As of September 2024, the IEEE’s Central Illinois Section (CILS) is currently seeking volunteers to help bring more engineering, science, and math-related activities and experts to central Illinois. Due to our large geographic territory, volunteers need not necessarily live in any specific county.

Open Positions

The volunteer positions we presently have available are:

POSITION	DESCRIPTION
Awards Chair	Identifies members with outstanding merit and exemplary contributions to the IEEE or the engineering field. Promotes eligible IEEE to higher membership grades. This position recognizes those who have done great work; and should inspire others to follow.
Industry Relations Coordinator	Maintains continuous communications with local industries and other non-profit associations. Notifies industry partners of relevant IEEE activities.
Membership Development	Plans, organizes, and manages activities in our area that help recruit and maintain memberships. Communicates with regular members (including students) to identify how we can be most effective in bringing value to our members.
Newsletter Editor	Aggregates section news into short newsletters that help readers understand which past or future events are most relevant to their interests, and how to get involved.
Student Activities	Maintains relationships between IEEE executive committee and the students of the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (UIUC), Illinois State University (ISU), and Bradley University. Builds relationships with additional postsecondary schools that have not yet had an IEEE presence.
Technical Activities	Brainstorms, plans, schedules, and conducts meetings that provide technical training. The IEEE CILS is currently directing this committee toward topics that do not yet have a dedicated technical chapter (such as signal processing and electromagnetic compatibility).
vTools Engage Coordinator	Assists the executive committee in engaging with new IEEE members, IEEE members who have recently moved to our geographic area, or are inactive.
Young Professionals	Brainstorms, plans, schedules, and conducts events that help professional engineers further develop their careers. The young professional committee will spend a large portion of its time working with members who have graduated roughly in the past decade.

Where to Get Involved

There are several activities coming up in the fall and winter of 2024, where you can learn more about our active projects and how to volunteer. Among them are two recurring meeting series: open forum and the networking meetings:

Networking Meetings (in-person)

Our section hosts non-technical meetings in Champaign, Peoria, Normal, and Springfield. To find an upcoming section meeting,

IEEE vTools: Upcoming Event Search: https://events.vtools.ieee.org/events/search?_sub=true&q=&ou=R40005+-+Central+Illinois+Section&d=Upcoming&commit=Search

Note that this link will not retrieve the events of chapters or student branches. For a complete list of all relevant events in our area, see IEEE Collabratec’s “My Section Hub” feature.

Open Forum (online)

Throughout the remainder of 2024, our section will hold one Open Forum meeting on the first Wednesday of every month at 7 PM Central Time. These online meetings cover:

• History of the IEEE and IEEE Central Illinois
• Current status of the Section and active projects
• Volunteer training topics
  • How to navigate the IEEE website
  • How to manage an IEEE chapter or student branch
  • Tips for creating and managing events
  • Tips for reaching members and non-members

How much time do IEEE volunteers have to commit?

These open positions have no pre-determined time obligation. However, the current chairman recommends volunteering for a singular event or project first in order to get a feel for your level of availability.

When volunteering, simply estimate the number of hours you are available to help on a per week, per month, or per-event basis, and make sure to communicate this to IEEE CILS or other volunteers you wish to work with. This will help us develop a realistic way to get you involved.

Not an IEEE Member?

If you are not already an IEEE Member or wish to renew, you can find the latest information updated regularly at: https://www.ieee.org/membership