects and Marine Engineers by concentrating the ideas and interests of its constituents and presenting those issues to the relevant SNAME committees or councils for consideration and resolution.

The purpose that was set forth in the Bylaws did not provide much direction for the SSC. In an effort to increase the success and productivity of the SSC, a vision statement was added to the Bylaws at SNAME’s Annual Meeting in Boston. The vision statement reads:

The SSC will lead initiatives that focus on increasing student participation, increasing student retention in SNAME, increasing the student’s voice in SNAME, and providing resources to students for their professional development. The goal of the SSC is to have the student membership and participation increase and follow through into SNAME.

To achieve the vision that we set forth this year, the SSC is going to focus on the activities for students attending the 2003 Annual Meeting in San Francisco. In addition to these activities, we are going to close the gap between professionals and students through a variety of measures. The elected officers of the SSC who are going to lead the committee this year are:

Timothy Keyser, Chair (University of New Orleans)
John Hootman, Vice-Chair (MIT)
Mike Rugnetta, Communications Chair (University of Michigan)
Justin Hlavin, Secretary/Treasurer (Virginia Tech)
Bridget Rossow, Electronic Media Chair (University of Michigan)
Jane Louie, Electronic Media Chair (Virginia Tech)
Dr. Richard Boutwell, Committee Advisor

Currently, the biggest activity for students at the Annual Meetings is the Student Congress. The Student Congress is an event, usually held throughout the morning of the last day, which allows students the opportunity to socialize and work with students from different colleges and universities. After enjoying a presentation from an annual design competition, the students are separated into groups to construct a “ship” that meets certain requirements. The actual competition changes each year, so the students never know what to expect. Each year the Student Congress attracts students and professionals alike, to witness the “ship construction” competition and it has been a great success.

In recent years, SNAME has organized a job fair for the students during the Annual Meeting. This year in Boston, four companies participated in the job fair. With over 100 students attending the annual meeting, the probability of landing a job or internship through the Job Fair was slim. The primary goal of the SSC is to increase the participation in the job fair. We observed that few, if any, of the vendors at the IMExpo did not know there was a job fair, nor were they prepared to interview students. To improve this situation, we would like to add questions regarding job fair participation to the IMExpo registration form. The questions will ask the vendors if they will interview students, what fields are they interested in, how many positions might be available, etc. It is important that we publicize the job fair, as it can be a great resource to the students and many companies.

I am sure everyone remembers being a student and sitting through a class where it seemed like everything was over your head. Well, that is how many of the students feel when they try to sit through the technical papers that are presented during the annual meeting. The SSC proposes establishing a student track for paper presentations. This will not only encourage students to write papers for presentations, but also get other students interested in what is being done at their own level. In addition, during the student paper track, we propose allotting time for the graduate and undergraduate paper prize and annual design competition winners to present their work. In the case of the design competition, this ensures that the presenters are not rushed and they can present their complete design, something they are usually unable to do.

This past year, students at MIT organized a student social for all students at the Annual Meeting. The event was a great success and California Maritime Academy and UC Berkley have already offered to sponsor a similar event next year. The social allowed students to congregate and network in an environment where they felt comfortable. The SSC is a wholehearted supporter of this event and we have come up with other ideas to increase student socialization. These ideas range from housing all of the students up at one hotel during the annual meeting to the student paper track. As mentioned earlier, we want students to continue being members of the Society after they finish school, and we believe that these social/networking events will encourage this.

Another goal of the SSC this year is going to be to increase the funding for students. Last year, the SSC had a budget of $0.00. Many of the universities that offer maritime related fields are located on the East coast. Since the annual meeting is in San Francisco next year, it is going to be an expensive trip. The SSC needs money to help offset the cost for students across the country to attend the meeting next year and for years to come. This year, we are going to try to raise money through the government and maritime industry. Additionally, we are exploring the possibility of receiving grants from the government. Our goal is to show these organizations the importance of a student presence at the Annual Meeting and benefits that they and the Society will gain. We are also willing to accept private donations. Please remember, we are just poor students.

Finally, we have developed an internship and mentoring database that students and professionals will be able to use. The database is going to be placed on the SSC website, www.sname.org/student_sections/index.htm, where it will provide students resources regarding internships and mentors whom they might approach with questions or for advice. Professionals will also be able to access the database to post internship positions available and to offer their professional knowledge to students. The SSC hopes that this resource will help close the gap between the students and professionals.

If you are a member of the Society and concerned about continuing membership and the development of the next generation of SNAME leaders, you may be asking: What could I do to support the Student Steering Committee’s vision?
“to increase student participation, increasing student retention in SNAME, increasing the student’s voice in SNAME, and providing resources to students for their professional development”.

We need your ideas and professional contacts. We need external funding to support travel expenses to national meetings and we need to know that you feel we are your professional colleagues who can and need to learn from you.

This brief article has only scratched the surface on what the SSC is and where we are going this year. It is clear that many of the goals we have set forth are going to be difficult to achieve. The students have elected an excellent cadre of offices to lead them this year, but it is vital that we have the support of SNAME and its members. If you have any questions or comments, please send an email to Timothy Keyser at T_Keyser@msn.com or anyone of the leaders listed above. Their email addresses can be found on the SSC website. We look forward to working with everyone and seeing you in San Francisco.